Hetain

Where had he been going?
What did he have planned originally?

He was walking on his way to somewhere, minding his own business, when 2 strangers asked for help. They were searching for a crafts maker, but all they had was a name, a photo and the area. He did not know the man, nor did he know the place. However, instead of just apologizing for not knowing, he became search party leader. He spoke very limited Mandarin, but all that was required was to follow as he walked and occasionally stopped to look and think. He inquired in Uyghur at a CD shop, the bank, a phone shop, 2 men sitting on a cart, a family in the courtyard of a closed carpet shop… The glint in his eye gave away how much he was reveling in the challenge; our shared laughter gave away how much we were enjoying each other’s company. As all our leads came to dead ends, we jump on the back of a motorbike-truck and head speedily somewhere. And it was halfway to there that we said goodbye. With a tug of his beard, he confirms with the driver the destination, jumps off, signals to give the driver 3RMB and disappears into a mass of people.

Never did find the craftsman, but instead found an intriguing 79 year old.