Visiting the CITC Office

MF and BF came by the CITC office to say hi.

Guilin and Yangshuo

A group of us went to visit Guilin and Yanshuo for a long weekend. These cities are located in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region is located in the southern part of China and borders on Vietnam. Its landscapes and natural sites are unique and beautiful. Guilin is known for its limestone peaks and beautiful landscape.

When we arrived at Guilin airport we took a bus to The Dragon’s Backbone Rice Terraces in Longsheng. It was a couple hour ride to the rice paddies with some beautiful scenery. This area is also known for its ethnic minority groups that are allowed to continue to their unique traditions and culture. We met some Yao, Miao, and Zhuang people.

After visiting the Terraces we drove back Yanshuo to stay in a very nice hotel. We did not arrive in town until very late.

The next morning we took a boat cruise up the Li River. Most people take the boat from Guilin to Yanshuo (downstream). We did just the opposite and were the only people on the boat (wow). The scenery was spectacular. We had some intermittent rain but that was a good relief the the hot humid climate.

Here we are posing with the 20 Yuan bill which has the same scenery on the back of the currency.

We took a bus back to Yangshuo and then went to a fantastic outdoor show (Impression show of Liusanjie) that was produced and directed by Zhang Yimou the famous Chinese director who will be doing the opening ceremonies for the 2008 Olympics. The show was about the river people and life along the Li River. It was a great light spectacle in a large amphitheater with over 6,000 local actors.

The next morning we visited moon hill near a local village.

We then headed for the city of Guilin and went to Reed Flute Cave

Good to be Home

It was good to be home to smell fresh air and to see all the greenery.

Graduation Day

MF graduated from Loyola College in Baltimore, MD. He graduated in four years with a BS in Finance. We spent the weekend with him in Baltimore for the Baccalaureate Mass at the Reitz Arena on Friday the 16th and Commencement Ceremony at the 1st Mariner Arena on May 17th. Lesley Stahl from 60 Minutes was the guest speaker.

Another New Experience

We experienced another first today while living in China. I was on the 28th floor of our office building in the Central Business District in Beijing in the middle of a 2:30 pm meeting with a work colleague. I thought I was fainting and my colleague was looking at me strangely confirming that something was wrong with me. My only thought was not to pass out or vomit. Then I noticed the lights and the window shades were swaying. I then realized that our whole building was moving back and forth.

My first thought was that nearby construction had caused this or faulty construction of the building was going to result in a catastrophe. We all exited the building through the stairwell. I left me coat, mobile phone, and blackberry and exited quickly. The building was still moving while getting to about the 25th floor. Everyone was very orderly exiting in the stairwells.

We all gathered on the side walk across the street, then decided to move further away from the building. After some discussion and consultation with the blackberry we realized we had just experienced an earthquake. One earthquake was 7.8 and centered in Sichuan Province where the Three Gorges Dam is located on the Yangtze (950 miles from Beijing). Another one was a 3.9 which was centered in Tongzhou District in east Beijing at roughly the same time.

After 10 or 15 minutes on the side walk, a fight broke out and was coming our way. We noticed that 6 or 7 men were chasing another man. They knocked him to the ground and then began stomping him. The attackers ran off and the man got up and began calling on his mobile phone and was looking for his attackers who scattered. It was very difficult to tell what was going on and why the man was attacked.

We returned to the building after about an hour with no aftershocks felt. Another life experience in China............

Yangtze River Cruise

Three couples from our apartment building went on a Yangtze River cruise in May. We flew to Chongqing to start the cruise which ended 3 days later at Three Rivers Gorge Dam.

Here we are arriving at Chongqing airport. Chongqing (also once known as ChungKing) is the largest municipality in China with over 31MM people.













Chongqing is a very hilly city in a very warm climate near Sichuan Province. We did a little sightseeing and ate at a hotpot restaurant before boarding our cruise ship.

































































Below we are arriving at Fengdu (ghost) City. The river cruise ship we traveled on is in the background.

The T-shirt I am wearing was a gift of an expat who has lived here for 13 years. It always gets laughs from the locals - bei ren kan pu dong - "white men don't understand" (westerns can't read this).













Very strange demonic statues along the walk up the hill to a temple.

This small guy has a great business. He rolls this huge iron object around a vertical pole and then has to lift it up on top of the pole Everyone is challenged to do it and of course no one can. He has a great technique that he has perfected. On our way back to the ship he caught up with BF to see if she would exchange all of his Dollars for Yuan. That is how weak the US Dollar is :(

He did not like me too much. He thought I was a foreign devil (large westerner with sun glasses). He was glad to see me go.

Sights of the river and gorge. The river has been flooded to 152M and will be complete when it reaches 175M in the near future.

The very controversial Three Gorges Dam, in Hubei Province, largest in the world.

May Holiday

One of the Golden Weeks was eliminated this year so more traditional holidays could be celebrated such as Tomb Sweeping Day, Dragon Boat Festival, etc.

Tomb Sweeping or Qingming Festival was celebrated on May 2nd this year.

The Qingming (Pure Brightness) Festival is one of the 24 seasonal division points in China, falling on April 4-6 each year. After the festival, the temperature will rise up and rainfall increases. It is the high time for spring plowing and sowing. But the Qingming Festival is not only a seasonal point to guide farm work, it is more a festival of commemoration.

The Qingming Festival sees a combination of sadness and happiness.

This is the most important day of sacrifice. Both the Han and minority ethnic groups at this time offer sacrifices to their ancestors and sweep the tombs of the deceased. Also, they will not cook on this day and only cold food is served.

The Hanshi (Cold Food) Festival was usually one day before the Qingming Festival. As our ancestors often extended the day to the Qingming, they were later combined.

On each Qingming Festival, all cemeteries are crowded with people who came to sweep tombs and offer sacrifices. Traffic on the way to the cemeteries becomes extremely jammed. The customs have been greatly simplified today. After slightly sweeping the tombs, people offer food, flowers and favorites of the dead, then burn incense and paper money and bow before the memorial tablet.

In contrast to the sadness of the tomb sweepers, people also enjoy hope of Spring on this day. The Qingming Festival is a time when the sun shines brightly, the trees and grass become green and nature is again lively. Since ancient times, people have followed the custom of Spring outings. At this time tourists are everywhere.

People love to fly kites during the Qingming Festival. Kite flying is actually not limited to the Qingming Festival. Its uniqueness lies in that people fly kites not during the day, but also at night. A string of little lanterns tied onto the kite or the thread look like shining stars, and therefore, are called "god's lanterns."

The Qingming Festival is also a time to plant trees, for the survival rate of saplings is high and trees grow fast later. In the past, the Qingming Festival was called "Arbor Day". But since 1979, "Arbor Day" was settled as March 12 according to the Gregorian calendar.



From China.org