The Changsha Street

Street life is still alive in China. Just taking a short walk in the afternoon you see people playing ma zhong and cards, fruit sellers, nuts sellers, live eels or fish, barbeque (at night the barbecue pigs ears come out), fried aged do fu (which stinks, as in smells terrible, but Changsha people think it is delicious) migrant beggers, sellers of every kind of nick nack, temporary tattoos, fake clothes, shoes, pirated DVD's for 50 cents, and my personal favorite, fortune tellers. Other than getting on Chinese television before I leave, my other big goal is to understand enough Chinese to get my fortune read. They use, what I assume is the traditional methods of the e-qing sticks, shaking a can and allowing a few to fall to the ground, then seeing what is in store. I really don't know anything about it, but one of the best parts is how a crowd gathers around to hear everyone else's fortune. Have to love the group reactions in China. There is one particular man who is often outside of the university, she is short and a little stocky, and he wears very western style tourist cloths, like Hawaiian shirts, along with a large thick round pair of glasses. He is very popular, maybe he gives the best fortunes. We shall see.