LHR to PKG

I find my seat on the plane next to Wu Peng (吴鹏), a recent graduate from University in Coventry and a native of a city in 东北, about two hours from Harbin.

When I tell him I am a 华裔 (Foreign-born Chinese) he claims that when I first spoke to him, he thought I was a native of China, a 'real' Chinese person. This is pretty unlikely given my occasionally shaky grasp of tones, limited vocabulary, and English accent, so I counter with "哪里哪里！你夸奖" (literally "Where? Where? You excessively praise) which Chinese protocol expects of me.

We continue this dance of etiquette for a good hour or so, with Wu Peng telling me that my situation as a British National with Chinese and English has me very well-placed for success, and with my reply that his English is far better than my Chinese, and so on.

In fact, I haven't heard Wu Peng speak any English apart from ordering an orange juice and picking the beef meal (our stewardess plonks the chicken meal in front of both of us anyway), but the compliment is accepted with a renewed round of flattery, which I reciprocate.

Conversation flows to girls (东北 girls are tall, which is good, but also square and mannish), language, and drinking and he reveals that he'll be visiting Harbin sometime later in February. He scribbles his phone number on a piece of paper for me and tells me he'd love to get a beer together when he's in town. Success! My first friend of the trip!