Our First 不要 “Bu Yao”

The other day our family decided to attend our first “Bu yao”, pronounced “boo y-ow”.  “Bu yao” in Mandarin means “don’t want”, so its everything the family doesn’t want to keep.  Whenever an expat has to leave for an extended amount of time and can’t store their things they host a “bu yao” party.  Essentially, it is XJ’s version of a garage sell.  They put all of the things that they are able to part with and want to get rid of/sell into the main room of their apartment.  Then everyone in the community is sent an e-mail naming the time and place and its first come first serve.

So Josh, Jaden and I got on the bus and headed down to the southern part of town.  For us we were more interested in the social aspect.  We had heard of this family (they have lived here for many many years) and were excited to meet them.  It also provides a great opportunity to further meet the those in the expat community.

We got to the home right on time and the apartment was already flooded with people.  There were tables full of stuff for free (like books, old DVD’s and kitchen goods) as well as 30 yuan tables and so forth.  They had a few large items but most of those were sold prior to the “bu yao”.  Jaden found two toys right off the bat (the family has 3 kids) and thankfully we were able to stash him in a bedroom where he was able to play and stay out of the way.  As we were chatting and seeing/meeting people we realized that if we wanted anything we better shop first.  Things were going fast!  I think the whole thing lasted just a couple of hours and their house was almost completely emptied by the end.

We ended up getting a set of speakers, a fan, the Mark of the Lion series by Francine Rivers, old travel books on XJ, some yarn and rosemary seasoning.  Jaden got two books and two toys (as seen in the headline picture).

After we found some stuff we were able to chat with those who came and went.  While I was in the bedroom with Jaden I got to meet a couple ladies and chat with them for a little bit.  They both have multiple children so it was neat to hear how they are doing things here in XJ.  It was also encouraging to realize that we already knew a good number of the people who came by.  We don’t see them often but we were able to hear how everyone was doing and who all are pregnant (a surprising number of expats are expecting!).

Once the place was pretty much cleared out we joined some friends to try a new restaurant.  It is run by a U but the food is Arab.  It is like a tortilla wrap (but huge) with roasted chicken, raw carrots, tomatoes and french fries all stuffed inside.  Then you can pour a garlic yogurt sauce and red pepper spices.  Jaden and I left out the spices and of course Josh had it nice and hot.  All three of us thoroughly enjoyed it and have added it to our “take visitors” list of restaurants.  Jaden is great about trying things and everyone (especially the cook) enjoyed seeing him eat his wrap in all its messy goodness.

We then grabbed a taxi and headed back home.  It was a fun Saturday surrounded by expat friends which is such a rare treat.  We are looking forward to this next Sunday when we attend the Easter celebration.  So there is a little take on life here in XJ!