October 20-21, 2024
Louise arrived by train a day after me, but I didn't know where to pick her up. I asked a policeman at the Chengdu train station for help, using the China-based translator app Dear Translator.
"I speak English," he replied, which was such a relief. Very few people speak English in China, I am told, especially since China started phasing out English education in secondary schools.
The policeman explained that he had visited family in California, including a sister who works in the San Jose Google office. It's a small, small world, with the bickering nation-states of Google and China at the center of it.
Incidentally, the street cleaning trucks here play "It's a Small World," and I'd really like to meet the person who made this choice.
I found the CRE office, where another woman cyclist was unpacking her bicycle after a 10-day tour. She is only the second female Chinese cyclist I have spotted here, and we bonded instantly. Indeed, she insisted on boxcutting Louise out of her padding for me.
We're friends on WeChat now. My Chinese social media circle is steadily growing.
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