Noodles and oh so much more

Even though Jingmen contains around 2 million people, we are located on the outskirts.  The new aviation center is situated right next to a sleepy small town called Hongtu.  No traffic lights here.  Saturday night Dana and I decided to walk into our little town to try this “noodle place” that we heard about from one of our coworkers.

NOODLES MADE TO ORDER

We arrived at the little street side place and were greeted by the owners.  They seemed happy to see us and cleared a tiny table along the street for us to sit.  I watched the owner stretching and pounding some dough and then realized – he was making our noodles right there in front of us.

You can’t get fresher than this!  I took a bunch of photos of the owner and the enterprising businessman made sure I got the restaurant name in the photos. 

It’s free advertising, you know, so YOU, dear reader can find the place.

The noodles were great.  Two big bowls with some sliced beef that was really tender.  The cost was 20 RMB ($3) for BOTH of us.

Oh, and our hotel puppy apparently hangs out at this restaurant too.  She joined us about halfway through the meal.   Don't worry, she is well fed by the locals.

AND THEN THINGS GET WEIRD

Halfway through the meal, the owner started doing something in the back room.  He was getting out a bunch of small boxes and setting them up on a table.  He then waved me over.  The boxes contained brand new cell phones.  I’m thinking…”Great, now he’s trying to sell me some Chinese knockoff phone”.  I showed him my brand new phone provided by my company, but he didn’t seem to take the hint.  Then he motioned for Dana to come over too and started showing her the phones.  I thought that maybe he was trying to convince Dana to get me to buy one?  Nope. 

He motioned for us to sit down and hold one of the boxes.  Then I watched his partner get her phone out to take a photo…and it hit me.  He was making a advertising photo for his phones with us!  I can see the headlines now that will soon appear all over the Chinese internet.  

By XYZ phones!  Endorsed by the coolest foreigners!  It’s the communist inspired ripoff that the capitalists trust!

REALLY WEIRD

While we were posing like the superstar models that we are, Dana said “Stephen Look!” as a woman entered the restaurant.  I turned and saw this Chinese woman with the following shirt:

Yes, a New York Jets (my favorite NFL football team) shirt!  You have got to be kidding me.  Now it wasn’t green and white, but still.  What are the odds of seeing this logo in the middle of nowhere China?  Riii-diculous.  I immediately jumped up to take a photo next to my new best friend.  First, though, I had to use my trusty Google Translate to explain to this (now very nervous) woman why I was pointing at her chest and cozying up for a photo.  I don't think she had any idea what the logo meant.  But I couldn’t let the moment pass.

DON’T WORRY, HE’S A LICENSED DEALER

Well, after that excitement we settled down and finished our yummy noodles.  The owner though was not done.  

He had to show me some photos of himself with the “designer” of the phone.  He must have attended some kind of seminar (my best guess - a Chinese multi-level marketing scheme).  We exchanged contact info on Wechat, of course, so I expect the royalties for our modeling services to pour in any day now.

He also had his certificate as an authorized seller of Chinese knockoff phones.  He was really proud of it as you can see.  After all this, we headed back to the hotel with our hotel puppy leading the way.  You never know what a simple night out for noodles will bring around here.