Cigars in Hefei
Posted: Monday, October 24, 2005
By Bruce Goldman
A box of cigars can go a long way, especially when you're 7,500 miles from home.
We were in Hefei, the capital city of Anhui Province in eastern China, where 10 families, including ours, had traveled to adopt infant girls. Due to National Day on October 1, which commemorates the founding of the People's Republic of China, government offices were shut down for an entire week, which meant our group had to remain in the province for 12 days. Aside from a visit to a small shrine honoring Lord Bao, a government official during the Song dynasty (960–1279) who was known for his uncompromising stance against corruption, there was little to do in Hefei except bond with the babies, shop for clothes and toys, and eat a lot of Chinese food.
Fortunately, I had packed a box of Tatuaje cigars for the trip. They weren't just for the new dads; I needed something that was made in the United States to present to Chinese adoption officials as a gift of friendship. (Not necessarily the easiest thing to do, as most products in the States seem to have the familiar "Made in China" stamped all over them.) After setting aside the cigars for the officials, there were plenty of smokes left over with which to celebrate the adoptions.
The first occasion to do so presented itself about halfway through our stay in Hefei. Following a buffet dinner, four of the families in our group repaired to the Holiday Inn's game room, where the men shot a few friendly games of pool while the women played with the babies, and the children in the group (including my 6-year-old daughter, Rachel) chased one another around the room. After some incredibly long games (none of us proved particular deft at the sport), two of the men joined me on the veranda and we lit up the Tatuajes. For the next hour, we traded stories about our lives, with Larry and Jeff particularly relishing their high school football days. The night was cool and the atmosphere relaxing, with the quietude occasionally interrupted by the horn-blowing taxis five stories below.
A couple of days later, Larry and I were playing a game of chess in the hotel coffee shop, accompanied by Tom, another of the new fathers. We broke out the cigars again, enjoying a leisurely smoke while we sipped our coffees and cappuccino. Being able to smoke indoors was a welcomed change from New York City, where the health police have outlawed smoking in practically every bar. In China, smoking is about as natural as breathing. You can smoke almost anywhere. Want to light up at breakfast? No problem. Smoking is just part of the culture here.
The following evening, cigars once again provided pleasant company. After we put our kids to bed, Larry, Tom, Robert and I sauntered down to the fourth floor and relaxed with some drinks and smokes in a lounge called Charlie's Bar. As we puffed away, Tom told us some wild tales about a bar he owns on Long Island called Charactors, while Robert, a Kansan, shared some of his experiences as an airline mechanic. A three-piece Chinese band soon came on, performing a couple of Santana tunes (!) and some other familiar Western songs.
As the trip wound down, a number of families talked about getting together for a reunion within the next year or two. There will be much to catch up on, and no doubt plenty of cigars to smoke.
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