Gu Tian Si Lu

Nothing matters but the unspoken understanding that settles in all human relations. I found this out the day a Chinese shopkeeper provided me with cigarettes and coffee without so much as a breath issued between us. She spoke not a single word, and neither did I. However, we smiled politely, acknowledging the transaction, and shared a being-there moment. My foreigner-face did the trick, and the linguistic abilities I’ve always carried with much pride and confidence were providently useless and irrelevant. My Chinese will never attain accuracy, but I’m confident living here in China knowing that human co-operation goes beyond the ostentatious frills of language.

Ah, my coffee, my cigarettes, my foreigner-face.

All the thorny turns of life straightened out in a single instance along Gu Tian Si Lu.