A Busy Time in Chengdu Chinese New Year & Spring Festival

Sorry I have not posted any new material for the past week. With the Chinese New Year & Spring Festival comes many special activities, a ten-day holiday for most people and travel for many during the holiday period. Prior to the Chinese New Year, I enjoyed the Chengdu YMCA's New Year's Dinner for staff and volunteers and the family New Year's Luncheon with my General Secretary and her family. Family, organizational and business luncheons and dinners are major events of the New Year's season. The Chengdu YMCA is closed for ten days (February 15-24). The YMCA arranged for me to go to Xishuangbanna in Yunnan Province for four days including the Chinese New Year and to go to Lijiang in Yunnan Province for five days at the end of this week. During the three days between the trips, I have been visiting several parks in Chengdu which have special flower and/or lantern displays. Also, at the end of January, I spent five days in Guilin. A major event last week was the opening of the reconstructed Tianfu Square in the center of Chengdu. All of this activity has produced many, many photos, but I am not sure when I'll get time to post them to my blog. I think after I get home I will be adding to my blog for several months to complete the story of my stay in China.