Looking forward to Spring in Xi'an

Spring may not officially arrive for another week but it sneaked in early yesterday and surprised us with sunshine, warm temperatures, blossoms just ready to pop out, and a breath of what is ahead. We are told to enjoy spring fully—it soon converts to a hot and muggy summer. For now we are grateful to see a warm day and hope others follow since our indoor heat is being turned off—by official decree—on March 15, no matter what the temperature is outside.

School this week was a delight as my oral students “Toured the Teacher” with their presentations, acting as travel agents, in an attempt to sell me on traveling to their hometowns. Their enthusiasm was great fun to watch. The worst part was having to grade their efforts, but that, as I explained to them, is the “dirty diaper” of my job as a teacher. (That by the way is an expression that had to be explained.)

By Saturday we decided that we had had our noses to the proverbial grindstone far too long this week and really had to get out of our apartment and do something fun. To waste such a day would surely be a sin of some type. After lunch we left with no jackets on and soon wished we’d have worn sandals and shorts instead.

Walking past the building just in front of ours, we laughed at the usual Chinese construction zone, complete with its heap of sledge-hammered debris piled below, as someone was having a new kitchen built.

The view improved as we turned the corner, walked around the block to JiaoDa’s north gate, and crossed the road to Xingqing Gong (Park) where we joined throngs of Chinese who had the same idea we had—to enjoy the day in the sunshine.

Without the gates of the park we found street vendors taking advantage of the crowds by setting up shop with everything from a man making handmade grasshoppers;

to a motley assortment of puppies in cages, guinea pigs, and florescent colored chicks for sale;

mixed in with balloons and festive kites; side by side carts of a variety of Xi’an treats—hot baked yams,

fried quail eggs on a stick, Chinese crepes, cotton candy, and ice cream bars.

We passed by most of their offering, stopping to buy an “oatmeal” ice cream bar and headed in through the gates to wander the paths along the lakes, enjoy the fun of seeing families caught up in being together on such a lovely day.

Once more we were the only foreigners in a sea of Chinese faces, and once more we were photographed and greeted with “Hello, how are you”—the first line every Chinese child learns in their English classes. Each was delighted in turn with our willing responses to return their greeting and give them the chance to practice their limited English, others wanted our autographs or have their pictures taken with us.

As we strolled along we listened to a young man singing Shanxi opera (something one can’t quite describe—you just gotta hear it!) to the accompaniment of a grandfather’s two-stringed erhu; we watched children climb and slide on lovely carved approaches to ancient structures;

we laughed at the children’s play ground areas with their brightly colored toys, the kiddie-bungy jump, I’d have loved to try myself, to the plastic barrels in the water than looked as if made out of substantial bubble wrap.

The lake was full of people having fun in paddle boats and even one old codger in an old row boat using a shovel for his oar.


The trees were showing the start of tiny new leaves, the blossoms were just beginning, and the forsythia was showing its yellow blooms. Best of all were the children with their cheery little round faces and Chinese charm.


Feeling renewed in spirit we returned home through our campus to get ready for Sunday. Leaving John at the apartment I headed to our little market street to get fresh ground beef, a few veggies and fruits.

I also made a stop to pick up John’s pants that had been left to have shortened. We have returned repeatedly for her sewing skills. Her treadle sits just off the street in an outdoor alcove. Despite our best efforts we have been unable to get her to accept extra pay for her services. So we give her the few yuan she charged with my hearty thanks. Yesterday I asked to take her picture and she was shyly pleased to have me do so.

Home again I put our veggies to soak and started cooking, tomorrow was to be our monthly potluck following our Church meetings so I had things to do while President Laing attended to his reports and plans. It had been a memorable day.

Sunday dawned bright again, though slightly cooler than yesterday. We hopped our usual taxi to Church—it saves John’s jostling two ways on a crowded bus—and were grateful to join once more with our branch members for meetings, food, and visits. Xiaoyu Belnap was one of our speakers. She is Chinese, originally from Xi’an who joined the Church in Hong Kong, married Patrick Belnap from Salt Lake City who served a Hmong mission in Minnesota. Now they are back in Xi’an where Xiaoyu’s mother lives, conveniently just a block away. Patrick is John’s second counselor and was to conduct this Sunday for Dave Monson who was in Hong Kong with his wife who was attending the Asian area women’s conference. Xiaoyu began her talk by telling of an experience that testified to all of us that the Spirit is brooding over this land with its millions and billions of people. Saturday night John had mentioned to Patrick to remember to bring the bread for the Sacrament Meeting. He didn’t know that they had no bread in their house. Xiaoyu felt awful, thinking they would have to buy some on Sunday morning. Early that morning Xiaoyu heard a knock on their front door. Opening it she found her non-member mom standing there holding two loaves of bread. She explained that she had had a dream in the night that they needed bread (something Chinese don’t really use) so she had brought this for them. Yes, the Spirit is at work in China. These are baby steps but hearts are softening and opening to the influences of the spirit. What a wonderful thing this is.

Back to Work in Xi'an

Our semester is once more underway and despite the sense of being generally overwhelmed at facing those first days of class, they came and went successfully. John came home from his Tuesday and then Friday classes beaming. Everything had gone off for him like clockwork and for whatever reason I felt more relaxed and settled with my kids than I did last term. I have made a lot of changes in what I am doing that actually is making my job easier and the students' work more demanding. They not only have to talk a lot more but also have to volunteer to do so. That doesn't sound terribly alarming for American kids but it is pretty daunting for Chinese students--who don't volunteer for anything, though they respond well when called on. To my view, becoming fluent in oral English demands a willingness to speak up! I began with putting all their names on the board and then as one or another timidly made a comment, I erased that student's name. It wasn't long before they figured it out. No one wanted his/her name left on the board at the end of class.

One of the challenges for Chinese students is that they do not choose their majors--they are assigned and they may or may not be happy with that assignment. Because of that circumstance and because they could well end up with jobs that they do not necessarily like either, I thought it would be a good idea to talk about the value of avocations--finding things they love to do to infuse life with joy even when they don't always work in a profession they love. We talked about all kinds of hobbies and then they presented to the class their own hobbies.

It was fun to learn about each student's interests--from the expected love of reading and music, art and Chinese culture, to the collectors of little boxes, cute shopping bags, and event entrance tickets. Some had brought a visual aid and demonstrated their skills in badminton and some kind of marshal art, the name of which I have already forgotten, but which was pretty impressive!

Next week they will all become travel agents who have the task of "Touring the Teacher" to their home towns. They will be competing against one another to see who can sell their areas for a visit. (Chinese students may not like to volunteer but they are highly competitive! I look forward to their powerpoints and enthusiasm.

My research writing classes began with an assignment to select some kind of family artifact to write about after having interviewed a parent or grandparent about that item to define its significance in their family. The assignment gave them a chance to do a tiny bit of "primary research" and brought me a batch of absolutely wonderful papers to enjoy reading. The grammar and the spelling in them are far from perfect but the things they wrote about and the feeling with which they told the stories were priceless. I read of a crib a great-grandfather had carved and in which four generations of sons had been cradled, a sewing machine a grandmother had used to provide for her family during hard times when they had no other resource, a tin box where tiny coins were saved carefully to buy a beloved grandchild her wish--though there was never enough money to do so. One young man choose a wall as his artifact--a wall in his home marked with each year of his height as he grew to manhood; a girl chose her grandfather's medal earned during the "war to resist U.S. Aggression" (the one we call the Korean War--it's all a matter of perspective). These papers are a testament to how little they have in material ways--most of my kids come from peasant villages and are the hope of the future to their families--and how much they have in the things that matter.

They will now go on to write research papers that have to link in some way to their family as well as draw on scholarly sources. I will read research on how the barbaric custom of foot binding ended as one student tries to understand how one of her grandmothers had tiny crippled feet and her other one did not; another student is determined to understand the causes behind his family's having had to move to a small village a long way from their ancestral province; another, knowing of two relatives who suffer from the same serious mental illness seeks to find answers about the cause and treatment of that illness and if it could be a potential heartache in her own future child. Well enough about our school experiences. We find them to demand hard work, but they are also richly rewarding.

One of the challenges unrelated to the classroom but very much part of our teaching is our offices and equipment. I keep meaning to mention a couple of things along that line. Since coming to China we have bought two printers. The first printer was an HP and very cheap but over the next few months we paid for it over and over again in buying ink cartridges. We finally said "no more!" and gave it to a Chinese friend who would likely not use it nearly so heavily. We invested in a Canon, also very cheap, but we had it converted to use bulk liquid ink--no cartridges. We are not always impressed with Chinese quality. As one of our friends says--he won't be impressed with the Chinese until they develop a sewer system into which you can flush toilet paper without backing up! I couldn't agree more. BUT that said, this liquid ink set-up is just plain awesome. The big bottle of black ink cost me $7.50 American dollars--50 RMB and at the rate I am going with all the printing we do, I suspect it will be here for the next three years for the BYU teachers who follow after us. I wish we could bring our adapted Canon home with us! No more cartridges! I wish. Somebody needs to market this idea in the USA.

I spend a lot of time at the computer designing powerpoints for class and as a result have developed very painful neck and shoulder muscles--I think my age is catching up with me. John has just installed for me a new keyboard and drawer so that I don't have to lift my arms up so high. Hopefully that will make a big difference.

Because I was suffering with my stressed muscles and John was still feeling the effects of his fall on his shoulder and elbow, Mr. Chen took us, with our medical cards to JiaoDa's campus hospital--we thought we should experience what they had to offer in the way of Chinese medical treatment. They actually took x-rays of John's elbow and gave him some interesting smelling herbal patches to put on his hurts and then took me to a treatment room for "therapy." There I experienced electronic shock massage treatment. After 20 minutes of feeling like I had been rhythmically electrocuted while simultaneously being run over by a truck, I was told I got to come back for four more treatments. Oh goody. Despite the initial experience I actually felt considerably better the next day and since then have returned for two more and will go back next week for the other two. With our pink medical cards and Chinese foreign expert passports our medical experience cost us 53 RMB. Some $7.00. I've paid a lot more than that with fewer results in the good ole USA. Hey! its a Chinese adventure.

This week our neighborhood trees got butchered. John and I kept thinking that this had to be the worst case of pruning we'd ever seen. Just another funny Chinese thing.

Friday morning I dashed home from my morning class in time to call in on SKYPE to our condo's annual homeowners meeting. I am still the secretary on the board so attend our monthly board meetings in the same fashion. It is pretty amazing to be at home in Xi'an viewing the meeting in Salt Lake while I took the minutes. This medium allows us to talk with John's folks, our siblings, and even our kids occasionally. How blessed we feel to be able to do so. It makes it much easier to be away from home.

Today we had our district conference, also by means of SKYPE. From our hotel Church location, 14 of our branch members gathered around John's little ACER hooked up with our huawei air card to call into Beijing along with the rest of the members of the International district of the Church in China, where we could listen to inspired men and women who lead us. President Rogers, 1st counselor in the district presidency flawlessly conducted the adult session last night from his hotel room in Washington DC (where it was the middle of the night), President Tan joined from Singapore, where he was away on business, and President Toronto was, for once, in Beijing (not in LA at the All Stars game; he is an executive with the Chinese NBA). The Spirit was there in abundance. What a great experience this is in our lives.

This Week in Xi'an

We have enjoyed some really wonderful experiences over the last couple of weeks, particularly in our branch, though getting back in school has been great as well.

The highlight was the long-awaited baptism for Ning Ning Judd, a charming Chinese ophthalmologist who is married to a retired American attorney. She has studied the gospel for some four years, moving from no belief in God (a philosophy drilled into her for all her years since kindergarten)to a fervent testimony of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and a sure witness that she has a Heavenly Father who knows her and loves her. It has been a long process, not the least of which was getting the necessary District President's approval to go forward with her baptism. With a district covering nearly all of China but for Shanghai, President Stephen Toronto doesn't get to Xi'an all that often and Ning Ning and Conrad had to learn patience for what seemed like ages once she had completed the missionary discussions and accepted the baptismal challenge. Finally, despite very limited funds, the couple traveled to Beijing to see the president and get her approval for taking this important step.

Clearance to go ahead with the baptism was a critical step but it was just a first. Holding a baptism in China is an interesting challenge on every level. Finding a location to hold it, with adequate privacy and water in and of itself takes some doing. John's 2nd counselor, who speaks Chinese, contacted the Hyatt Regency in Xi'an where another baptism had been held several years ago, only to learn that since that time, the hotel had been sold. A door seemed to have closed but the manager did suggest that someone put a formal request together and she would submit it to the new owners. As branch president, John put together a wonderful email and shipped it off and for the next few days all of us prayed that hearts would be softened in Ning Ning's behalf.

Stepping out in faith the baptism was tentatively scheduled for a week ago Saturday--Ning Ning's only day off work. By Thursday we still did not have permission, or any word. Finally John called and talked with the manager to see if his email had been received and she told him she had just gotten it and would get back with him that day. By day's end there was still no word. Then Friday he received a beautiful email telling him that they would be honored to have us use their Club Zen at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday. Our prayers answered, the baptism was a go!

We still had no idea of what the facility looked like so I hopped a bus up into the city to check it out. It was absolutely perfect. A lovely quiet room with two huge hot tubs with dressing rooms just off them and with a door that could be closed for complete privacy.


Saturday most of the branch congregated in the Hyatt's Club Zen in our Sunday best, were greeted with great respect and consideration by Hyatt personnel. We were able to have a lovely little meeting before Ning Ning stepped into the waters of baptism holding tight to her husband's hand. With priesthood power he performed that simple, beautiful ordinance and immersed her. She came forth from the water beaming with joy. Conrad drew her to him, both still in the water, and hugged her, and she him. They are an unusual pair.

The Hyatt people were so charming with us. They could not be in with us for the baptism, but came in when we were done and took the picture of our group and ushered us out telling us they hoped to have us come again sometim.

It was the most beautiful event of its type I had ever witnessed. It was such a privilege to be part of it, even on the sidelines. She was to have been confirmed the next day but Conrad became ill and she wouldn't leave him so was unable to attend our meetings. Instead she sent the following email to the branch. It captures a little of her sweetness, and of the wonderful spirit of this special branch that we are blessed to be part of.

Hi, everybody,
I just want to tell all of you how grateful I am to have such a wonderful baptism with you all. From the first day I got to know you, I could feel the warmth, support, encouragement and the love from each one of you. Those were so important for me and Conrad at that period of difficult time. Because of the age difference, we suffered lots of prejudice and misunderstanding. But the great love from you gave us comfort and peace. Every time I think about this, I just marvel how good you are. Yesterday I felt I AM the daughter of my Heavenly Father. I can feel His love. And I know He sent His love to me by all of you. Thank you all for everything you did, thank you for the great love you give me, thank you for the good example you set for me, thank you all!

Today Ning Ning was confirmed and bore her testimony as part of our Fast and Testimony meeting,held this week because of our district conference next week. The home teaching message for the month of February, as you know, was about Finding Joy in sharing the gospel and in these special occasions that have brought Ning Ning into full fellowing in the Church we have been blessed to partake of that joy.

This week we both returned to our full teaching schedule. It is great to be back! I had procrastinated dreadfully in getting prepared for both my oral and writing classes but finally buckled down, put my power points together, and figured out how to begin. I have the same students I had last semester which has its good side--I already know their names and personalities--and its bad side--I can't use a darn thing I used last term so everything has to be created new. I am teaching research writing for my juniors and that is a bit of a challenge for me and for them. Knowing what is and isn't available in the way of resources makes it interesting. But I will muddle along.

John on the other hand has all new students--three sections of graduate engineers, with some 45 or so kids in each. BUT he has the advantage of being able to polish and perfect the materials and ppts he used before. He and our neighbor even put together a text for their classes with all their handouts and sources available to them. He came home beaming from his Tuesday sections--tired but happy that they had gone so well. He makes a pretty nifty college "professor." I am proud of him. It isn't easy to step into a totally new profession in such a challenging setting but he has excelled at it.

Now if we can both just hold up for the next five months we will feel like we have made a contribution, in a tiny way, but a contribution all the same.

On the home front, this has been a big month for our family with birthdays for Kiki (Adam's youngest) on the 20th, Adam's Kimmy on the 23rd, and Patrick on the 25th. We are proud of our boys having both just received major promotions in their employment with Adam becoming the sales manager over his team and Patrick becoming the General Manager of his company's Portland office. We are pleased to see Chi and David face the challenges that life sometimes hands us with courage and faith. Chi is expecting another little one in June and they are planning to move to South Ogden the end of March.

Our hearts are much with John's folks this month as they face the challenge of Pop's having been diagnosed with metathesized cancer through his systems, of a move from Heritage Place in Bountiful to John's only sister's home in Springville, allowing her to care for them at this important transition in their lives. We are so grateful for all Crystal and Lorenz have done to watch out for them over the months we have been away. Pop's greatest concern is not his own pain and discomfort, but rather his focus on worrying about leaving Mom. He has cared for her with such faithful devotion and love for some 60+ years, still viewing her as the beautiful 20-year-old he married. He is an example to all his family. I told him on the phone when he expressed a little nervousness about what lay ahead for him that it would be a "wonderful adventure" to move on to the next world having done all that was required of him here--a grand graduation is surely in store for this good man. I am so grateful for the knowledge we have of the plan of salvation that provides us comfort and peace at such times as these. We are a blessed people!

Spring Festival Adventures

After a month of traveling over the Spring Festival, we are now home in Xi'an. We have been privileged to see some astonishing, lovely parts of this vast land of China, enjoyed wonderful associations along our way, and now, with the new semester pressing upon us, we find ourselves so happy to have come home to our happy hovel! Having had no access to blogger while we were away we had no chance to capture these details day to day or even week to week, so as difficult as it is to squeeze a month's adventures into one blog entry I am going to try. It is now or never--we begin our new semester this week and by tomorrow I will be under the gun to try to stay up on all my preparations.
Guangzhou

Guangzhou meant a couple of peaceful days with the Monsons. The city was such a contrast to Xi'an with its sparkling, clean skyscrapers and modern facade. I suppose it must have its funny little markets and dumpy areas, but we didn't see much of them. It was the city where the recent Asian Games were held and China is very big on face lifts for areas ready to be exposed to the world. Our visit included seeing friends (other CTP teachers) at Church and then joining them at lunch, exploring the pearl market (with its shops and shops and shops! and bags and bags of pearls. Our charming hosts at our shop, recommended to us by a friend, were a mother and son who strung the pearls we selected, while we waited).


We also enjoyed a ride on the Pearl River seeing the old colonial buildings from bygone eras when foreigners had control of Canton--now Guangzhou--and walked and talked (and ate raw sugar cane). One of our favorite views was of the kindergarteners all lined up waiting for their parents--or grandparents--to come collect them. It was a very nice beginning to the rest of the trip.


Shenzhen
Leaving Guangzhou, we traveled by train to Shenzhen where we joined our tour group at the Century Plaza Hotel before boarding our bus for a visit to Splendid China and the Chinese Cultural Center--China's version of the PCC in Hawaii.


Splendid China was a series of miniatures of China's most famous sites. Set in a beautiful park, the displays were really lovely. The Cultural Center consisted of "villages" of the different ethnic groups in China. In them they performed their native dances, songs, crafts, and costumes. It was all a delight to see--the Mongol attacks and the Tibetan dances were especially wonderful.


Hong Kong CTP Seminar
After seeing the Center we climbed on our bus and headed for the border to cross over into Hong Kong. It seemed so strange to have a major immigration check point to go from one economic zone to another. Arriving in Hong Kong we all checked into the Salisbury YMCA with its wonderful location, rooms, and swimming pools. It doesn't sound very posh but it was lovely. Over the next couple of days we enjoyed our seminar with the CTP teachers where we shared teaching ideas we'd found successful last term. We also had the thrill of attending the Hong Kong Temple. After the famine of five months with no temple visits, that was a treat!

Sunday we had our District Conference and John and Dave were set apart for their new callings in the branch presidency in Xi'an, as was another of the teachers, as part of Guangzhou's branch presidency. The meetings were wonderful including as they did the area presidency.

After our meetings we left on the bus for the airport and our flights to Guilin--and the beginning of our South West China trip.
Guilin and Yangshou
The evening we arrived we went out on boats and watched the cormorants catching fish for their owners.

The next day we took a cruise down the Li River, the connecting waterway between Guilin and Yangshuo. A thousand years ago a poet wrote of the scenery in this area: “The river forms a green gauze belt, the mountains are like blue jade hairpins.” Perhaps it is not exactly that but we saw extraordinary limestone peaks, sprays of bamboo along the riverbanks, cormorant fisherman in small boats, and picturesque villages. In Yangshuo we had fun scouting the street markets.


In Guilin we also visited Reed Flute Cave, 240 meters underground and filled with exotic rock formations and fantastic shapes lit by colored lights. The Crystal palace of the Dragon King, a grotto in the center of the cave, can hold more than a 1000 people.


We left Guilin for Kunming and there saw the Stone Forest, a massive collection of limestone pillars eroded by wind and rain to shape fanciful forms before leaving later in the day for Lijiang.

We loved our leisurely stroll around Black Dragon Pool Park before exploring Lijiang`s Old Town--a delightful maze of cobbled streets, rickety old wooden buildings, gushing canals, bustling street markets tended by merchants in traditional Naxi costumes.



Our next adventure was to travel to Dali by bus. This historic city is set against a stunning backdrop, Erhai Lake with the imposing Cangshan mountain range (part of the Himalayas) behind it. Upon arrival in Dali, we enjoyed the dancing and singing of the Bai Minority House. Dali's houses were painted and decorated in a very different manner than any we had seen. While in Dali we also visited the famous three-pagodas Temple and the city tour at the old town where we spent hours shopping.

In the morning we flew back to Kunming where The Monsons, Dahls, and we stayed for a night before leaving Monday morning, use to Shenzhen, the rest to Guangzhou.
Sunday in Kunming was very special since we were able to tune in through Skype to the Beijing virtual branch's meetings before having our own little sacrament service. Erin Gillie, a young student studying in Kunming joined us for it. She had visited in our branch in Xi'an earlier in the month and was thrilled to be able to partake of the Sacrament again. She is the only ex-pat member in Kunming so has only rare opportunity to do so. Afterwards we went to lunch and then walked in a park. A fun day--until the last hour when we discovered that my camera had been stolen. It was a shame since I had not been downloading my pictures each day. So not only was the camera gone but also the pictures of the whole trip. Fortunately we were able to retrieve a few from fellow travelers. But it was a disappointment.


Shenzhen, Hong Kong, and Macau
Monday morning took us back to the airport for our flight to Shenzhen. We were now on our own since the tour was over and we were heading back to Hong Kong for a week's visit with old friends of John's from Long Beach--Cheryl and Tony Ferguson.

John and Cheryl's dads had both served as bishops one after another in the Long Beach ward. The Fergusons had been living in Hong Kong for some 10 years and had invited us to come stay with them on our way to China but we were unable to do so. We were delighted to have the opportunity to go see them. Getting there, however, was a bit of a challenge.

We didn't realize that our flight had a touch down at a tiny little village called Ling Ling so when we landed we disembarked and waited with the other passengers for our luggage. It never came. We were a bit concerned about how in the world we were going to get to Hong Kong since we assumed we had landed at an old Shenzhen airport--there was nothing there. It was the most dilapidated excuse for an airport we'd ever seen. Something that looked as if a flight would only come in once a month! Finally I asked someone who looked like he might be in charge how we get to Hong Kong. He looked startled and said "Shenzhen?" to which we nodded. He radioed out to the plane to hold up and rushed us through a quick security check and then a forced march out to the plane, where we found the door already closed. Fortunately they opened it for us and re reboarded for the flight to Shenzhen. We were very grateful not to be stuck in Ling Ling. We may still be there. It looked as if there was no chance of a hotel of any kind. It was a very close call!

What a delightful warm welcome we had in Hong Kong. It was just like being with family. Our first stop the next morning was for Cheryl to take us to where we could buy a new camera. We bought an Olympus and hoped it would fare better for us! We stayed at Ferguson's mid-levels apartment on Robinson Road and during the day took a BIG BUS tour of Hong Kong with Brannock and LaVonne Riggs, two teachers from Hangzhou who were also back to Hong Kong for a week, staying with LaVonne's brother, Elder Carlos Pratt. We had a great time with them. We also got to attend the temple again.


The trip to Macau was quite an adventure. Tony Ferguson was leading the way and reminded both me and John so much of my dad's enthusiasm and interest in everything. We went to the museum and to lunch on the revolving tower, while bungy jumpers flew off the roof before our eyes. Pretty amazing!



Xiamen and Gulangyu
After a delightful week with the Fergusons, including a fun visit by hydrofoil to Macau we flew to Xiamen, took an airport bus to the ferry and headed for our final stop before going home--four peaceful days in Gulangyu--Piano Island. We were ready for a leisurely time. It had been a fun but tiring trip, especially for John. Both of us were very tired of all our luggage. In fact we were just very tired period!


The island is dubbed Piano Island because it has had several notable Chinese pianists who lived there and boasts a wonderful piano museum. We went to the museum and walked the old town's streets that were fun to putter around in.
The museum was an amazing setting, perched as it was on the side of a mountain. The buildings were lovely and we loved browsing through seeing all the old pianos--even an early Steinway or two.


One of my students from Xiamen told me the best thing to do in Gulangya was to wander the streets and get lost in them. That was good advice and I did just that several times. We had wonderful weather until the morning we headed home when it was chilly again but we enjoyed our days.


Return to Xi'an
Friday, February 11, we caught the ferry to Xiamen then took a taxi back to the airport for our homeward bound flight. We were both excited to be going "home"! Even though home for now is grey ole Xi'an. It is still home. It is always fun to travel, but going home is the best.