Gweilo in the Diaolou: Chinese Edition

This is the Chinese language version of Gweilo in the Diaolou: the Misadventures of an Aussie in Rural China It wouldn’t be so bad if I’d worked harder at my Cantonese language skills. Wouldn’t be so bad if I’d bothered to learn some basic reading skills so I could understand simple signs with directions, like “up” or “down”, “left” or “right”. What made it worse is that this wasn’t the first time. Exactly the same thing happened in 2012, the first time I’d made this border crossing. What made it infuriating was that it had happened again despite having discussed a plan, and a very specific contingency plan, but look though I may, high and low, I was completely alone. I walked up and down for a while. I stayed in the same spot for a while. I walked around in circles for a while, dragging my suitcase. No sign of her anywhere. There were people teeming everywhere and most of them looked like her. And of course, I shouldn’t be too hard to find. A Gweilo cork in a sea of Chinese...