Flies

Everyone has flies. Dirty little creatures. China has them too of course, but we note that the preferred way of dealing with them is the fly swat.

That's OK, but it can be disconcerting. Let me explain.

We visited a restaurant one day in the centre of Shaoxing, which displays a plaque that labels it as one of the best restaurants in China in 1985. I don't think it has been updated since, but it just happens to be handy for us sometimes, and we rarely have anything more than a cold drink on a hot day.

The first time I was there, an elderly gentlemen spent the whole time swatting flies and flicking them onto the floor. Whack! Bang! It continued much to our amusement as we sat only feet away from his activities. Whack! Bang! Flick!

The other day I was there again with a friend, who was visiting the restaurant for the first time, and I was telling here about the "Mr Fly Swat" man. And lo, someone else turned up, swat in hand raised to get his next victim.