Changsha, by Rian Dundon – Vantage – Medium

“At first, when I didn’t speak the language, I would hang out in pool halls and practice counting balls in Chinese. I couldn’t hold a conversation but I knew how to play and I knew how to smoke cigarettes. Later my Mandarin came and I could go to dinner with people or hit the karaoke clubs. Mr. Tian was a whiskey wholesaler and one of our first friends. His brother owned The Red East — a popular nightclub and karaoke house in Jishou where I got my first taste of provincial nightlife.