Pingyao Gig

Too funny...Ivan has his first gig in China! Last night we ate at this restaurant/guesthouse where all the backpackers hang and I asked the proprieter if they would like to have some live music here. He didn't really understand but we brought along a CD and they listened to it and then all hell broke loose. There was a photographer and a contingent of Chinese people coming to our table and the manager sent the best bottle of wine in the house to our table and they offered us a free room; it was pretty cool. So we had a couple of bottles of wine with some folks we met from Collingwood and as we were leaving, they were blasting Ivan's CD down the street. We really didn't want to offend the folks where we are staying by taking a room here but when we came back today, the manager took us to the biggest suite in the hotel with a BATHTUB and everything and now Ivan will be playing here for 3 nights and we did take the room because, after all, you can't say no to a gift in China. We are now officially honoured guests. They are having a big banner made up for the outside of the hotel to advertise the entertainment and overall, it should be a good time. I think the room they are giving us is at least $50 USD which is very expensive in Pingyao as the room we have been staying in was about $12 USD.

Before we left, we joked about Ivan becoming a star in Inner Mongolia - this is better as we love this town a lot! After leaving here last night we went to our guesthouse and Ivan played for a packed room with everyone singing "I'm a Believer" and shaking eggs and tambourines. We are definitely leaving our mark here. More later ...and....I think I can post photos here tomorrow. Today I am suffering from a miserable headcold and hope to shake it off with honey and lemon. Hey, they serve really good spaghetti here :) The running joke is - so, ya feel like Chinese food tonight?