Mainlander tip: assuming you can get it back home in one piece (Air Canada considers guitar strings weapons....), a guitar is one of the best purchases you can make over here. Domestic manufacturers are still struggling with quality control, making it possible to find truly excellent instruments at every price level. The caveat is that there are more bad ones out there than good ones: you'll need an eye and ear for a good instrument to find a great deal.

Now that we've got that out of the way, let's listen in on today's lesson: the story of a lovesick troubadour and his admirer. In a scant nine minutes this podcast will throw a lot of Chinese your way, including details on how to sound uncertain, and an easy way to negate questions. We also give Xiao Liu a round of applause for his solid E-minor plucking: surprisingly listenable considering that was his first time ever touching a guitar.