The old boy is not amused. When you are still sowing rice at the age of 65 and living on half a dollar a day, you don't want to spend money on teeth. Particularly when you are buying from a man who is armed with only an umbrella, a wooden stool and a selection of unlabelled powders and liquids. The denture dealer is handed a reluctant 16 kuai (US$2) and his less-than-satisfied customer rubs his new tools every ten seconds to check they are still there.

The market held every five days in Chong'an, a riverside village in eastern Guizhou, is a must for any self-respecting people-watcher. This is deep in Miao territory, home to one of the largest ethnic groups in China with a population of over seven million. People from the surrounding hills converge on the village's dusty streets to trade vegetables, socks and parts of animals only farmers know exist. Grandmothers, who make Kylie Minogue look lanky, use dried meat stalls as an excuse to sit and chat. Women in navy blue tunics - typical Miao dress - sit under red parasols and weigh out pieces of dog.

Men indulge in a favourite but forbidden Chinese pastime of gambling. Three dice featuring animals from the Chinese lunar calendar tumble down a wooden board like a rudimentary fruit machine. Punters rush to bet on the tiger and when it comes up two roosters and a snake the owner of the market's most lucrative stall whips away another 100 yuan (US$12.5).