connie's space

            Unlike most of our journeys, which have us on the long-distance bus, we were taking a private car trip with the Pan family.  Mr. Pan, the former dean of our English Department, his wife and daughter (22-year-old “Brenda,” an English teacher at a city preschool) were traveling to visit relatives in Nanning.  They have an apartment there, where Brenda lives since she works in Nanning and where Mr. Pan’s Longzhou family can get away from time to time for visits with other relatives .

            After asking around campus if anyone was heading off to Nanning for National Day, Mr. Pan was kind enough to allow both me and the dog to ride along with them.  The time was set for Thursday morning, September 30, at 8:30 a.m.

My Youth:  The Family Road Trip

            It’s been a long time since I’ve taken a family road trip.   I’d say the last one was nearly 30 years ago.

            When my parents, brother and I would load into the car, it was usually for Christmas at my grandparents’ house.  This entailed attending school (finishing early at 2:30 p.m.), followed by a 7-hour drive and a car bursting with presents, luggage, snack bags and us.

            I remember it was always a stressful  production to pack the car and get started on time. 

            My father was in charge of arranging the things in the trunk.  Usually, it took quite a while to shove everything in but my dad was a great manipulator of stuff.  He could find the most amazing crevices and squeeze spaces to stick in that extra pair of shoes, another coat, a knit scarf and hat or yet another present which my mother hadn’t yet wrapped.

            Starting on time was always a problem.  If my dad set the departure for 3:30 p.m., we were bound to leave at 4.  He and my brother would sit in the car, both waiting impatiently while my mother and I would race back and forth into the house to turn down the furnace, use the toilet, turn off a light, or make sure the upstairs’ bathroom faucet was left slightly dripping so it didn’t freeze and burst the pipes.

            Once we finally made it just out of town, there was always my mom’s “Did I leave the iron on?  I think I left the iron on.  We’d better go back and check to see if someone left the iron on.”

            Back again we went, naturally to find out that no one had left the iron on.

            After about 5 vacation trips of  “Did I leave the iron on?”, we finally remembered to unplug the thing and move it to an entirely different room.

            No doubt about it:  No one left the iron on.

The Pan Family Road Trip

            For the Pan family, there definitely wasn’t any iron that needed turning off but for the rest of the trip, I felt just like the Pan family was my own.

            At 8:30 sharp, as directed by Mr. Pan,  I was downstairs with Little Flower and my small suitcase.  I certainly didn’t want to be late. My father didn’t like late starts and I figured neither did Mr. Pan.

            Low and behold, Mr. Pan was packing up the car, just like my father used to do years ago.

            While no one else had brought any luggage except me, there were still plenty of little things to shove into his small vehicle. 

            Since we were going to the big city, Mr. Pan was taking with him local produce that was cheaper in our area and also very fresh.  He had 2 huge bags of gorgeous mango which he announced triumphantly as having paid only 6 mao (5 cents) per pound.  In the city, mango are quite expensive with the best quality fruit being rather lame.   

            His 2 bags totaled about 20 pounds, enough to shower his relatives with a special taste of the rural Guangxi.

            As we stood there still waiting to go, a gentleman came cruising up on his scooter with 2 huge bunches of green bananas, straight off the tree, and his machete in hand.  Mr. Pan had ordered these from a local farmer to also share with his friends and family in Nanning. 

            Mr. Pan inspected his fruit bundles carefully, paid the man and  then proceeded to figure out how to put them into the car without dirtying up the trunk area or bruising the bananas.   He used huge sheets of paper to wrap them in, re-positioned some of the other items and was finally able to close up the car for our journey.

            By this time, it was going on 8:50 a.m. and still no wife or daughter in sight. 

            I even had time to race inside my apartment to pick up a jacket and a second toy for LF to play with in the hotel room.

            When everyone finally appeared, we were on the road at 9 a.m. but not before we made a stop along the sidewalk to buy sweet corn from a street seller. 

            Yet another heavy bag of countryside food gifts made its way into the back seat.  

            Finally, we were off!

A Front Row Seat, Gorgeous Back Roads’ Scenery and Car Sickness

            Mr. Pan and I rode in front with Little Flower perched on my lap while Mr. Pan’s wife and daughter stayed in back.  87-year-old grandma (mother of Mr. Pan’s wife) was remaining at home in Longzhou.  She had no desire to go anywhere, even to see any one of her 7 daughters in Nanning.  I was told she’d rather enjoy some quiet time in an empty apartment and be with her elderly friends.

            To take the express highway from Longzhou, there’s a toll of 70 yuan ($10) all the way to Nanning.  But to pick up the express highway from Chongzuo, 1 ½ hours away, was only 40 yuan ($6).  Thus to save money, Mr. Pan chose to take the scenic route by using the back roads to Chongzuo before picking up the toll road to the capital city.

            In my own family, my father would often choose to take different routes on our trips to my grandparents, often traveling through the small towns to make it more interesting.  Granted, it might be a bit slower but we still got there within a decent time and it gave us more to look at.

            The same went for our Nanning venture through the countryside. 

            We zipped by sugar cane and corn fields, passed farmers on their motor bikes, slowed down for plodding water buffaloes and a goat herder, drifted through a small village, and wove up and down jagged, rocky mountains. 
            It was truly a beautiful drive and would have been perfect except for one thing:  The air-conditioning was off.

            Chinese are very hesitant to use air-conditioning, not only in their own homes but in the car as well.  They consider fresh air better for a person.  Going in and out of cold rooms isn’t good for the health and can cause sickness.  Also, quite a few have insisted all that filtered, closed-in air doesn’t do well for your constitution. 

            Since our temps are always so hot here in Guangxi, and air-conditioning is considered a luxury, natives of this province are used to sweating it out, roasting and dealing with the heat.

            Foreigners, on the other hand, are a different story.

            We like our air-conditioning, especially when temps outside are into the 90s, like they were during our trip.

            Granted, we did have overcast skies for a bit with some refreshing sprinkles but that didn’t last long.  The windows rolled down, the wind whipping at our hair and whistling about, gave some relief until the sun came out.

            After that, it was just plain darn hot!
            Fortunately for me, I don’t get car sick very easily or I might have been in dire straights due to our high temps. But behind me, both Brenda and her mom were struggling.  I honestly think if we’d have turned on the air-con and cooled things down, they’d have been much more comfortable. I even mentioned that at one point.  Yet a foreigner going against years of cultural tradition was bound to strike out.

            Thus the windows stayed down with our poor, backseat riders throwing up into plastic bags from time to time.

            At that point, I certainly was happy to have the windows rolled down.

Finishing Up the Ride

            Once we landed on the expressway, which no longer had us swaying about the back roads, things were a bit better but no one truly was happy until we finally reached our destination.

            I can definitely say the only one who honestly reveled in that 3-hour car trip to Nanning was the dog.  

            Little Flower spent the majority of our countryside drive with her head out the window.  All those amazing Chinese countryside smells, with the wind blowing into her face and her nose twitching with excitement, made for her best road trip ever. 

            No carsickness or queasiness for her.  Just pure canine enjoyment.

Back to School

            After a week in Nanning, mostly enjoying lovely air-conditioning in the hotel room as well as little jaunts around the city, we landed back in Longzhou.  Saturday classes, to make up for extra days given as holidays,  are getting everyone a bit down after spending so much time off but it’s only one day. 

            After that, we’ll be back to a normal schedule until January 1^st, which is our next day off.

            For now, it’s gearing up for Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas lessons for me.  Hard to believe it’s time to start in on our cultural festivals and holidays so soon but it is!

            Until next time, here’s Ping An (Peace) for your day.

Mid-Autumn Festival Behind Us

            China has 7 legal holidays in a year, which include:  New Year’s Day (January 1^st), Spring Festival (Chinese New Year), Qingming Festival (Tomb Sweeping), May Day, Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day.

            In total, there are 11 days where we officially have a holiday

            Last week had us celebrating one of those, Mid-Autumn Festival, which turned out to be a very rainy night.  Our moon was nowhere to be seen and everyone was eating their mooncakes indoors instead of outside. 

            While I stayed in Nanning for 3 days, Little Flower was being looked after by my co-teacher, Abby.  We had several practice runs between Abby and Little Flower to make sure things would go smoothly.  LF seemed quite willing to let Auntie Abby take her for walks.  She was especially eager to see Auntie enter the door because she knew what was in store:  pieces of cookie, cake or candy to bribe her into being good.

            All seemed well . . . . until I left.

            According to Abby, Little Flower moped around the apartment, securing herself into corners and secretive cubbyholes where she pouted.  

            She really missed her mother.

            Abby, meanwhile, tried everything to keep up the dog’s spirits.  Food helped but LF was very unwilling to do anything other than gobble down treats before racing for cover in her hidey-holes.   She refused to go out, even when Abby tried giving her little tugs on the leash.

            LF just wouldn’t budge.

            She dug in her paws, pulled backwards and gave Abby dirty, sideways looks.

            A bit more insistent nudging on Abby’s part I’m sure would have worked but my Chinese co-teacher was worried she’d hurt the dog so she let our obstinent Chi get away with balking.

            And balk she did!

            For 3 days, LF held it all in until she could do so no longer.  On the day I returned, Abby said LF finally went out. 

            “She had to go so bad her little legs were shaking!” she laughed.

            She also said it was the longest squat she’d ever seen a dog take.

            Well, if you’d held it in for 3 days, you’d have a long squat, too!

National Day Holidays In Front of Us
           

            October 1^st marks the People’s Republic of China’s National Day, and we officially have 3 days off.  But all schools have added another 2 days to this by having make-up days on the weekends.  We finished one make-up day this past weekend and will do another when we return.  So for now, October 1 to 7 has many enjoying time to travel, spend time at home with family or being bored in school dorms with nothing to do. 

            Although some students are excited to take a trip home, quite a few will be doing the boring bit in the dorms.  They are too poor to afford the cost of bus tickets home or live too far away so they are hanging out in little Longzhou with their classmates.

            Little Flower and I, on the other hand, will be making a trip to Nanning for our holidays.

            Yes, this time Little Flower will not be left in the care of Auntie Abby but be coming with me. 

            We are very fortunate that the school’s former Dean of the English Department, Mr. Pan, is heading off to Nanning by car with his wife and daughter.  He was kind enough to let me and the dog ride along with them for free so we’ll be doing that tomorrow, leaving in the morning.

            Mr. Pan is a gentle, quiet soul.

            He was the first person to talk to me when I moved into my flat here last year.  I was impressed by his English skills and soft-spoken nature.  But his claim to fame on our campus has nothing to do with his English or his kind personality.  It has to do with his musical talents.

            Every day, I can hear Mr. Pan’s violin melodies drift from his apartment nearby mine and float skyward over the trees.  His tones are lovely and well-placed, his vibrato gorgeous.  Not a cringing, flat note to be heard.  And he plays with great feeling, especially the beautiful Chinese classical orchestra pieces that are famous among musicians here. 

            It’s truly  moving to listen to his stringed instrument sing.

            But even more amazing is his playing of the traditional erhu (2-stringed fiddle).  He’s always a favorite guest act at student performances where his rapid- fire, whinnying, The Running Horse erhu number brings down the house.

            I once took lessons on how to play the erhu.  That lasted about 3 weeks before I finally gave up.  My fingers just weren’t adept or coordinated enough to do much of anything but make the instrument squeak in agony.

            Last year, Mr. Pan was diagnosed with serious high blood pressure issues so he is now officially retired.  He no longer teaches but remains on our campus in his school apartment with his wife.  His 22-year-old daughter lives in Nanning, where she stays in their family’s city apartment.

            Mr. Pan and I often run into one another on my walks with Little Flower.  He is always telling me stories of our school and Longzhou.  The most fascinating story has to do with his older sister, now deceased, who helped to build our majestic stone bridge that arches over the Li River.  He said it took 3 years for the bridge to be built, from 1960 to 63.  All the quarry rocks had to be carried in to the town and later cut by hand.  It was a huge venture and one which involved back-breaking labor and intense strength.

            I can just imagine what an incredible spirit his sister must have had to help in this venture as a common worker.  In a China of the 1960s, I’m sure there wasn’t much in the way of machinery to construct that bridge.  It was all just plain man and woman power.

            Knowing just a little of the story makes me appreciate our stone masterpiece all the more.

Happy National Day!

            On that last note, it’s off to Nanning for the dog and me.  For my Chinese readers who often visit this site, I wish you Ping An (Peace) for your holidays.  Enjoy!

             After 13 weeks, I have finally landed back in Longzhou to begin my second year at Guangxi Normal University for Nationalities, located one hour from the Vietnam border in the small town, Longzhou.

             The oppressive heat of southern China greeted both Little Flower and me with quite a jolt.

We walked into an apartment that stayed a “pleasant” 91 degrees until this week, when temps began to cool down enough for us to reach a “chilly” 84.   Uhg! 

            This is to catch you up since the last entry on August 20^th.

Freshmen Arrive

            The arrival of the new freshmen, beginning last week on September 10, had the entire student body busy.

            As is the custom in most Chinese colleges, upper classmen begin courses 2 weeks earlier than incoming students.  Freshmen then arrive later, allowing the school to settle a bit and organize older students for helping to greet and meet their new classmates when they first land here. 

            And land they did!

            Classes were canceled for 2 days so second and third years could give it their all in welcoming our new college young people. Groups with signs waited at our bus station to lead the way for those coming from long distances.  On campus, they manned departmental tables, helped with heavy luggage,  hustled students to the dormitories, led tours around the school, and provided water and shade under tents for everyone, including accompanying parents.

            Wave after wave of students arrived, totaling about 650 for our school year. 

            Everyone was exhausted and ready to crash by Sunday.  Yet at the new campus in Chongzuo, 1 ½ hours away, 2,500 freshmen were admitted to add to the 6,000 returning students.

            I’m so thankful to be here on the old campus which currently keeps steady at about 1,400. 

            Many of our freshmen, straight from the countryside, looked quite lost and distraught.  This was the first time for them to leave their small villages and families.  Sobs and sniffles could be heard from time to time when walking by a dorm room.  Farewells to Mom and Dad at the front gate were always tear jerker for those of us watching. 

            But there were others who excitedly embraced the day. They volunteered to help the upperclassman with the incoming freshmen or comforted those who were homesick with jokes and invites to walk the town. 

            Most who arrived are the first in their family to finish high school and go on to higher education.  Even though we are only a 3-year college, not a more prestigious 4-year institution like the new campus university in Chongzuo, this is still a big event in their lives.  Whether they arrived happy or sad, their determination to do their best here is definitely evident.  Freshmen classes started last Monday and already into Day 5, my freshmen classes are proving themselves up to the task of continuing their education with pride, hard work and a cheerful spirit.

The Foreign Language Departmental Meeting

            Saturday morning, the Foreign Language Department (of which I am a part) welcomed everyone with the obligatory first-year student meeting. 

            About 280 newcomers to our department brought their stools to the sports’ building to be addressed by our department’s deans and leaders.  For those with foreign language majors, we had 40 in the Vietnamese Department, 32 in the Thai Department and about 210 in the English Department.

            Upper classmen organized the group into rows and attended to the sound equipment during this opening meeting.

             Our 5 speakers then  gave advice about school life, explained how to study, addressed campus rules and regulations, and encouraged a good attitude.

            After 2 hours, our meeting finished and we who attended were dismissed.

            While it’s rather a dull address, with a lot of talk about obvious topics and parental advice, I do see the need for this.  These first year students felt more wanted, cared for and more of a united body after our group  meeting than when they first showed up a few days before as  individuals.  And seeing their head teachers and foreign teacher (myself) in front of them is always a good thing.   Recognizing the smiling faces of their new instructors certainly lessens the anxiety of that first week of class, especially when it comes to me,  the first foreigner  they’ve ever seen or heard in person.  That can be a scary experience for Chinese students, worried about their English skills and how they’ll perform in class.  It’s always nice to have a face to put to the name.

 Teacher’s Day

            Teacher’s Day was something that I came across in Taiwan when I was teaching at Wesley Girl’s High School 13 years ago. 

            This is a day set aside for students and schools to remember their teachers.  Flowers, small gifts, cards, phone calls and emails to former teachers, thanking them for their dedication and service to students everywhere, is common during this designated "Thank you, my teacher!" day.

            I was fortunate enough to have one of our new Chinese Amity staff members in Nanjing (Wendy Wu) send a short history of Teacher’s Day.  Wendy explained that in 1984, Wang Zishen, former president of Beijing Normal University , suggested the country establish a remembrance day for  teachers.  On January 21, 1985, the ninth session of the Sixth NPC (National People’s Congress) Standing Committee formally passed a resolution to create Teacher’s Day, to be  celebrated  every year on September 10^th.  

            She also went on to tell us about China’s devotion to its educators.  In the long history of Chinese education, Confucius is a paragon of all teachers.  He proposed the ideal teaching philosophy of “Educate all without discrimination” (in Chinese, said as 有教无类, you jiao wu lei), and carried out his idea with teaching according to the abilities of different students.  

            Last Friday marked the 26^th Teacher’s Day in China and my students from last year made sure to remember their first foreign teacher in style.

            Oh, and how well they know me!

             I had lots of well-wishing cards, bags of apples delivered to my doorstep (I love apples), several cans of Diet Coke arranged in a little basket (Diet Coke is my “must” caffeine booster) and a huge, wide-brimmed hat to protect me from the hot sun when Little Flower and I go walking around the campus.  The English Association presented me with a large photo album because they know I enjoy taking pictures.  And I received numerous emails from former students and even my teaching colleagues, some from as far back as Taiwan, wishing me a Happy Teacher’s Day.

            I can definitely say, that was a great way to start up the new semester.

Mid-Autumn Festival is Coming

            Students already are anticipating our first holiday of the school year, Mid-autumn Festival, which will be held on Wednesday, Sept. 22.  During this time, families all across China will be reuniting, eating mooncakes together and watching the full moon rise.   

             This is the 3^rd year that China has designated Mid-Autumn Festival as a holiday.  Before, this was just a traditional day without any fanfare of having time off.

            As usual, we will be having 2 make-up days of teaching (Saturday and Sunday) for classes we will miss on Thursday and Friday.  This is in preparation to create to a 3-day block being off instead of just a single day, Wednesday, in the middle of the week.  Some students will remain on campus as their homes are too far away for them to return.  Others who live closer will most likely venture out on long distance buses to have mooncakes with their families.

            I haven’t yet decided how I will spend my 3 days, either here on campus or in Nanning.

            If I do remain, I’ll be doing so in style.  The repairmen have been here to fix the air-conditioner in the bedroom so it will work properly.  And I have a new gas burner after the old one “Poof!”ed, sputtered and shot flames up and over my pots all last week. 

            Not exactly a very comforting feeling when it came to cooking dinner but all now is safe and sound.

            Until next time, here’s wishing you “Ping An” (Peace) for your day!

It’s Visa Renewal Time!

           At 7 a.m., the winding road from Longzhou to Chongzuo was fairly empty of traffic and just as breathtaking as always. 

            Steep, rocky mountains rose to the right and left of the road amid lush, green forests.  Water buffalo could be seen at every turn, plowing through rice fields or taking a lazy slosh in muddy waters.  Mud-brick houses also dotted the landscape, found near sugarcane fields spread out on the flatlands.

            Such a drive once again reminded me of what a beautiful area I was living in.

            This trip was taken last Monday.  Mr. Luo, the foreign affairs director of my school, and I were zipping along in his van to the government offices of the county seat.  My 1-year visa had almost expired and it was time to submit the necessary documents to receive another.

            Mr. Luo had compiled a huge packet of materials necessary for me to register once again with the government.  It had taken him 3 weeks to collect all of these:  3 invitation letters, signed and stamped, from Amity, my school and the province asking me to teach in China, a signed contract by myself with the school, my health certificate, the Longzhou police station resident permit, plus copies of my passport, resume and foreign experts’ card.  Along with that were 2 photo head-shots, used to paste into files and whatever else deemed important for identifying the foreigner.

            Every province has its own complicated mess of instructions, forms and notification papers required for visa application and renewal. 

            This province is no different.

Our Pingxiang Adventure

            The last time Mr. Luo and I had such a venture together had been 2 months earlier for my health certificate.  Mr. Luo and I had loaded ourselves into his mini-van to once again take the country roads early morning, this time to the Vietnam border town of Pingxiang (ping shee-ahng).

            Pingxiang is actually much smaller than Chongzuo but it had a service not offered anywhere else in the county:  health exams for entry-exit visas.

            After 1 hour of driving, we came to the small government office in Pingxiang only to find out that the health exams were discontinued in February.  All health exams for visas were now done in Nanning, 3 hours away.

            Not wanting to waste the trip, Mr. Luo suggested we go to the China-Vietnam border area for window shopping. 

            A 20-minute drive had us at an odd little dusty, constructed-overnight town lined with shop after shop of Vietnamese carved wood items  There were chairs, tables, figurines, table-top ornaments, and huge sculptures.  All were ornately decorated, some better than others, by Vietnamese and then trucked into China to sell.

            Tucked in between these were huge glass vessels of medicinal drinks made from grotesque, whole reptiles (giant toads and coiled snacks) stuck in the alcoholic liquid.  I always knew Chinese were into this kind of stuff but seeing it in person was a bit disgusting . . . . and at the same time, fascinating.

            After walking around a bit in the hot sun, I decided to call it quits but not before purchasing a few business card holders to give as gifts.

Learning about Guangxi History:   Youyiguan (Friendship Pass)

            Yet another tourist site which Mr. Luo suggested I see was  Friendship Pass (or Youyiguan).

            This French- Chinese post was established in 1896 by China and France in accordance with the sino-Vietnam border affairs which required both sides to have military and foreign affairs agencies.  The Chinese side set up their post in Guangxi, at the tourist spot known as Friendship Pass. 

            Both sides also established 9 other smaller outposts along the border, one being here in Longzhou (thus the reason for the French Embassy being here years ago).

            The Friendship Pass office was built by the French in 1914 along with a Chinese-style arched bridge building through which people passed under.  The Italianate design of the main office  looked quite out-of-place for such a remote mountain region.  It’s still used today but as a police headquarters and tourist center.

            This area also was a key fighting zone during the Sino-French war (1884-1885), a war fought to decide if France should replace China in control of Tonkin (northern Vietnam). 

            The Battle of Bang Bo, known as the Battle of Zhenan Pass, was an important Chinese victory during the war so visiting remnants of the fighting footholds are also another draw for tourists.   

            According to Wikepedia:

           “The battle, fought on March 23 and 24 in 1885 on the Tonkin-Guangxi border, saw the defeat of 1,600 soldiers of General François de Négrier‘s 2nd Brigade of the Tonkin Expeditionary Corps by a Chinese army of 32,000 men under the command of the Guangxi military commissioner Pan Dingxin.[1]

            “The battle set the scene for the French retreat on March 28 and the conclusion of the Sino-French War in early April in circumstances of considerable embarrassment for France.”

            Scattered up steep, stone step inclines and among deep brush are the bunkers and walls built by the Chinese soldiers to fight against the French.   Although a roasting hot day, trekking about the pathways and walkways was still a worthy venture.           

             Hard now to imagine a vicious battle taking place in such a quiet, scenic area.

Visa Completed:  Good to Go for Another Year

            While the recent Chongzuo trip didn’t give us the same sightseeing marvels as Pingxiang, it did bring about one positive event:  After 4 days,  I’m happy to say that today  I received my passport back, visa valid until July, 2011. 

            None too soon as I’m leaving tomorrow for Nanning before flying to Chengdu on July 6 for some time with Sichuan friends. 

            Have a safe holiday weekend, all of you in America!  Enjoy your July 4^th celebrations as I enjoy the beginning of my summer vacation

            Ping An (Peace) from Longzhou

Enjoying Nanning:  The Xiyuan Hotel

            My visits to Nanning (the capital city of Guangxi Province) have been very few over the past year so this was a great treat for me to enjoy myself last weekend in this widespread metropolis for 2 days.  Little Flower stayed behind with my co-teacher, Kate (Yan Chunjing), who looked after her during my visit away.  That left me free to enjoy the city on my own, especially the comforts of my chosen hotel, the Xiyuan  (shee-you-ehn).

Lucking Out

            I first landed in this place by accident.  I needed a place in Nanning to stay for the night before leaving early morning on the plane to Nanjing.  I hopped into the taxi and said, “I need a hotel.  Not too expensive but nice and clean.”

            The driver was a woman.  She thought for a moment and then said, “The Xiyuan Hotel?  Is that O.K.?”

            Since I had no idea, I just said that would be fine so off we went.

            I was a bit worried when, from the busy business street, she turned down  this quiet, shady road lined with gorgeous trees.  At the end was a gate that led into a huge grassy complex filled with trees and well-manicured lawns.

            Could I afford this place?  It looked like a conference center for big business, not a hotel for single tourists.

            I asked my driver to wait while I checked the rates as I didn’t believe this could possibly be cheap.

            The marble-floored reception room was huge, with a chandelier and coffee bar graced by a baby grand piano to the side.  I almost left as soon as I walked but as I was there, I decided it was best to ask the price anyway.

            I had to repeat the one-night rate twice because I couldn’t believe it.

            “200 yuan ($28) a night?  Really?”

            Well, I certainly wasn’t going to turn that one down.  When a Chinese low-budget travel hotel was about $16 (Chinese squat toilet, no towels, just bed and TV), might as well pay a bit extra and get posh surroundings.

            So that’s where I ended up staying and it has now been my regular overnight every time I visit Nanning.

What’s Special about the Xiyuan Hotel

            Now that I’ve stayed at this place for a number of times, I can tell you it’s a real winner.

            The air-conditioning is to-die for, first of all.  In sweltering 100 degrees heat outside, you want a hotel that will keep you pleasantly cool 24 hours a day. 

            Every room is equipped with a little balcony, which is great for fresh air.  Nice big towels, complimentary  toiletries, teas and hot pot are ready for use. Cable will get you local channels all over China (not overseas’, however) and there’s even a mini-fridge to keep your drinks cold.  The carpet is a bit worn with stains and scuff marks but so is every such hotel in China.  Nothing new.

            As a conference center, the hotel has a number of meeting buildings and main halls on their wide, beautifully kept grounds area.  These buildings are rather old in nature, probably dating from the “open door policy” of the 1980s, but they are kept up well.  It also seems there are quite a lot of companies and organizations that enjoy meeting there.  On several occasions, the place has been quite busy, although not so much that you would feel it crowded.

            What’s really fascinating is a European-style domed “palace” which I’m assuming was a foreigner’s club at one time, perhaps in the 1930’s.  It rests next to a large pond and in the evenings, it’s lovely to stroll along the forested walkways, listening to the frogs chirrup in the moonlight.

            The building, however, is no longer in use.  The large halls and high-ceilinged rooms  house ground maintenance items, such  as potted plants, lawn mowers and such.  The rooms on the upper floors are empty with tattered curtains dangling down from the windows.  Even though not in use, the edifice itself gives a special mysterious ambience to the place.

            Aside from the scenery, another real winner for me is the indoor swimming pool. The 25 meter, 4-lane pool is located in a building next to the club palace and has the same sort of architecture.  My guess is that this at one point was the club’s gym, which has now been gutted and refurbished with a brand new lap pool, oval floating pool and 2 whirlpools.

            For 38 yuan ($6), anyone can enjoy their time swimming or lounging on the decks out of the sun’s harmful rays. 

            As an avid swimmer, the pool is the main selling point for me.  And the fact that there are hardly any patrons at all makes it even better.   I usually have the entire place to myself.

Hanging Out in Yinxing Plaza

            When it comes to people watching, this hotel is the place to be.

            The hotel’s grounds are located just a 2-minute’s walk from Yinxing (in-shing) Plaza and a small roadside park.  The plaza is a tiled parking lot with my favorite Chinese grocery store, the Ren Ren Le (Everybody’s Happy), located underground.

            Everybody’s Happy is a chain store that is all over China in the bigger cities.   It’s the Chinese equivalent of Walmart, with clothing, appliances, sports equipment, toys, pet supplies, bakery and grocery items galore.  It’s a huge place that has everything and anything you’d ever want.  Very sanitary, clean, brightly lit, lots of sale specials and loaded with Chinese spending their money.

            If you love Chinese kids, the plaza is also the best photo-op for these little darlings.

            There are a number of small tents and play sets that appear in the evenings where parents can bring their kids to enjoy games, small rides and other activities.  There’s the plastic bubble pool to “splash” around in, the arts’ center where you can paint plaster figurines of favorite cartoon characters, coin-operated cars and animals to ride on, several roller blading sections to enjoy (flashing-wheeled skates for rent as well), “go-fish” mini-pools and large-sized rubber building blocks to use for creative constructions.

            Sometimes on a weekend evening, special groups perform to entertain the kids.  When I was there this past Friday, we had one such performance take place on a make-shift stage.  The adult youth leaders led us all in children’s songs, dances and games.  Lots of fun for the whole family, plus it was free.

            Aside from this outdoor performance, however, everything else did have a price.  Activities cost anywhere from 5 yuan to 20 yuan (75 cents to $3)  per hour, depending on what your kid preferred.

            Of course, kids get thirsty and hungry so parents were always pulling out their wallets to pay for drinks, ice cream bars, hotdog sticks and whatever else could be had from the nearby stands.

             Permanent tables and benches were always filled with those snacking away, resting after an evening of fun with the kids or shopping at the underneath Everybody’s Happy store.  Sitting here, enjoying my Diet Coke, I had a full hour’s entertainment watching people come and go or listening in on others’ leisure conversations.

The Local Park

            But there’s even more going on at this location.

            A mini-park next to the plaza is filled with those wanting some respite from roasting apartments that have no air-conditioning.  In the evenings, there are the elderly groups, gathering at different places for tai-chi (a traditional, slow-moving meditative exercise), Chinese fan and ribbon dancing, choir practice, and erhu (traditional violin) and accordion practice.  There are also the middle-aged exercise buffs who form neatly organized rows to do their gentle aerobics work-outs to taped music from their boom boxes.

            Others bring out their doggies to enjoy canine company time and the cool breezes of the night air.  And of course there are the lazy lot who just sit around on the stone benches, chit-chatting about the day’s events and sharing stories about surprising events in their neighborhoods.

Catching the Early Birds . . . Literally

            If you’d like to experience a different kind of crowd, your best bet is to hit the park in the morning.

            Starting as early as 6 a.m., you can catch the early risers here also doing their exercises but the main attraction for a foreigner would have to be the men with their birds.

            Chinese men love their caged birds.  Just like we walk our dogs about for a bit of fresh air, the Chinese men bring out their birdies in cages to enjoy the environment of trees, sunshine and open air.

            They line up their bamboo cages in rows, bring out their lawn chairs and lounge about.  They chirp at their pets, gossip with one another, sleep in the shade or just people-watch.  They’ll spend the entire morning doing this before heading home around noontime, returning the next morning to start up their routine again.

            I’ve never seen women in China participate in this kind of outing, only the men so I’m assuming it’s a guy thing, one of those male-bonding activities that we women just don’t get — sitting in the park for hours while chirping and watching your bird flutter about in its cage.

            Yup, that’s pretty much a mystery to me.

Returning Home

            After a 3-hour bus ride back to Longzhou on Saturday, I arrived  home late afternoon to a very happy Little Flower. My co-teacher, Kate, is a good babysitter but she’s definitely not Mother.  (Those of you who have spoiled pets know exactly what I mean.)

              It’s always nice to get away for a few days but also nice to return.  And it looks like I’ll be heading over Nanning way again. 

            Wednesday, June 16, brings a day off in China with our Dragon Boat Festival holiday.  To give students some extra travel time, our school is holding Monday and Tuesday classes on Saturday and Sunday this weekend, meaning Monday to Wednesday leaves those living nearby free to go home for a few days.

            It also leaves Little Flower and me time to head off to Nanning together.  Looks like Yinxing Plaza will have two interesting guests join its ranks very soon on an evening or an early morning.  We can’t wait!

             From Longzhou, here’s sending you Ping An (peace) and hoping your Dragon Boat Day will be just as enjoyable as ours.

Student Designers Hit the Runway

          Sunday night was a show to remember and brought out the crowds to our stage area.  What was the big fuss?  It was Fashion Week at Guangxi Normal University for Nationalities!

         Actually, it was more like fashion night.

         For over 2 months, I’ve been watching small groups gathering during the siesta hour, standing in the shade of buildings while strutting their stuff.  Female students  in high heeled shoes practiced their walks while guys struck masculine poses at the end of imaginary runways.  The big event they were practicing for arrived this evening. 

         Students from the design department were about to show off their yearly creations in the annual school fashion show.  Plenty of stage rehearsals followed for 3 days so everyone would know their stage marks, their maneuvers and funky poses to wow the audience. 

         For myself, it was a lot of fun seeing what magnificent clothes the students had come up with.  My favorites, as seen in the photos, were the environmental clothes — those made from sanitation items often discarded (tin foil, toilet paper, garbage bags, plastics, paper and such). Very innovative and quite impressive for a 3-year college.

         (Enjoy the photos!)

 Yearly Physical Exams Now Required

            Each year, China’s provincial governments require their foreign language teachers to have a physical exam in order to renew their work visas.  It used to be a physical was only required when we first came to China.  These were done in our home countries with necessary Chinese forms filled out by our local doctors.

            After that initial health document was completed, schools were able not only to get the required work visa for their teachers but also renew those visas every year.  Another physical exam wasn’t required, which I always thought was rather odd because you never know what unhealthy bugs we might pick up during our year (or years) in China.

             Three years ago, the Chinese government seemed to be in agreement with me.

            New regulations now require foreign teachers to have yearly examinations from accredited provincial Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine clinics. These clinics are usually set up in the provincial capital cities meaning travel is necessary for those of us who aren’t in those places.

            Mostly, these new edicts were to make sure we didn’t have any communicable diseases, such as AIDS, STD’s or TB.  Another reason for the yearly exams was for insurance purposes. Both domestic and international insurance benefits require a background check of some sort, just the same as in the States.  If schools need to insure their foreign teachers, yearly physicals are important.

             This was especially important for Chinese who are to work overseas, either as white-collar workers in the fields of education and business or blue-collar workers such as day-laborers to Hong Kong and Vietnam or riverboat and international sea sailors.  These individuals are also required to take the exam as well. 

           Many of the blue-collar workers, in from the countryside, haven’t even been inoculated for basic diseases. Polio, TB, hepititis, mumps and measles, and rubella immunizations, for example, often have not been administered to those from the poorer areas of China.  The center makes sure they have these as adults before they are issued permit visas to work outside of the country.

Connie Gets Her Yearly Check-up

            During the last 2 years, I’ve had my physicals done in Chengdu at their clinic. 

            It was a very professional set-up.  We had a check-in station, our information was typed into the computer along with our photograph, we paid a fee of 300 yuan ($45) and then off we went to different stations for our health check-up.  We had blood work, eyes and ears, EKG, chest X-ray, sonogram and a general health once-over.  All the rooms were numbered and we just went from one to another, finishing the entire process in about 30 minutes. 

            After 3 working days, we returned to pick up our results, which included a print-out of the tests and stamped certificate that we had passed.

            A week ago, I traveled to Nanning to have my annual physical done for this province.  I found the inspection center just as efficient, professional and fast as the one in Chengdu. 

            This past Friday, I returned to Nanning to pick up my certificate, which came in the form of a small passport-sized booklet that can easily be carried around on trips. That was a nice surprise from the flimsy paper I’ve received before.  China definitely has improved their method of health documentation from 3 years ago.  Very classy!

            In another entry, I’ll enjoy telling you about my visit in Nanning but as I have a few lessons to attend to, I’ll save that for another day.

            Ping An from Longzhou!