For a real start to China life, begin to see 2 as 8

The big strawberries on the Beijing market remind me of my first spring here back in 1991. These dark red fruits of different shapes and sizes made my mouth water, and I thought of making several jars of short-cooking and low-sugar strawberries. The strawberry man put up his thumb and index finger as if raising a pistol at me. "Only 2 mao (0.2 yuan)," I thought, and asked for 10 jin (5 kg), taking 2 yuan from my wallet.

Handing me the big bag, the man said: "Ba kuai (8 yuan)." I was surprised, but then remembered that raising these two fingers resemble the Chinese written character "8", while for us Italians they indicate "2".

One can learn a language in a classroom, but no textbook can ever teach social and cultural nuances the way experience does.

The first time I wanted to buy eggs, my skills in Chinese were still up to only "ni hao" (hello) and "xie xie" (thank you). So, I pointed at some eggs in a box and asked for "yi jin".

Once at home, when I tried to crack the eggs, I was surprised at how resistant they were. In fact, what I had bought were salted preserved duck eggs - xian ya dan, a delicacy that I had never heard of.

Another day, I went to the market and bought some you cai (a kind of cabbage). The merchant used his fingers to indicate "3" as they often do with foreigners, presuming we don't speak Chinese. I gave him 3 yuan and left. He smiled, said something I didn't understood, then turned to the other vendors and they all laughed together. Only several days later did I realize that I had paid 10 times too much: He had meant 3 mao (0.3 yuan).