The times they are a-changin'

I was taking a bus in Beijing recently when a Chinese woman asked me: "Were you a teacher at Erwai before?" Actually, I was at the famous foreign languages institute between 1991-93, and I thought maybe she could have been one of my students. But she added: "Are you the person who wanted to buy brown sugar?" "Yes," I said hesitantly.

I thought back to when I was a newcomer and finally realized who she was. I asked the lady whether she was still working for the State-owned food store where I tried to find brown sugar. "Oh no!" she exclaimed. "That was so long ago. My husband and I opened a small private store in 1996, and four years later, a larger supermarket. We have more than 40 employees."

"And brown sugar?" "All kinds of products: light, medium, or dark brown sugar, even from foreign brands. China has changed a lot, you know!"