Yang Lao's Funeral

Epilogue:
After our last post, on Sunday, November 29, 2009 we had the distinct privilege to be invited by Yang Xianyi's daughter to attend his funeral. We were driven there by Weili Fan and husband, Jerry Zhang along with their daughter, Mollie. Weili had originally introduced me to Yang Lao. The funeral was open to the public and held at a site where many Chinese dignitaries receive their final farewell, however it can now be rented by the public. The funeral was arranged by the International Writers's Association. Family and friends met in a small room and had a private viewing of the body. The viewing hall was filled with flowers. As the public filed in to view, one could hear "Danny Boy", "On The Bonny Banks of Loch Lomond", and "Auld Lang Syne", Xianyi's favorite songs, playing in the background. The body was then removed and presumably cremated and friends and family were encouraged to carry the flowers to the crematorium for burning. The press and TV were present and there were individual messages from every politburo member with the exception of Premier, Hu Jintao.

This appears to be the passing of a unique era in Chinese history and it was interesting to get a glimpse of it and an honor to have met this important and brave man.

Now we will try to read his translation of "A Dream of Red Mansions".
Philip and Astri

Yang Xianyi

An email popped up from a Fan Weili. She mentioned that she had read a story about me in a magazine, Villa Life and asked if I would consider meeting a man she had befriended. This man was Yang Xianyi who was a renowned Chinese literary scholar and who along with his wife, Gladys, had translated many of the Chinese classics into English and many English classics into Chinese.

Villa Life is a glossy magazine distributed to those who live in upscale villas mostly in the part of Beijing called Shunyi near the airport. Despite the fact that I have yet to accomplish much they interviewed me about my work in Beijing. We really hit it off and the editor, his journalist and photographer spent about 2 hours with me.

Weili is a Chinese-American who was a member of the first class to enter University after the Cultural Revolution, the class of 1977. Plucked from working in the fields to enter school and study English literature. There she became familiar with Yang and Gladys Xianyi. Only years later after studying in Montana along with her husband and then becoming quite successful in Chicago, did they move back to China with their two teen-age children. Back in Beijing she developed a wonderful friendship with Yang Xianyi who she refers endearingly as Yang Lao ("Old Yang), visiting and spending time with him weekly.

Astri and I were invited to meet Yang Lao at his hutang home where he lived with his daughter. It was a rare privilege to meet such a man who had accomplished so much, had been so brave and to meet him in his own home. He remained fluent in English with no accent, witty, and content. When I mentioned that it was a great honor to meet him and that I heard so much about him, he said, "then you must have heard some lies". We also had the honor of getting a copy of "The Dream of the Red Chamber" Yang and his wife had translated, with his autograph.

Unfortunately, Yang Xianyi passed away on Monday, November 23 at the age of 94.

We look forward to reading his classic translation and to our continued friendship with Weili and Jerry.

I think you might be interested in reading Yang Xianyi's obituary in the Guardian.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/nov/23/yang-xianyi-obituary

Carpets Galore

Beijing has all kinds of stores. Markets where floor upon floor consist of small stalls filled with "dongxi", a catchword for "things" you may want to buy. Dong meaning east...-xi meaning west. And these markets literally sell anything under the sky from east to west. Then there are really upscale malls where prices far surpass even what you would pay at a mall in the US. In between you find hole-in-the wall places: small stores often specializing in one item and with good prices.
With winter approaching, suddenly our wooden floors looked awfully bare. So as I walked by a hole-in the-wall carpet store one day, I decided to go in to have a look. The owner, Aileen, a young woman around 30 was very pleasant and pulled down carpet after carpet for me to look at. She also volunteered to bring half the store to our apartment should I so desire. As I was only hoping to buy one, I declined that offer, thanked her for the chat and left.

A week later Philip and I had another day of biking, and suddenly found ourselves in front of the same store. We needed a little break, and decided that he may want a look as well. Since we bought a silk carpet in India some years ago, we have both been very partial to silk rugs. China is a prime location for silk, so it did not take long before the offer of bringing some rugs to the house was accepted. But we are only planning to buy one, we said over and over, and this presented no problems.

Two days later I went down to help guide the truck to our basement. Our address is easy to find, but for deliveries it s easier if cars drive directly to our underground parking garage where they can take an elevator right to the apartment. Looking over the carpets with Aileen, suddenly we were surrounded by 11 possibilities. "No problem"- nothing here ever is!!. Her delivery truck was in for repairs, so we stepped out on the street, hailed a taxi, threw the carpets in the trunk and were on our way. What a difference it made, suddenly 9 silk carpets and 2 wool woven carpets were making our abode very cozy indeed. Aileen and her helper left, telling me to call when we had made a decision.

Now we were in the negotiation phase. Philip has become very adept at bargaining, but these are really nice rugs. Taking just one suddenly seemed out of the question as our eyes feasted on the luscious colors and designs. We asked for a 30% discount and ended up with 15% off and Ailleen telling us she had no more room to bargain and still make a profit. Her initial price, in fact, did appear to be 20% less than what we had seen in another carpet store. The final price was agreeable to both as long as we tell all our friends to go to Aileen”s shop. Meanwhile, our floors look inviting and the entire apartment suddenly feels several degrees warmer. As you probably guess, even though the majority of rugs went back with Aileen, we could not stop at one.
Astri

November Snow in Beijing

Having previously lived in places with ample rainfall, the sunny nature of Beijing has been a surprise. Well, include an occasional smoggy day, but certainly not as bad as we had anticipated. Visible smog is more the exception than the rule, and we have yet to see it thick and yellow so you need a knife to slice it. Plus Beijing has offered plenty of days with bright, blue skies. Rain is the one kind of weather that is rare. So sometimes the government just has to step in. However, it appeared that the night of Oct. 31 somebody did not do their homework. Yes, the air had moisture but what was missed was the incoming cold front. During the night the clouds were seeded to bring down moisture to drought-ridden fields. However, as we woke up the morning of November 1, a white world waited outside, and thousands of white flakes filled the air. The many trees still clothed in leaves did not enjoy the heavy burden as exhibited by many broken branches, but as a rule both children and adults alike poured out to enjoy the early snow that cloaked the earth, and many a snowman was born, see photos.

Strangely enough, since then we have had 2 more snowfalls, and it is not even Thanksgiving. It appears we may have moved east, but not south!!!.

Biking in Beijing

These days there seems to be an obsession with anti-aging medicine. While in Bangkok, we visited a huge hospital with an elegant clinic dedicated to this field of medicine, concentrating on nutrition, exercise, medical and surgical intervention. Last week I read in The New York Times that even Harvard had dedicated a conference to this topic. As for me, biking is one source to the fountain of youth. The joy of jumping on our bikes, and heading for unexpected adventures feels like a reenactment of the joy of childhood.

Last Saturday we woke up to a beautiful late summer day. No agenda and blue sky thanks to the government actively chasing the clouds far away to insure no rain on the 60th anniversary parade. So the decision of an agenda was easy, an exploratory day on our bikes toward the center of the city.

Of course, I would not send a child into Beijing traffic. The rules are pretty much the same as Darwin's law, The survival of the fittest or: The strongest vehicle always has the right of way. That said, we do have traffic lights, and for traffic going straight , the rules are obeyed. But when it comes to intersections, turning vehicles turn both right and left on red without looking. So, the buses beat the cars, the cars beat the bikes and we bikes beat the pedestrians. So the only rule becomes to look, look and carefully look again if you want to get across in one piece. Also, remember to stay in your "lane". If you ride 30" from the edge of the pavement, that is where you are expected to stay. A motorized bike will speed by you 3'' from your shoulder at a high speed, and you better not venture into his "lane".

Philip is always in charge of nourishment's: that is he loves to look up new and exiting eateries. His favorite book these days:" Beijing Eateries"

Not that he is alone in this passion. If you talk with a Beijinger, it never takes long before the conversation turns to food. Most people are really interested in food, as can be seen by the multitude of restaurants everywhere. It sometimes feels as if food has become the substitute for religion for many as it is talked about very reverently. Chinese chef claim that theirs is the most tasty cuisine in the world, and the most varied as shown in all the regional kitchens: hot fare from Sichuan, hotter fare from Yunnan, sweet food from the Shanghai area with lots of seafood and delicious lamb dishes from the Muslim areas etc, etc,etc

Anyway, today Philip had decided that since we had not had a hot dog since January, our itinerary would include a stop at the Workers Stadium to see if we could find "Stadium Dog". After 30 minutes in busy Beijing traffic, the Workers Stadium looms ahead. And yes, on the ground level is a small stall selling "all beef hot dogs", and yes, they were good. Slowly a vast smile spreads across Philip's face, the taste from home and the mission of finding the stand was accomplished.

Soon after the restart of our bike trip we find ourselves on "Ghost Street". Hundreds of red lanterns line both sides of the street to signal the masses of restaurants in this area. Traditionally restaurants are recognized by hanging of red lanterns, the more lanterns, the better the food. If this idea had been followed, this street is filled with amazing places. In this case, I think there is great food here, however the lanterns also signal the multitude of choice, and also the fact that the eateries are open 24 hours a day. Beijing is normally a city that closes down early in the evening, but this street is different.

Our next goal was to reach Hou Hai area. This is the lake area in the center of town, inside the 2nd ring road. It is North of the Forbidden City, and from here the royals could take their boats that would carry them via canals to the Summer Palace. Now-a-days this area is becoming very popular, and is very beautiful indeed. The lakes are filled with little boats where you can peddle or just relax on a hot day to escape some of the heat. In winter the lakes are frozen, and Beijingers can go ice skating or gliding on chairs with runners. Around the lakes there are a multitude of restaurants and bars, but also open areas for karaoke, swing dancing, flying kites, kicking “birdies” around, biking or being biked in pedicabs, and of course shopping. But if you walk only a block or two away, you find old hutong houses where people live as they did 200 years ago, and you really feel the pulse of ancient China.

We really love to walk or bike around in this area, so when we reach it 3 hours later after multiple stops, it is with joy and a sense of accomplishment. We walk around, discovering alleys with great stalls for food, clothing, leather and anything you may desire. After a while we find a park, and sit down to play cards. The parks are often filled with people playing all kinds of games, but as Westerners we always arouse interest when we play, and gather a crowd around us to see what rules we follow.

But now the ride takes on a more specific goal: Philip wants to find Liu Zhai Shifu, a small hutong restaurant he has heard is great, and where you normally need to make reservations, not so common here. The hot dog was appetizer, but now it is time for lunch. We soon find the place, and as few people eat lunch at 3 PM, we park our bikes outside, and get a seat right away. The food is very tasty, and after a leisurely meal we head out again, get our bikes, and start on our way home. At this time of the year it gets dark around 6 PM, and it would be nice to be home before dark. That said, Beijing drivers are very alert. Since driving here is somewhat unconventional like u-turns on major streets, a drive on the sidewalk if it is helpful, drivers seem to react very fast if they see a bike. However, as we return home dusk seeps in, I am happy to be home after a great Beijing Day.

PS. I am a little late with this posting as our trip happened Oct3. However, when our niece Åse with boyfriend Helge visited the last 2 weeks, we repeated a similar bike trip. The four of us had a great time, and Åse exclaimed afterwards that it was even more fun and insightful than the Summer Palace" A great way to see Beijing!!!

Wedding of Wang Ao and Xuan

Astri and I were fortunate to have been included on the invitation list for the wedding of Wang Ao and Xuan. Wang is a wonderful young man who works in development for United Family Healthcare. Traditional weddings disappeared with the cultural revolution but it appears that the young people recognize the need to retain their culture. The wedding started a 9AM with the arrival of the "Palanquin" at the South gate of Ritan Park. Groom and bride were in full regalia. With great ceremony and music there was a procession to the restaurant. Upon arrival there was "shooting of the arrows". With "accuracy, steadiness, heaven and earth" their married life was started. The bride and groom did kiss as they do at Western weddings but the program specifically noted that this is definitely not part of a traditional Chinese wedding. Wang's father took us aside and confided that this ceremony and customs were as foreign to him as to us as his marriage was at a time when only a trip to town hall to register the wedding was all that was permitted.

I will let the pictures tell the story of a wonderful event. It was fascinating and quite a privilege to be part of Wang and Xuan's wedding day.

Thailand Trip

Dear Friends and Family,

We finally bought a reliable VPN that appears to get us past the Chinese firewall so hopefully we are back on our blog without interruptions.

Ingrid Solomon left a week a ago after a really nice visit with us.

We are now on a 6 day holiday for National Day and Moon Festival and are taking it easy in Beijing. The government with their cloud seeding has provided spectacular weather, mid 70s and blue skies. Friday Astri and I spent a day biking into the heart of Beijing with a restaurant we had read about as our destination. It was a small Chinese restaurant in a Hutong with very good food. Yesterday we spent the day at China Open tennis tournament and today Astri's sister, Martha, and our niece, Marit arrive.

Work remains an adventure doing many different things including completing designs on our out-patient cancer center. Quite a few changes in the hospital with the Chief Medical Officer leaving, an interim CMO, and a new CMO from Ohio that just signed on to arrive in January. Looking for new Ob and Pediatric chiefs. 16 physicians coming in next 3 weeks to take their exams and hopefully join the staff in the next few months.

We had a great week in Thailand in early September. I attended a two day 3rd East Asian Lung Cancer Conference in Bangkok and we had a few days to see Bangkok but the best was a 3 day bike ride. We were met at 7AM and after a 2 1/2 hour drive got a tour of the Bridge over the River Kwai and the museum of the famous battle. We also biked up to "hellfire pass" where 90,000 lives of slave laborors, many who were POWs were lost building the railway to Burma. We took a train for an hour and then started our ride. First day over roads and very muddy track and arrived at a beautiful resort on the river. Then biked most of the 2nd day with beautiful scenery on quiet roads and arrived at another very nice resort hotel. That night we had a well-deserved Thai massage. We then biked a good part of the 3rd day before driving back and arriving in Bangkok at 7PM. Great local food, beautiful waterfall, stopped at the sounds of schoolchildren singing. We had a wonderful guide,Noom, an assistant who was learning the route, driver with van and one other rider, a 30 yo Belgian working in Hong Kong as CFO for oil company. Let us know who you think he looks like. We had a great time. We then hired Noom for a tour of Bangkok the next day.

Thailand is a lovely country. Bangkok is very busy and noisy but very interesting and easy to get around by subway and skytrain but the traffic is awful and makes Beijing look quiet. The food is excellent but very spicy. Their love of the King is overwhelming as are the number of pictures of him. Everyone knows of the 3000 wonderful projects he is responsible for but no one can say anything bad about him. Hmmmm! Buddhism also seems to have many inconsistencies but then what religion doesn't? There certainly are a lot of temples and Buddhas such as the reclining one in the slide show.

Hope you are all well and look forward to hearing from many of you.

Philip

You can click on the slideshow to go to the gallery.

Moon festival

One of the joys of living in a foreign country is the new and somewhat unknown festivals and holidays you are exposed to. Whoever thought Philip would stay home from work to celebrate the Moon Festival!! Only in China, and here we are. While Ingrid was here, we even took a class on the origins of the festival, and how to choose the best mooncakes- the present day symbol of celebration.

An abundance of legends creates a mystic feeling around the holiday, from the beautiful moon princess who fell in love with an earhtly archer while banished to earth (She is now back) to messages of armed uprising baked into mooncakes by Han Chinese while they were ruled by Mongols and so on.

It is widely believed that the moon plays a role in a bountiful harvest, and the festival is set during harvest time, on the 15th day of the 8 lunar month. In earlier times mooncakes were offered by female members of the family to the moon goddess. Nowadays it is a time when families get together, exchange mooncakes and perhaps gaze at the moon together. Giving of mooncakes has also spread to include friends and even those you may want influence or want to feel indepted to you (The dark side of mooncakes) Due to this, the government has had to step in to regulate the cost of mooncake-boxes. I believe the value of the mooncake must be at least 40% of the gift box. And yes, I have seen moon cake gift sets that include expensive wine, tobacco, stuffed animals etc.

The last week Philip has been coming home from work with boxes of- you guessed it- mooncakes. Luckily it has been only moon cakes, and I believe from co-workers who truly want us to taste a special treat to celebrate this day. Even Starbucks got into the business, and I have to admit, their cakes are pretty tasty. According to some friends, the best untraditional ones are made by Hagen-Daz, but I can not attest to that.

However, on Oct 3 you will find us gazing at the moon while reciting this beautiful mid autumn festival poem by Li Bai

Quiet Night Thoughts

The moonlight glistens in front of my bed.
I thought it was the frost on the ground.
I lift my gaze to view the shimmering moon,
Then lower my head, and miss my homeland.

Back on the Blog

Dear Friends,
We have been unable to use our blog for the past few months as the Chinese government decided to close down blog spot. We found a way around it with a VPN site but they closed that down but I heard it was working again and it really is. We have been well and had a good summer. Although Beijing is hot I didn't find it too bad and last week the government turned a switch on and we have lovely fall weather now. I have been very busy at work and plans are underway to build the first outpatient cancer treatment center in China. If all goes well we will start seeing patients there in January or February but many hoops to get through. My Oncology Executive Administrator started working this past week and that will be a big help.

Today Astri and I leave for Bangkok and on Monday will go on a 3 day bike trip. At the end of the week I am attending the 3rd Annual All Asia Lung Cancer Conference there. We will hope to post some information about the trip when we return.

We had a wonderful time with Sharon Hastings this summer and visited Shanghai and Suzhou with her. A few weeks ago Astri and I flew to Qingdao and had a lovely weekend with some time on the beach. Last weekend we took a day trip to Hebei Province and went to the Sino-French Vineyard. Riesling was good but the Cabernet bu hao.

We miss you all and hope you are all well.
Love, Philip and Astri

Having a small refrigerator according to Western standard, I have
returned to the kind of shopping I grew up with, namely daily. Unless
I need a lot of produce, I normally hop on my bike with a back-pack .
If I want produce, I usually head to a small shop/stall about 5
minutes away. It is run by a couple and their teen-age children and
they are very welcoming, friendly and fair, last adverb meaning they
do not appear to have "Western prices" and "Chinese " prices.
Sometimes clearly being from "away", which I can not hide from, in
some stores translates into prices being a little high until they know
you. But this stall always throw in a little extra if I buy a lot, and
give me a good price (Very different from the fruit vendor next door)
Opening hours are about the same as my awake hours. I have shopped at
7 AM when they are receiving all the days vegetables. And when I walk
by in the dark around 10 PM, I am still able to get what I want. If I
start translating the prices into dollars, I realize it will be quite
a shock when I start shopping in the US again. So check out what I was
able to stuff in my back-pack after handing over the equivalent of
$1.10. last shopping trip:

Blogging Once Again

Dear Friends,
The China Firewall closed down blog spot and we have not been able to post since early May. We have sent a few email entries. I have now learned of a way to get around the "Great Wall" and we are back on line.

Astri is presently in the US. We returned together about two weeks ago and visited Rebekka and Lee for one day and then we went to Orlando where I attended the American Society of Clinical Oncology Meeting and then returned to Beijing. Astri then spent a week with Rebekka and Lee and returned to Maine. I will be flying to Maine on June 17. We are looking forward to attending Jack Woodcock's wedding. It will be wonderful to have our entire family together and to spend a week in Maine.

It was great to have Geri and Lenny visit us in May and we also had our nephew, Erik Meistad, and his girlfriend, Tone visit us

We will post a new blog when we return from Maine.

Best to all.
Philip and Astri

Botanical Garden and Clubs

The transition from Maine to the The Middle Kingdom, from Bangor area to The Beijing area was quite a change. The biggest challenge though was going from a comfortable home and a setting with close friends that could always be called upon to a city of 17 million, none of whom we really knew. And also the transition from busy days getting the house ready to sell, packing up a lifetime of things we had aquired and moving everything, all this meant long days leading up to the infamous moving day with a start at 6 AM and a finish at 3 AM.
And then : Waking up in China as a "trailing" spouse, with each day an empty canvas. I was therefor very happy when Janet (Brooks, her husband is a OB/GYN at the hospital
) asked if I wanted to come with her to "The British Club" and "The Newcomers club" Beijing has about 500.000 expatriots, and most accompaning spouses can not find work. Daytime clubs therefor flourish. They generally meet once or twice a month for coffee and a talk. Their main purpose seems to be to bring people together and also give some information.Most also do some fund raising for fosterhomes and orphanages,
The Newcomers Club really try to introduce people to Beijing. Tables are set up with information about schools,medical care,different civic groups etc. And the monthly talks are also helpful to new people. Last week the topic was vegetable/fruit markets in Beijing, plus the speaker had brought a table full of produce that might be new to
someone moving to China.
The British Club was probably originally for Brits, but now welcome anyone with a foreign passport. They have had talks about jade/what to look for, how the railway developed in China and how it changed the country, a trip to The British Embassy etc. Last week they arranged a trip to The Botanical Gardens which are close to The Summer Palace (One hour trip) Missing my garden, this was a must!! And what a feast for the eyes! As we entered we were met by a flower sculpture of a man plowing his ox. And then, suddenly we felt as if we were transported to Holland.Tulips in every color stretched out in front of us, it was really breath taking. Only the photos can try to do this sight some justice, so I refer to the slide show. (Some people have had trouble viewing some of the photos, please let us know if this is so)
As in every park here, people were milling about everywhere: preschoolers, elderly men and women, teenage boys- we even came upon a bride and groom.
Next we walked up a hillside, planted with 630 different species of peonies! The regular herbacious peonies were not quite out, but the tree peonies (or Japanese variety) were all in perfect bloom, a sight that cannot be described. (Again, see photos)
I walked around with Janet and Therese (Her husband works in financing at the hospital) We just could not move away from this sight, snapping photo after photo. The Botanical Garden covered a large area, but it would have been an injustice to the tulips and peonies to remove ourselves from this spectacular seasonal sight. So we opened our lunch bags among the peonies, watched the bees and the butterflies work, and returned to our bus four hours later, sated and satisfied. - Astri

Visiting Hangzhoa

Dear All,
We are a little behind on updating our blog and have a few in the works.
Lots going on. Geri and Lenny visited us in Beijing and we had a great time. Geri particularly loved the shopping and was enormously impressed with Astri's bargaining skills. She also loved the "foot massage". It is quite an experience. Lenny was tailored for a sports coat and pants in our apartment and Geri is also having some clothes made.

We are now in Hangzhou which a beautiful little town of 7 million. It is on West Lake which is really beautiful. We will take a train to Shanghai tonight and I will be at our Shanghai hospital Monday and Tuesday and fly back to Beijing on Tuesday night. Astri will get together with the wife of Shanghai United Hospital's president who is Chinese and extremely nice.

Pictures and more to come.

Love,
Philip and Astri

The Real Beijing Duck and Haircut Part 3

The Real Beijing Duck:
Astri and I spent the day yesterday at the Temple of Heaven and then walking through some very local Hutong streets to the West of the Temple. We were in a local outdoor market when we came upon an outdoor rotisserie. I asked: "Zheige shi ji ma?"(Is that chicken?) He laughed at me and answered: "quack, quack, quack". We ate it the same night and it was excellent and for only 17 RMB (about $2.50)


Haircut Part 3:



I am realizing how fast everything changes in China but didn't expect it to hit so hard personally. After finally finding a haircutter that I felt comfortable with, I was riding my bicycle past the shop and found this scene!! Can I track him down? Stay tuned.

Reporting from Beijing
Philip

Foundation and Foster Homes

I think many of us have heard of children being adopted from China. Last week I was able to get an inside glimpse of what happens before the child can be part of a new, loving family.

The hospital Philip works for donates 1% of their revenue to pay for medical care and operations for children born with correctable deformities or illnesses. This is done through a separate organization, UFCO, which has one employee(paid for by the hospital) and otherwise volunteers . The volunteers fill different functions like: finding donations of infant formula, keeping the books, running fund raisers for special projects, visiting the children and ayis when they are hospitalized and going with them for pediatric visits plus documenting this.(This is what I am being introduced to do with 2 other "prior life" nurses.)

Anyway, the foundation just hired a new director , a 30 year old New Yorker with Chinese back ground. In connection with this a tour was arranged so she and volunteers who wanted to could visit 6 foster homes in the greater Beijing area. Foster homes are not officially recognized and are somewhat illegal but tolerated in most districts because of the good work they do. They take children that are sick or need medical attention from the state run orphanages. In name the children are still at the orphanages and adoptions go through these (However, the foster homes try to keep the kids till adoptions since their care is so superior).

Most foster homes are founded by amazingly giving individuals who see it as their mission in life to transform the lives of children who otherwise would have no chance, and sometimes this can be as simple as helping to arrange an operation, other times it is a decade long commitment to certain children. Many foster homes are faith based, and supported by churches and individuals at home, others are founded by individuals. But they have one thing in common, they rely 100% on donations!

It is not unusual that sick and physically disabled children are abandoned. Being allowed only one child pr. family, it is hard if that child is born with a lot of medical needs, especially since poor families do not have free medical care. So often the only option the parents see is to bring their child to an orphanage. And once you abandon your child, you cannot have it back. The state run orphanages do not have a lot of resources, and often have 10-15 children pr. employee. If they receive an infant with many medical needs, they often turn to foster homes. Many foster homes are run by or employee pediatricians. Once a child is in foster care, the homes arrange for treatment plans. They employee local nannies (aiy's) who give loving care to their designated child (if the child is fairly healthy, there may be a 1:3 ratio, but never more).

Once the child has been treated, they are often at the same time in process of being adopted away through the original orphanage. This can take time, but the foster homes like to keep the kids till this is in order. Sometimes the orphanages demand they come back for a limited time, but until then they stay with the foster homes.

If the child needs an expensive operation and is stable, the foster home tries to see if the adoptive parents can take them preop and then receive needed medical care on the adoptive parents insurance once they reach their new homes. Our hospital are one of the places where the foster homes seek care. And, as previously said, this is free to them until the 1% of the hospital revenue is used up. After that each foster home receives 40% deduction on hospitalization, and most of them have ongoing fund raising, both general and for a specific child.

The 6 foster homes we visited all had in common that they were run by great, loving individuals and the children seemed to receive an abundance of love and attention. In other ways they were quite different, so I think I would like to describe them in smaller chapters. What could have been a very painful trip, was really a confirmation of humanity.


VISITING FOSTER HOMES

Tuesday morning six of us met early in the morning to drive to three foster homes in the same general area, about 1 1/2 hour from our area of Beijing. As we pulled up to Shepherd's Field founded by Philip Hayden, we were greeted by a big fenced in area with several new stone buildings. Several of these were residential with living area on the first floor and nurseries on the second. A big new house served as a hotel for visitors , where they can come as paying guests while volunteering either here or at nearby "Harmony" or "Agape. The reason for having a "hotel" is that there really is no place nearby where Westerners could comfortably stay, and also no transportation to get here from Beijing.

The inn was nice and bright with lots of art showing children. The art is for sale as a way of raising money. Also in the back one can find a small factory making flags. As this is in an industrial zone, this property is registered as such. (But everyone knows it is a foster home)

As we approached the living quarters, we were met by a wall of hands, a very moving sight. The fence consisted of plaques bought by adoptive parents, and bore the names and hand prints of their children, and through these donations more children could receive help.

Inside the houses we were met by smiling, happy babies and toddlers, being helped by ayis. If you looked a little closer, you could see the scars from cleft lip repair on some of the faces. An ayi revealed a club foot on a beautiful little boy. The director of the home is a pediatrician, but not licensed to practice in China, so a Chinese physician is present at all times. Also here you see art on all walls and photos of the children who live here. If you see the picture of twins in the slideshow, that is a painting of two little boys by a local artist, the boys themselves have been adopted into the same family. I believe about 40 children live here, all undergoing therapy or waiting for the papers to go through. The director told us that all the buildings have been built with donations, mainly from the states. Daily operations are also provided for by donations, 100% of the operating cost. "We never know where next months money will come from, but till now it has always arrived."

For our next home we entered into what appeared to be a regular housing complex. "Agape" was founded by a couple from Illinois, a tractor operator and his baker wife. They adopted two children from China, and knew they could do more if they moved here. So they packed up and came! They are now in the process of adopting child no 5. One of their children has Brittle bone disease, and through this they became very knowledgeable about treatment and needed operations to transform a child's life from being bedridden to a functional life, depending on a wheel chair. So they have made a mission of helping children suffering from brittle bones. Doctor's from USA have trained local doctors to perform needed surgeries periodically. But then what? So 'Bread of Life" was conceived. The residents, all treated like their own children, live in 2 somewhat rundown houses in the neighborhood. The home has a live-in teacher and the wife teaches them to become bakers. Western style baked goods are highly regarded locally and can lead to good jobs. Agape runs "Bread of Life" with one of their 18 year old residents in charge. They are in the black, and their cheesecakes and chocolate chip cookies are famous throughout Beijing! For more info, see http://agapefamilyhouse.org

On this day the sky was blue, and the sun shone bright. When we arrived to meet everyone, nobody could be found. We were told to go to the park where among numerous wheelchairs we found a picnic and 20-25 kids eating MacDonald Happy meals!! A volunteer was visiting (Staying at Shepherd's Field) and had provided food for today's picnic. The picnic also included children from "Harmony", another foster home nearby operated by exceptional individuals.

On Friday we again met to visit other foster homes in a different geographical area. This time we drove into a typical Chinese neighborhood. "Blue Sky Healing Home" is also a private home, started by a woman from Singapore and a Chinese physician. They originally bought one house, and as you enter you really feel you are in a home. Again bright photos of all the kids greet you from the wall. Children sit on their ayis laps, playing with toys. The adjacent building houses somewhat older children sitting around a table, practicing cutting with scissors. This home has 20 workers and 18 children with health problems, bladder extrophy, cleft lip and palate, bone deformities and Down's Syndrome. Celine who showed us around is a soft spoken women. Right now she is working hard to try to find a school for a bright 8 year old child. He is handicapped, and the schools here are not handicap accessible. Also, they do not need to take him. On top of that he is nearing the age where he can not be adopted, so they will keep him till he comes of age. The atmosphere in this home was very down to earth and as in the others, full of love. "Bluesky" also works with poor families and assist them to receive medical care and help before they are forced to abandon their child . For more info:
www.blueskyhealinghome.org

Our last visit went to Hope Foster Home. Hope was started by an Australian physician in the early nineties. She came to China as a tourist, and was so taken with the hopelessness of being handicapped and orphaned here that she never left again. She and her husband bought a home, and went to an orphanage to find one child whose life they could totally change with early medical intervention. From there they now run a model foster home that had provided medical help to about 90 children who are now adopted worldwide. On one of the photos you should see a map with pins that identifies where the children now are. As you see, one of their former guests now lives in Maine.
In addition to foster homes, they have now started Hospice homes where children will be cared for in a loving environment and not suffer unnecessary.
For more info, see: www.hopefosterhome.com

I had expected the trips to the foster homes to be hard and depressing. But what strikes me as I reflect on our visits is the love and dedication of some amazing individuals who through their work has dramatically changed the lives of the children who meet them.

People of China

We have taken a trip to Pingyao, an ancient walled city, and yesterday visited the Summer Palace and Jinshung Park in Beijing. More to come about those visits soon but for now we wanted to introduce you to some interesting people we have come across in China.

SPRING is here. The winter in Beijing was harder than I had thought. It was icy cold with clear, blue skies most days. And the wind, bitter and penetrating... Only one day of snow, and that wonder of nature was helped along with a little seeding of the clouds by the authorities in charge. And for me it is the snow that makes winter worthwhile, the chance to be outside and play: ski, snowshoe,ice skate,winter hike etc. Without snow, the landscape looks brown and dead.

But, spring is here. We went from night time frost last week to about 27 degree Celsius (high 70s F)presently. Our compound is full of activity: Everywhere great, big hoses are watering the grass, bushes and trees, and as by a miracle they leaf out and start flowering. Magnolias brighten up the landscape in pink and white, and just stop you in your tracks, demanding admiration. And you will find me tugging at the branches, trying to smell the flowers after my good friend Bingbing told me that sniffing magnolias will improve hearing. Too bad the season is so short, right now I can hear very well!! Around the corner you will also see forsythia and beautiful white and pink cherries, check the photos in this blog for a visual treat.

The birds are singing at the top of their voices, especially early in the morning and around 3 PM. It is very common to keep birds here, and just as we walk our dogs at home, here the birds are walked twice a day in their big, wooden cages. As the bird walker walks, he/she swings the cages energetically from side to side. This is because in the wild, a bird is used to sit on branches swaying in the wind. So to improve the ability to cling to a branch, this exercise is done daily. And then when a park is reached, the cage hood is removes, and the birds sit in the sunshine and sing loudly their joyful songs.

Spring cleaning is also in full swing. The compound sidewalks, the outdoor furniture, the awnings are all being scrubbed down by the ayis, even the bottom of the artificial waterways. Every cleaning woman and child care worker here is called an ayi (Or auntie) And they are plentiful, the child ayis usually one per child, and very many cleaning ayis. And, there is more to clean here than any other place I have ever lived. With very little rain, and the pollution, everything gets pretty dusty. Even inside, you have to clean and dust twice a week or you will definitely see visible dust. The average pay for an ayi is 15 RMB pr hour, about $2.20 or close to kr 15.- Not a lot, but quite average for unskilled workers.

Everywhere you will see children and adults alike outside to play, enjoying the new spring. Beijingers really enjoy being outside, and the numerous parks are teeming with activities like morning exercising, pilates, backward walking, ping-pong playing, choir practice , dancing and card playing. It feels like the whole city is emerging from hibernation, awakening anew to the wonder of spring.

Ryan Bradeen Visits

Ryan Bradeen was our 2nd Maine visitor. Ryan is a native of Milo, Maine and a graduate of Dartmouth. We were introduced to Ryan and his wife, Nan, after our decision to move to China. Shortly after we met, Ryan and Nan, accepted positions in Wuhan, China where they administrate and teach at an English language school. Ryan stayed overnight on his way back to the States for a week. It was great to see him. We had a nice albeit noisy dinner at the Red Rose, a Muslim restaurant with belly dancing and Ryan got to see Beijing United Family Hospital and meet several of my colleagues here.

Great Wall Hike

Last weekend a hike at the Great Wall was organized by the Medical Staff President. My nurse Xing Guang Jun and her husband, Xaio (see picture of him coming down slide at end of trip), joined us and we had a very nice day. It will be much prettier in about a month when everything turns green as we know since we took similar trip on our first visit last April. I especially liked the signage along the way indicating a rest stop (I think). The group pictures were taken with nurses who work in the Internal Medicine/Family Practice outpatient clinic. After climbing up and hiking we ended up at a touristy area where there is a cable car up and slide down. You end up at a very fancy restaurant where they had a glass blowing exhibit and $12 hamburgers (we declined). We then returned to Beijing and the four of us had a great "foot massage."
We hope all is well. Stay in touch.
Philip and Astri

Haircut-Part 2

After a few weeks of getting my courage up I finally managed to visit the salon. With two hours to go before entertaining the Plafker/Lipson family for the first time, I hopped on my bike and rode the 5 minutes to L'Oreal. I was greeted and ushered in by a nice young lady to the back where she wet my hair and gave me a very firm 5 minute head massage. I later realized she was also giving me a choice of shampoos. I was then taken to another room where I was given a shampoo and we "chatted" and exchanged names. I always get laughs when I give my Chinese name. Then back to the front where I now realized Xaio Fang was not the haircutter. Then a long time with my new personal haircutter (he is very cute but he is no Marit). He quickly put me at ease with his apparent expertise and I actually fell asleep for a few minutes. Then "WaLa" it was complete and I was content and relieved. After a few minutes of pictures, handshakes and payment (30 RMB- you do the math at 6.7/$)I was back on my bike heading home feeling like a new and lighter man.
Philip

New Home

Thirty three years ago (Wow!!-that is a very long time), Philip and I started our life together in a small apartment in the Germantown area of Philadelphia. At that time we had to get used to one another, get used to how we reacted to different situations, get used to what the other person liked or disliked- you all know what I am talking about.

Now we are back to apartment living. We pretty much know how the other person behaves and what they like or do not. This time the challenge is the outer environment,living in a big city in a strange land. And so it feels good to be together in a tight place again. And after moving around: from our friends house(thanks Evelyn and Warren-it was great)to Motel6's on our trip to Colorado, a stint in a ski condo and then temporary Beijing quarters- it feels good to have a place that we now call home, after 14 weeks of being vagabonds.

We now live in a complex called Yangguang Shandong or "Upper East Side"! It is a 20 ute walk to the hospital, or about a 5 min. bike ride. There are 26 buildings in this area, each phase has a totally different look and different heights of the buildings, which gives it a more interesting look than many of the other complexes. We will send more outdoor pictures after the trees leaf out in a couple of weeks. There is quite a bit of green space and some playgrounds as well, therefore many families with children live here. And a lot of very cute dogs!! But none as cute as Sadie (or as big) inside the 4th ringroad you are only allowed to have a small dog. We also have underground parking for those with cars, and a basement for those of us with bicycles.

Our apartment has two good size bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. So we have room for visitors, just not too many at a time.

The main room is both living room and kitchen. Philip said he liked this lay-out because then he can talk with me when I am in the kitchen. For some reason he did not seem to realize that I can also talk with him when HE is in the kitchen??

Around the living area we have an indoor porch on two sides, we will try to show this in the photos, and if you can not see it, I guess you will just have to come and see for yourself, which many of you are indeed planning. Presently we do not have any furniture out there, so we may get a few pieces as I think it will be a nice place to sit during HOT summer evenings. (Yes, we do have air conditioning.

We are presently bare bones with interior landscape but last week Philip and I went to Lai Tai, a wonderful flower market not too far away. We came home with 3 good green plants in addition to a thyme and a rosemary. And suddenly what was an apartment became a home. We are together, we have a pillow to sleep on and a tiny garden consisting of 2 herbs. (For the rest there is great produce at all the local markets).

For the time being, this is our "casa".(Or perhaps hutong would have been a better word)
-Astri

Haircut-Part 1

My first major personal crisis in China has arisen. For 28 years I have not let anyone but the beautiful Norwegian, Marit, cut my hair (except for 2 years ago when while in Oslo, I let the beautiful Hilda shear my locks). Marit never let me down. Despite her famously busy schedule she always seemed to find a way to fit me in. I never needed to even discuss how I wanted my hair cut. She always knew without any discussion. We would discuss our families, trips to Norway, the world in general and the time flew by and my haircut was done. I had a habit of leaving the chair screaming "What have you done to me-- I am not going to pay for this one" to the consternation of her waiting customers. I think Marit always enjoyed the game (I hope so).

Here I am in Beijing with my hair getting longer and sticking out in funny ways. Our administrative staff, Mellisa and Iwona, claim it is ok and I should let it grow but I know the time is coming. I have asked around but haven't really had any reassuring
suggestions. The salon at the Lido caters to Westerners but at astronomical prices. I am not going to pay anyone in Beijing more than I paid Marit! A friend suggested cutter #6 at L'Oreal but who knows if I will get #6 or if #6 is always the same #6. I have watched the door at L'Oreal and seen some funny looking people coming out. What am I to do? Marit, can you book me Friday morning at 5:30?

Stay tuned for Haircut-Part 2
Phlip

Shanghai

From Shanghai

This past week has been another interesting and busy one. As you know we have moved into our new apartment and I do think it will be very nice here. Today we went to the flower market and bought some plants and that really makes a difference. We had an interesting time trying to transport two big pots with plants via taxi cab.

My priority lists of things to do at the hospital has continued to grow and my time disappears. I went to a hospital appreciation dinner for the Ob/Gyn staff in honor of some work well done (very interesting and slightly gaudy restaurant where the waiters traveled on roller skates), a meeting attended by about 40 Beijing oncologists with case presentations followed by an amazing dinner, and a Blood Donor appreciation dinner accompanied by Astri and met the physicians for the American and Canadian embassies.

All this after returning from Shanghai on Sunday evening. I spent two days at our Shanghai hospital, meeting the CMO and Department heads and getting the full tour. In addition I was surprised to find that we have a Spanish hematologist who is already seeing patients one day a week and is interested in doing more. Therefore I may well start an oncology program also in Shanghai with her assistance.

Astri linked up with a guide suggested by Sharon Hastings and had a great tour of Shanghai on Thursday and went to the Shanghai Museum on Friday and then joined me and Annelie Qu, the hospital liaison for consultants for a tour of Zhongshan Hospital. The tour was of particular interest because it was given by Dr.Zeng who is a good friend of Bingbing Li and Jay Ye, our good friends. Bingbing's mother who is a physician and immunologist had been his mentor prior to his becoming a Radiation Oncologist and now he is the head of his department. After asking to also see the outpatient chemotherapy area we were taken to the Emergency "room" which houses this area. To our surprise he introduced us to his wife who is the head physician of the ER. What a "power" couple! The ER was amazing with at least 100 patients in small chairs getting IVs of all kinds, and overflowing beds with sick patients. Since the hospital is always full, they often have to take care of the critically ill for days at a time and therefore they run their own ICU. Dr.Zeng and I will plan to meet again socially in the future and perhaps collaborate on some patients.

Astri and I then spent a nice Saturday afternoon touring an area of Shanghai with Tyrone Bristol, our CMO. We had a great time. On Saturday night we went by ourselves to a Sichuan Restaurant and out of 17 million people one of the ER doctors I know was placed at the next table.

See slide show (below): Restaurant overlooked the Bund (Emery,GM of Shanghai United and wife, Chen, Tyrone Bristol, Annalie Qu), Astri overlooking curious scene of bicycle accident where onlookers become jury for policeman judge regarding fault, two back alleys, one with many washbasins just off a very fancy main street.

Visiting the Four Virtues Park, you are greeted by this plaque which is translated into English , somewhat of a surprise. I love reading it's many wise thoughts. I also know that in this day and age you would not find a similar public posting in the West, it is too corny, too many behavioral suggestions by the authorities. But perhaps we do need to be reminded about living in harmony with all, to cherish the young, to be gentle and polite. And we should all plant some trees and flowers to brighten the day and save our environment. The virtue I want to focus on today tells me to be honest.

Before we set off for Beijing, Rabbi Darah Lerner asked if she could meet with Philip and me. We were of course very happy to see her, but understood that she also had something she wanted to tell us. This something was to realize that the first year would perhaps not be easy, that most people feel very lost and sometimes lonely being transplanted into a totally new environment. We shrugged it off, thinking how exiting it would be, so many new places to see....

Selling the house, , leaving the property, packing everything seemed to go quite easy. So I was not ready for feeling so upset when we brought my car in to the car dealer, I have never been emotional about cars, it is just away of getting around. About the freedom to come and go when and where you want.

Well, here we are, and it suddenly makes more sense. Last week we were in Shanghai and had dinner with one of Philip's coworkers. His wife is Chinese, but they lived in the US for 15 years. This whole time she begged to move the family back to Shanghai and her family, which they did last year. Her husband loves it as does her sons, but she has been miserable and homesick the whole time. For her house, her friends, even American TV shows. She said she felt as if she had lost her freedom. (She just bought a car, and feels much better)

I have to admit that those feelings are valid for me as well. It is hard to want to do something and not know how. I want to go places, but it is hard to get there, and hard to communicate when I arrive. You want to share something with a friend, but your real friends are far away, and the new ones are just that, new. Many groups are open and welcoming to newcomers, full of women in the same position, yet it takes some effort to go. But I do.

So, I look at the park poster again. Be open minded. Today we are moving into our own apartment. The crate from home arrived yesterday, and only the coffee pot was broken. It was so exiting to see my old cook books , to have our own quilts from home in what is to be our new home. We have met so many great people-they are not our "old" friends, but some of them will become our new friends. I may miss my Baja, but a new Giant bike will return some of the freedom of movement that I miss. We wish we could see you all in person, but also feel that because of e-mail and Skype you are really not that far away. With spring coming, remember to plant some trees and flowers. You may not be able to beautify Beijing, but beautify and enjoy where you are. And cherish the people around you, whether young or old.

Tradtional Chinese Medicine

Above are pictues of me with Drs.Tony Lu and Kelly Xia who work in our Guangzhou clinic and with Dr.Li Da, Chief of Oncology at Guangdong Provincial TCM hospital.

I recently traveled to Guangzhou and spent time at our clinic there and visited two hospitals. We are considering taking over a floor in one of the hospitals to use for cooperation on inpatients and deliveries. The 2nd was the Guangdong Provincial Hospital which is a 1500 bed hospital and the busiest in Guangzhou, a city of 7 million previously known as Canton. This hospital is a TCM hospital primarily but also combines that with Western medicine. I didn't bring my camera so will describe it a bit. It is very modern with a large reception area. On the wall are perhaps 100 pictures of physicians with information about them. Patients are standing in front of the pictures reading and after deciding who they want to see they take a number for that doctor. If they are early enough they will get to see that doctor sometime during the day. There are different fee schedules based on the seniority of the doctor.

The second floor houses the pharmacies, both TCM and Western. The TCM part is much larger. A day of medicine is made up of perhaps 20 sealed bags in a paper bag. When you get home you mix them together in water, boil it and drink it morning and evening. You get about 10 such bags and then have to return to see the doctor in about 10 days. I am told that you spend about 5 minutes with the doctor and by feeling your pulse, looking at your tongue, and briefly speaking with you they can individualize your therapy.

I visited the oncology ward and met the Chief of the Hematologic malignancies. They had 51 patients on the ward all with familiar diagnoses listed on a board with a few English letters such as MM for multiple myeloma or NHL for Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. When discussing what treatments they use, the physicians often answered, "according to economics". They were very knowledgeable and had ready access to National Cancer Center guidelines. Luckily they were eager to have a picture with me and took the above picture and emailed it to me. They give chemo first followed by TCM. Patients who would get their treatment as an out-patient in my practice may spend 1-2 weeks in the hospital. It was clear that not many patients could afford the newest most expensive medications even when life-saving such as in chronic myelogenous leukemia.

I also got a tour of the Traditional Therapeutic Center where they use multiple methods of treatment including "moxi-bustion" which is cigar-like bundles of an herb that are burning and are applied close to the abdomen or other areas. They emit a very strong smell that is very similar to marijuana. I also was shown a live example of bee sting therapy used to bolster the immune system for frequent colds or fatigue. The doctor took a pair of tweezers, reached into a little box and quickly removed a live bee and applied it to the right thigh where it stung the patient in the acupuncture "stomach point." I was asked if I would like a treatment but luckily for me my colleague stepped in and explained that I was about to get on a plane.

I missed the "cupping" that was over for the day but got to see the "fumigation" apparatus,, "feet balneotherapy" and pictures of "ear points", "wax therapy", along with pictures of "bleeding therapy",and "Plum pit needle therapy."

I have seen a young woman on treatment for breast cancer who did feel that TCM(herbal meds) made a huge improvement in her post-menopausal symptoms brought on by Western hormonal treatment.

It was a fascinating day. Any aches or pains that might lend itself to TCM?
Philip

Like A Child

In many ways our life in China has made me feel like a child again. Arriving in the airport, we were met by the recruiter and our real estate agent who immediately realized that we could no longer be trusted to carry any bags or enter a car without being told where to sit. Navigating the street, a firm hand was placed on our elbows. Nothing was going to happen to their charges!

Then there is the language. We do not understand what the storekeepers or the taxi drivers are saying. If shopping, I am now reduced to pointing my fingers until I get what I want. When it is time to pay, I look at the cash register, but if there is no display I trustfully put money in my hand, and they take what they want. And like a child I trust that this is OK, everyone seem very honest. Once in a small restaurant I ordered a dish which was not available, and therefore had to re-order. The bill is written when you order, and unbeknownst to me, the meal I received cost slightly less. Two seconds later the waitress came running with 4 RMB (About 60 cent) and apologized for having overcharged me.

As for the taxis, since I can not explain where I would like to go, what can I do? Use a taxi-book, which is cards with directions in English and Mandarin. So I flag down a taxi, hand him my note and wait for a nod to tell me I can enter the taxi , yes he can take me.

But what if we do not have a card? This presents a problem, but there is always someone looking over us,only a phone call away . As soon as a cab stops, we call someone who speaks Mandarin and they become our voices as we hand the phone over to the driver, wait for his nod before climbing in, yes he will take us.

We love picture books, or rather picture menus. Eating out is not a luxury in Beijing, it is what people do. The more Western the restaurant, the more Western the price and the other way around. The price index goes down as the "local" index goes up. And the more local,the less chance of any English either spoken or on the menus. But then there are picture menus;big, glossy pictures; we point,we look,we show the waiter. And what appears is really tasty!! As we have started to learn characters, we now know that the lamb letter has horns- we can avoid pork!!

Surrounded by syllables and tones totally new to our brain, we slowly start imitating what seems most basic and important: Go right-youbian, go left-zuobian, go straight- zhi zou. As we start to know our neighborhood, these words haltingly escape from our lips. Perhaps the tone is not quite correct, but our joy is great when the driver indicates he understands what we are actually trying to say.

When Philip gets home from work, he becomes my playmate as we play computer games. Only the game is real- we are trying to pay our bills on-line(new to us) Whose account number are we supposed to put in, ours or theirs? Why did the screen go blank?? Do you think it is going through?? Bingo !

I am a little jealous of Philip as he has already started school (Mandarin). But next week I hope to start school as well. And then, we are getting bikes- can't wait to race around the neighborhood!!
Astri

Walk in "Side" Park and Mr.Ping Pong

It has been another very interesting and busy week. I started with my Mandarin lessons at 7:30 AM Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Learning the pinyin sounds has been difficult but very helpful. Astri continues negotiating and now looking again at apartments and I flew 3 1/2 hours to Guangzhou on business. Had a fascinating tour of a 1500 bed TCM hospital that also gives Western treatments. They had 50 patients all with hematologic malignancies on one floor. More about this in an upcoming blog.

Last weekend we had a peaceful Sunday and just strolled around our neighborhood. We were told about the local park. The sign says Side Park. It was only later in the week when I was telling a Chinese colleague about the park that I was corrected about the the name. It is not English but rather pinyin Mandarin. "Si" means "four" and "de" in this case means "virtue". Four Virtues park- not Side park. Another interesting tidbit is that 4 is an unlucky number since another sign that sounds similar to "si" means death. Many buildings have floors 1,2,3,and 5. Jay and Bingbing please correct me if I have missed something here.

It is a lovely park with pond for fishing (presently ice fishing), outdoor ping pong tables (need to supply your own net), playground, small amusement park, two nice tennis courts, football (soccer) fields, small restaurant and more. As Astri and I were watching some men playing ping pong I was invited to play. We played for about an hour and were a good match. I had a great time. He spoke no English but we were able to share telephone numbers and he is now securely in my phone and on my sim card as Mr.Ping Pong.

After our time in the park we walked over to the Lido Holiday Inn, which is very Western with many fancy restaurants, Vegetarian, Thai, Indian, Delicatessen,Chinese,Starbucks, and a Baskin Robbins!

Hope all is well with you and will post again soon.
Philip

Chinese Laundry

The honeymoon is over. No more clean socks or underwear- in other words: time to do the laundry. But that is no problem, we have a nice little front-loaded washing machine in the back kitchen. It is a Siemens, a well respected brand. So I get the dirty clothes, throw them in, close the door. And then it dawns on me. Other than the brand name, there is not one even vaguely familiar letter on the command dial. I put the washing powder in one of three optional slots, that seems fine. Then I turn the dial- nothing happens. Another try, again nothing seems to change. On the second round I notice that there is a blinking blue light on a different panel. I push that button as well, and a welcoming sound of water gently filling the drum reaches my ears.
About an hour later, soft parlor music suddenly fills the apartment. Am I dreaming? As the music continues, I decide to find it's source. It is the washer that suddenly has become a musical instrument The cycle is over. I go to open the door, but no, it will not budge. Perhaps there is a built-in dryer as well, so I turn the dial again and press the blinking light. Again the gushing of water starts- another cycle. At least the clothes will get clean.
As the concert starts up again, I again approach the washer, again it stubbornly refuses to open. I start looking for panels that may be opened if I had a screw-driver. No, that does not look good. Perhaps this time I should try a button opposite of the starting position, and suddenly the drum goes faster and faster- a great sign. And as the third concert of the day starts, the door happily yields..
I remove the clothes and turn the apartment into a drying rack. And even the heaviest cotton clothing is completely dry after 8 hour thanks to the dry Beijing air.And I have learned a valuable lesson, it is not over until the washing machine sings.