Many have asked us howwe communicated with the Chinese people, and how we ate. We have gotten very good at sign language and body language. Kind of like charades, 24/7. We do have a Mandarin phrase book, but in Yunnan Province many people do not read or even speak Mandarin, as they have their own languages.
Above is a photo of us out on an overnight hike with our guide and a herder we met alomg the walk. Char is trying to communicate with our guide, who's message was interpreted as "I know a good restaurant when we reach town." To this Jon replied "the drinks are on me," although when we arrived we realized his intended message had been "stay with me at my house, and eat my food, for a small fee." Nice guide, of the Naxi ethnicity.
Jon buying beer. Fingers are pretty good for counting, although the Chinese count differently on their fingers than we do. Fpr example, two index fingers crossed means ten, and the hang loose sign is some other number, although we never figured out which.
Eating was often an adventure, although some places had the food displayed, which was quite helpful, as we could just point, and ususally knew what we would get.
A restuarant with food displayed was often where we would head for. Another strategy was to go where lots of people were eating and point to what was on someone elses table that looked good. The folks never seemed to mind, as the Chinese don't seem to expect foreigners to have even the slightest grasp of their language. It's hard! The food in China was delicious, and there were many different types of food to choose from, as there were so many ethnic foods, plus the people eat out a lot themselves. A good meal often cost only one dollar for two.
If the food didn't have enough of it to begin with, there was almost a jar of salt, "spicy," and MSG on the table from which we could supplement!
Above is a photo of us out on an overnight hike with our guide and a herder we met alomg the walk. Char is trying to communicate with our guide, who's message was interpreted as "I know a good restaurant when we reach town." To this Jon replied "the drinks are on me," although when we arrived we realized his intended message had been "stay with me at my house, and eat my food, for a small fee." Nice guide, of the Naxi ethnicity.
Jon buying beer. Fingers are pretty good for counting, although the Chinese count differently on their fingers than we do. Fpr example, two index fingers crossed means ten, and the hang loose sign is some other number, although we never figured out which.
Eating was often an adventure, although some places had the food displayed, which was quite helpful, as we could just point, and ususally knew what we would get. 
A restuarant with food displayed was often where we would head for. Another strategy was to go where lots of people were eating and point to what was on someone elses table that looked good. The folks never seemed to mind, as the Chinese don't seem to expect foreigners to have even the slightest grasp of their language. It's hard! The food in China was delicious, and there were many different types of food to choose from, as there were so many ethnic foods, plus the people eat out a lot themselves. A good meal often cost only one dollar for two.
If the food didn't have enough of it to begin with, there was almost a jar of salt, "spicy," and MSG on the table from which we could supplement!
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