From Grits to Chopsticks

After a very busy week, we were looking forward to a peaceful hike around this nearby lake:

Unfortunately, a grumpy guard in this shack told us to go away:

So we continued our walk along the noisy highway (click for a sample – Street Walking):

But even along the highway, there are always interesting things to see in China.  Farmers working in their fields:

walkways with beautiful landscaping:

laundry drying on shrubbery:

chickens, guard dogs, and stray dogs needing orthodontic help:

and of course, newly built (unoccupied) apartments:

There was also a street market:

People were selling dried roots and teas: 

baked potatoes and turnips:

fish and chips:

hats:

and old men selling other strange things:

Yes – we enjoyed the interesting sights along this walk.  Except in one place:

Susan would say it was the semi-private ladies rest room!

In the past few months, the bike rental business has descended upon our city in a big way:Three main companies are competing for the market with their silver, yellow, and blue/yellow bikes:The theory is really good: use your mobile phone to scan the bike QR code, transfer a deposit from your on-line bank to the company, unlock the bike, ride to your destination, engage the lock, pay 1 about RMB per hour, and walk away:

The bikes are intended primarily for commuter use, with an expectation that they will be used at least 4 times per day.  But there can be a few problems – like unused bikes cluttering an already crowded sidewalk: Bikes with missing parts:

Bikes with the lock broken off or painted and stashed in the bushes: large bikes used by small children in traffic:or bikes ridden to out-of-the way locations:

Still, it looked good to me and I was happy to try it.  Just scan the QR code, download the APP, and enter your Chinese ID card (or foreign passport):Once you get authorization, unlock the bike and off you go!IF you get authorization.  I’m still waiting, and hope that I will get it before all of the bikes are trashed or stolen!

Last Sunday afternoon, we visited Daguan Park on the south side of our city.  The entrance of the park has displays of large vegetables, foreshadowing (hopefully) an abundant harvest: This park also has some peaceful scenes: On the north side there is a very tall sky wheel (a 30 minute rotation for 30 RMB):

We rode the sky wheel and took high-level pictures of the park,

the nearby lake,

the city skyline,buildings that are half-destroyed and half-inhabited,and children playing in the junkyard:Back on the ground, we saw a person trying to “contain his excitement” as he bounced on a thrill ride:a Buddhist monk (in his Nike shoes) posing with some angel wings,and a display to remind us that this is the year of the Rooster:Of course, the rooster gives us an excuse to mention the advancement of the University of South Carolina basketball team into the Final Four of this year’s NCAA championships!

Go Gamecocks!

Last week, we took our Sunday afternoon walk in the local zoo.  As we approached the ticket booth, we had an inkling that it might be a bit crowded:and yes, there were a lot of people inside: This time of year, they don’t come mainly to see the animals – they come to take photos of the cherry blossoms:

If you want to rise above the crowd, you can pay 20 RMB for a “professional” photo on a platform:In spite of the crowds, some people find space to picnic and play mahjong:We did take some time to view a few animals, noticing that they’ve introduced some diversity in the monkey habitat:Here’s one final photo representing the limited diversity in this very crowded park:

Gifting is a big part of Chinese culture, and it seems that the dominant gift here is food.  We’ve received a number of food gifts lately, including sugar cane to munch on:bell apples and star fruit:“pancakes” from a northeastern province:and a huge bag full of Chinese red dates:To make good use of the dates, Susan embarked on the ambitious process of preparing two loaves of date-nut bread.  After almost two hours of cutting out pits and chopping, she had the 5 cups of dates needed:and after a long time in our “toaster oven,” the finished product:(PS.  We also recently received some macadamia nuts (in their shells), which Susan cracked and used to make cookies. She now has a much greater appreciation for the bags of ready-to-use nuts…)

The weather was still cold when we returned to China a few weeks ago, with indoor and outdoor temperatures often the same (our part of the country doesn’t have central heating):

But things have now warmed up a bit, giving us the opportunity to enjoy the local parks.  At the entrance of this park, you pass under a cover of wind chimes (click Wind Chimes for video):

Most of the trees and flowers weren’t yet blooming, but we found some that were: We saw cute little children resting on rocks:and feeding colorful fish:

There were random storybook characters:and women with traditional, ornate baby carriers:We always enjoy walking around parks in China on Sunday afternoon – it’s a great place to make a new friend!

For the first time in seven years, we saw fire engines roll by last week with their sirens blaring:

I looked out across the horizon and saw the plume of smoke rising in the distance:

My camera zoomed in to reveal fire blazing from an apartment rooftop (click Fire for video):

In this densely populated area, nearby homeowners were looking on from their rooftops:

Fortunately, almost everything here is made of concrete.  Although most apartment vents are oozing with cooking oil and grease, fires probably burn themselves out before spreading too far.

We are truly blessed that we can travel to the other side of the planet in about 30 hours (door to door).  Our typical flight plan takes us from Atlanta to Seoul to Kunming.  When we left Atlanta, trees were sprouting leaves and flowers were blooming:Suburban landscapes stretched for miles outside of the plane window:

Our route quickly took us away from the warm southeastern US and across the Arctic Ocean (click Trip to Korea for video):

After crossing the arctic ice, there’s still more ice on the frozen rivers and mountains of Siberia:

We passed directly over Yakutsk, described as “the coldest city on earth“:

Fourteen hours after departing Atlanta, we arrived in time to watch the sunset in Korea:

After four more hours in the air, we arrived in southwest China.  Our body clocks are still trying to adjust to a 13 hour time-zone change, but we’re thankful to be back after an uneventful journey!

We have been blessed to share a wonderful Stateside visit with family and friends.  Our youngest son and his wife returned from China and are now living in Arkansas.  It was great to spend time with them and their new son:

We also enjoyed playing music and strolling together:

On December 17 we were able to attend a family wedding in Delaware with all of my brothers and sisters:

On December 20 in Pennsylvania, we welcomed the arrival of our daughter’s third son:

On a later visit, we were able to participate in the older boys’ “Hot Wheels” birthday party:

and celebrate the Clemson Tiger’s national championship football victory:

Our oldest son and his wife graciously flew us out to their home in Park City, Utah.  There was a huge amount of snow, providing a great opportunity to ski at the nearby resort:

They also took us on our first backcountry ski adventure in search of untracked powder:

And they introduced us to a “Mystery Escape Room” where we worked together for an hour to solve puzzles and attempt to escape from a locked room:

As we prepare to return to China, we are very thankful for the special moments we’ve been able to spend with old and new family members:

Here are some more random pictures.  This semester, my classes met in a large classroom with a messed up chalkboard.  It appeared that people had been taping notices onto it for years, rendering it almost unusable.  Before and after classes, I started peeling and scraping it.  I then brought gloves and solvent, eventually getting it to this stage:

It took about 4 hours of work, but finally…(by the way, this job was not in my teaching contract).

As usual, we held a “small money” auction at the end of this year, allowing the students to buy items with play money earned by active participation: Here are some of my students from this semester:Outside of our school, some new buildings are under construction.  As usual, these projects make extensive use of manual labor.  It will probably take a long time for these guys to move this pile of bricks upstairs:Even though we’ve lived in China for quite a while, I’m still impressed with their ability to convey large numbers of people on small vehicles:On the north side of town, there is an old park with a classic entry gate:tropical plants:

a bamboo garden:and a quaint, lakeside building with a large satellite antenna in the background:Some days, our air quality is pretty bad.  This week, I read an article about Paris pollution (the worst in ten years), so I checked their numbers:

Then, I checked our current numbers:Thankfully, we live in a relatively clean Chinese city and the numbers are not always so bad.

This beautiful sunrise represents the sunset of another year in China!