Bus travel in Haikou

Went to the East Raod Bus Station this morning to catch a bus to Wen Chang (文昌). At the station a young man greeted me very friendly as though we were long lost friends. I returned the greeting and he started talking to me in broken English, telling me that he saw me yesterday in a park on the other side of town. As there are hardly any foreigners in town, one gets easily recognized.
As I was waiting on the bus, a woman got on, trying to sell some of her goods out of her handbag. She waved a couple of bags with dried fruit in front of me and I declined politely by saying 'no thank you'. She looked puzzled and said in Chinese that she didn't understand me. The bus driver was right next to her and he proudly told her in Chinese that I said, thank you, I don't want to buy anything. He then went on to tell the driver assistant and the other passengers all the English words that he knew: Hello! OK! Good morning. Thank you. He was very proud of his vast knowledge of the English language and received admiration from his listeners.