Happy New Year 2007!

Well, the new year is here and I'm beginning the second half of my commitment in China. I have been unable to update my blog for the last two weeks due to the communications problems affecting Asia caused by the earthquake near Taiwan. It may be another week or more before things get back to normal.

However, some of you have asked how things have been here and I'll try to bring you up to date with my activities. As most of you know, Bob was here to visit from December 21st to January 1st. During that time, I was able to arrange for a very full schedule for Bob's four and a half days of sightseeing in Beijing and we had a relaxing time together sailing on the Yangtze River, seeing the Three Gorges Dam and the Lesser Three Gorges. On the cruise, we were lucky enough to meet some interesting and personable traveling companions: Michael from Houston who runs an art gallery; Lauren and Paul from Maine - Paul is working in China in the shoe manufacturing industry; Barbara and Ronnie from Hamburg, Germany who do extensive traveling; and Michelle and Mike from Chicago - a lovely young couple - Mike speaks fluent Chinese. They all sat at our dining table. Other people on the cruise were traveling with family groups and were from various countries. Bob met a man who knew colleagues of his in Orange County, CA. As they say, it's a small world.



We then traveled on to Xian for a fast tour of the city and to see the amazing terracotta warriors.

The Three Gorges Dam spans the Yangtze at Sandouping, Yichang, Hubei province, China. Construction began in 1994 and it is now the largest hydroelectric dam in the world. The Dam will be 2,335 meters long, 18 meters wide, and its bottom will be 130 meters wide after completion in 2009, and by then the water level will rise to 135 meters above sea level. The reservoir began filling on June 1, 2003, and will occupy the present position of the scenic Three Gorges area, between the cities of Yichang, Hubei, and Fuling, Chongqing Municipality . On the second day of the cruise we took a smaller boat into one of the Lesser Three Gorges which was very beautiful and seemingly remote. On the third day we visited Fengdu, which has fantastic temples of underworld demons and gods. It is known as the " Ghost City " and is a place for punishing the devil and awarding the good.

It is expected the rising of the water level will displace at least 1.2 million people. Along the way, we saw orange groves and buildings partially submerged as the water level slowly rises. There are high water markers for where the water is expected to reach and we could calculate which buildings and towns would be under water by 2009. We're told the old people are having the most difficult adjustment to being relocated. The young people are looking at it in a more positive light as they will get a larger, more modern apartment with central heating and air conditioning. However, it seems many of the buildings were made 8 stories high but with no elevator. Many of the old people were relocated to a higher floor and lose the opportunity to socialize with neighbors as they are not able to make the trip up and down the stairs. One can only imagine the devastation these people must feel at losing their friends and community.

In Xian, we had a city tour to the Shaanxi Provincial Museum and Big Wild Goose Pagoda. Then after a short rest we completed the day with a savory dumpling dinner where we were served 20 varieties of dumplings and were treated to the Tang Dynasty show at Shaanxi Grand Opera Theatre.



The Ancient City Walls, built on Tang dynasty (628 - 907 AD)foundations, date to the fourteenth century Ming dynasty (1368 - 1644 AD). The walls compose the largest and best-preserved ancient fortress in the world. There is a gate in each of the four sides, the gate towers built over each gate look lofty and magnificent and form a tight defence engineering system.



The Terracotta Warriors and Horses were first discovered in 1974 by local farmers digging a well. They are one of the most significant archeological finds of the 20th century. These 6,000 life-sized painted terracotta warriors and horses - individually sculpted from real-life models and arranged in battle formation have been protecting the mausoleum of the first emperor in Chinese history Emperor QinShihuang since 2,200 years ago. It's impossible to describe the sheer size of this site and pictures do not do it justice. All I can say is you have to see it for yourself! Unfortunately, it is surrounded by tourist kitsch but once you get through this it is well worth the visit.


For Bob's first two days in Beijing, on Friday, we took a walking tour of a hutong located close to my apartment, visited Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City, had a special dumpling lunch in a local hutong restaurant and then were treated to a dinner of Peking duck by Mr. Cai, the General Manager of the YMCA in Beijing with Zhu Qi and Mr. Song joining us. The next morning we were joined by my Chinese friend Daisy and her daughter Sally for a trip to Great Wall at Mutianyu and had lunch at a roadside farm restaurant. Later in the evening, we attended the Nolita YMCA Christmas Party and Bob, dressed as Santa, was the guest of honor. On Sunday morning we visited the Temple of Heaven where we saw locals in the park singing, playing instruments and practicing their martial arts. In the evening, we left for our cruise.

The day after we returned from the cruise was Saturday and we took the subway to the beautiful Tibetan Buddhist Lama Temple in Beijing and then went to Wangfujing St. where there is an indoor mall, the largest in China I think, and an outdoor walking street. In the evening we met up with Bob's colleague Rui and his wife for a delicious Peking duck dinner and a walk to Tiananmen Square at night to see the lights. Did I mention it had snowed? This made for some treacherous walking. Many of the sidewalks in Beijing have a type of ceramic tile on them which make them very slippery when wet or snowy. I took a nasty spill which happened so suddenly I didn't even know I fell until I heard Bob and a Chinese woman talking to me. My feet just went out from under me!! I will certainly be much more cautious in the future. Luckily I wasn't hurt at all which I attribute to the hard head I inherited from my father!

Of course, there were no taxis available so we had to take the bus home, another adventure and one I hope not to repeat. The buses here are very crowded almost all the time as they are very cheap to ride, about 13 cents per ride. And now I hear they've discounted the bus fare to entice more people to ride the buses rather than take cars. Nice try but you won't get me on one unless I'm really desperate.

On Sunday, we went shopping to the Pearl Market, Antique Street, and the weekend flea market and then on to Factory 798, a munitions factory that has been converted to art galleries where we had lunch at a western style restaurant. In the evening, we ate dinner at a local restaurant and then it was time for Bob to pack and turn in for his early wake up call of 4:45 am. We had arranged for a car to pick up Bob in the morning. Everything went okay and the car was on time. However, it was a treacherous trip because the car's defroster was not working and the driver had to continually stop to wipe off the windshield. In addition, he could only drive about 20 miles per hour as the visibility was so bad. All's well that ends well and Bob got to the airport in plenty of time to catch his flight.

THE GUIDES

At each point of our journey, excepting Beijing, we had travel guides and drivers to get us from Point A to Point B. In Yicheng, we were met by a driver and guide to take us to the registration area for the cruise. This was a one hour drive. During the trip, our guide told us some facts about the area of Yicheng which we were unable to retain due to being very tired! At one point, our guide turned to us and said that this was Christmas Eve and he understood Christmas to be a holiday for families and why were we traveling without a family? Needless to say we were at a loss for words. We said that the two of us were a family but he inisisted that there had to be more to the story. It just illustrated to me how simplisticly we try to understand another culture and how difficult it is to explain the complexities of our lives.

At the end of our cruise, we were met in Chongqing by a driver and guide to escort us to the airport for our flight to Xian. The guide was very well-spoken in English and began telling us all about Chongqing. As we drove through the city to the airport we saw many hilly, tree-lined streets. It made us regret that we didn't have enough time to dally there. Chongqing is the biggest metropolitan area in the world (surpassing Tokyo). Chongqing's population is 30,000,000. The central city has a population of 15,300,000.

In Xian, we were met by our guide, Maggie, who took care of us during our time there. Maggie had a lot of knowledge about her beloved city, but it was obvious that she had a script and she was sticking to it. If we asked a question, especially if it was off the subject, she was thrown and struggled to refocus on her script.

However, all this was done charmingly, and we were very satisfied with our guides.

Unfortunately, at this time, I'm not able to upload any pictures.Hopefully, this will improve soon. When it does I will add some pictures to this post.

"Father Christmas" Overwhelmed by Adoring Chinese Fans

Dateline: Northern China, Sunday, December 24, 2006

On Friday night, Mr. S. Claus, affectionately known as "Santa", made an unscheduled stop in Beijing, China on the first leg of his World Tour. At approximately 8:30pm, CN time, Old St. Nick appeared at the Nolita YMCA in Beijing's Chongwen district as the Y's Christmas party was concluding.

The Nolita Y holds its annual event with gusto and this year's was no exception. Over 200 children of all ages were enjoying the joyous singing, dancing and other merriment when a Y official, Candy, announced a surprise guest. The Y had received word only a day before that "The Jolly Guy" might drop by. After a short introduction, "The Bearded One" leaped onto the scene with Mrs. Claus following behind as is custom for women in Asia.


What happened next resembled near hysteria. It was clear that many of the "children" had never seen the Honorable Mr. Claus before as he generally arrives under the cover of night. After a couple of warm Ho Ho Hos, most of the crowd rushed "The Man in Red" to hug him and by chance receive one of the goodies from his big, red bag. Witnesses said that Mrs. Claus dashed for cover to avoid injury leaving her adoring spouse to fend for himself. As of press time, no one was hurt in the melee although Y officials had to be concerned.

"I'm getting 'a big long in the tooth' to receive this type of 'rock star' treatment" Mr. Claus wittingly said. "But you can't beat this type of excitement!", he went on, "I feel young again!".

Party attendees remarked that Santa looked trim and fit for a man who has traveled extensively over the last 50 odd years. Some astonished partiers said that, like the Rolling Stones, the way Santa looked he could go on forever.

Earlier in the day, tourists at The Great Wall reported a red blur in the area. Similar sightings were observed at other popular Beijing area spots like The Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square. This reporter confirmed in an exclusive backstage interview at the Y that "I thought I'd enjoy Beijing while visiting China" Mr. Claus said.

After the goodies were distributed, Santa spent a few moments having his picture taken with a few excited fans before dashing out the door onto his reindeer-piloted sleigh.

To bring the crowd back into control, YMCA staff distributed ice cream which cooled things down. As party guests enjoyed their ice cream, several heard a hearty "Merry Christmas and to All and to All a Good Night" across the Peking sky.

Anonymous Reporting by You Know Who

And the Fragrance Remains With You . . .

In English Corner, we discuss topics that are of interest to each individual group. The participants attend to increase their vocabulary and to practice their speaking and listening skills. We have discussed topics like Friends, The Environment, Travel, Education, Sports, Technology, Music, Religion and various others. My students are well-educated and interesting and I learn something from each of them every time we meet. Monday's group meets at the Beijing YMCA Metro office and has 10 - 14 participants of all ages from university students to a retired music teacher. Friday's group is pre-teens ranging in age from 11 to 13 and Saturday's group is comprised of 4 or 5 professional people several of whom work for financial institutions and a professor who teaches marketing. Most of the students have taken English names which were either assigned to them by their English teachers in school or which they picked themselves.

I saw something on TV the other day that said: "As a volunteer, you give roses to others . . . and the fragrance remains with you." Certainly the fragrance of this experience will remain with me forever!

MONDAY
Front:Mary, Carole, Parker, Emma, Annre
Back: Alice, Candy, Philip

FRIDAY
Piggy, Linda, Hoover, Cookie, William, Michael, Mike, Davy, Shirley, Tom (seated) P. C. and Uncas (back row)

SATURDAY
First Picture:Alan, Alexander, Richard.
Second Picture: Daisy, Alan and Richard

Yong He Gong (Lama Temple)

The Lama Temple was originally built in 1694 as the the private residence of Prince Yong. It was turned into a monastery after its owner became Emperor in 1723. It soon became a center of Lamaist religion and art. This temple is the most elaborately restored sacred building in Beijing. It belongs to the Yellow Hat sect, whose spiritual leader is the Dalai Lama. It has five halls and three gates laid out in a north-south axis. The design is symetrical. In each successive hall, the central Buddha is more imposing. In front of each hall, are incense burners. The burners are outside the hall as incense is not permitted to be burned inside the buildings. Also no picture taking is allowed inside the buildings so unfortunately I was unable to get any good images of the Buddhas. In the Pavilion of Ten Tousand Happinesses the Buddha is 23 meters high carved from a single piece of sandalwood. To see the head of the Buddha, you need to stand very close and rock back on your heels. Today about 70 monks live at the monastery. As you walk around the complex, you see many worshippers offering incense to the Buddhas and bowing in reverence. They are simple gestures which seem profound in their actions. In the pictures, you can see that the season has definitely changed from autumn to winter.

The Middle Kingdom

Middle Kingdom or Middle Country, Mandarin Zhongguo, is the Chinese name for China. It dates from c.1000 B.C., when it designated the Chou empire situated on the North China Plain. The Chou people, unaware of high civilizations in the West, believed their empire occupied the middle of the earth, surrounded by barbarians. Since 1949, when the Communists took power, the official name for China has been Zhonghua renmin gongheguo [middle glorious people’s republican country] or, in English, the People’s Republic of China. -- The Columbia Encyclopedia.

Have you ever had the experience or feeling of being alone in the world, like a dream? You're dropped off by a taxi in an anonymous strip mall and silently signaled to go in a particular direction. You slowly walk down a long, barren street where there are no cars or people to be seen. Barriers direct the way. Identity papers must be presented. The only guidance is from uniformed guards who are more likely to gesture than to speak. Noise seems to fade into the background. Walls are topped with barbed wire. Finally, across the street from the Bulgarian Embassy, you find your destination -- The American Citizen Services section of the American Embassy.

It is difficult to explain the bizarre feeling of isolation when all one is doing is trying to find the embassy. No longer are you, or America, the center of the world. You are now in the Middle Kingdom. There are no signs or flags heralding the embassy of the most powerful nation on earth. Of course, this is for obvious reasons but a little disconcerting when trying to find the comfort and security of your own country.

The purpose of my visit was to renew my passport. When I recived my visa for China, I didn't realize that my passport needed to be valid for at least six months after my re-entry to the U.S. I don't know the reason for this but I wanted to get my passport up to date so that I don't have any problems.

You never know what to expect when venturing out into the world and my visit to the embassy was no exception. While waiting to get called for my passport, there was a Chinese woman who was apparently trying to get a visa or a valid passport to the U.S. She had been there before and was trying to go back. However, she could provide no contacts in the U.S. When asked what she did there, she said she was a teacher and her students had funded her previous stay. The embassy representative kept telling her she had to provide 3 names of people she knew in the U.S. but she didn't have any names or phone numbers of students, friends, or colleagues. However, she insisted she wanted to go to the U. S. and had her airline tickets. Not only that, but she insisted she wanted to go to San Francisco, not to Houston where she had been previously. When asked where she was staying in China, she said she had been staying at her father's in a different province but now she would stay in the airport until her visa came through. She said she had $200 and could use it for taxi fare to get back from the airport to the embassy the next day.

This drama was going on intermittently while my passport renewal application was being processed (and I thought I had troubles!). Unfortunately, it's not for us to know the outcome of this story, although I was tempted to stay and see it play out for the rest of the day. Somehow, I got the feeling that there would be no satisfactory resolution for this issue and it was better left to the imagination.

For me, the whole process went very smoothly and in a week or so I should have my new passport. So don't worry, I'll be home in April.

Down In the Alley

There are about 360 named hutong (alleys) in Beijing. They first appeared during the Yuan Dynasty about 700 years ago. The siheyuan (courtyard house) is a traditional dwelling of four single-story rectangular buildings arranged around a courtyard. The gateways are beautifully shaped and the entrance door with stone carvings indicated who lived within the siheyuan. The one pictured was the entrance to the home of a warrior. The hutong buildings are a dark grey color, offseting the splendid reds and golds of the Forbidden City. Originally, they housed a single family but now each one houses up to five or six families. For many westerners, the idea of an alley conjures up in the imagination a shadowy place with sinister figures lurking in the background but the hutong are quite safe. It is very pleasant to stroll around the maze of alleys without the traffic and noise of the main streets of Beijing and observe the comings and goings of the people who live there -- laundry drying in the courtyards, bird cages hanging from the eaves, men delivering coal to the various residences, grandparents caring for toddlers. Many hutong are being razed to give way to high-rise apartment buildings. There are some efforts to preserve and keep safe some of the hutong. However, due to the rapid growth taking place in Beijing, it is uncertain as to how many hutong will survive. And while foreign tourists may romanticize the hutong life-style, relocating may not be entirely unwelcome by many of the hutong residents as, while the residences do have electricity, they do not have the convenience of indoor plumbing and central heating. Toilet facilities are in a separate building and are shared by the community and the siheyuan are heated by coal stoves.
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Ladies Who Lunch

Shu Junyi (Daisy) is a participant of my Saturday night English Corner program. Last week she invited me to lunch at her apartment. She very thoughtfully picked me up at my building and we went by taxi to her apartment. Shu Junyi has a beautiful apartment on the 18th floor of her building. It is light-filled and spacious with beautiful hardwood floors. It has two bedrooms and an office. She is married and has one daughter. Recently she took a trip to Europe with her daughter and we looked at the pictures of the trip. She has a girl helper from the countryside who prepared a wonderful homemade lunch. In the picture you can see three kinds of dumplings, broccoli, tofu, a kind of healthy bean soup with peanuts and in the middle of the soup was a plum. Also with lunch was a fruit salad with apples, pears, bananas and citrus fruit. After lunch, we looked at more pictures which Shu Junyi had on her computer. It was a wonderful day and I'm glad I have a new Chinese friend!