I was cycling East along the Tongzi Canal, making my way towards the Wenyu River and the northern-most tip of the 2000 year-old Grand Canal. 2 hours and just 20 km later, I sat down at a leafy stretch to enjoy my Powerbar. That’s when I noticed this old man and his yo-yo.

He was a master. He would pick up the yo-yo with the string, and expertly move the sticks back and forth, up and down, until the yo-yo was spinning at a tremendous speed. Zhrrrrrrrrrrr! Zhrrrrrrrrrrrr! was the sound it made, as it spun faster and faster. The string and the sticks disappeared, it it was just man and yo-yo, and he started dancing and twirling as the yo-yo went over his head and between his legs and seemed to fly away from him and then towards him and around him and zhrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

The name of the yo-yo? It’s written on the wall in Chinese characters: Kongzhu.