Author: edebock

My name is Guang

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Richard and I are still somewhat uncomfortable with the fact that our students are required to use English names at school but I find the stories behind these names fascinating. Many were simply given them by their first foreign English teacher while others chose from a list of names when they first came into the school to register for classes.

Some choose a name that sounds similar to their Chinese name. Bradley’s real name is Li Borou. According to Chinese tradition, his family name comes first but reversed, it would be Borou Li which sounds a bit like Bradley. Now that he’s considering going to Canada to study, however, he’s concerned that Bradley Li (pronounced Lee) will sound odd so he has started signing his name, Brad Li.

Others are influenced by the entertainment world. Grace chose the name of a favourite character in an American television drama and was tickled to discover that I have a fondness for the name because it was also my grandmother’s.

Big Jacky, easily the tallest Chinese person I’ve ever seen, is class monitor for one of my university classes. His duties include stopping by the office when he arrives to pick up the key and unlock the classroom. He also insists on carrying my books up to the sixth floor for me every time! When I asked him how he got his English name, he explained that he’s a fan of Hong Kong actor and martial artist, Jackie Chan, who was actually born Chan Kong-sang.

Sissi (pronounced Cee Cee) was a nickname given to one of Richard’s students by her grandmother when she was just a little girl. Since it’s easy for even we foreigners to pronounce, she decided to use it instead of adopting a different English name. I think it suits her.

One of the most unusual names we’ve encountered is Dragon but his choice made perfect sense once he explained it to me. Apparently his Chinese name means little dragon.

Their English names aren’t particularly important to most our university students who are simply taking an English course because it’s a graduation requirement. When the year is over, many of them will never use the name again. When they wrote their midterm exams, I discovered that Patricia didn’t even know how to spell her English name! It’s a different story for our students who are preparing to study overseas, however. Recognizing that they will be using this name for several years, possibly the rest of their lives for those who dream of making Canada their permanent home, some of them aren’t satisfied with a name that was chosen hastily or thrust upon them by a teacher they’d only just met. Stacie is such a student. Last time I talked to her, she was considering becoming Monique!

Our school isn’t the only one that requires its students to choose an English name. Apparently this is common practice across China. When we met Michael, one of our "angels", in Jinan last week, I asked him how he got his English name and he explained that he’s a fan of both Michael Jordan and Michael Jackson.

After hearing many of these stories, I began to wonder what I would do if I had to choose a Chinese name. I’ve always been fascinated by the meaning of names so I wondered if my name, which means shining light, might have a Chinese counterpart. Over lunch one day, I asked some of our students if they knew of a Chinese girl’s name that meant light. Sure enough, Sissi told me that her mother’s name, Guang (pronounced Gwong), was the one I was looking for. Though no one actually calls me by this name, I’ve decided to adopt it as my Chinese name. I even like the look of its Chinese character. It reminds me of a burning candle or a lighthouse.

光

Since Chinese women take their husband’s family name when they marry, I guess I’m actually Meng Guang because Richard’s Munchkin class (his 12 year olds) recently decided that he should have a Chinese name too. They dubbed him Meng Fei, naming him after a popular TV anchorman who gained nation-wide fame as host of the popular blind date reality show "If You Are the One"!

Spring… definitely worth waiting for!

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I’ve been waiting for spring ever since we arrived on campus at the end of February. It’s been like looking at a drab cocoon and waiting for the beautiful butterfly to emerge. Though the grass was brown and the trees were bare, we could see the potential for so much beauty.

Now, suddenly, spring is upon us and it’s even more beautiful than we imagined. It began a couple of weeks ago when the grass seemed to turn green overnight. Then the magnolia trees alongside one of the lecture halls burst into magnificent bloom. Before we left on last week’s holiday, I expected to see leaves on the trees when we got back and I wasn’t disappointed.

This afternoon, as we walked across campus on our way to pick up a few groceries at the supermarket, we recognized the unmistakable smell of lilacs in bloom. We soon found ourselves wandering parts of the campus that we hadn’t bothered with before! There were blossoms everywhere; bright splashes of red, white, pink, and vibrant purple. I wasn’t the only one with my camera out!

Entertaining angels

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Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it. Hebrews 13:2

We’re back in Dalian and though we’ve only been living here since late February, it really did feel like we came home today. As we settle in and get back into routine, I find myself reminiscing about the many "angels" we encountered as we travelled. They may not actually have been heavenly beings but I can’t help thinking that God brought them across our path to make our way easier and more enjoyable. I’ve mentioned some of them in previous posts.

First there was Michael who helped us find our hotel when we arrived in Jinan and later led us to a restaurant and helped us order a delicious dinner. Though he wanted to spend more time being our guide, circumstances didn’t allow it but Michael kept in touch by texting for the remainder of our trip making sure that we were fine and offering to translate or advise if we needed him to.

Then there was the gentleman who volunteered to drive us from the village of Zhujianyu to the bus station in nearby Mingshui so that we could get back to Jinan after exploring the historical site. We didn’t get his name and though we offered, he wouldn’t accept any payment for his trouble. Definitely an "angel"!

Many of the long distance buses here have someone who rides along, collecting tickets or cash from passengers as they board at various pick up stops. She often disembarks somewhere near the outskirts of the city once everyone is on board but when we rode from Jinan to Qufu, the "stewardess" stayed on board all the way. When we pulled into the Qufu bus station, 6 km outside town, she left the bus with us, found us a taxi and made sure he knew where to take us before she boarded the bus again and it continued on to its next destination. We could have managed on our own but it was much easier having an "angel" who knew the language taking care of us.

That evening, when we went out to find some supper, we encountered another one of our "angels". We were thinking about eating at the local night market where food is cooked and sold on the street. We had just started walking through the market area checking out the various things that were being prepared when Daphne, a local college student, walked up to us and asked in excellent English if she could be of any help. She advised us not to eat at the market because it might not be very healthy (exactly the same advice that our own students give us). After asking us what we enjoy eating, she suggested a restaurant, took us there, helped us order and visited with us while we ate.

The next day Aku appeared out of nowhere to act as our guide to the Confucius Temple and Mansions but I mustn’t forget to also give credit to one more Qufu "angel", our host at the tiny Bao Tai Hotel. Our room was basic; the mattress was thin, the towels tiny and at $13 a night, we couldn’t complain about the room not being made up each day. What made our stay heavenly was our host. He didn’t speak a word of English but when we arrived, he asked us through gestures if we were hungry and when we said yes, he walked us around the corner to a little restaurant. While we ordered, he headed off on his bicycle to find a map of Qufu and brought it back to the restaurant for us. Later, he was able to communicate through the translator on his computer, that we were the first Canadian guests to ever stay in his establishment and he treated us like royalty. When we came downstairs to check out yesterday morning, he insisted on driving us to the bus station himself instead of allowing us to take a taxi! Though he isn’t smiling in the photo, I think that’s the only time I saw him without one. Yes, that’s definitely the face of an "angel"!

Second day in Qufu

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If you had an entire day to do anything you wanted, what would you do? That’s the situation we found ourselves in this morning. We’d allowed ourselves two full days in Qufu thinking that one might not be enough to see all three Confucius sites that we visited yesterday.

Knowing that we had an entire day to fill, we were in no hurry to get up this morning. I haven’t been sleeping well lately largely due to the fact that I’m fighting a nasty cold so a bit of extra rest was very welcome.

Once we were up and had had a late breakfast, we went to visit another ancient temple, this one dedicated to the memory of Yan Hui, a favourite disciple of Confucius. If it were located anywhere other than almost next door to the much larger and more impressive Confucius Temple complex, it would likely draw many visitors but we were almost alone and it was very peaceful. We could actually hear the birds chirping!

The Yan Temple has been undergoing renovations over the past few years. Apparently the cost of this massive facelift prompted a hefty increase to the admission fee which, I’m assuming, resulted in even fewer visitors. We learned, however, that if we could produce our combination tickets from yesterday, we would be admitted free of charge.

In addition to enjoying the tranquility of the temple grounds, we found the renovation project quite fascinating. One of the outer buildings houses a display of photos chronicling the meticulous work that has been done. The buildings that have been completed have received much more than a new paint job. Much dismantling and rebuilding was required to replace wooden parts and roofing that had deteriorated. Many of the intricate panels were taken down, painted and put up again.

After leaving the temple, we headed over to the International Youth Hostel and rented bicycles. Leaving town, we rode out into the countryside to look at the farms where we saw corn, wheat and other crops that we couldn’t identify. Though they appear to have been seeded by machine, we saw many people, mostly women, out in the fields pulling weeds. Imagine doing that by hand on a Canadian farm! I have no idea how far we rode. I’m pretty sure my butt will be telling me about it tomorrow but it was well worth any discomfort I may have to put up with.

After an early supper, we were strolling back toward our hotel when we decided to rest for awhile on a stone bench near the main gate to the city wall, a great spot for people watching. Little did we know that we were in for an unexpected surprise. We were about to leave when someone began banging on the enormous drum atop the wall. It heralded the beginning of a gate closing ceremony complete with elaborately costumed guards, flag and lantern bearers, a herald and others we couldn’t identify. It was a perfect ending to our stay in historic Qufu!

A day with Confucius

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Wheresoever you go, go with all your heart.
Confucius

We left Jinan yesterday morning and travelled south by bus to Qufu (pronounce Chu Fu). Small by Chinese standards, with a population of only about 86 000 people, Qufu is famous as the hometown of the great sage, Kong Fuzi, better known to us by the westernized version of his name, Confucius.

The old walled centre of Qufu is small and easy to get around on foot but the three principle sites; the Confucius Temple, the Kong family mansions and the Confucius Forest where the great teacher and his many descendants are buried, are absolutely enormous. We spent all day today exploring them.

When we stopped at the ticket office to purchase the combination tickets that would allow us to visit all three sites, we were also thinking about hiring an English guide but before we could, we were approached by a young college student who called himself Aku, an abbreviated version of his difficult to pronounce Chinese name, who offered to act as our guide for free if we would simply use his camera to take a few pictures of him throughout the day. We agreed and found him to be a delightful and knowledgeable companion.

We started our day at the Confucius Temple, China’s second largest imperial building complex after the Forbidden City in Beijing which we hope to visit in July. The temple started out as a simple memorial hall some 2500 years ago but over the ages, it mushroomed to today’s compound which covers 327.5 acres and is 1.3 km in length from north to south.

Though there is some debate about whether Confucianism should be considered a religion or simply a system of philosophy, the temple was once a site where sacrifices were offered to Confucius. He was a great thinker, a teacher, editor, politician and a philosopher whose teachings emphasized personal and governmental morality, correct social relationships, justice, loyalty and sincerity. He was a strong proponent of ancestor worship which is something we have a hard time getting our heads around but I can’t help wondering if he ever intended that nations of people should worship him. Whether it was his intent or not, many Asian cultures including Chinese, Korean, Japanese and Vietnamese have been strongly influenced by Confucianism.

After spending all morning touring the temple complex we stopped for lunch then moved on to the Confucius mansions, a maze of 450 halls, rooms, buildings and passages where his wealthy and powerful descendants lived like kings. Emperors were known to drop in for visits and a special ceremonial gate near the main entrance was opened only when this happened. The complex included administrative offices and meeting rooms, family residences, kitchens, guest rooms, studies, libraries and a treasury. A peaceful garden of flowers and greenery are found at the rear. Aku told us that his dream would be to build a home like this one in the Chinese countryside but I only coveted the garden and a few unique features like the round doorways! I could also imagine children having endless hours of fun playing hide-and-go-seek in the many passageways!

After relaxing over coffee, it was time for Aku to leave us as he had a bus to catch later in the day. We took a pedicab 2 km north to the Confucius Forest, the oldest and largest family cemetery in the world. There, Confucius and his descendants have been buried for more than 2000 years, a practice that continues up to the present time. The peaceful pine and cypress forest covers an area of more than 200 hectares. Burial mounds and memorial plaques are scattered haphazardly throughout the area. Confucius, himself, lies beneath a grassy mound enclosed by a low wall. Though most of the tourists crowded around the tomb were simply curious, there were those who knelt and others who made offerings of flowers.

After walking back to our tiny, family-run hotel where every room number begins and ends with 8, considered a lucky number by the Chinese, we’re spending a quiet evening resting our very weary feet. Our hosts don’t speak a word of English but they are clearly delighted to have us, their very first Canadian guests, staying with them.

To see what is right and not do it, is want of courage or of principle.
Confucius

Thank you, Dr. Bethune

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Over the past few years we’ve stretched our comfort zones to such an extent that we don’t really know where the edges are anymore! I’m pretty sure we stepped outside them this morning, though, when we boarded a bus and headed out into the Chinese countryside with no definite idea how we’d get back to Jinan!

The bus dropped us off beside the highway and we walked two kilometres into the historic village of Zhujiayu. After the noise and pollution of city life in China, a walk in the country was literally a breath of fresh air! The crops on either side of the road were heading out already but it was a bit too soon to tell for sure if they were barley or bearded wheat.

Walking the narrow stone streets of Zhujiayu is a journey back in time. Protected by hills on three sides and dating back to at least the Ming and Qing dynasties, it’s easy to see why it’s been used as a set for a number of movies and television dramas. Though the central street was crowded with vendors selling snacks and tacky tourist souvenirs, we were delighted to see that effort has been made to restore parts of the crumbling village including the wall that enclosed its northern flank and to bring history to life for those who visit. We watched a donkey grinding grain into course flour that was then sifted by hand and used to make the chive stuffed tortillas that we ate for lunch. They were cooked outdoors on a small clay oven.

We found the construction of the now crumbling structures fascinating. Most were built of stone from the surrounding hillsides but others were made of brick covered with a layer of some kind of plaster, a building method still in use in this country today. Beneath the tiled roofs was a thick layer of thatch that would have acted as insulation.

After spending a few hours exploring almost every nook and cranny in the village, it was time to figure out how we’d get back to Jinan. According to our trusty Lonely Planet guidebook, there might be a bus that would take us to nearby Mingshui where we could catch another bus back to Jinan. If not, we could walk back to the highway and try flagging down any bus heading back toward Jinan.

As we exited the site, we stopped at the tourist services building to see if anyone there spoke enough English to advise us. Neither of the women on duty did but one of them hustled out to find someone who could. She soon returned with three smiling men. One of them spoke a few words of English but he phoned his wife who was somewhat more fluent and by passing the phone back and forth, we learned that her advice was that we walk back to the highway and flag down a bus. After the gentlemen produced their cameras and had their pictures taken with us, we headed off to do just that.

As we exited the gate, however, we were surrounded by taxi drivers offering to drive us into Mingshui or even the entire 80 km back to Jinan. Of course, they wanted an exorbitant amount in return for their services so we quickly said no and went on our way. I soon noticed that one of the men who’d crowded around us as we talked to the taxi drivers was following us on the opposite side of the road. When we got out of earshot of the others, he crossed the road and told us in broken English that if we would wait for ten minutes while he walked home and got his car, he would drive us to the bus station in Mingshui at no cost! We’ve found over and over again that the Chinese are more than willing to do things like this for us; in fact, they seem to consider it a privilege! As he drove, he explained that one of the reasons that the Chinese love Canadians is because more than fifty years ago, a Canadian doctor helped the Chinese people very much. He was, of course, speaking of Dr. Norman Bethune who died in China in 1939 while serving as a battlefield physician during the Japanese invasion of this country. He is considered a beloved hero to this day.

Though the bus from Mingshui delivered us to an unfamiliar bus station (Jinan has at least three of them) the taxi ride back to our hotel wasn’t much longer than it would have been from the main station where we caught our outgoing bus this morning. Another adventure was complete and our comfort zones, just a little bit bigger! Thank you, Dr. Bethune!

City of Springs

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Our day began a few blocks from our hotel at Baotu Spring Park, Jinan’s most popular tourist site. "Spring" refers to the fact that the park is home to many of the 72 famous springs that are located in Jinan’s downtown district but today it could also have referred to the season and the new leaves on the the willows that overhang the many pools and the moat.

After wandering the crowded park for most of the morning, we rested our feet for almost two hours as we enjoyed a boat trip around the moat and across Daming Lake at the north end of the downtown district.

After a late lunch, we spent the remainder of the afternoon strolling along the moat and watching the crowds of holidayers enjoying their day in the sun. People here obviously don’t see very many foreigners. Everywhere we went, heads swivelled to take a second look and people pointed us out to their companions. Though few of them speak any English the word "foreigner" seems to be part of their vocabulary as we heard it often! Children seemed to be particularly startled by our strange appearance but in general, everyone seemed happy that we were out doing what they were doing, enjoying a beautiful day in a beautiful place.

One of the challenges to being in a foreign country where you don’t understand the language can be finding food. Though there are a proliferation of tiny restaurants within a few blocks of our apartment in Dalian, when it came to finding supper tonight, we couldn’t figure out where all these people ate! Though there are McDonalds and KFCs all over the place, we wanted something a little more nourishing and authentic. After a somewhat frustrating search, we found a delicious meal at a crowded and noisy food court just off the sprawling central square which I’ve also seen referred to as the livingroom of Jinan.

As "senior citizens", over the age of 60, we were able to enter Baoto Spring Park free of charge this morning, saving approximately $6.50 each! Although I laughed about being referred to as a senior citizen at the time, after being on my feet in the hot sunshine for most of the day, I feel a bit more like one this evening!

China’s on vacation

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Today was the first day of China’s annual three day Labor Day holiday but we get the whole week off so we boarded a plane early this afternoon and flew to Jinan, the capital city of Shandong province, southwest of Dalian. Jinan is nicknamed the City of Springs because of the vast number of artesian springs that are concentrated in the downtown district which is also circled by a moat.

Our hotel is located in the heart of that area but we had a little difficulty locating it because we didn’t realize that it’s located on the upper floors of a building with only an unassuming elevator entrance at street level. The streets were filled with people in a festive mood so it was easy to find someone to ask for help. I randomly chose Michael who turned out to be a first year university student studying tourism management. He was absolutely delighted to assist us, leading us up to the hotel lobby, helping us with the check-in procedure and walking us to our room. There, he gave us his cell phone number and suggested that we call him if we needed any more help or if we wanted him to act as our guide. He wanted nothing more than the opportunity to practice English with us.

After settling into our room, we headed out to explore the area on foot quickly discovering the moat directly across the street from our hotel and wandering along it until we arrived at the city’s central square which was one big party. It was crowded with people frolicking, flying kites, and shopping at the many booths that had been set up.

Deciding that it was time to find some supper, we left the square and continued walking turning in at nearby Furong Alley, a pedestrian street festooned with hanging lanterns and bright red banners. I immediately recognized it as the street of restaurants and food booths that I’d read about in our Lonely Planet guidebook. It was absolutely packed with people! As we made our way through the throng looking for a place to eat, who should appear out of the crowd but Michael, the only person we knew in the entire city of 2.27 million people! He and two of his roommates had just finished their supper but they happily led us to a restaurant, helped us order a delicious dinner and left us to eat it telling us that they’d be back in half an hour to continue showing us around! We spent the rest of the evening with them enjoying the party atmosphere of a country on vacation and seeing some of the sights of beautiful downtown Jinan.

Statues by the sea

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After figuring out where we went wrong trying to find our way last week, we did Dalian’s seaside walk today. Though it was misty over the ocean, it was a comfortable day for walking and according to my pedometer, we covered about 7.5 km.

Dalian is a city of statues. I couldn’t begin to photograph all the ones we saw today but there were a few that stood out to me so I thought I’d share my favourites with you. We got off the bus and started our walk at the giant seashell at the entrance to Fujiazhuang Beach. Though a few hardy souls were swimming and a couple of wedding parties were having photos taken, most of the people on the beach were fishing or gathering seaweed and a few, like us, were just out for a stroll.

From Fujiazhuang, we followed a boardwalk that wandered along the coastline. At times, it offered great views of the ocean but some of the time it followed a busy road and the views were often blocked by construction. Along the way, I fell in love with the two white statues. They both captured the carefree feeling of a day by the sea.

The inline skating statues near the end of our walk were by far the most fun though. Being a Monday, most of the city was at work and we shared the day with many seniors, some of them with young grandchildren in tow. I waited my turn while a group of older Chinese women took turns having their "skating" photos taken. They were clearly delighted to see that I was going to have mine taken too. In fact, they lingered to watch and offer advice on my pose! As foreigners, we’re a bit of an oddity here. People often take a second look when they see us and it isn’t unusual to notice someone taking our picture. They usually do it somewhat surreptitiously but these women were quite open about it. We couldn’t speak with one another but laughter is the same in any language!

This is China!

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On Tuesday afternoon, people bought roasted chestnuts and other snacks at the little corner kiosk but less than 24 hours later, it was nothing but a pile of rubble! No, we don’t live in a war zone and we’re a long distance away from China’s recent earthquake, but to look at the area a few blocks from here last week, one would have seriously wondered.

We first noticed that something was amiss when we left the school for a quick lunch before Tuesday afternoon’s dance class. (See Can I have this dance? posted on March 26) Along a two or three block stretch, the fronts had literally been torn off every business! Restaurants, bakeries and other businesses were continuing to serve customers while completely open to the street!

The next afternoon, we decided to walk that way again to see what was happening. That’s when we discovered that the snack shop on the corner was gone and that the new fronts on the other businesses were being constructed about a metre further back from the street than where they’d previously been. What in the world was going on? Had they encroached on city property and been forced to move off? Had a bylaw suddenly changed, requiring them to make these alterations? That kind of thing happens in China all the time, we’re told.

On our way home, we decided to circle around through some of the tiny back streets and that’s when we discovered that the destruction was much more widespread than we’d first realized. Piles of broken glass and rubble were everywhere! On one street, we came across a backhoe in the process of demolishing a small structure. The area was cordoned off with yellow ribbon and a row of uniformed policemen stood nearby. I wanted to take photos but I thought better of it. As foreigners, we’re already very conspicuous. I didn’t want to find out what kind of attention a foreigner with a camera might generate!

There are lots of things about this country that we’ll never understand and this situation is definitely one of them! Rumours have abounded this week. We’ve heard tales of an upcoming international gathering of some sort coming to Dalian soon and the city wanting to clean up and put on a good face for the world. Knowing that that’s what happened in Beijing prior to the Olympic Games being held there in 2008, I might have believed that story had I not seen the mess on the back streets. I could imagine a cavalcade of foreign visitors traversing busy Huanghe Road where we initially witnessed the changes happening but they’d have absolutely no reason to enter any of the tiny back streets.

Others have speculated that there may be gang involvement. We’re told that, through extortion, gangs exert firm control over certain territories within the city and that business owners regularly pay the gangs for "protection" ensuring that their establishments will not be disturbed by the ruling gang or by others including the authorities. Did the business owners in the affected area anger the controlling gang and lose their protection allowing the city or the police to enforce changes? I have no idea! I do know that this kind of gang activity has been documented in US cities with large Chinese populations which leads me to believe that it probably happens here too though we would never actually see it.

Today we walked through the affected area again. Though some of the businesses are still undergoing reconstruction, the rubble is mostly gone and the area cleaned up. One would hardly know that anything untoward had happened. Perhaps what surprises me most in all of this is the fact that, in the midst of everything that was happening, for most people business continued as usual. People seemed to simply accept what was happening without protest or emotion.

"This is China" is the simple explanation that most people give!