yu jie (taiwan), friendship pass (youyi guan).

i met yu jie, a taiwanese businessman on the train to dong dang, a little town near the vietnamese-chinese border. my visa has expired more than a week ago and my local friends were not able to help me. i seeked help from the sg embassy and the immigration office and was advised to leave vn as soon as possible (read blog).

he has helped me a lot along the way -- we spent an hour looking for accomodation and he treated me to meals. he was open and candid about his ideas and thoughts and i enjoyed his companionship. it was nice having someone to speak mandarin with.

an interesting man he is though rather fussy with accomodation. he was robbed once in hanoi, takes an hour to bathe and speaks rather good vnese.

when i returned to enter vn again, i met another chinese man, lin dongning, who travels regularly across the border. i wouldn't have had a smooth ride back without his guidance; he even paid for my taxi ride. back in hanoi, yu jie called to send regards. and i was happy to be back again in vn for a 30-day visa free stay.

born in the year of horse, i got along with these two men, a horse and a tiger. perhaps that's how the pass was named, friendship pass, where i just made two new friends.