From Grits to Chopsticks

Since our city is “semi-tropical,” we usually experience several consecutive months of rain each year.  This year has been particularly rainy, keeping things moist (inside and outside).  Almost every day, parents with umbrellas gather at the primary school across the street: The students run in front of cars, trucks, and scooters as they cross the street: During this time, you see scooter riders trying to stay dry with two-headed ponchos:Drainage is a problem on many of the streets, with water bubbling up from some of the storm sewers:and mysteriously flowing down into adjacent ones:The flooded streets pose a risk to scooters as they ride blindly through deep water:Sometimes the murky water hides a submerged curb: As we walked to the bus stop one Sunday morning, we had to wade through the shallowest parts of flooding on our access road:

Our wet feet were a nuisance, but the poor drainage posed a bigger problem for the adjacent unfinished apartment complex.  The water drained into their multi-story garage, basically creating a 30′ deep lake (mostly underground level):

Interestingly, a week later, the water level has risen, the sun peeked out of the clouds, and men are fishing here:

Maybe they’ll catch a scooter…

OK – I know that I’ve posted photos from the market before (2014, 2015), but it’s so “culturally rich” that I just feel a need to do it again.  Here are some of the things that we saw as we walked through the market on Thursday.  It’s Mid-Autumn Festival, so there were a lot of people selling discount mooncakes (~2 RMB each):It’s also the season for walnuts, so there are people cutting off the husks and selling them in the shell:

In some sections of the market, there are opportunities for low-cost health care, such as budget dentures:

And if you have a sebaceous cyst, you can come here to get it sucked out: 

They were grinding whole wheat for flour,

fresh corn to make fritters,

selling fresh bamboo shoots,

and very fresh chicken:

The market is full of all kinds of people, young and old:

This guy had an intricately carved cane:

Of course, there were the ubiquitous park musicians, adding a festive flair:

As we’ve said before, when you come for a visit, be sure to come on a Thursday to enjoy the market!

The day we returned to China, we paid our apartment rent for the new year:The next day, we attended the wedding of some special friends.  At times, it was hard to see the ceremony due to the many photographers:

The new freshmen have arrived on campus.  One afternoon while making a quick visit to the school office, I was asked to give an impromptu speech to over a thousand students on the plaza:As usual, they have spent the last few weeks marching around the soccer field:Students are very good at marching.  Perhaps, it’s because they start young – here’s a photo of primary school children training across the street:Things continue to change rapidly around us.  Our friends’ wedding dinner was held in this modern shopping district with simulated French architecture:

and these apartments near our home have only been under construction for about nine months:

While many things change, other things remain the same.  Like overloaded trucks:old men gathering on a street corner to watch a card game:and enjoying local food with our friends:

We were blessed to spend much of August in America with family and friends.  While there, we traveled to Park City, Utah to be with our oldest son and visited this place:

No, it’s not a mountain lodge – it’s the Park City hospital.  Our son was getting outpatient knee surgery, and we were able to drive him around town for a few days (while his wife was at a conference):We drove to the nearby Uinta mountains for a picnic lunch: We’ve seen “share the road” signs before like this one:but this was the first place where we saw this type of “share the road” sign:Back in SC, we were joined by our daughter, son-in-law, and grandsons for a vacation at Cherry Grove Beach.  The weather was nice and hot, providing 87 degree water:

We like the wide-open, uncrowded beach here:

We also enjoyed the pool at the condo: and miniature golf:We tried some fishing, too, but there wasn’t much action.  We did catch some mullet with a cast net: and our daughter and son-in-law both caught a black drum at the nearby inlet:But even if the fish aren’t biting, it can be pleasant to stand in the surf on a warm, moonlit night:Now that we’re back in China, solitude will be much harder to come by…

Before returning to the States, we visited the workshop of “Hearts and Hands,” a business in our city that serves disabled people through training and employment.  They make some wonderful handicrafts, including Christmas items like these place mats

and this beautiful tree skirt:

80% of the employees are hearing impaired.  It’s great to see them working together in a productive community:

The business also makes special orders for clients around the world, like this bunch of bunnies bound for Australia:

I was out of breath after climbing five flights of stairs to visit the manager (in the photo above).  She then pointed out this employee who lives on the sixth floor and climbs the stairs with crutches (due to polio):

Due to recent cost increases and declining profits, they have been forced to relocate their retail store to the first floor of their workshop:

We will often buy their handmade souvenirs to take back to America (click here to view their on-line catalog).  And if you’re interested in an excellent volunteer opportunity (1 year or more), they are currently seeking the counsel of an experienced marketing or supply chain professional.

This week, a team of volunteers arrived from the States to lead our 9th annual English Summer Camp:During the opening ceremony, a friend helped me do a short skit to teach Language learning skills to the audience:Since He was pretending to be a Chinese college student, he spoke Chinese during most of the skit (click here to view a clip: Chinese Student).

This year’s camp has about 150 school children,about 45 college students, and about 140 English teachers from rural areas of our province:

The American volunteers are doing a great job of making this an enjoyable learning experience for the students:

We really appreciate this wonderful group of students and teachers coming around the world to bless our students here in China!

We recently had the privilege of participating in the wedding of some dear friends.  They had a strong desire that their wedding (and marriage) would convey a special meaning, so they chose a hybrid of Chinese and Western traditions.

I reviewed the service with my interpreter,

the vocalist and accompanist prepared, the guests arrived on time (surprisingly),

and one of the groomsmen got some last-minute nutrition:

Thankfully, everything went smoothly.  It was sweet to see this couple exchange vows:

After the formal service, people took some random photos with the couple,

and a little girl chatted with Susan:

Traditional Chinese weddings are held at a nice restaurant.  The guests are greeted at the entrance by the wedding party:

This restaurant had a beautiful view:

and some interesting food:

In traditional fashion, the couple showed deep respect to their parents:

In Western tradition, they lit a “unity candle”

then spoke to each other and their guests:

The bride changed to a traditional red dress and they visited each table to toast their guests:

If an appropriate red envelope is given to the couple, the groom is obligated to drink a bowl full of random hot sauces and drinks mixed by the table guests.  Our table presented the challenge and the groom accepted:

Living in China can be difficult, but we are thankful for the relationships that we enjoy with special friends here:

Once again, we bade farewell to many of our students at the graduation ceremony.  As usual, there were a lot of students decked out in caps and gowns on the plaza:While the portable stools provide an easy option for seating, they can also be moved into positions that make it hard to pay attention to the program underway:A few differences between our graduation and one in the west: notice that undergraduate students are still in the classrooms and that the few spectators in attendance usually just stand on the sidelines:We were standing alongside of the graduates when I noticed that the gardener behind us was spreading some poison on the weeds:

After the ceremony, we were able to take pictures with a number of our students (and a visiting foreign friend):

The students signed a large poster and threw their hats into the air: We also had a graduation party for our English Corner students:We will miss many of these special friends…

Last week, we spent an afternoon visiting the South Asia Trade Fair being held in our city:This huge event moved to a massive purpose-built exhibition hall last year: Numerous guard stations were staffed to ensure the safety of guests:It was entirely too big to visit in a single day (with 5,000+ vendors), but we did get to see some interesting things.  In the business hall, there were a number of UAV (drone) manufacturers,scale-models of trains and high-efficiency public transit vehicles,3D printers,and the largest construction models of planned communities I’ve ever seen:The rest of the venue was filled with hundreds of retail sellers from all over the world.  Foods for sale included Chinese dates, pressed meat, dried squid, sea cucumbers, and fresh goose: I tasted the durian ice cream, proving the reality that if you mix something good into something bad, the result will still be bad:There were African skin creams, furs from Pakistan, beads from Myanmar, and Sri-Lankan gemstones:Of course, there were a few obvious copycat items: These booths would’ve seemed more legitimate if they’d spelled “general” correctly:But the main reason we went was to visit our students.  Some of our past students now represent trading companies, while current ones volunteer as interpreters and assistants: If you enjoy spending a day with a massive crowd, come for a visit during next year’s trade fair!  (to really appreciate it, look at this blog of the same event from three years ago:  http://www.robnetts.net/2013/06/trade-expo-2013/)

Trade Fair Addendum – for Techies Only!

If you’re one of “those people” (e.g. engineers, IT, etc) who enjoy technology-related stuff, here are a few more details about cool stuff at the trade fair.  Otherwise, click the big red “X” in the corner of your browser window now!

They did have some very crowded Virtual Reality (VR) exhibits, but this was about as close as we could get:

The popularity of this breakout technology probably says something about its future.  You could also stand in line to try out full-motion simulators (semi-VR?):UAV (drone) displays showed some pretty interesting commercial applications, like this purpose-built drone designed for “crop dusting” (a very dangerous job for manned aircraft): This big one is being manufactured here in Yunnan province:China has become a world leader in high-speed transit, and this exhibit was reaching out to municipalities seeking to build new mass-transit systems:Along with this child, I was particularly impressed by this “stored energy vehicle.”  It converts and stores up to 80% of the vehicle’s braking energy in “ultra-capacitors” with a 12 year service life (~ 1 million cycles):Such high efficiency allows the implementation of a low-noise, zero-emissions transit system without the need to install overhead catenary wires along the operating route.

3D printers were also being used to make intricate objects.  You could pay 300 RMB and have it produce a 3D image of yourself or your child:Not surprisingly, it was also being used to make historically significant images:

Although China is a very pragmatic society, decisions and activities are often bent toward good luck.  Because last weekend was “Dragon Boat Festival,” many people attached calamus and mugwort leaves alongside their doors to dispel evil and encourage health:

While a western Wal-mart will set prices just below the next whole dollar, most of the prices in China end with the lucky number 8,and you don’t have to be a genius to figure out which number is used the most often for bank account PIN codes on this ATM pin-pad:Conversely, the number 4 is unlucky.  As a westerner, you can take advantage of this when making some decisions, such as choosing the least-crowded broadcast channel for your WiFi router:

A few days ago, we saw smoke billowing from the window of a newly completed building across the street:But don’t call the fire department yet – the owners were just exploding fireworks to clear the building of evil spirits.  Click here to watch the short video: Indoor Fireworks.

While we don’t follow these practices, we will soon be eating the special Dragon Boat Festival gift given to us by our school – a box of assorted Zongzi:

If you’re unfamiliar with Zongzi, check out this previous blog.