Tuesday 25 December 2012

Our Christmas wish for you is that your Christmas Day will be happy and peaceful.

I know that you will take a moment to think of the Saviour and all that He has blessed you with.

We are proud of Alisa for directing the Stake Nativity this year, with the help of Tim, Thomas, Maria,

Ryan, Lily, Annie and other family members who helped in some way. 

We miss our association with all of you, but as you can see, we haven't missed all the fun. Can you believe 

that Santa was waiting for a bus right by the foreign students' dormitory?  We had to give him a hug!

Merry Christmas

Friday 21 December 2012

We have explored the city this week, going to a few previously unvisited places.

One stop was the clothing market near the main Guangzhou Train Station. The metro escalator photo is from
that excursion. That is what 15-30 million people in one city looks like. You may think that the numbers are not
very precise, but that is the count. At any time there may be double the number of people who officially live in the
city. Thirty million is almost the population of Canada, if you want a comparison. The market was fun but overwhelming.
It covered blocks and blocks. There is also a "Where's Waldo" picture for you.

Today we just returned from visiting the South China Botanical Garden and it was sprawling and perfect. We are
not botanists, but could appreciate the wonder of it all. It had about every plant imaginable from desert to Antarctic to tropical
plants. We want to return when the orchids are blooming. Getting there was the main adventure as it required both the metro
and buses plus help when we took bus #39 in the wrong direction.

Congratulations to Jordan and Caitlin on the birth of Lauren Josephine. People all over the world are happy for you.

We hope that little Ivy is doing well and we are proud of Nena and Jeff for being such good parents.

Fraser, sorry about your chin stitches.

Alisa, good luck with the donkey at the Nativity.

Tuesday 18 December 2012

"Every coin has two sides."
This is a common proverb in China and the students use this saying to express contradictions.
Let me illustrate a two-sided Chinese "coin."

The Chinese people are unfailingly gracious. Of course, there is the usual rude bustle of a huge city, but on a
personal level the kindness and graciousness is amazing and appreciated. For example,
last night one of Don's classes invited us to a banquet (spinner dinner as we call these festive affairs) at a nearby
hotel restaurant off campus. It was especially gracious since the class was young students who probably
lacked the social experience of older students. We had a great time and the atmosphere was fun and family-like.
You can see the wide array of food that is the norm at Chinese entertainment in a private room at a restaurant.
We enjoyed the delicious Cantonese food. (My favourites are the fish, vegetable dishes, and tofu dishes. The soup
is delicate, but almost too bland, but enough for now.) What is so remarkable is the sincere ability too express thanks.

Likewise, I received many personal gifts and cards from students after the classes were completed.
A cynic could say that this is part of guanxi, ( beneficial connections) and there might be some truth to that for some
of the students. But, I think, most were simply acting upon Chinese graciousness.

The other side of this graciousness coin it that the Chinese people usually do not want to offend by being bossy. As a result,
we would call some situations vague. For example, last week I was asked to make a voice recording for the university president
who wants to improve her English. I went to the campus recording studio with Susan, from the office. It took over
a half hour to read and record the pamphlet. After, Susan said, "I wonder if that was a little fast?" After some back and forth
I said that I would be happy to read it again at a slower pace. This is very common. Instead of stopping me after the
first 5 minutes, Susan did not want to be critical. Instead of being what we would call forthright, there
was a vague discussion that finally resulted in what was intended from the start. This is common and was difficult
to understand when we first arrived, and it still seems indecisive.

Wednesday 12 December 2012

This week I have been having personal interviews with the students in the oral English classes. The assignment is to
come to the interviews prepared to start a conversation of their own choosing. Here are a few stories from the interviews.

Zhai Xiaoping is a great story teller from Henan province:

He started by saying, "I was born in an apple orchard." After it was established that he meant "apple" and not "April," his story continued as follows and I hope it wasn't lost in translation:
"I was born in an apple orchard. I was born there so my mother could keep it a secret. I was the fourth child in the family.
I went to live with my uncle until I was about 2 years old. When my uncle finally took me outside, someone said, 'What a nice'
little boy. What is his name?' Since my uncle didn't know what to say, he blurted out, "His name is Xiaoping." "Xiaoping"
means 'born in an apple orchard." As I grew up I was teased because it is a girl's name. Then I learned that our Premier
Deng's name was 'Xiaoping." (Do you know about Premier Deng? he asked. At this point we were both having a real good
laugh. He was the most exuberant story teller.) I thought, if Premier Deng had that name, then it is OK with me."

Liu Fangfang is a soft-spoken girl from Shandong province:

At the end of the interview she said that she has been away from her 3 year old son and hasn't seen him for 6 months.
She said, "I feel like an irresponsible mother." It is a 30-hour trip to get home. When asked if she was content that she
is doing the best thing, she replied, "Yes." The capacity for self-sacrifice is amazing and even heroic. She is trying to
make a good future life for her son and her story is not uncommon.

Li Yang or Irving is from Gansu province in the northwest of China:
By the way, Li or Lee as we would pronounce his name, is the most common surname in my classes.

"We need ministers or priests in China. Last year I had a friend who committed suicide. He failed 2 courses and he did it.
The school said that he could have 2 more years to finish his courses, but he did it anyway. We need people who we can
talk to, to relieve the stress. (I questioned if there were no people who could provide that service) We have doctors but doctors
are not what is needed. They cannot heal that. We need a different kind of healing, like a spiritual healing. (I asked if he believed
in God) No, I do not believe in God, but we need ministers in China to help."

These PhD students are impressive, and it is easy to forget that they are when their English skills are so childlike and because
they are polite, fun loving and sweet. Here are a few generalities about them:

- They revere Steve Jobs
- They like the movie "Braveheart," especially the execution scene when the hero yells "freedom.'
- They are environmentally conscious
- They all have cell phones and iPhones
- They are concerned with the notion of "happiness"
- They are proud of the cuisine in China and talk about the 8 different cuisines, I was informed today that Guandong Cuisine
is not really Cantonese Cuisine since Cantonese Cuisine is more the Hong Kong variety
- They are under enormous stress to do well
- Many have jobs that are demanding while taking PhD work
- Many are here without their spouse or child
- They are curious about the West and are open to debate
- They are passionate and talk openly about love
- They want to know that I like China. And, in fact, I think that it is a magnificent country.
- They were extremely guarded around me until they discovered what a foreign teacher was all about
- They are not always polite with their own Chinese professors.
- They have a loyal family structure and miss their mothers' cooking
- Many, but not all, come from poor families and all the students at SCUT are here on their own merit

Monday 10 December 2012

A funny thing happened the last day in one of the oral classes.
The class was divided into two groups and they were having an activity to force them into speaking with one another in English.
The activity was to draw a map of China and then add the neighbouring countries. (One point for the correct location and two points if the
English spelling was correct.) If you think that this is easy, look to the west of China to see what lies there. The students are very competitive and also have a great sense of fun.

One half of the class had put Taiwan as a neighbouring country.
The other half instantly started shouting (and I mean shouting) that Taiwan IS a part of China.
They were pointing and aggressively disagreeing.
This went back and forth for a minute or more, and luckily they were good natured.
I thought, "This could be a problem any minute!"
To solve the problem, I split the difference on points.

December 8 continued

Saturday 8 December 2012

We finished our first semester classes this week and we feel that we have put in a good semester's worth of work.
Our classes end earlier in the year than most, and we now have individual interviews and the written final exam to work on now.

The following pictures will speak for themselves. We have truly enjoyed the students and they have behaved perfectly for us.
Out of my 75 students, only 3 have had a foreign teacher before. We were a novelty, both on a personal level and on a teaching level.
It took a good month for them to relax and feel free to speak, which is necessary in an oral English class. Finally they realized that many
of the activities, which they (and I) thought were frivolous were actually forcing them to communicate with one another. More than anything,
the students want to be understood in English, and we made headway. The writing class was more structured and they found it more difficult, although their writing is generally better than their speaking. Many expressed gratitude for finding the confidence to even try to talk using
English. And, when a student comes up and says, "Mrs. Wright, you look beautiful today," how can you not just love the job. One class gave Don a cup with all the student's names written on it.

There were 2 students who, I am convinced, would have been red guards 45 years ago, and they even came around and were receptive
learners, which I took as a personal victory.

These pictures look like we were just having fun, but we really did do a lot of work.
Most of the students were male since this university specialized in the sciences. Also, many were older, which
made learning English very difficult. Also, many were juggling work along with PhD studies.
I am sending photos in two postings because we cannot send a large message at once.

Re: Monday 3 December 2012

On 2012-12-03, at 4:20 AM, Kathleen Wright wrote:

> Overnight in Hong Kong
>
> Two weeks ago Don and I went to Hong Kong. We went with the other four BYU teachers. Our Chinese visa required that we leave China and re-enter before we could apply for a permanent resident's visa. Hong Kong is considered a special administrative region and qualifies as "leaving" China. The other four have to leave the country and re-enter every 90 days since this is a requirement of those with American passports. We felt lucky that we don't have to do that.
>
> We took the fast train (not the bullet train) from the East Guangzhou Train Station. It took about 2 hours and it was relaxing, comfortable and interesting. There were rural scenes to see. As we neared Hong Kong, it was obvious that the region is more prosperous, even though Guangzhou is a very prosperous part of China. Stepping off the train at Kowloon,(the north, mainland side of the harbour) we were greeted by a different world. For one thing, we saw many foreigners. Also, the place had a lot of pizzazz. We enjoyed the food at the spaghetti house. Food hasn't been an issue for me, but some are having a hard time with the unfamiliar food in China. Then we walked around the harbour at night and saw the light show and the sights and the expensive shops. We stayed at a hotel on the Kowloon side.
>
> The next day we boarded a double decker bus and found the LDS temple on Cornwall Street. It is a lovely building tucked into a residential area. After this, we crossed the harbour to the Hong Kong side on the Star Ferry. It was all very thrilling. We wanted to take the bus ride out of the city to Stanley Market, but we ran out of time.
>
> With all honesty I can claim that Hong Kong is the most beautiful city I have ever seen. The setting, with the hills, the water and the mist is simply spectacular. Nevertheless, we were happy to return to our little Guangzhou (15 million). Hong Kong has beauty and history, but we wanted our much more humble city. We feel safer here. Hong Kong looked like, on first appearances,<DSCN0590.jpeg><DSCN0597.jpeg><DSCN0606.jpeg> a proud, fast, trendy, materialistic place. It is certainly one of the great cities of the world.

Monday 3 December 2012

Overnight in Hong Kong

Two weeks ago Don and I went to Hong Kong. We went with the other four BYU teachers. Our Chinese visa required that we leave China and re-enter before we could apply for a permanent resident's visa. Hong Kong is considered a special administrative region and qualifies as "leaving" China. The other four have to leave the country and re-enter every 90 days since this is a requirement of those with American passports. We felt lucky that we don't have to do that.

We took the fast train (not the bullet train) from the East Guangzhou Train Station. It took about 2 hours and it was relaxing, comfortable and interesting. There were rural scenes to see. As we neared Hong Kong, it was obvious that the region is more prosperous, even though Guangzhou is a very prosperous part of China. Stepping off the train at Kowloon,(the north, mainland side of the harbour) we were greeted by a different world. For one thing, we saw many foreigners. Also, the place had a lot of pizzazz. We enjoyed the food at the spaghetti house. Food hasn't been an issue for me, but some are having a hard time with the unfamiliar food in China. Then we walked around the harbour at night and saw the light show and the sights and the expensive shops. We stayed at a hotel on the Kowloon side.

The next day we boarded a double decker bus and found the LDS temple on Cornwall Street. It is a lovely building tucked into a residential area. After this, we crossed the harbour to the Hong Kong side on the Star Ferry. It was all very thrilling. We wanted to take the bus ride out of the city to Stanley Market, but we ran out of time.

With all honesty I can claim that Hong Kong is the most beautiful city I have ever seen. The setting, with the hills, the water and the mist is simply spectacular. Nevertheless, we were happy to return to our little Guangzhou (15 million). Hong Kong has beauty and history, but we wanted our much more humble city. We feel safer here. Hong Kong looked like, on first appearances, a proud, fast, trendy, materialistic place.
It is certainly one of the great cities of the world.

Tuesday, November 26, 2012

We are nearing the end of the semester for our classes. The school accommodates foreign teachers who want to return home
for the Christmas holidays. Most stay and enjoy the sights of China.

You may be interested in our beautiful teaching building. It is very open and breezy , which is great on a hot day. Today was chilly with heavy rain and so I put on heavy socks for the first time. Some of the students wore winter coats during the class, since there is no heat. The students remain one of the greatest pleasures of being here. Almost all are serious in their efforts. Of course, this is a required course. I am always surprised at the sacrifices the married students make to earn an education. A month ago an older student came to say that he would be gone for a week and he asked for my permission. He said, "I just miss my baby so much." (He became a father in September) Then I realized that he was hundreds of miles away from his wife and new baby, probably his only baby. Another student wanted to talk about her husband who is working in Calgary at the Bank of China. He will be there for 3 years and she has visited Calgary once.

It has taken a long time for the students to feel that they can relax and not be worried about making mistakes. Now they willingly go to the board to correct sentences and that would have been too humiliating a few months ago. It is a big step. They are fun, fun, fun, when it comes to competitive games. And, when they are having fun their English is better.

The photos are of the teaching building, the umbrellas along the hall by my classroom, and a group of 4 students who wanted to have a picture taken. Their names are Nathan, Scindy, Olive and DeeDee. (Some of the English names that they came into class with are a bit "off") I will remember them forever.

Monday 19 November 2012

Some random thoughts:

On the walk from the campus to the metro station along Wushan Lu (Lu means road) we passed a man diligently making flowers from

duct tape and other kinds of tape.  This photo is for you Jane.  He would have been able to give you a few pointers.  Next time, if he is there, I will buy one for you to examine.

Then in Hong Kong last week (more on that later) we saw a crowd in the Apple store.  Whatever came out in Hong Kong on November 17 was causing a mob scene.  The next picture is for Anna Lee and whoever else loves Apple.

The last random thought is about our apartment building.  It is 9 stories high and does not have an elevator.  Also, in the evening the lights in the halls are controlled by noise sensors.  So, while we are in our own apartment we can hear people making noises at every floor as they climb the stairs.  It is usually a "hoo" shout and it  turns the lights on for a few seconds.  When we come in, a heavy stomping sound is enough to turn on the light in the hallway.  And, a good "hoo" works for us too.  This is one of the unique sounds from Guangzhou.

Sunday 18 November 2012

Let me finish telling you about our day tour of Guangzhou.

We had a delicious "spinner dinner" at the oldest restaurant in Guangzhou. It has been in business for over 100 years and it was memorable. The site of the restaurant was in the old entertainment district and it had a beautiful view of one of the branches of the Pearl River. The view was peaceful. We were escorted to one of the many private rooms on the second floor in this spacious, ornate building. As usual, the food was delicious and beautifully presented. This restaurant specializes in tofu dishes. We enjoyed the meal, but are always caught off guard with dishes whose ingredients we cannot recognize. Who would have thought that fried milk, with shrimp, is a delicious dish. Fish is also a specialty in Cantonese cooking.

After, we spent some time in an excellent, new museum.

Then we were off to the Canton Tower. This is the main landmark in Quangzhou and it is a fun visit. The tower is the 3rd tallest tower in the world and it is amazingly graceful. Of course, we all had to test our courage standing on a transparent ledge. I failed. Don was OK.

After another dinner, we sailed down the Pearl River on an evening river cruise. The weather was perfect and the lights of the buildings, including the Canton Tower, were glitzy and showy. It was fun. We exited through a small park that commemorated The First Opium War of the early 1840's and Canton's resistance. There was a large statue of Governor Lin, which luckily I remembered (thank you Dr. Kwong) plus cannon. (Remember, Great Grandfather William Wood was in China with the British navy during the Second Opium War from 1856-1860) We will visit the park again and it will be easy to find since it is right behind Little Mama's fabric mall. That night the greatest attraction at the park was ballroom dancing by a few couples.

As I viewed the little park in this great city, I was struck by how bold, but unrealistic the British were in the 1800's. Their one and only advantage would have been better weapons and ammunition. To think that China would ever change to suit their needs, or be permanently altered for any length of time, was foolish dreaming. And, China remains a nation with a rock-solid dedication to being Chinese. I see this in the student paragraphs that I read. There is great pride, as there should be, in the 5000 year old civilization.

Friday 16 November 2012

A few weeks ago the university took our group on a tour of Guangzhou.  They are taking good care of us.
We left early in the morning and saw the main attractions and it was a very good day.  The tour will be divided into
a few blog postings because too many photos are a problem to send.

The first stop was the Chen Family Academy.  This was built in the late 1800's after a member of the Chen family earned first place in the Imperial Examinations. It was such an honour that it warranted the building, which was used as an academy or school.  It was also rare to have the #1 spot going to someone from Guangdong Province. These examinations were the basis for government posts and other important positions.

Next we visited a street that was famous as part of the pleasure district in Guangzhou.  Now it is a lovely gathering place with the river and a park nearby.  You can tell that it was in the wealthy part of Old Canton.  We saw an impromptu choir and listened to the excellent singing.  Maggie, from the office, said that they were singing the traditional songs from the old days.  When I asked if they missed the old days, she gave me a look like I was crazy.  "No one misses the old days!'

A park was filled with people of all ages kicking around what looked like a hacky-sac with feathers on it.  As you can see, Don wanted to get into the fun and he was pretty good for an old guy.

We walked past a home that is famous for being a former residence of both Mao Zedong and Chiang Kai-shek.

Sunday 11 November 2012

Remembrance Day

Today at church I heard a quotation and it seems appropriate to share it .


"Into the mosaic of victory, I lay my priceless piece."


This is found on the headstone of a British soldier who was buried in Libya during one of the world wars.

Thank you Grandpa Wood, Dad, for being part of the mosaic.

Saturday 10 November 2012

Hi Family and Friends,

We are still here, but busy. Our supervisors from the BYU China Teachers program were here this week. (Kirk and Midge Evans)
The foreign teachers office put on a "spinner dinner" on their behalf and we enjoyed the Cantonese food. Gifts were
exchanged and pictures were taken. It is a gruelling two months for the Evans' visiting the teachers, all over China. Midge came to one of my classes, and luckily it was the class that is the most responsive and fun. An oral class where no one talks is not very impressive. They spontaneously gave Midge a welcome applause, and I could have hugged them all.

Last night with the Evans's was not as impressive. As a matter of fact, we looked like the "Three Stooges." All six BYU teachers, plus Kirk and Midge, walked to the Metro station en route to a dinner downtown. First, someone forgot their metro pass. Then, as we were entering the subway car, 3 of us couldn't get on the car. The crowds were amazing! I was left standing on the platform with Kirk and Midge. Since I didn't really didn't know where we were going, and I do not use a cell phone, we were in a dilemma. Should we wait or should we go somewhere, anywhere? (Don and I have an arrangement that if we get separated each will find our own way home.) We had to continue since Kirk was paying for the dinner and we were meeting other BYU teachers coming from another university in Guangzhou. I vaguely remembered someone saying the word "Chingang Pagoda," and so we went to that stop. Absolutely every square inch of space was taken in the subway car. Luckily, some of our group were waiting for us there while Don and Paul were backtracking to find us. To make a long story short, it took 2 hours to reach our goal. We overshot one metro stop, lost free spirited Brad when he went ahead at one stop, and we could hardly get a taxi to take us home after it was all done. Kirk did say that it looked as though the Guangzhou group gets along very well. And we do.

Let me boast about Ann Baines, since she would never boast about herself. Kirk Evans told me that when she and Bob were BYU Teachers in Nanjing, a few years ago, she won the best teacher award for her province. Belated Congratulations to Ann.

Here is a random picture for you to enjoy.

Mom/ Grandma/ Kathy/ Kathleen

Monday 29 October 2012

Hello to family and friends,

A few weeks ago Don and I, along with Susan and Brad Hertz, went on a day trip to the neighbouring small city of Foshan. (population of only 3-6 million, depending on how you define the borders)
Michael, our student volunteer, offered to show us around, although he had never been to Foshan before. He brought a friend named Vicky.
We had a great day and Michael and Vicky were helpful.

We took the Metro or subway to the city and it took about an hour. The metro station was in front of an Ancestral Taoist Temple which included a memorial and museum dedicated to the martial arts master Huang Feihong. He was a 20th century Kung Fu expert who is revered in China today. It is said that Kung Fu, a form of martial arts, was born in Foshan. The ancestral temple site houses the Huang family home.

The rest of the day was visiting the porcelain district. This city has been the home to ceramic making, since the Stone Age. The area is lucky to have many colours of good clay. There was a very good museum, and a preserved village dating from the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It was fun to wander. The highlight was the Ancient Nanfeng Kiln, a huge firewood kiln constructed against a hill. It showed how large the production of ceramics was. The kiln was not in use but it boasted being in continuous use since 1506, and that makes it Ming Dynasty era. Don tried to explain why the kiln, running uphill, had better heat. Perhaps the highlight was looking at all the varied ceramics in the shops, for blocks and blocks. There were all shapes, sizes and qualities. It was beautiful.

Wish you had been with us!

24 October 2012

Hello Family and Friends,

We have had quite a few official Chinese dinners. They are unique and different from a Canadian-style meal.
While on our tour, the style was similar at the restaurants. I call them Lazy Susan Dinners and others call them Spinner Dinners.

Eight to ten people sit at a round table, which always has a tablecloth. The table has a large rotating raised centre, which I have always called a lazy Susan. Each place is set with a small plate, a soup bowl with a spoon, a teacup and saucer and chop sticks, usually on a little stand or rest. Then dishes are brought to the table and placed on the middle of the table. These are usually not brought all at once and it can take 20 minutes to have all the dishes assembled. You are full and they are still bringing more dishes. Often the soup comes last. The idea is to share the various dishes by rotating the lazy Susan. The dishes are usually delicious and I especially enjoy the vegetable dishes. We have had a great variety and the meat dishes have included: pork, beef, lamb, goose, chicken, fish, seafood, duck, eel…… Once on the Northwest tour we had a meal prepared at a wok, next to the table, and the dish of vegetables and meat was cooked by adding steaming stones about the size of a child's hand. Some of my favourite dishes have been cabbage, pumpkin and celery dishes and also a scrambled egg with tomato dish. The fried rice is always great and the dishes are always presented beautifully.

I am not very good at this style of eating.
For one thing, my chop stick use is still terrible and I usually resort to the soup spoon. This could be very poor manners but you get hungry eventually. For another thing, it seems that no matter how polite you are trying to be, that you are vying with each other for the food. It will take some more getting used to. I can see why this is a good system because you never have to bother with passing anything. It is just different. Maybe you had to know what Mom was like to appreciate my discomfort.


Good bye for now,
I will send a picture later.
I thought that I had one.

Friday 19 October 2012

Hello Family and Friends,

Don and I have become acquainted with some parts of the city and can ride the bus, almost successfully.
We ventured out to "Little Mama's" last week to buy the fabric that Denise wanted. The bus ride was almost a success and we only over-shot
the stop by one stop. It was an easy walk back to the fabric area. After bargaining for the best price, the fabric was measured out on the sidewalk. Denise will get 20 meters of red velvet-like fabric and 20 meters of gold. The price was 10 yuan per meter. That works out to about $1.50 per meter. It was a very good deal. On the way back we tried to get a taxi but were not successful. They couldn't understand our talk or the card we carried. Then we took the bus, each holding garbage bags full or cloth. Eventually we realized that things were not looking familiar. We got off. Since we were looking like homeless tourists, with our heavy garbage bags, a very nice bellman from a hotel on the street came over to help us hail a taxi. Even he had trouble. It took some time and I think it was because we were too close to home and the taxi wouldn't have made much money. It is surprising how many people look out for bewildered foreigners. We have been helped many times. They may be just waiting for us to need them, and we usually do.

"Little Mama's" was truly little compared to "Big Mama's." These are not official names, by the way. "Big Mama's" is the fabric district in Guangzhou and it is the second largest fabric centre in the world. The largest is in India. It is not just one building, but a whole district. It was a madhouse and wonderful. It was composed of thousands of tiny shops that must be brokers' shops. There were large carts being pedalled in every direction, carrying bolts of fabric. The accessories, buttons and zippers were endless. I just kept saying, "Kathy Pollock would love this." The cheap evening gown material and lace made me want to buy some, even though I can't sew very well. Even if you weren't a seamstress, you would have loved seeing it. It was a real working district and we could have been run over at every turn. There were dozens of men on bicycles that were offering rides. They scattered when a policeman showed up. Don bought some fry bread from a street vendor and I bought a bracelet from a street seller from Tibet. (I am starting my gift stash) Both these places were sights to behold.

Congratulations Inga on your new little baby girl.

Monday 15 October 2012

Hi from Guangzhou,

The report on the Silk Road Tour is finished. We returned to Guangzhou, braved the metro (subway) from the airport by ourselves, and then walked the 25 minutes to our apartment. Walking onto the campus was like "coming home." The campus was quiet, tidy and peaceful. A flashing police light came up behind us and it was a security man on his bike. He was just making his rounds. We were happy to be home, even with the instant humidity that greeted us.

Today in class the students were excited about the first Chinese Nobel Prize Winner for Literature. They were sincerely happy and "happy for China," as they said. His name is Mo Yan, which is a pen name. He is popular in China, so the reports say, but my students had not read his work. He writes social commentary, often in the form of epic historical novels. He has been influenced by the famous past author, Lu Xun, but he also encourages students to read world literature. That gives all you readers two authors to investigate, Mo Yan and Lu Xun.

Here are two bicycle photos. One was taken because it was the first time we had spotted a helmut. The second one is of a nice family that said we could take their picture. It is a common scene and the photo was taken in Dunhuang.

Sorry, the helmet photo is gone and so you have Don at the Crescent Moon Lake oasis, with a modern twist to it!

Sunday 14 October 2012

Hello from Guangzhou,

Don and I spent out last day with the tour in Dunhuang in Gansu province.
After the camel rides, we spent the afternoon visiting the Mogas Grottos. It was a
magnificent site. Mogao Grotto lies on a small oasis in the Gobi Desert and was established
by a Buddhist monk in the Tang Dynasty, and that means well over 1500 years ago.
There are more that 500 grottos or caves carved from the sandstone mountain. It has been called
"the largest Buddhist artistic treasury in the world" and is a UN World Heritage site. We saw
100 feet tall statues and murals that displayed majesty and adoration. The workmanship left us in awe.

I would visit this site again. Our visit was marred because of the crowds. Since the Mid-Autumn festival week
is a major week for travel, the crowds were crushing and we actually couldn't stay and look because we had to hurry
along. It was obvious that this place is revered for cultural and spiritual reasons.

Also, as a Christian visitor I could only marvel at the workmanship. The symbols, mythic figures and stories passed me by.
I didn't understand what I was seeing. For example, if visiting Israel, I would be able to understand and take interest in almost everything that I saw. I would instinctively understand the symbols in the Christian and the Jewish sites as well. Even a pile of stones in the desert would remind me of Lot's wife. We would know the symbolism. Next time I will prepare to know what I am looking at.

We had a good hotel in Dunhuang.
Nothing was arranged for the evening and so Don and I went downtown, with some of the others, and enjoyed the crowded, holiday night
market and street food. The fried bread was very good. We shared a taxi back to the hotel with the Despain's and were charged
triple because we hadn't arranged the price ahead. The driver hadn't turned on her meter. That served us right.
We questioned her and then realized that we were arguing over $1.00.

Good bye for today,
MOM/Grandma/ Kathy/Kathleen

Friday 12 October 2012

Hello again,

I am still telling the story of our Silk Road Tour.

Our train arrived in the morning in Liuyuan at the train station and we took the bus through the Gobi Desert
to Dunhuang, in the province of Gansu. The desert was rocky, flat, and barren. It was obvious that coal is being mined somewhere as we saw mounds of coal along the way.

Dunhuang is a great place to visit. The outskirts of the town had the usual signs of extreme poverty, but the city
center is very nice and it was obvious that it is a tourist town.

Dunhuang was a major oasis stop on the old Silk Road and it would have been so welcome.
It has always been a frontier town with great strategic importance. It was at the crossroads to roads leading to
the west regions, east to Xian, south to India and north to Mongolia and Siberia. The Great Wall was extended to Dunguang.

Dunhuang is also called the "City of Sands."
This is because the Gobi Desert landscape becomes one of huge sand dunes at the southern edge of Dunhuang.
The sight was everything that most of us picture when we think of "desert." The dunes were massive and the sand was fine. It was a medium brown colour. Of course we had to have a camel ride and the place was set up for tourists. There were hundreds of camels waiting for their turn to take tourists on a one hour camel ride. Many of the young tourists were climbing the dunes and sliding back down. They had to wear cloth boots and you can see them in the photos. Bright orange. It was a long, hard climb.

After the camel ride we walked to Crescent Moon Lake. I wish I had realized how important a landmark this lake was. It was beautiful situated on the edge of the dunes. Apparently it has been a fresh lake for a few thousand years.

Good bye for now,
I would be happy to answer any questions.

MOM/ Grandma/ Kathleen/ Kathy

PS. Camels are beautiful animals. OK we were being dopey tourists, but it was fun!