dear comrades,

 

please don't scream if you see me on cctv.   at least it's not a porn flick!

dear comrades,

 

Please don't scream if you recognize me on the street. I don't know you.

 

My italian friend L learns half of his Chinese at the infamous gay cruising park -- DongDang Park, near Wangfujin.  I've known about this park for many years, especially since the release of the first Chinese gay movie "East Palace, West Palace", which supposedly took place here.  But this is the first time I came here.  Nowadays people cruise the net or hit the night clubs,  cruising in the park or public toilets are just so out of fashion ----free and laborious activities are out of fashion all together.

 

I came to the park to meet with L for dinner, also out of curiosity. It was surprisingly small and neat, equiped with newly installed exercise machines which are painted bright red, yellow and....pink.  very pink.  There was an artificial hill to my right, looking very much like the one in the movie even though I saw that movie 10 years ago.  As I walked along the path curved around the hill looking for L, I noticed some guy standing under a leafless tree, smiling down at me.  Oh this is so not my cup of tea.

 

L was sitting on a bench with a 3 or 4 guys sitting and standing around him.  Actually he was sitting on someone's lap, holding his Chinese text book and had a big smile on his face. Apparently he's very popular here.  The Chinese guys were poking fun at L's pronunciation,  tricking him into saying "MaBi", which actually translates into "Mother's Pussy".  As a gay Chinese who cruises the net and pays weekly visits to the clubs this is too real for me.  So I smiled and walked away to investigate those exercise machines, leaving L to his admirers.

 

It was getting dark and quite chilly, L finally decided it's time for dinner. To my horror, he invited 2 guys to join us.  Not only that, he insisted going to a Sichuan snack place across street. I've grown very sick and tired of these dirty greasy small eateries, but who am I to argue with L and his friends.

 

So we ended up in this little restaurant with a generic name: "Chongqing Snack".  We ordered drinks and simple dishes. 

 

One guy is young, in his early twenties and was quite talkative.  L would say something in Chinese and he would repeat it to the waitress or the other guy, acting as a Chinese to Chinese translator. I soon started to like his personality. 

 

The other guy is older, I would say in his late thirties. His hair was pushed back and glued together in a strange shape but looked strong enough to withstand any sandstorm. He didn't speak much, only answered questions when asked.  He always had to think for a moment before committing to an answer, no matter how trivial the question was, as if he was a diplomat being interviewed at a tricky international conference.  He smiled elegantly with closed lips when he was not speaking.  For budda's sake he was just cruising the Dongdong park on a cold spring afternoon...was it because L is a foreigner and he felt the obligation to look civilized and dignified?

 

He had on a pair of dark framed glasses.  There's a big Armani trademark on it but no doubt they're knock-offs.  They looked weird on him, especially with the hair --- some things just don't go together. 

 

L asked to see the glasses, and at the same moment I realized that they're just frames.  This guy was wearing a pair of glasses without lenses.   

 

L asked why, his answer was: "My boss asked us to."

 

He's a hair dresser.