They were back after a long, one-month holiday. Through the month they neither spoke any English nor, perhaps, read a word of it.

So, when they came to class they were like the time when I first saw them - shy Indian brides. Their heads were hanging low and there was nothing to show their enthusiasm or interest, if they felt any, that is.

'How was your holiday?' I asked. No answer!

'Are you glad to be back?' No answer, again.

'Do you miss home?' Still no answer.

'It's going to be a tough one,' I told myself. And, it was until I told them about how I drank myself silly one day on baijiu (white rice wine), huangjiu (yellow, house wine served heated in some restaurants) and swigs from a bottle of Chivas Regal and ended up with a broken rib. I told them also how everything - all restaurants and shops - near the university had shut down and I had had to go hungry some nights because I didn't have the energy to walk a long distance to get a meal. Then, one pretty and kind girl with a beautiful name, Happy, and a smile to back the name, said, 'Jack, had I known you were here I would have brought you your food everyday.'

'Everyday? How far is your home?' I asked.

'Three hours by bus,' she said.

I laughed and so did the others. Soon, they were willing to open-up and talk a little. One said she used to wake up late at 11.00 in the morning until her father said she was too lazy and sent her away to a friend's factory to help out with secretarial work. Another said, she took a part-time job, selling clothes.

'What type of clothes?' I asked.

'Tang zhuang,' she answered. Tang zhuang is the name used in China to describe the style of clothing in vogue during the Tang Dynasty. They're beautiful and back, part-time, in fashion.

Then the subject veered to the sexiest dress to ever drape a woman's body - the Qi Pao!

A Qi Pao starts at the neck and falls all the way down to the feet. It's shaped to show the contours of the body and is slit down the sides, starting around the upper thigh area to give a sneak peek at the color, glow and smoothness of the wearer's skin.

Unashamedly, I confessed my weakness for the Qi Pao and those that wore it, before a class of thirty odd of my grade three students. Some smiled while the others chose to maintain a discreet poker-face.

One student, Jane (students majoring in English and those that are in any way interested in the language usually have English names) ventured to add a little.

'To wear a Qi pao and to look good in it, one must have a swan's neck, a snake's waist and the legs of a giraffe,' she said.

'It's a Chinese saying,' she informed us.

'A snake's waist? Do they have one?' I wanted to ask but before I could, she added, 'The wearer must also have a cow's breasts.'

Ohhh! These Chinese are such darlings!