Jingle Bells

When you are 18 storeys up, it is just after dawn, it is June and the temperature is predicted to hit 37 degrees Celsius, there is something unworldly to hear Jingle Bells wafting in the air. Several days now I have heard the same. This morning I found the source. It is a street cleaning truck, the chimes a means to warn people they are heading for a drenching if they don't watch out. I wonder if the Peruvian army provides the same courtesy with its water cannon crews? A previous encounter in another city gave me a chuckle when I witnessed a taxi follow along under the nozzles, effectively getting a free car wash. China has adopted many western musical pieces and it is common to hear Edelweiss, Auld Lang Syne, Xmas carols and hits such as Moon River. I give a lot of credit to the persons involved in compiling the tapes played on the trains. Several tedious journeys were made much more palatable because of a very judicious selection of music, Chinese and Western alike. A channel on the tv plays Chinese Opera, whether Hunnan or Peking or something else I am not yet sure. The variety of jingles on cellphone chimes is vast. They go off in every conceivable situation. A friend in Xingtai whom I call the Piano Man runs music lessons at his musical instrument store. It was impressive one day to witness two kids aged around ten strut their stuff. One, an overweight boy, had been playing for six months only but already had a repertoire of pieces he could play without the musical score in front of him. Now where is that bazoo and I'll play you a piece myself. Two notes if I recall.