Leaving the New China

"Zai jian" (good-bye) China, and "ni hao" (hello) America, as the United States is referred to in China.

We set out to create memories, and experience the true essence of China. We did not crunch on fried sea horses, or fried silkworms, however we ate a lot of rice even for breakfast: Memorable.

Attempting to speak Chinese with the right ethnic tone, using deliberate drawls when saying "dui, dui" (o.k. or right) as "dweai" and addressing our Papa as "Ya Ya" (grandfather): Memorable.

Looking for roadsigns and advertisements meant to be Western English but more like "Chinglish" - noticing the errors. Learning that the advertisement of "Western Food" really meant that the only thing Western about it was the name. Memorable.

Walking the noisy winding streets of Hou Hia at night or taking a Rickshaw ride: Memorable.

Learning to walk a hundred miles a day - or almost! Memorable.

Realizing that OSHA does not exist here - yet. Memorable.
That bamboo - is still used in building: Memorable.
The crazy traffic, and crowded streets: Memorable.

Seeing the farmers plant vegetables anywhere, including along the sidewalk and up the stairs. Memorable.

But ultimately, it is the people that we will remember.

The local framer and his horse drawn cart that came by the house each day.
The milk man who pulled his ice box by bicycle to deliver the days milk.

The Farmers in their fields and rice patties.

The white gloved guard who stood at attention outside our complex throughout the day - emotionless by daylight, smiling at dusk, and quietly snoozing at midnight.

The food stall vendors selling deep fried beetles and corn on the cob.

The children eating "Green Pea" Popsicles, or "Corn" Popsicles.
The handicap boy who came by the house to collect all of the recyclables.

The children who want their pictures with our children.

Each of these individuals that we met never failed to engage us in their life story. Each of the million faces we saw daily had a story, a dream.

They love life, even the hardship of it. The people of Beijing take it all with stride, enduring through the tremendous change Beijing is experiencing as the "new" replaces the "old". However, one thing that seems to remain even with all of the change is a sense of community. A sense of who they are -a respect for people and land.

It is said to understand your own world, you must immerse yourself in another. This past time in China has provided me with insight into who we are as Americans - the good, the bad, the hope and the dream. There are times that I look around at our own country and I see the sense of community fading away as we race towards the capitalist goal to thrive and survive in a global economy. I hope we always remember our roots, the men and women who gave us the freedoms we have today - and I pray that we do not give up all of our rights in the name of national security.

Fishy Spa and Pedicure (Made in China)

It was the strangest thing I ever saw - people paying big bucks to sit in a pool of water and allow little carps to eat away their dead skin, the Chinese swear by it.

Yuck! Then while waiting the slingbox on Good Morning America I see the new craze sweeping the U.S. .....Fishy Pedicures!

Prayer at Tian Anmien Square

As we stood in the Square - all that I could think of was the day in 1989 when a lone student stood off with the Governments Tanks. I explained to my children the significance of that students act of bravery and that today we stand in that same spot - and we witness a freer China, a New China as a result.

That afternoon where that student lost his battle, but made strides to improve the lives of millions, we knelt for prayer. Thanking God that today He has a presence in this land that was closed for over fifty years.

On that fateful day on June 4, 1989 a lone student stopped the parade of tanks. Just like Esther in the Bible he stood up and showed that he was in fact created, "for such a time as this."

(Catholic Church in Beijing, China)

There seems to be much confusion on the stance the Central Government of China takes on religion. In visiting Chinese friends we see Bible's displayed in their homes, and learned that it is the Central Governments opinion that all Chinese are free to worship any religion that does not advocate the overthrow of the government. One of the fastest growing religions in China is Islam.

However, the people we meet all point out that just because the main government believes this way - the local/countryside government might interpret the law differently. Keeping in mind that China was religiously free until the 1940's when Chairman Mao came to power - I met many older Chinese Christians as the Catholic Church has a long history in the country.

One day while in 'Subway' we ran into a few American women and their children. In observing them we saw them stop to pray before their meal - at once I knew they were missionaries. We talked for a while and they admitted that it was easier to practice their faith in public, however, the Central Government did not readily issue Visas to 'missionaries' so many come in as business people.

We talked about the struggles and joys of the ministry. I related to their stories. While we traveled throughout China I really felt a spiritual quietness. One night I found myself in prayer asking God for his presence, just His peace. There seems to be a spiritual silence that hangs over the land, unlike anything I have ever felt before. I imagine that it is much like the 400 years of silence that we see between the Old and New Testaments.

I give the missionaries a lot of credit, to endure during silent times. They are seeing hearts and lives changed as people come to Christ, however, they admit that the country is far from revival that is so desperately needed.

One thing that I clearly noticed is that children throughout the country are taught evolution as are our children in the United States. One thing that is quite disturbing is that since there has been no religious influence for the past fifty years - many of these individuals are lost....trapped by a curtain of darkness and unbelief.

In the same turn I see an opportunity for Christians to step up and make a positive difference in the lives of these children. Unlike the U.S. not every child has the opportunity to go to high school or college. In the eighth grade they take a placement test, if their scores are not high enough then they must choose a vocation like taxi driver or police officer, thus sealing their economic fate.

Several times during our trip we were approached by individuals who children did not pass the entrance exams - like all parents they want more for their children and asked if we could take their children back to the U.S. for schooling - or if we knew of any organizations that would provide foreign exchange so that their children could further their education. What an opportunity for Christian families to make a difference.

Climbing the Great Wall

Since we have been in China we have seen the mountains that surround Beijing on two occasions - known as "Blue Sky Days" - the day we set out for the Great Wall was not one of those days. It was supposed to be a cool 89 degrees with a 50% chance of rain - so we decided to make our climb.

The air was thick with humidity- as we made the two hours car ride to the Wall. The day started out as any other, walking to catch a bus to McDonald's, then a taxi to where buses departed for the wall - and then into a private taxi car for the two hour ride.

I had a vision of the Wall in my mind, we would climb a few flights of stairs then we would take a leisurely stroll along the wall - what the wall really was did not match my vision at all.

(in this picture, we are at the top all in white, this was the first part of the wall, an easy climb with hand rails)

The Wall was built to keep invaders out - and thus it was rugged. The wall was not a leisurely stroll - it was a climb up a steep mountain. The wall is flat in parts - but mostly comprised of steps up the side of the mountains. The steps meant to slow down invaders were not uniform in size, but varied from 20" to 6" each without hand rails.

The climb up the wall started early in the morning. It was warm, and the clouds hung low on the wall. We breathed in the cloudy mist as we slowly made our ascent. As we climbed higher into the mountains the air became thicker and thicker. It started to sprinkle a few hours into our journey and the steps became very slippery, making are journey slower, at points we climbed on our hands and knees up the wall as not to fall.

What started as a sprinkle, however, soon turned into a torrential down pour, a monsoon rain. The steps soon became a waterfall of water that covered are climbing shoes, however, we could not stop our climb for fear we might be swept away - we had to push upward to a tower higher on the mountain.

It rained sheets down on us as we slowly made our way to a tower at a point on the wall - there we sat for over an hour waiting for the rain to slow enough for us to either climb higher or descend down the wall - we welcomed the wait as we were all exhausted from the climb.

(hiding from the rain)

I had only seen the Great Wall in text books - and today even though the climb was hard and we are all exhausted we have done what few people ever get to do or see -

"We Have Climbed the Great Wall."

Change Please!

Buyer beware! After bartering and agreeing on a price, do not give the vendor large bills that require them to make change. Once they have your money they will want to do anything but give you the change.

They will sell you more merchandise or try to sell you batteries!

And keep in mind that they believe that all Westerners are wealthy. So a good phrase to learn is: "I live in Beijing, I make Beijing money - I won't pay more than the citizens here."

And beware, several times we heard in Chinese, "charge them more, they have 2 children." We would go in and pick out what we wanted, take pictures, and then have our Chinese friends go back and buy the product if we were encountering bartering difficulty, however, that seemed to be a rare thing.

Donny Wanted a Pet, So I Took Him To Tibet

No, really I did not get him a pet, however, he did get a handcrafted wooden alligator during our trip. And a promise to get him a fish when we return home.

How Quickly We Adapt

After a little over thirty days the children started to communicate in Chinese. It was a flashback to my childhood when I was learning Spanish - and my father would only speak Spanish to me until I was fluent. Being in an environment where only Chinese was spoken helped the children to pick it up rather quickly. In fact, we had several people tell us how good our children's pronunciation was....like "real" Chinese they would say.

We learned about 25 characters, only 10,000 more to go! But we learned enough symbols to find restrooms, food, and entrances/exits. Along with roughly 50 words we began to carry small conversations on with the local people we would meet. The taxi drivers were always ready to practice their English on you - and you to practice their Chinese on them.

I was impressed with Donny on our last shopping trip. He asked the clerk in Chinese, "Can I see that one? How much does it cost? And are you kidding, that is too expensive!" And when the clerk would not deal any further, he turned on the tears...the clerk gave into Donny's offer of two pairs of tennis shoes for 100 RMB ($14 USD) just to get the crying to stop and all of the other Chinese shoppers to stop ridiculing him for not dealing with the cute little "doll" boy.
When we come back home we plan on continuing our Mandarin Chinese lessons - on this trip it has become very apparent to me the business opportunities that exist for those that are fluent in Chinese and English. Each day in the China Daily newspaper there were countless advertisements for English/Chinese speaking businesspeople from major corporations like Motorola, Microsoft, and Krispy Kreme Donuts.

(The Torch Building featuring gigantic television screens.)

In the statistics that I see China is quickly become the next financial powerhouse - and I plan on making sure that the children have the opportunity to learn the language to leverage themselves in their adult lives whether they are missionaries or business people learning a second language is something that will enhance their lives.

Tibet Fashion Statement

This is the main living quarters, dinner table, and bed!
Yes, all beds in China are "hard as a rock!"

American Businessman In China

The day that we visited Ti an An mien Square we drew such a crowd that a guard had to come and break up the mayhem. You see a little boy posing with Kate -in front of them are hundreds of people with cameras popping!

After that day - Donny learned the value of his and Kate's smile. He is a businessman in training....he told me that he could meet the demands of the people and make money in the process (LOL). He learned that he could fetch a nice sum of money for their photos - and thus asked our friend to create a sign for him to hold when they were out - the sign reads in Chinese/English: American Businessman and Sister, Photos only 100 RMB -

Kate also realized after the day at the Square, where a Chinese father tried to pick her up for a photo - that she would prefer to sit in her stroller all buckled up so no one could pick her up again.

South China Sea

The kids had never seen the ocean, so our trip to the South China Sea was a new adventure for them. At first they did not want to go to the beach because we had to take a small boat over the natural sandbar to the beach.

Once we got over our fear of the dilapidated boat - we arrived safely at the ocean.

The kids tested the waters....

The kids built sand castles..

The kids hunted for sea shells...
The kids chased the waves...

No one wanted to leave, and all Kathryn kept asking was: "When can we go back to the ocean?" It reminded me of my first trip to Florida to Disney World at the age of four. I do not remember Disney, but I remember the ocean. I bet if you ask Kate about China, she will tell you about the ocean too.

Cold Water, Please

Everything to drink in China is served hot. Even bottled water is not refrigerated. If you go into a restaurant and ask for water, they bring you a cup of boiling hot water. If you ask for cold water, they look at you as if you are crazy....why?

The Chinese believe that drinking cold water and other beverages upsets your stomach. One day Kate had a stomach ache - from all the candy her grandfather has permitted her to eat - however, an older woman lectured me in Chinese for several minutes that it was because I allowed the children to drink cold bottles of water.

And yes, they serve Coca-Cola warm as well.

Traveling Like A China-men

When we arrived in China we were determined to experience China like the people who live here. It would have been easy to hire a driver each day that we went out into the city, however, we wanted the children to realize that life here is different than in America.

So, we ventured out to ride the city bus daily, walking a mile to catch the bus. The children learned a lesson in patience as we waited, and waited for buses to arrive to carry us sometimes to another bus stop only to change buses to reach our final destination.

As the above picture of the Beijing bus station shows, there are no formal lines in China to board a bus. Those that are most aggressive race to get a place on the bus. So the children learned to push their way to the front of the crowd to make sure we were able to get onto the already crowded bus. However, they also learned quickly that they only need to say "hello" and the sea of people would part and let them through as the people were shocked to see Westerners riding the bus.

They learned that people would get out of their seats to give their seat to a child, as children are revered in this country where most families only have one child.

And some days we ventured into the subway. Much newer, and cleaner than most U.S. subways. Again, the herd of people would part and let the children through - we followed close behind

We have all learned a valuable lesson, that public transportation is not always easy. That not having your own transportation (other than an electric bicycle) limits the scope of your world.