One guy who was trying to sell his services as a guide for the day asked where I was from, “London” I replied. He then pointed to Quynh, who was queuing to buy tomorrows train ticket, “and her?”. “London too” I replied. Suddenly he looked very confused, “But she looks Chinese” he said. “She is Chinese” I came back, at which point he looked even more confused. Luckily by this time Quynh had finished and saved me from having to explain about the millions of Chinese people who don’t live in China.

After checking into the hotel we went to a nearby Temple that was one of the sights mentioned on the TV. Although being in the middle of the city once inside the complex all the noise disappeared and calm was restored.

We then rode in what could be best described as a box attached to a 3-wheel motorcycle up to the Iron Pagoda. Not actually made of Iron but the colour of the tiles make it look like it is. We walked up the very narrow staircase to the top and back down again. Meeting people on the way down meant having to crouch in the window bays so they could get past.

We then met some students who were fairly curious about Quynh:

S: “Where are you from?”

Q: “The UK”

S: “You look and speak Chinese”

Q: “My parents are Chinese”

S: “So you were born in China?”

Q: “No, I was born in Vietnam”

S: “So you are Vietnamese”

Q: “No, I’m British”

S: “Is he your boyfriend”

Q: “No, he’s my husband”

S: “Oh, so you are studying in Britain?”

Q: “No I’ve lived there most of my life”

S: *confused*

Next we got another box on wheels and went to a local park. In the park is a large lake which you can walk across to reach a palace. During the walk across the lake Quynh over heard some old local men talking about her and that she was with a white man. They said she must be “one of those modern shanghai women”. We’re not entirely sure what they meant but we think we have an idea.

We only stayed one night and now head to Luoyang.