Family Dinner

The VP of our partner bank invited BF, RW, WL, and me to dinner with his family. He and his family are from Henan province and moved to Beijing in 2006 like we did. He hosted us at the Henan provincial headquarter restaurant (Yu Fu Shen Chu in the Shang Du Hotel) in Beijing. The food and company was fantastic. We even had some local Henan musical entertainment (pictured above with entertainers) which was a very nice surprise.

Calligraphy Lesson number 6

It is a sunny afternoon this last Saturday in April. These are the two doors that open into the classroom where we take lessons.


It is a long walk down the corridor. On the right hand side is a green metal fence. Behind it lies a rock hill with steps going up and through down the other side into the walkway that borders a long wall. On the other side of the wall is the Hall of Literary Brilliance, the Hall of Respect, and the Pavilion of Literary Profundity. It feels as though I am in a different world.

This is our classroom. It is a nice and airy space. Often soft traditional Chinese music plays in the background. Four people can fit in this room. Many times there is a young woman practicing the same calligraphy style as we are. She is studying for the entrance exam into graduate school. There is also a young man that has been painting with us several times. His work has strong lines. It is beautiful.


We had both visited a gallery where Teacher You had work on display. I had a picture of a work of calligraphy in my last entry. We were asking about other work that he has done at our last class.

This is a piece that he brought out of storage and unwrapped for us to see. I personally like this one better. Teacher thinks there is no comparison, the other is much richer in meaning and more beautiful.




Here I am with Teacher You. In the background is work by another student. The work is beautiful.

After practicing for a while. We took a walk to the peony garden to look at the flowers. My friend wanted some pictures to paint from when the time comes for her to paint art.

There were people posing in the garden with the flowers. We didn't see lots of ants as we would in the flowers at home.

Here, I stepped into the garden to hug the flowers. They smelled lovely.You can see that I am wearing a black shirt. The ink we use stains and I have a white shirt at home with little black dots on it from ink.

I like this shot. It has a sense of beauty along with reality. There is a nice juxtaposition here.





We were on our way back to our classroom. If you look closely you will see the doors of the gate. The building ahead I believe is the pavilion to enter through into the Hall of Literary Brilliance.

After the gate we encountered a wedding party getting into another costume for pictures. The bride is in red getting her hair fixed up and the groom is buttoning his Chinese style jacket.

The wedding party will likely take pictures with the rock hill in the background. This is the same rock hill that is outside of our classroom door. It is beautiful today with the sun shining and the wild yellow roses dressing it up so nicely.

B visits the Water Cube and synchronized swimming

A friend of mine had an extra ticket to view the a qualifying round for synchronized swimming. It happened to occur on the day that the Birds Nest opened for the first time. I believe the event there was speed walking.

This is a picture from early March. A group of us took a friends company to see what we could see. If you look closely enough on the top left side near the front edge you can see three men standing there. From here they look like three little dots.

I was excited to be going. My friend is new here in Beijing. She is from the States but moved here from Singapore and from Bahrain before that. She met a woman whose husband is here with Coke and it is from her that we got the tickets.

The Olympic park is located on the northern axis of the city. It is directly north of the Forbidden City. This is a very auspicious spot. It is beautifully laid out as I am sure many of you have seen pictures. Unfortunately, our camera was being put to better use on this day and I have no current pictures.

I found the staff at the entrances and at the security checkpoints to be very friendly, courteous and possessing excellent English. There were many two man teams of security guards patrolling all areas of this large park. Again this is a view from the street in early March. We walked this lane to the entrance in the corner of the Water Cube that you can see here. There is a very wide lane with a two way street between the Water Cube and the Birds Nest.

The landscaping is more finished than in this picture. On the site was an original temple. It is to the right of this picture, beautifully landscaped and intact. Our hostess had a picture of it in her home that she had taken many years ago.

The Water Cube was stunning. I have seen it from the road but it is truly a marvellous structure up close. Around the perimeter is a small moat that is shallow and lined on the bottom with silver dollar sized smooth white rocks that mimic the exterior of the building.

The inside was spacious and light. It is set up like any stadium. Depending on where your seats are you either enter one of the gate doors on the first or second floor. We were up high and had a great view of the performers. The announcements were made by a man in Chinese and then by a woman in beautiful English. The seats were individual and had backs. They were comfortable. There were many snacks available; ice cream, popcorn and drinks.

We watched the events for an hour and a half and then met our sponsors husband to head home. Her husband is the head of Coke here in Beijing. He is responsible for Coke in the Olympics. He speaks perfect Mandarin. They have lived here for 9 years. He had nothing but kudos for the Chinese and especially for the 250 workers he had helping him build a very large reception building for his company on the grounds of the park. At present, the building was not yet out of the ground. He had no worries and knew that all would be completed and ready in time for the opening ceremonies. He made comparisons the the summer games in Athens which he attended. He made only the most passing comparison to the landscape which he said was not in good shape in Athens. The workers here were planting trees as we were walking by. They were mature and they will be beautiful in August. The Chinese are amazing people, very task oriented and very hard working.

As we left the park we faced an interesting set of buildings that run parallel to the park. They are luxury guest rooms and apartments. The building at the front is the head of the dragon and there are 3 or 4 subsequent buildings. I understand that there are three full Chinese courtyard homes located in the top of each of the three trailing buildings. For those of you who know what a courtyard home is comprised of...that is amazing. I also hear that Bill Gates has purchased one.

On the front of this building that is the head of the dragon (you can see the roof line of the next building to the right), is a giant TV screen. The resolution and clarity are amazing. We were watching cartoons on it from the Water Cube about a half a mile away.

We also passed a building that houses all of the computer hardware to run this park and the village. It is designed with the old computer mother board in mind, or so it seems to me. It had valleys in the face of the building running from top to bottom.

This small tour and event was a treat that I will always remember.

Birthday in China

BF surprised me with my last birthday dinner in PRC with some great friends at our favorite restaurant. The two couples are long-term expats in Beijing from the US and have been such a great help and friends to us here.

After dinner we walked to a night club which was a very pleasant surprise. It turned out to be a Jazz club with a very nice band from Detroit. We even ran into a waiter that we knew from our Friday night Beligian restaurant. He has left that restaurnat to work at the this new dinner and Jazz club.

Behind Ming Tombs Jan 30 2008

It's Wednesday again, already. It is a beautiful blue sky day and Leslie chose this hike so that a fellow hiker (and photographer) who had hurt her knee could go with us. This translates into "it will be an easy hike today"... not exactly, as it turns out.
We drove up to a small village that grew up around the Ming Tombs. Here you can see the past with the grain grinding wheel that looks like it is probably still in use and the present with the brightly colored exercising equipment in the background. We all used the exercising equipment that morning because it was below freezing with a biting wind to boot.

We were waiting for Leslie to gather some information about the trails from the locals. Sometimes it takes talking to several people. Mostly they look at us and ask us "why?"

We were told to hike up behind the tombs and follow the dry riverbed to the top. Sounds easy.
We get to see all kinds of nature that doesn't get hidden in the winter, like this magpie nest; huge, isn't it?

This is the spirit bridge. It is the pathway used to bring the royals to their final resting place.

This is one of the Ming Tombs. It is called Kangding. It is closed and there are dogs inside barking at us. A car is parked outside..the caretaker. Most of the tombs are closed and many were robbed a long time ago. One woman with us who grew up here shared her stories of finding lots and lots of human remains as a child, so many when they were digging underground in the city, that they played with the skulls, making lamps out of them.

We walked for some time until we spied a caretakers home. There was smoke coming out of the chimney ( and public toilets out of the wind; morning coffee you know). The man happily directed us further up the road and confirmed that the route up the riverbed was the best way to go.

As we walked toward this gate a man on a motorcycle passed us and went through the gate and then shut it. When we got up to it, our sweet talking lady called to the people inside the caretakers cottage. A man came out and saw us all and called to her that we are not allowed in. Of course, sweet talker Carmen asked why and was told the land was national forest. He said that we were foreigners. She got tired of yelling and so told him to come closer because her throat was hurting her to call out. He did come closer and that was the end of that. He was in charge of the cemetary up ahead and Carmen assured him that we wouldn't smoke and most of us were Chinese (we looked foreign and all kinds of things could happen to us, he didn't want to be responsible).

Yay, we got it. The story doesn't end there. Just as we passed the caretaker shack, an older man came running out of the door in his stocking feet and said that we couldn't pass. He was the fire warden and so Carmen went closer in order to sweet talk him. She said "how do I call you? Sir? He responded "No, call me commrade!" Then she told us to walk and keep on going.

Good thing we did not plan to return this same way.

We are not in the riverbed yet, but here you can see the tops of mountains? That is where we were headed. The brush is thick and thorny.
I have to add this picture because the riverbed was overgrown in many places and very steep and difficult. The view from the top was worth it. Leslie was tempted several times to take paths that led away from the riverbed but they only went up to electric towers..how boring. Actually that is the valley that is Beijing in the distance. Look closely, the growing smog is the first clue.

Way up on top and after lunch in a semi sheltered spot from the wind we encountered this lovely sight. You may just be able to make out a circle of land that they left standing in order for the road to wind around it on the lower right hand side of the gravel pit. There is a concrete road leading to the site.

Our goal was this spot in the distance: Heavenly Lake . It is a resevoir on top of the mountain. We hiked to it and then had to climb the fence to get in. We were planning to get to the tower on top of the mountain in the distance then find the path behind it that drops to the valley floor.

We did take a detour to look at this begining of something. It was the strangest building I have ever seen. It was round on the exterior with stairs on the outside (you can see them left of center made of stone) and a valley in the middle with partitions on the inside. Remember that we are in the national forest. Hummmm.

This is the sign warning us to stay out of the resevoir water. There was a concrete road around the entire resevoir and markings that looked like racing lanes and trash can recepticles but lots of walls to keep people out.

This is on the way up to the tower on the hill. "Nuf said. Not sure if you can see it, but there is broken glass on the top of this wall.

This is a great view (if only we were closer) of the Ming Tombs. Look carefully and you can see a line of 4 buildings right of center. These are a few of the 14 Tombs in this area. This is also where we began our hike. Now to get down. We found that the tower is blocked off by locked gates and too tall walls (with glass on top). I did climb up a electic tower that was fully exposed with an accessable ladder. I love the warnings. We were happy that no one was about the place. We were very surprised though. We did, on our decent, stop at a shack and rattle the door. The lock was off it and two young men came out. Leslie just calmly asked where this path went. They were there surveying. Never a dull moment.

We are relegated to walking down a concrete road for 12 kilometers (7.5 miles). We are not happy after all of the adventures we just experience to be walking a concrete road. How utterly boring, not to mention, hard on the feet.

We wonder how long it will take us to walk because by now it is 3pm. Several attempts are made to call Mr. Zhao and have him pick us up halfway (remember the gal with the bumknee?). We are a little worried that since we are in the national forest, there will be a fee to leave (what! again???)

Mr. Zhao does turn up and tells us a funny story. He does encounter a gate at the entrance. He told the fire marshal we were up here. He didn't care until Mr. Zhao told him we were foreigners. The marshall let him pass toot sweet. Apparently a high official was due to visit the next day and they didn't want any incidents. First we had to be Chinese to get in and then had to be foriegn to get out. What ever works.

A hour ride home all recounting the days adventures. A beautiful blue sky day and a lovely sunset.

Basket Pick up Huai Rou village Jan 28

A chilly Monday morning. Tom and I had just returned from the ice sculptures at Harbin on Sunday. Nothing seems cold after being there. Leslie said to dress warm but that we would be in and out of the car all day; no hiking.


In October Leslie hiked in this area and found a basketmaker in the village of Huai Rou. If I understand correctly there are 6 communes in this village. This gentleman is the only basketmaker in the village. He is 80 years old. Today we were on our way to pick up this basket order and then scout some other villages for possible hiking routes into the mountains. Leslie always asks the villagers as they know the paths and the mountains.

This sign lets us know that we are outside of Beijing. All of the signs that are incorrect have been changed in the city and the outlying areas in readiness for the Olympics. We traveled north about an hour and a half outside of the city.

Now the adventure begins. It happens right at the begining of the day this trip. We arrive at the entrance to the village and encounter a gate. We are asked to pay 20 Yuan each to enter the village. I know to these 10 ladies, the man in charge, and his deputy we looked like a bunch of louwai (foreigners) with a Chinese driver probably wanting to hike to the great wall from there. One should never assume. This gate was not here in October and on principle we refused to pay. Much discussion ensued including suggesting that the basketmaker carry the 22 baskets outside of the gate himself. Eventually, we decided to let our driver in to retrieve the baskets.

We mulled around awhile and watched a truck go in (after paying), and another car who almost ran through the gate because they were watching us. All was well and good until the tea salesman came through and didn't have to pay to pass. We were newly riled.





We had waited almost an hour and were wondering what was taking him so long to get the baskets loaded on top of the car. No cell phone could get through so we decided to walk through the gate.


Mr. Shiney Shoes followed us. He was the man in charge. He wasn't happy. More discussion ensued. He didn't ever anticipate that the most foreign looking women speak the best Chinese. I wish I could remember what was said. We walked 20 minutes to the basketmakers home. We passed several villagers and asked them the way. It was always "right around the corner", but we finally arrived.

The car was loaded and ready to go. What a sight. What a haul! The baskets were either 25 yuan (about 2 dollars) or 35 yuan ( a little less than 3 dollars).




Leslie has such a way with people. Ever the journalist, she knows what is important and how to ask about it. Here she is asking about the tools he uses to make his baskets. He is showing her the tools and explaining each one. The long one that looks like you would use it to plant bulbs, he made the whole thing himself. He uses it to poke between the sticks to weave. He was a very delightful guy and was interested in the goings ons at the gate. His ten year old grand daughter and his wife hovered around and watched.

This is a basket in progress and the field for planting with piles of sticks for baskets behind him.

This is the more expensive basket. It is used for night soil. I believe dirt is scooped up in it and human waste placed it with more dirt over the top. It is taken out in the morning. It is a cool looking basket. I remember the men who were shopping with me at the Dirt Market (Panjiyuan) when I bought a bunch of rustic wooden bowls and a rice bucket. At the time they all laughed at our driver/shopper extroidinare Shen for carrying the rice bucket. They all thought it was a toilet. Mr. Shen had no idea what we were laughing at, I am sure he knew what he had, he just wondered why I wanted one. I did send one of these to work with Tom to deliver to my friend. Her husband works with Tom and walks to work. He walked home carrying this lovely basket. We as foreigners do try to provide entertainment when we can.

This is the basketmakers corn crib. He had several on the property. Nice weaving.

At the end of our visit and we had declined lunch we went into the basketmakers home to look up the phone number of the party secretary to call and complain about the gate and fees. This is a picture of the phone book, more aptly named phone "list". It consisted of three pages of typed names and numbers. We decided to stop at the village "office" on the way out. We did consider a plan the basketmaker offered and that was to hike out over the mountain. He offered to guide us but in the end we would be seen and sneaking implies that we were wrong.

We stopped at the office and the old party secretary was there. Inquiring after the "new" secretary garnered a look at their watches and the information that it was noon, he was probably drinking now. On the way down the road to the gate we were stopped by a village woman. The story had spread quickly. She told us that we were right. She said we shouldn't pay the fee. We learned that much money was collected the year before last and only a small amount was given to the villagers. This new man in charge bribed the people to vote for him. She called him a "black heart".

At the gate much talking occurred. We knew we had to pay and so scraped together the smallest in change and small bills we could find. One of our members called the newspaper with the story. I am sure she will follow up. The funny thing is ... they charge because there are people who do hike to the wall from this village, but, this part of the wall is off limits now.

And so, now off to the next village:

We saw the pig on the road. We walked up to the village set a ways off the road. A woman was calling the pig. He came and was reluctant to walk past us, all strangers. The woman said the pig was not long for this world. He was cute though.

This is the home of the woman who owns the pig. What is in those baskets on the ledge? It is corn that is ground for the animals.

Much to Leslies delight there were many stone impliments in this village. It backed up to beautiful stone boulders. She has been long looking for a stone cutter.

We encountered this man (love the knitted sweater) and Leslie asked if there was anyone in the village who could cut stone. He looked at her kinda funny and said "we all can".

He told us that a house we were admiring (mostly because there were 4 young men standing by it) was just built to be used as a schoolhouse in a movie. He said it was cheaper to build a new one that use someone's home and possibly encounter problems.

Leslie was looking for a home to enter to talk to the people. This was my favorite home in the village. I wonder if those larger stones in the side are from the great wall or an old city wall.

This is a beautiful door in the village. No one was home or no one lived there because it was closed.

This is the home we did enter. We tried another interesting one but when one very drunk man came right at Raquel, and another followed, we decided against that one. This is the bed in the house. And this is housework, grinding the corn meal and making dumpling racks.

There was a very interesting clay vestle sitting near the bed. It had ashes in it and was keeping the room warm. We thought it was cut from stone but the woman explained it was made of clay and fired. Leslie promptly ordered 10. They use bricks to deliniate the inside and the rectangle size urn has four round squat feet. Cool!

I of course, asked if I could buy the dumpling racks. They are two layers thick and are made of sorgum reeds. They are sewn together with a needle and thread begining in the middle and going in a swirl pattern. I don't know how she keeps the reeds from moving all over the place. The top reeds are perpendicular to the bottom reeds. She was making them for her two sons for new year presents. I paid 20 yuan each (1.5 dollars). She was happy to sell them to me.

Leslie asked her if she will be visiting her sons for New Year. She told us that they will come and take their father to their home. He was there with her but is not quite right. He needs alot of care. She said she will be happy to be alone.

We saw this sight many times along the roads. I think someone once asked how heavy this load is and the answer was a surprising 80 pounds. Hardy people.

The last stop of the day was to a village that had a basketmaker whom Leslie had contracted for baskets with. When she went to collect them, he had sold them all to foreigners. As we were driving by the village she commented on this and I said I thought it would be funny to let him see the car with all the baskets on top (we were an unusual sight). We did a u-turn and found him (it was our second u-turn of the day, the first being to take a picture of the "on drunken driving". Mr. Zhao is amazing). He looked the baskets over and commented on how well they were made. He was happy when Leslie placed another order with him.

One last note. The next day the basketmaker from the first village called Leslie to see how it all went at the gate. His first concern was whether we had gotten hurt.