How I became a badass - Nech does Shenzhen

In the days following my most trip to the mainland, several exchange students have greeted me with the same excited sentiment, "Whoa, I heard what happened. You're so badass!"

This is how it went down.

On the way back from Guilin, Greg and I broke off from the group (no more Lance to guide us) to spend a day in Shenzhen, which is right across the border from Hong Kong and famous for its illegal DVD’s, cheap massages, and fake clothes and accessories. There we walked in circles looking for an archway we never found, bargained with physically abusive storekeepers, felt very shady in drug deal-esque DVD purchases, and scored some $3 (U.S) ‘Nike’ shirts.

Browsing through a pile of fake Giordano polos on the street while wearing a full backpack and holding 3 plastic bags of clothes, I felt a bump on my side. Suspicious, I reached into my pocket and shouted at Greg, “My wallet’s stolen!”

Thank you Tom Clancy for teaching me what a professional pickpocket feels like.  Because as much as getting pickpocketed sucks (and it does; I felt like an absolute fool), if I was right about that bump, the thief could not have gone far. Looking up and around, I saw an older man about 15 feet down an alley walking away from me with his hand by his back pocket. If I wanted to see my wallet again, it was now or never. It was the most intense call I've had to make.

I started running.

He started running too.

He turned into an empty building. Heart pounding, I followed. He ducked into a staircase. I got within six steps barreling down full speed.

Suddenly, he stopped, turned, and threw me my wallet. Stunned, I watched him walk to the bottom of the stairs. Not knowing if he took anything from the wallet and not wanting to lose him in case he did, I ran to catch up with him, now in a crowded basement market, and grabbed his arm. Nothing missing. I let go.

Apparently, he did not want to mess with me.

Badass.

Or stupid.  Still haven't decided.

Trembling after the adrenaline rush (I'm a wuss at heart), I retraced my steps and showed off the reclaimed wallet to Greg; after taking too long to process my shout to join the chase, he had been teaching the surrounding vendors some choice English curse words. The ladies at the stands gave me thumbs up. “Did you buy that already?” Greg asks, motioning to the polo shirt I had inadvertently stolen as I bolted from the shop and had completely forgotten was in my hand. I could barely keep my fingers still enough to pay.

The shirt was actually ugly, but what the heck.

They let me exchange it for another one anyway after I calmed down.

Check back next week for Nech does Thailand. (I rode an elephant yesterday!)