A Chinese calligrapher (Xi'an)

On the way back to hotel, we stopped by at one calligraphy shop. While waiting for my aunt to shop and beating price down (she was actually good at it), I enjoyed watching local people buying calligraphy brush. After people left, store clerk's attention now turned to me. (In China, even you tell them you are not going to buy anything (there is no consideration of "JUST looking". ), clerks will anyways keep showing merchandise at a great pace until you leave the place.) The clerk recommended many expensive brush to me, and asked to try out. At that point, I no longer protested that I wasn't going to buy anything, and just asked for the size of brush I could write and copy out MI FU's ink rubbing.

There was an old Chinese man looking at me the entire scene . He looked gentle, tipical old man in China, wearing Mao氏 jacket (looked like). When I wrote my name with trying out brush and turned my face to him, he said, "Hao-da, Hao-da (good)" with a gentle smile.
I know that Chinese!
Whatever I wrote and turned my face to him, he said, "Hao-da, Hao-da". I was happy to see him smiling.

Then, the clerk told something to the old man and he hold the brush. One second before he wrote something on paper, my aunt and I saw his concentration, in an instant. His posture, eyes, hands, arms, everything had changed the one's of a calligrapher. He wrote 西安 (Xi'an) in the demotic semi-square style（隷書）and showed it to me.

Before water on the paper went off (try out brush was used water, instead of black ink), I took the picture. He wrote something again in the demotic semi-square style, and read it to me. Again, I tried to take the picture, but he stopped me. Instead, he told I could take pictures of a piece of writing he was holding. It was a big piece of writing, beautiful Chinese calligraphy. Sofisticated and decent. "Did you write this??" Yes, he was a calligrapher! He showed his work and read all the characters for me. I was the one saying, "Hao, Hao" this time.
Until this moment, I didn't feel this much regret for not speaking or understanding Chinese.

Now, his work (picture copies) are in everywhere around me, the wall of my room, computer desk top, my work desk, and I also carry with me.
I didn't realize this until I brought pictures home and took good look at them, his writing is amazing!! And I know that not many people could write in the demotic semi-square style. There must have considerable knowledge and work needed behind this.
Hope to see him again someday.