We arrived in town to be directed to a market which turned out to sell fruit and vegetables and bird cages. Talking to a couple of traders and we were soon redirected to a piece of derelict land where a sort of car boot sale was taking place.
Walking amongst the sellers of nuts and clothing we found a small group selling fancy pigeons but no one had any idea about falconry.
I was just beginning to think we had found another dead end when I spotted this Shrike tied to a perch that was stuck into a gap under the petrol tank of a small motorcycle.
I put my bag down to get out a camera and ask the trader if I could photograph the bird, when he noticed the little hood that Mr. Zhucheng had tied there a few days before.
He was very interested and when I showed him my book of photographs the usual large nosey crowd gathered. Much interest was shown and a lot of discussion was held and as the crowd dispersed a few young men asked me more about my hawks.
I took them to a local restaurant where we cemented our common interest over food and a few beers.
