Whatever You Want

Free day in Xi’an. So we explored. So many stares. Between Jacob’s beard, my “blonde”, and little Rose, it made sense. Especially when we didn’t pass another American or European anywhere on the streets or in the shopping malls, which is what we checked out first.

Tiny shops packed like blocks spilling over in vegetable peelers, scissors, glass teapots, barrels of red and yellow rubberbands. You could probably find anything you needed for anything. But what Rose really wanted was a plastic hand-operated Peppa Pig fan, so of course Daddy forked over the 5 yuan (76 cents by today’s exchange rate). On the way back, KFC to go.

Rose napped heavy after a taste of “American” chicken before we explored the opposite direction.

This nine-plus-level shopping center included a fish pond for the young tykes of Xi’an to catch their own fat orange goldfish to take home. Whatever you want, they’ve got it.

A woman with a loud, happy voice speaking something that didn’t sound like Mandarin to me, walked up beside us on the street, smiling and waving at Rose. The little boy holding her hand was carrying a big orange flower. He offered it to Rose. She accepted, to the delight of the boy’s family. Not even three years old and she’s already got a first admirer.