Not often I have to rush home to update my blog so make the most of it. I get a cab to and from work every day. The morning taxi I sit there mute and pissed of as I driven to impending death but the cab I catch home in the evening is a different story with me trying to engage the hapless driver into some kind of conversation. I always view any contact with the locals as a free Chinese lesson so I try and interact as much as possible. This evening I caught a cab home and had the pleasure of it being driven by a very jolly chap he laughed loudly and spat huge blobs of phlegm out the window. We had a chat about where I am from and how China owns all of Americas money and how much (surprise surprise) he hates the Japanese. The usual things that most working class Chinese people like to talk about. I asked him if he knew any English and he said no. Reluctantly he uttered a ‘hello’ and a ‘goodbye’ and that was it. As we approached my gated compound he said one other thing in perfect English ”We are studying for the revolution” which is, for whatever reason, perhaps the coolest thing I have ever heard. We both laughed as he said it but it struck me how close I am to those that 30 years ago were in a different place to where they may be now. China is cool, there is no doubt, but you have to dig for this cool shit.You won’t find the cool stuff by looking at it.