An Arm for a Wing

Shenzhen, China

One of my major aims when coming to Guangdong Province and Hong Kong was to try the Cha Shao Pork and Cantonese roasted duck that I learnt to love in my favourite Chinese restaurant in Woking. Would it be even better here? So after my nap in the park and a bit of strolling around I hunted around central Shenzhen for a restaurant that had the characteristic window display. It wasn't that easy, actually. Also, in China there are so many restaurants that you never know how to pick a good one. Eventually I picked one and was shown upstairs. They did have very tasty duck. They also had a slightly intoxicated old man in a corner who was curious about the foreigner who could speak Chinese.
He invited me on a beer, joined me at my table and we chatted - a bit awkwardly on my part since I couldn't often understand him because of his strong southern accent and I needed the waitress, whose Mandarin was clearer, to "translate" for me.
After my meal came the main event: He asked me to arm wrestle him. I'm not very strong, so to save myself the embarrassment I tried politely to decline but he insisted. So, the table was cleared, we aligned our arms, locked hands. "Please Mister Wei", he requested politely (I had introduced myself with my Chinese name), "go easy on me. I am an old man. Do not hurt me." I didn't think that likely but acknowledged. "Slowly", he said. So I gently started to press. I pressed harder. Frankly, in the end I pressed as hard as I could. Just his arm didn't budge. It was like wrestling one of the stone guardian lions. "Mister Wei", he said still smiling a polite smile, "please do not be courteous. You have to try harder." There was no sign of strain in his voice. Then in one easy motion he brought my hand to the table. I do believe with a bit more force he could have broken it. Even so it felt like he was twisting it off. To save myself at least a bit of face in front of him (and in front of the waitress) I explained that I had spent most of my life in front of a computer while he had worked in manual labour most of his. He accepted that and it was time for my getaway.
I would have liked to think that hefting that 30kg backpack around would have improved my fitness at least a tiny bit. Or maybe it has and God knows what would have happened otherwise ...