Spring, not String.

Discussing ritual activity around Houshan in Yixian county, I mentioned the fine ritual specialist Li Yongshu in Baoquan village. After my little detour in Festivals, here the word for “village” is cun.

And Baoquan means Panther Spring—“spring” as in wellspring, not as in

with all the coiled sexual energy of a panther about to spring,

applied satirically to John Major.

Another nice John Major quote comes from a BBC correspondent reporting on the Prime Minister’s visit to an Indian mela:

He brought a splash of grey to an otherwise colourful scene.