Marvelous Beijing Opera Performance

Jingju, literally "drama of the capital" or the Beijing Opera as it is known in English, gave two performances in Chengdu on October 20-21. Charles, husband of the YMCA General Secretary, invited me to attend the second performance with him. It was a fantastic experience!! The Jingju performed The Story of Judge Bao & the Case of Qin Xianglian -- one of the all-time favorite plays of the Chinese. The opera is "about the legendary Judge Bao, a stern but fair dispenser of justice and upholder of the common man -- or in this case, common woman."

"In it, the scholar Chen Shimei leaves his wife, Qin Xianglian, in the care of his parents and goes to the capital to take the national examinations. He places first and charms the Empress Dowager, who arranges for him to marry her daughter, the Emperor's younger sister -- to secure his position, Chen tells everyone that he has never been married before. While Chen is in the capital, his parents die in a widespread famine, and his original, commoner wife and children come to the capital in search of his protection.


Although Qin tries her best to win his recognition, Chen refuses to acknowledge them and orders a palace guard to kill them. The assassin, however, is moved by Qin Xianglian's story, lets them go, and then kills himself rather than complete his mission.

With the assistance of a kindly innkeeper and a sympathetic government minister, Qin then goes to Judge Bao and accuses Chen of attempting to murder her and his original heir and of causing Han Qi's death.

Boa calls Chen before him, and Chen does everything in his power to use his status as the Emperor's brother-in-law against Qin Xianglian--his imperial wife and mother-in-law even come to court to threaten Judge Bao.

In the end, however, Judge Bao holds firm--and Chen is beheaded."


The poster and story are taken from "A Guide to Jingju" published by the Department of Theatre and Dance, College of Arts and Humanities, University of Hawaii at Manoa for the Kennedy Theatre 2001-2002 season. For more on the Beijing Opera, see the Chinese Opera Links Page.

Jintang Students Maintain School

The Jintang students, with teacher assistance and supervision, maintain the cleanliness of the classrooms, halls and stairs, toilets, playground and signage. Students are assigned to specific days and after the work is completed a team of students and a teacher inspect and grade each area of the school.

Setting of the Jintang Primary School

The Jintang Hong Kong Primary School is located in a rural setting amongst beautiful farm land and close to the beginning of the mountains. The students come from low-income families who work the farm land or who live in the surrounding mountains. Jintang County is one of the primary sources for fresh vegetables and grain for Chengdu and Sichuan Province.

Gas Prices & Toll Roads

One day last week on the way to Jintang Primary School, we stopped for gasoline. There were three grades: 90, 93 and 97. Bob, the YMCA driver, purchased #93 gasoline for 5.05 Yuan per liter. Since one gallon equals 3.7854118 liters and one US dollar equals 7.87690 Yuan, my calculation is that Bob paid US$2.43 per gallon for the gasoline.

Going from Chengdu to Jintang each Tuesday and Thursday, we travel on two toll roads. The Chengnan Expressway is a six-lane divided, limited access super highway. The center divider is landscaped with shrubs tall enough to keep the lights from oncoming cars and trucks from hitting you in the eye at night. The landscaping also adds beauty to the highway. All along the expressway are men and women picking up any litter and sweeping any dirt off the road. The expressway is very clean! The speed limits on the expressway are 120 kilometers/hour (or 75 miles/hour) for cars, 100 kilometers/hour (or 62 miles/hour) for buses and 80 kilometers/hour (or 50 miles/hour) for trucks.

The second toll road is four lanes undivided with access like a regular highway. It too has men and women who keep it clean. The outer lanes are mostly used by people walking, on bikes or motorcycles. You would not consider the traffic heavy on either of these roads. Both roads are very well maintained. I don't know the distances we drive on each road but the expressway toll is 10 Yuan and the second toll is 8 Yuan (a total of about US$2.29).

New TV Tower Stands 339 Meters

The main construction of a 339-meter-high cone-shaped TV tower in Chengdu was finished on October 17th.

The highest in western China, fourth highest in the nation and seventh highest in the world, the tower will send out TV signals to a radius of 80 kilometers, reaching 18 million people. It is hoped that the tower will serve as a symbol of Chengdu and its tourism.

A big restaurant up 213 meters will attract visitors who want to get a bird's eye view of the city. Other entertainment facilities being constructed include a modern cinema. The exact opening date of the tower has not be determined.

Lunch at Jintang Primary School

At the Jintang Hong Kong Primary School where I teach two days/week, the students who live near the school go home for lunch. Those who live further away can stay at school and enjoy a hot lunch for 2 yuan (25 cents US) a day. The students bring their own container in which to eat lunch in the classroom and assist in the process of serving lunch. Below, students carry food from the kitchen to their classroom.

Below, a teacher serves food to students in the student provided food container in her classroom.

Below, a student enjoys lunch in his classroom.

Below, students wash their dishes after lunch near the kitchen area.

Romance of Three Kingdoms

Over the past three weeks, several folks have recommended that I read the Romance of Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong. "Three Kingdoms was the first full-length novel with clear chapter divisions to appear in ancient China. It is a classic historical romance. No other work of this genre, in past times or present, has had such a deep and wide-ranging impact on Chinese society. The Chinese title of this novel, Sanguo Yanyi, indicates that its theme is 'righteousness,' which at one time was extrolled as the highest standard of virtue in China." [From Professor Shi Changyu's Introduction to Moss Roberts' translation.]

A Three Kingdoms web site is dedicated to this historical novel and includes commentary by Dr. Rafe de Crespigny. He explains: "ROTK...is the most popular novel in Asia. Written 600 years ago, it tells the epic of Han Dynasty in China during the 2nd and 3rd century...The English translation of ROTK by Moss Roberts is the best translation I have ever seen. It is more enjoyable than the original Chinese text, I truly agree. Here is the one reason: Professor Roberts provides us 250 extra pages of notes, which come from various sources, from both history and traditions. I have read a few original texts, and the editions I read do not give as much information. Beside notes, Professor Roberts also supplies several useful maps of battles. One advantage of this translation is that it is new, and therefore, it uses the modern Pinyin name system (names like Cao Cao, Liu Bei, and Sun Quan---those names are used in games, too)...ThreeKingdoms.com publishes the full translation of ROTK by C.H. Brewitt-Taylor on the web free for all internet readers. We incorporate the literature style of Brewitt-Taylor, and at the same time we use the modern Pinyin name system. Moreover, we have corrected the many mistakes the paper book has. And the best thing of all, we include many notes, backgrounds, as well as maps with more details than in any ROTK book." Go to ThreeKingdoms.com, learn more about this great novel, and start to read it. You can download the complete text to your computer for easy access.

I was fortunate to be able to purchase in Chengdu a paperback boxed copy of Moss Roberts' Three Kingdoms in four volumes, published by the Foreign Language Press in Beijing for about US$10.00.

A Cool Refreshing Breeze

Reading rooms were important features of American YMCAs at the beginning of the last century; and, the Chengdu YMCA's Public Reading Room was popular in the 1950s. The Chengdu YMCA's Public Reading Room was recently reopened during a time when the craze for money and profit seemed to be fashionable. Some doubted the YMCA's initiative and its spiritual value, but more people endorsed their move. Local TV and a newspaper hailed the program as "a cool refreshing breeze" in Chunxi Lu.

The Reading Room offers a variety of newspapers and magazines and a small library of books. The room is staffed and is open to the public 9:30 AM to 12:00 noon and 2:30 to 5:30 PM. Since opening it has maintained a group of constant readers. About 10,000 persons come to the Reading Room annually.

Street Scenes on Chunxi Lu

When you enter Chunxi Lu from the north near the YMCA, you take a second look at the statues that greet you each morning under the historical stone mural. It is a popular place for folks to have their picture taken with one of the statues.

If you walk Chunxi Lu before 9:00 AM, it is not unusual to see one or more staff teams from the stores along the pedestrian road holding their morning pep rally before starting work.

Jintang Hong Kong YMCA School

On my third full-day in Chengdu, Sunday, October 8th, the YMCA General Secretary, Isabella Hua, took me to the Jintang Hong Kong YMCA School which is about one hour from my apartment in Chengdu. The school was open on Sunday because the Golden Week holiday followng National Day (October 1) had ended on Saturday.

This rural village school in Jintang County, northeast of Chengdu, was rebuilt with a generous donation of 1.19 million HK dollars [US$152,922] from the Hong Kong YMCA and renamed to express the local people's gratitude. On the initiative of local authorities, the school was transferred and entrusted to the Chengdu YMCA. A new school board was organized by the Chengdu YMCA to take charge of the administration, finance, teaching and other relevant matters. Last year for the first time in Jintang County, there were volunteer native English speakers from the North American Fellowship of YMCA Retirees [NAFYR] to teach English to first and second graders and a Hong Kong YMCA volunteer to organize and run the school's physical education program.

The YMCA has one person to oversee the school's operation; the headmaster and teachers are paid by the government. The school has 428 students and 28 teachers. Among the students are the 16 orphans from the YMCA Yellow House Orphanage which is also in Jintang.

The visit gave me a chance to meet the Headmaster and the two teachers with whom I will be working. Ye Yù (Suzanne), Headmaster of Jintag School, is second from right in the above photograph; Yáo Hǒng Méi, the first grade English teacher is on the far right; and Tǒng Mǐng (Eva), the third grade teacher is on the far left. On Tuesdays and Thursdays in the morning, I will work with Hǒng Méi in the two first grade classes and in the afternoon I will work with Mǐng in the two third grade classes. Each class is 40 minutes. On my visit I was able to secure copies of the workbooks used by the students, the teachers' guides and cassette tapes for each grade level.

On the following Tuesday, I returned and observed all of the classes in action. On Thursday of my first week I assisted the teachers. During my second week, on Tuesday, Mǐng had to be away from the school for the afternoon and I taught her two classes by myself - with the Headmaster and another teacher sitting in on the first class.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, Wei Yuan (Bob) [the YMCA driver] picks me up at my apartment at 8:40 AM for the one hour drive to Jintang. I get back to my apartment about 4:30 PM.

Street Scene: Wedding Pictures

Yesterday, Sunday, I walked south from my apartment along the Fuhe River. At the end of my street near where the Fuhe is joined by the Nanhe River, the river park broadens out and is beautifully landscaped. The park is a very popular place for wedding pictures. There were at least 25 couples with their wedding parties in the park having their pictures taken during the brief time I was there. At least three can be seen in the above photo. The park also contains a beautiful fountain which is used by some as the background for their photos.

Some Familiar Signs Around Chengdu

As you walk around Chengdu, you come across quite a few familiar signs -- KFC - Kentucky Fried Chicken (apparently the first western chain restaurant to come to Chengdu), Budweiser, McDonald's, Starbucks, Amway, Pizza Hut, Pepsi, Coke -- to name a few.

Chengdu YMCＡ Buildings

In 1911 an original Chinese style YMCA was built on the Y's present site. In 1914, Jinhuaguan Street was built from Zhengkejia Alley west to Chunxi Road. It now runs along side the YMCA. In 1925 a western style YMCA was completed (above) and in 1993 a new 5 story building was completed facing Chunxi Lu. The new building includes a Tea House, rental floors and the YMCA fitness center on two floors. I observe that many folks walk through Jinhuaguan Street and stop to take pictures of the YMCA and surrounding buildings. Last Wenesday, new neighbors arrived across Jinhuaguan Street which include a flower shop and a coffe shop and snack vendor. The street is now lined with tables and chairs where you can drink your coffee or eat your snack. My office is on the second floor of this building, as is the class room I use for teaching English to YMCA staff members. This buiding provides office space, a kitchen and staff dining room, classrooms for the arts and chorus program and the reading room. It is also home to several YMCA cats! It is spectacular at night.

The archway on Jinhuaguan Street leading to Chunxi Lu (Chengdu's major predestrian shopping street) before the new coffee and snack shops arrived. The passageway under the arch includes the entrance to the Tea House on the second floor of the new YMCA building. The Tea House also has tables and chairs which you can see along the passage under the arch. The new YMCA building rises on the left.

The Chengdu YMCA facilities include these two buildings, the Yellow House Orphanage and Jintang Hong Kong Primary School in Jintang, and two branch facilities - on in eastern Chengdu and one in western Chengdu. I have not yet visited the branch operations. And, there is a YWCA Kindergarten facility.

News from the Chengdu Weekly – 15 October

Today I received my first copy of the Chengdu Weekly dated 15 October. It is an eight page newspaper published every Sunday in English which I will receive regularly. Each week I’ll post some the Chengdu news which I think might be of interest or might help convey an image of Chengdu.

Good News - Bus Stop Signs Goes Bilingual: Bilingual signs with Chinese and English will be installed to replace the present boards at bus stops along the major traffic routes and at scenic spots in downtown Chengdu. Officials explained that the new signs will offer convenience for travelers from all over the world and expatriates living in Chengdu who may have trouble reading the old signs written in Chinese and pinyin. Installation of the 1,229 new signs will be completed by the end of the month.

Buses to Take on Color: Chengdu's buses will be distinguished by colors as to differentiate the routes they run. There are about 4,100 buses in the city and by February of next year buses will take on colors of red, green, blue and yellow with routes of fast track, circling the city, sub-branch, and outskirts bound respectively. Passengers will be able to distinguish buses they intend to take by colors even from a far distance.

Chengdu – A Major Tourist Destination: Chengdu ranked fifth among the most popular tourist destinations in the Chinese mainland during the National Day holiday, the Golden Week [the first week in October this year], according to a survey by Ctrip, a leading travel agency in China. The survey said that the status of Chengdu as a leisure city and a transportation hub, as well as the rich tourism resources in the nearby areas, had contributed to the rise of Chengdu in the rankings. The survey included 40 major tourism cities including Beijing, Tianjin, Wuxi, Shangai and Sanya which hosted 51.29 million tourists, reaping a total of 24.1 billion yuan in tourism revenue.

Digital Cameras to Curb Crime: Chengdu will install 2,210 digital camera devices on streets as a means to improve public security. Video sent back by the devices will be transmitted to 68 surveillance centers in the city. The public security departments are recruiting new staff to work in the surveillance centers. The size of the captured video can be adjusted to locate persons or objects suspected in an offense. The device was first put into use by the Wuhou District in May and proved effective in areas where police patrol is inadequate especially during the night.

Chengdu Raises Minimum Wage: The minimum wage of the city's urban area has been raised to RMB580 yuan [per month]. The Chengdu Municipal Governement set new minumum wage standards for salaries for full-time and odd jobs. Salaries will rise according to the living standards in different areas. People living in the five urban districts and the Chengdu National High Tech Development Zone will enjoy the highest increase of 130 yuan from the previous 450 yuan. Work overtime and holiday duties shall be paid extra money aside from the minimum wage. [Note: Approximately RMB 8 yuan equals 1 US dollar.]

Orientation Day - Saturday

On Saturday, October 7th, I received my first day of orientation to living in Chengdu. My guide was Sharon, a YMCA volunteer who teaches professional English to social work students at a university in Chengdu. Sharon is from Chengdu, but went to college in Beijing and to graduate school in Shanghai. We walked through the neighborhood east of my apartment where we toured the neighborhood market where her family shops for fresh produce, meats, steamed buns, etc.

One objective was to teach me how to use the buses for transportation. I received a bus card to pay for my bus rides. When you get on the bus, you swipe the card on the machine to pay and it subtracts the appropriate amount from the balance on the card and indicates to you the balance left on the card -- very convenient way to pay the fee which varies among the buses based on whether their air conditioned or not. There may be other factors as well but I am not sure. [A bus ride is either 1 or 2 Yuan; 8 Yuan equal one US dollar; thus, it is a very economical mode of transportation.] The bus stop information is all in Chinese so I really have to know where I want to get off. Since, I have purchased a large bus map for Chengdu. Although it is in Chinese, I can better understand the routes and I have a smaller bus map which tells the starting and ending point of each bus route. I should be able to figure it out over time with help from my friends.

We took the bus to Carrafours which is a large French superstore where they have most everything including food. Larry and Caole, last year's NAFYR volunteers, had told me it was the best place to buy fresh fruits and vegetables. Sharon walked me throughout the store so I could see what they offered. One immediate impression about Chinese superstores is the large number of clerks in them. The clerks are of two kinds - those who work for the store and those who work for a product company who are there to sell the company's products. Anywhere you go in a store, there are at least six clerks to help you.

We then took the bus to the central business district where the YMCA is located. We had lunch in a restaurant which had a partial English menu of which I made a note. Then we walked through the central business district. Saw some familiar signs - KFC, McDonalds, Starbucks, Pizza Hut! Chunxi Lu, on which the YMCA is located, is a major pedestrian street with the latest fashions. Our goal was to visit another large superstore - Ito Yokado - owned by a Japanese firm. Ito Yokado had four floors of general merchandise and the basement level was the food store. We again walked through the store to see what was available. I soon realized that I could have purchased many of the things I brought with me from the USA in China (at a lower price)! Along side Ito Yokado is a new store - Bread Talk - which offers a wide range of western style bakery goods.

The tour today helped to prepare me for acquiring the essestials for daily life and to be able to get around Chengdu by bus. I've since learned that another major superstore is the Metro - a German owned chain in China. A recent article about Wal-Mart's purchase of a chain of stores in China noted that the foreign owned stores still represent a small percentage of retail sales in China. One of the major advantages for me of Carrafours is that everything is translated into English for each product. The advantage of Ito Yokado is that it is near the YMCA and I can stop in on my way home.

In exploring my neighborhood, I have found two convenience stores and a produce stand within a block of my apartment. These are good sources for several staples -- bottled water, milk, toilet paper, facial tissue, yogurt, bananas, apples and pears. To find Dole's vegetable juice, butter, paper towels and cereal, I need to go to one of the superstores.

Many of you know I am a Cheerios fan -- well the version in China is good, but has too much sugar.

Mid-Autumn Festival ... More

The garden in the courtyard will provide fresh vegetables for the children in the orphanage.
During the afternoon some staff read to the children, while some children studied on their own.
Other staff prepared the Mid-Autumn Festival Dinner which was enjoyed by all the children and the YMCA guests.

My First Full Day / Mid-Autumn Festival

On Friday, October 6th, I had a light breakfast. My thoughtful hosts had stocked my apartment with bread, milk, water, jelly, coffee, sugar, creamer, apples, bananas and pears for my breakfast. After breakfast I went out to explore the neighborhood and walked a few blocks in each direction. Went through the neighborhood market with stalls selling fruits, vegetables, grains, meats and other items. Went by a temple not far away. The steets were full of small stores and shops of every type.

October 6th was the Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon Festival. The Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the two most important holidays in the lunar calendar (the other being the Lunar New Year). The Festival falls on the 15th day (a full moon day) of the eighth lunar month. The moon is at its fullest and brightest, making an ideal time to celebrate the abundance of the summer's harvest. The traditional food of this festival is the moon cake of which there are many varieties. See the Wikipedia for a detailed discussion of the Mid-Autumn Festival including the legends behind the festival.

After lunch the YMCA bus picked us up to go to the YMCA Yellow House Orphange in Jintang to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival with the children. The orphanage is currently home for sixteen orphans (five boys and eleven girls). One of the parents of these children is dead and the other is unable to care for the child (i.e. disabled or in jail). The orpanage moved to their new facility this fall; it is a former government office complex that includes a wing
of residential and office space (top picture), a dining hall (which the chidren are entering in the second picture), kitchen, a toilet facility, and other spaces for future developement.

My Home in Chengdu

My home in Chengdu for the next six months is in Zongfu Garden - an apartment on the twenty-first floor of #5 Tian Xian Qiao Bei Lu, one block from the Fuhe River. The picture, taken from the banks of the Fehu River looking west, shows my building standing tall. It is a thirty floor building, so count down nine floors and I'm in one of the center apartments with a balcony looking to the east.

The apartment has a sitting room, bedroom, study, kitchen, bathroom with shower, and a balcony. The sitting room has a cushioned bamboo love seat and two chairs, a coffee table, a table with two chairs for dining, a TV with cable and a DVD player, and a cabinet at the door for house slippers and for guests' shoes. Near the kitchen is a small refrigerator/freezer and a water cooler/heater with filter. The kitchen is equipped with a double sink, a two burner gas cook top, microwave oven, washer for laundry, and cabinets. The bedroom has a large bed, two bedside stands, large closet that includes drawers for my clothes, and a rack on which to dry clothes. The study includes another closet, book shelves and drawers, a desk and a cushioned rocking chair with foot rest. Hot water is provided by a gas-fired mechanism that heats the water instantly when needed in the kitchen, lavatory or shower -- it works very well. The water cooler/heater with filter in the living room works well also. I put water into the container on top and it filters down into a lower compartment. If I turn on the heater and/or cooler it provides either hot or cold water filtered to drink. The hot water is hot enough to make coffee.

Each room is also equipped with a unit on the wall which cools, heats and/or dries the air. I have not had to use them yet. The weather has been warm, around 80 F during the day and 65 F at night; apparently a little warmer than usual for this time of year.

The apartment building has a first floor lobby with security at the entrance; there is always someone of duty. Behind the building (away from the street) is a garden which includes a swimming pool for use in the summer. Each floor has 10 apartments - five on the west and five on the east. There are three elevators and after a few uses I figured out that the one on the right only stops at odd numbered floors, the one in the middle stops at all floors, and the one on the left only stops at even numbered floors. Obviously, I've had to walk down a flight several times to figure this out! I guess I should have known by the numbers on the floor keys in the elevator. :-)

Our mail boxes are on the first floor. I should soon see how China Post works as my nephew Andrew who is teaching English in Japan is very kindly sending me a set of the books they use in the school in which he works. Andrew has been most helpful is suggesting ESL Internet resources and ideas for the classroom. The ESL links on my blog are mostly his suggestions. Thanks, Andrew!

Under the building is a "bike garage" with security where my bike is waiting for me to ride it. I'm not sure that Chengdu biking is for me; it looks much more dangerous than my empty roads at Hemlock Farms. Time will tell.

As you can see, the accommodations are very comfortable. They are also convenient to the Chengdu YMCA which is about a 15-20 minute walk to the west. I've located both on Google Earth, but can't figure out how to add a Google Earth Placemark (tm) to my blog. Does anyone know how?

Long and Safe Trip to Chengdu

We left home in Lords Valley about 2:00 PM on Tuesday, October 3. Francia drove me to our son Tad's home in Tenafly NJ. Had my last American Chinese take-out dinner. The limo driver arrived 15 minutes early, so it was quick "Goodbyes" to Francia and Tad's family. Although it was rush hour in New York, we got to JFK Airport in less than 45 minutes. With the help of a porter, I was first in line to check-in for my China Airlines flight; I had gotten to the airport 5 hours before departure time. After an hour, the check-in counter opened. I had three bags to check through, expecting to pay more than $100 for the third bag. The clerk said, "Your third bag is about the size of a carry-on so I won't charge you for it, but they may charge you in Hong Kong when you check in for your Air China flight." My first break!

Had four hours to wait for my flight. An elderly Chinese woman sat next to me in the waiting area and started a conversation. She was going to Taiwan for surgery because it was much less expensive than the USA. She had come to New York many years ago, studied and then worked in accounting for Columbia University until retirement. She had been a member of the West Side YMCA in New York until it became too expensive for her. She was now studying piano with a private teacher. While waiting, a China Airlines attendant came around and was lifting carry-on luggage to check their weight and made many check their carry-ons. He never lifted my carry-on. My second break!

The flight left New York on time. It landed in Anchorage where we had to deplane for about one hour. Anchorage airport had free wireless Internet service; since in was now 8:00 AM in NJ, using Skype I called Francia at Tad's house. What an amazing service! Then, on to Taipei. The flight from NY to Taipei took 18 hours -- it was like a VERY LONG night, as we left NY late at night on October 3 (EDT) and arrived in Taipei early in the morning on October 5 (China time). I slept much of the time, getting up to eat and to deplane in Anchorage.

I had less than a half hour between flights in Taipei, but the cabin attendant said there were several folks on the plane making my connection and that they would hold the plane for us. So I walked off the first flight, went to the next gate and boarded my second flight in about 5 minutes. It was about three hours to Hong Kong. Although my flying experience is not very extensive, this Airbus plane was the nicest plane on which I have ever flown. Everything was great!

Had a little more than one hour in Hong Kong. Had a little trouble finding the Air China check-in counters (got wrong directions the first time). Was in luck again, Air China did not charge me for my extra bag since China Airlines had not charged. Found a wireless Internet connection, but couldn't get Skype to connect on it. Then, the final three hour flight to Chengdu -- the only flight of the three that was not full. Chinese Airlines is based in Taiwan; Air China is a Mainland China airline.

Arrived on time in Chengdu. My three bags were in the first ten coming down the luggage belt. My fourth break! I had been concerned because of the short time between flights in Taipei that my luggage wouldn't be with me. Did not have anything to claim, so zipped through the Green Line at customs and into the waiting area.

Isabella Hua, General Secretary of the Chengdu YMCA, and her husband, Charles, were waiting for me. It was WONDERFUL to see and meet them. They drove me to my apartment, helped me get my luggage into the apartment, gave me instructions on the various appliances in the apartment, and gave me the rest of the afternoon to settle into my new home. Said they would be back about 6:30 PM to take me to dinner at their home which is in the building next door. By the time I was to meet them, I had unpacked and was beginning to feel at home!

I met them in the lobby at 6:30 PM. Charles had brought my bike. Showed me where to park and lock it in the guarded underground bike garage. Then, we went next door to their apartment and I experienced my first Chinese dinner in China. The food was great and I began to learn the family style way in which Chinese eat their meals.
From this first partial day in China, I knew how lucky I was to have this wonderful opportunity through the North American Fellowship of YMCA Retirees! Thank you, NAFYR!

Family Bon Voyage Party!

Our daughter, Lynne, hosted a family Bon Voyage Party for me on Saturday. Gave me a chance to see all of the children and grandchildren before my departure on Tuesday. We had a GREAT time! Thanks to the family for coming together for this special day!

Grandpa Bill and his Grandchildren - Marcus, Kira, Colin & Will

Surprise of the day was the Bon Voyage card below from our newest grandchild! Congradulations to Tad & Doreen!