So Long *Hefei* Buffet (Which Rhymes, By the Way)

We had our last meal at the Qiyun Hotel this morning.  I don't know how they'll get along without us tomorrow.  I won't miss the food after 6 days of the same thing, but I'll certainly miss the view out the window.  There are 7 million people in *Hefei* and 6 million of them walk, pedal, scoot, or drive by these restaurant windows everyday.  It's a people watcher's paradise.  These still pictures just can't capture the scene.  Imagine the continuous variety of horns honking, the putt-putt of the scooters, the clang of the bicycle chains.  Put this picture into motion, and it's a thing to behold.  There is a narrow strip in front of the hotel and just beyond the cars in the foreground is a row of cars parked here and there and beyond those cars is the street.  On the left where it looks sandy are about 15 men on their hands and knees laying down a strip of bricks with string lines and rubber mallets in the midst of all this.  Most of the traffic goes to the right, but you never know when someone is going to come from the other direction.  More horn honking follows, but it just keeps right on moving.  I don't imagine the rhythm will change tomorrow without us, but maybe any of those 6 million who saw us in the window everyday for a week will  wonder where we are.