Part 2 of double bubble update - see also part 1 under a different date for Beijing. It's a long one, but plenty of mishaps for my loyal readers to laugh at...

Louise had thankfully pretty much recovered from her bout of illness, and we've had a great couple of days, but it feels like no time at all since she arrived - so it was weird seeing her off at the airport this morning. See you next week doll, thank you for coming out. Our last night was rounded off with a drink in a 'Manchester bar', where we were the only customers, the owner was a young Chinese guy called Wu (English name Ronnie), and the music was great.

So, I'm on my own again - but actually for China (and not counting HK), on my own for the first time. I moped around for a while, and then decided I needed to get my *rse in gear. So - I've booked a 4-hour hike along the Great Wall for tomorrow. Given that it's 4 hours there by bus (and 4 back), it'll be a long day, but I'm looking forward to it.

I needed two things though - a new bootlace, and a hat. My lace has been fraying for a while, and finally gave up today. And I haven't had a protective hat all holiday - d'oh, I've got at least two at home.

So, intrepid explorer that I am, I set off to acquire these exotic items, plus some provisions for tomorrow morning, which is a 6.15 start - gulp. I managed to find a seriously cool (and expensive) street - there were about 8 guitar shops, and loads of shops selling PSPs, collectable figures, etc. Where were the cheap tat markets when I need them??

My first couple of attempts to combine the Chinese for 'shoe' with the Chinese for 'lace' from the phrasebook were met with disdain - I suspect the word I was using for lace meant the material, and I was actually asking for lacy shoes.... I resorted to the fantastic little book which Louise left me, full of photos which you point at, and result straight away.

I managed the hat as well - a not particularly natty baseball cap, whose price I had a perfunctory attempt at bartering over before I coughed up the GBP1.90.

Buoyed up by these victories, I decided to be a bit more adventurous on the food stakes. Big mistake. Fun with food #97...

I went to a Sichuan restaurant which I'd passed earlier that seemed to have good English. It was actually worse than my Chinese. Which wouldn't have been a problem - if only I'd known what I was meant to eat, what I was meant to drink, whether the sauce was for dipping or cooking with, and in fact, whether I was supposed to be cooking the whole thing for myself...

There was an electric hotplate on the table covered by a piece of paper, which the chef(?) poured oil on as my ingredients arrived - a whole leek, cut into a thousand pieces; a large onion, sliced unfeasibly thin; enough shiitake mushrooms to feed a large family of Guardian readers; and enough thinly sliced beef for at least 4 people.

The chef indicated that I should put my required sauces into the smaller of two ashtrays in front of me. As I faffed about with cumin, soy sauce, spring onions, hot chilli sauce and hotter chilli sauce, she got impatient and started to cook the leek and mushroom. When she deemed it ready, she ladled it into the larger of the two ashtrays - since I was evidently eating for 4, could they not have given me a bigger plate? Hang on, where was the rice or noodles?

Too late. I was obviously eating too slowly - she brought me a knife and fork in an effort to speed me up. I politely declined - so she force fed the rest of the leek and mushroom, and made a big show of getting some scissors and cutting the beef into inch square morsels that even I could eat quickly with chopsticks.

She actually left a few minutes later and a nicer lady arrived, who actually turned the hotplate down and allowed me to serve myself. Bliss. The food was actually really good, and I've love to do it again a) with a user guide and b) with some other people, preferably who knew what they were doing as well. I'd eaten for 4 in about 25 minutes,and barely had time to finish my very large beer - the total bill was GBP7.60. I wasn't sure whether to tip my 'chefs', so I offered the first one 4 yuen (about 40p) - she looked horrified and ushered me out of the door. I waddled a hasty retreat.

Early night tonight - just need to pack a bag and set an alarm. Let's hope the wall is more visually pleasing than the waxy preserved remains of a certain former chairman of these parts I saw in Tiananmen Square yesterday....