Astri and Philip's China Adventure

Yangtze River Cruise

2010-11-07T01:18:00.000-07:00

October was approaching, and with it the October holidays, China's celebration of the Republic’a birth 61 years ago. That meant close to 1 billion people having vacation at the same time, and therefore every site within China full of people, every train filled to capacity (and more).

Philip like everybody else would have 4 days off, and we started looking into traveling to other Asian site as did all the other expats., Therefore flights and hotel rooms were at a premium. At this point Philip had a brilliant idea, why not take a 3 day cruise on the Yangtze River, as a ship can only fill to capacity. With three cabins left when we inquired, we immediately booked a space.

We flew to Chongqing, China's largest City at 30 million inhabitants. However, it is also a very large in landmass, the city center only has about 9 million, so compared to Beijing it looked like a village in many ways. Here we boarded our ship, the Century Star in the evening, starting the 3 nights-3 days trek downriver to Yichang.

Impressions from the trip:

Our most relaxing vacation in China as the sights came to us. No running around to catch every tourist destination.

Good food, good service and a realization that China has more to offer than big cities.

A river that often reminded us of fjords in Norway as the river turned and twisted.
new sights revealed themselves

We took an interesting small vessel side trip with rowers from the ethnic minority of the TuJia people. This ethnic minority lived along the Yangtze River, and all of their lands were flooded when the dams were built. About one million people were either resettled on top of the mountains, or moved to totally new areas with the government’s help. As we were rowed into the narrow river, our guide and one of the rowers sang hauntingly beautiful songs in their ethnic language (Which is only passed down orally, it does not have a written form). The riverbanks were lined with bamboo forest inhabited by small monkeys.

Two of the three gorges came before the dam, exhibiting beautiful shore-lines, seemingly sparsely populated.

The river was very wide at the point of the dam which is the biggest in the world (It took 30.000 workers 10 years to complete), producing more electricity than any other hydro-electric dam. We reached the dam around 1 AM, and now had to pass through the world's 5 biggest lochs. Huddling amid pajama-clad guests, we watched the ship steam toward the first lock." No way our ship was going to fit," we thought. Much to our surprise, not only did our ship fit, but also 4 other cruise-ships along with a great big coal barge. The gates closed behind us, and within fifteen minutes the water-level went down about 20 meters. it was amazing and scary to watch how rapidly the ship went "down". What if the gates gave in??? We decided to not worry about this, and rather go to sleep. And next morning we woke up, sailing in a river not manipulated by man . Our ship was at rest, giving us a chance to go back to look at the dam and the locks in day-light.

The morning was spent traveling down the third gorge, perhaps the most beautiful, still in it's natural state. By noon we arrived at our destination Yichang after a relaxing and beautiful trip. The cruise-ships dock somewhat outside town, we had therefore ordered a taxi to take us to the airport. He showed up promptly, and after driving the long route in order to show us some of Yichang, we arrived at the terminal in plenty of time. This is the first airport we have seen in China that is not new and gigantic. It mainly seemed to serve as a transit-port back to Beijing or Shanghai for cruise passengers.

Two hours later we arrived back in Beijing, having experienced a relaxing Chinese vacation. And we thought that was an oxymoron!

2010-10-08T21:43:00.000-07:00

By now it appears that fall has arrived in Beijing and with it great weather and clean air. This week we celebrated Moon Festival which gave Philip an extra day off, and we were lucky enough to be invited up to Roberta (his boss) and Ted's Great Wall home. It is situated in an agricultural village that primarily grows walnuts and chestnuts. Now is harvest time for chestnuts, so everywhere men with long bamboo poles were knocking down chestnuts. In the town center sorting machines were operating out-doors, sorting the nuts into three different sizes.

After a lunch of noodles and sauce we walked from the village up to the Great Wall, admiring the blue skies and long vistas of the wall. It was great to take a non-touristy path up, so also no charge and no peddlers!

As night fell we lit a fire in one of the out-door fireplaces, enjoying the full moon and even stars, lately a rare sight.

With Philip back to work, I took an urban bike-ride with my biking group. I started biking with one of my friends about a year ago, and we have now grown to a group of 10 woman from around the world. Today we decided to go to the Olympic Park, a little out from the center of town.We had one woman from Texas who had not biked in Beijing before, but she jumped right in even though the traffic was quite heavy in the beginning along the ring road. We then found some quieter streets, a new park and finally the Olympic park. As it is getting close to the National Celebrations, the city is beautifully decorated with flags and flowers everywhere. A perfect time for biking, and the best way to discover Beijing.

2010-09-30T07:44:00.000-07:00

Summers in Beijing are hot. Hot and sunny... OK... sometimes hot and smoggy. And though we do have canals, they do not exactly invite you to put on the swim-suit and dive in. So the thoughts tend to go to Maine with it's beautiful lakes and cool (read cold) ocean. So when our friends, Stew and Pam, asked if we wanted to join them for a trip to Shanhaiguan, it was a "no brainer." (Shan meaning mountains----hai meaning ocean) it is the place where the Great Wall rises majestically from the ocean. Another couple that we are friendly with, Steve and Diane Skalak, were also coming along. These are our four friends who love to do things the native way, so no hiring of a car for us. We were going to go on the local bus for the 4 hour ride. Pam read in a guide book that inexpensive accommodations can be found upon arrival, so why book an expat place???

Early in the morning we met at the bus station, finding a nice air-conditioned bus where we had pre-assigned seats. As the bus pulled out we were looking forward to a comfortable ride. Which it was, although an adventure at times, as we were hit with torrential rain about 2 hours into the trip. Since it rarely rains here, and personal space is a foreign concept, private cars just did not get it that perhaps a little space between vehicles was advisable in this kind of weather. Soon we were dodging a 4 car pile-up here, a 10 car pile-up there, seemingly having no effect to slow the traffic down. A snow storm at home produces way less damage than a rain-storm here. But our trusty bus driver got us through, and by the time we arrived in Qinhuangdao the sun was again shining.

As was our good luck. Two taxi-drivers came running to us, asking where we wanted to go. Shanhaiguan was still an hour away, so we promptly asked how much for the two cabs to take us there. With an offer of $15 for the ride, including first finding us a B&B, we were quick to accept. Riding along the ocean, we breathed the fresh sea air, and felt miles away from Beijing (Which we were)
The first signs of trouble appeared as we tried to find a hotel or B&B . All totally full, or they would not take foreigners.. Deciding that perhaps we could take the taxis back to where the bus stopped, we decided to enjoy our sight seeing. As luck had it, our taxis already had 6 tickets in hand for a trip to a section of the wall, and off we went. At destination we walked and walked, expecting any moment to reach the wall. Along the trail we encountered dozens of rare feathered friends, a long historic tunnel, but no wall! I guess something was lost in translation! But at least we still were going to see the wall enter the depths of the ocean, which we did . We also saw some motels, and tried again to find some beds. No luck. Our helpful drivers then decided to call ahead to Quinhuangdao, and turned to us with grim faces. Not a single room available for foreigners, HOWEVER, they did have a friend who was a manager at a hotel in Bedaihe, and they could house us. At this point we started to smell something fishy, and did not think it came from the ocean. We decided to call Melissa, Philip's secretary. (Here in China secretaries happily offer to be on call 24/7, and actually mean it) As she called back 30 minutes later to say that this was indeed the fact, we kind of panicked. We demanded to be driven back to the bus station, and watched the last bus leave with a worried smile on our faces. Perhaps we could sleep in the station?? But the attendant approached, clearly ready to sweep us out. So here we were with nowhere to go.

Suddenly we realized that despite our misgivings about the drivers, their info had been correct. They were gone, however, we did have their cell numbers. Ten minutes later our knights in armor cruised in with another low offer accepting to drive us to the "friends" motel in Beidaihe, about 30 minutes away, and our mood quickly rose. Approaching the city, beaches beckoned in the dark. It was getting late, but at least we would find a place to sleep. We walked in with our back-packs, and suddenly the smiles on the faces of the 6 woman behind the desk waned. They turned to our taxi driver, saying in Mandarin: "But they are not Chinese" A fact he had forgotten to mention. It appeared that this area mainly frequented by Russians and high party officials only house Western people in designated hotels. Luckily we understood the exchange, and loudly protested that we all live in Beijing! In as perfect Mandarin as possible, just omitting the tones- but the words were correct. It worked! As we were led to a simple motel- like building in the back, a collective sigh of relief escaped from us all. It was not fancy, she shower had no curtains, but it was clean.

The next morning we walked around town, swam in the ocean (At least two of the women did) enjoyed sea-food, dumplings, and headed home on the bus in the afternoon after thoroughly having enjoyed our week-end at the beach resort.

Yunnan

2010-07-30T06:01:00.000-07:00

In the very southwest of China you find the province Yunnan. The state borders the countries of Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Tibet. Recently we took a 7 day vacation here with a Beijing group called China Culture Club.

We flew into the capital town of Kunming (2000m above sea level) where we slowly worked our way closer to the Tibetan border . What a welcome landscape after hot days in Beijing: Clean air, clean water, blue skies despite a forecast of rain every day and majestic mountains shimmering in the background. We even saw stars at night.

In Kunming we visited the Stone Forest, hiking stone paths surrounded by stone formations looking oddly like trees. We were also served a mushroom hot-pot lunch which did not at all change my view that western soups would win a contest any day of the week.

From Kunming we flew to Dali. We took a local boat to a beautiful lakeside temple followed by a chairlift to the top of Mount Tsangshan. In the evening we strolled around the village, noticing many local minorities people walking around dressed in their customary outfits. Yunnan is the home of around 25 of the more than 50 different minority people in China. Around Dali you mainly see Bai people.( By co-incidence , Philip and I have a Chinese last name of Bai, so we felt right at home)

Our trip continued by bus towards Shaxi. This was a very small and unusually interesting village where you felt as if you suddenly stepped back in time. Shaxi was once an important trade station on the Southern Silk Road, shown by it's wide streets and fancy buildings. Through a partnership with a company in Italy who feared Shaxi's history would be lost, it has recently been restored the proper way (Not like a lot of China sites which are hastily torn down and built back up somewhat replicated, always with an eye on catching tourist business) Shaxi mainly sold handmade shoes at reasonable prices, and the shoes were made right in front of you. It has now become popular with Chinese film-makers as it really looks genuine. Here we stayed at a charming old court-yard hotel.

Then on to Lijang, capital of the former Naxi Kingdom. On the way we stopped at Tiger Leaping Gorge, which right now has a lot of water due to all the rain in southern China. Having imagined something like Niagara, it was a little bit of a let down, yet still interesting.

In Lijiang we were treated to a tour in a rowboat on a small, local lake. The serenade by a local language toothless rower with a real zest for life was priceless!!

Lijiang has a lot of history, but the old town (Which was actually torn down and a new "old "town replaced it) looked somewhat too touristy in daylight. However, at night the Chinese architecture, the streams running through it, the minority people, the brightly lit lanterns made it a worthwhile place to spend the night.( Just pass quickly by the 100++ stores who all sell the same yak-meat, the same shawls, show the same hammering of silver that actually never produce the jewelery they sell) And the fact that the city pays the housewives to dress in local dresses and dance in the squares does not take away the fact that this is a real Naxi style behavior.

The next day we finally reached Shangri-La (previously called Zhongdian) whose claim to be the fictional Shangri-La from James Hilton's "Lost Horizon", the last town before the high plateau of the Himalayas. As far as we could determine, the town did not quite live up to that claim. However, we did enjoy the feeling of basically visiting Tibet as 1/2 the population are Tibetans, as indeed out guide was. He was a very interesting person, having fled to India with his family during the Cultural revolution. He grew up in India, and in his early twenties moved back to Tibet. He was unhappy and payed a large amount to be guided through Nepal back to India. It was a tremendously difficult ordeal, they were caught by Nepalese authorities and taken back to China. He now claims to be very happy in Zhongdian, and says that the living conditions there are far better than in Tibet.The place we slept and the restaurants we ate at were all owned by Tibetans, and most of the local houses were Tibetan style, apparently the authorities help by donating money to people to build these grand homes , all decorated in colorful Tibetan style. The area had many Tibetan (Yellow hat Buddhist) monasteries. Contrary to temples in many other parts of China, these were very active with old and young monks, worshipers and life. And the picture of the Dali Lama was prominently placed inside the temples.

During the daytime we explored the Pudacuo National Park. Due to the many other tourists with the same desire, this could only be done on organized buses. However, the National Park was beautiful with mountains, clear rivers, roaming yak, alpine flora and a beautiful lake which we walked around on a boardwalk for about 4 km. The whole setting reminded us of Mount Desert Island walks around Jordan Pond. To quote an old Norwegian saying:" Foreign places are good,, but home is still better!!" We quickly declared that this place in the Himalayas was not "our Shangri-La", we prefer to save that distinction for our future home on MDI

Post script: Upon return to Beijing the next day, I reread "Lost Horizon" Realizing that Shangri-La may be magical to the few elite who try to escape the fate of everybody else, I no longer want to use it as a metaphor for any place in Maine. You are all welcome there, but nobody will keep you against your will.

Visit by Gabriel, Jess, and Max

2010-07-25T06:29:00.000-07:00

We live far away form home, and really treasured Rebekka and Lee's visit to Beijing in December. As a relatively BIG birthday approached, it was really exiting to know that Gabriel, Jess and Max would help us celebrate this special event by coming to Beijing. Gabe and Jess came for a week while Max was able to stay close to 3 weeks. We had a great Wall hike, sightseeing at the usual Beijing sights like The Forbidden City, The Summer Palace, ate some great Chinese food and of course did some shopping!! Max and I even got a trip to Xian to visit the Terra Cotta Warriers via sleeper train. And we had some fun biking together all over Beijing. My birthday was celebrated at a Vegetarian Buddhist Restaurant where it is hard to tell that the Beijng duck you eat is really tofu (or dofu as it is called here) It was a great celebration, thank you for coming at that special time.

And thank you to all my friends at home. We have never really used the postal service much while here. But to all of you at home who organized a deluge of mail to let me know that I am still a part of your lives: "Thank You So Much." I would have liked to celebrate with you, and you made me feel like I did. Thank you for mailing presents to Gabriel, so when he opened his suitcase, your presence was felt in Beijing. I am so lucky

Mekong Delta-Bike Trip

2010-05-29T20:34:00.000-07:00

Having been way too wordy with our first part of Vietnam, we have decided to be a bit more economical with the second part. The Mekong Delta was an amazing landscape to bike through, and Saigon /Ho Chi Minh City will always live in our memory. If you have not visited this amazing country yet, put it on your itinerary. Here are some of our strongest memories, and we will let the photos fill the gaps.

1) Beautiful, fertile delta property displaying rice farming in all stages: new seedlings in shimmering pools, young plants painting the countryside an luminous green and mature rice swaying in the wind and then cut, carries to the road where it was spread out and dried right on the road we were biking on. Due to the ability to harvest 4 times pr. season in this fertile area, we were able to enjoy the full circle of growth.

Philip: Best picture not taken:Astri stuck in the rice paddy after failing to negotiate a curve in the narrow walking lane we were biking.
Astri: Equally good, and not taken: Philip stuck in the rice paddy one minute later (Even if you do not see the water, the bottom of the paddy is very wet!!!)

2) Changing crops, but a countryside always bursting with fertility: Coconuts, mangoes, dragon fruits.....

3) Interesting toilets. Special award: Bridge seat over shallow river in the open with schools of small fish directly below

4) Vietnam's greatest asset: its people. We were overwhelmed by their friendliness: always smiling and waving as we biked by, even though they knew we were Americans. We must have received 5000 hello's and then there was the old man who came out of his hut, shooed at us and said: "Go away, go away" We could only imagine what painful memories our presence may have triggered, and hope he went back inside and forgot about us.

5) According to our excellent guides, Vietnamese women want 3 things when looking for a husband: Gentleness, flowers and a motorbike. In that order,

6) The motorbikes were everywhere!! And if you think a small motorbike / moped is made for one person, think again. A moped can easily carry 2, 3, 4 or 5 people. See the picture of the “fiver”.

5) Crossing the street in Saigon was an adventure in itself due to the motorbikes. Apparently most women got what they wanted, so the bikes are about 20 across the street, and perhaps 50 deep every time the light changes. And the noise!! (We are happy Beijing does not allow them inside the 4th ring road)

7) Most emotional moment: Visiting the "War Remnants Museum" It was a very difficult museum to view as we revisited photographic scenes showing the horrible sights of an unjust war upon an innocent people. But the Vietnamese people we met kept repeating that it was a war between the leaders of two countries , and that they had no hard feelings against the American people. The museum showed plenty of footage of resentment against the war by people all over the World..
The inclusion of many children's paintings titled "Dream of Peace" "Prevention from being absorbed by agent orange" etc was very powerful.

8) Leaving Saigon was made even more difficult by our taxi being hit by a motorbike at full speed five minutes short of the airport. Philip jumped out of the cab, checked the driver who lay unconscious in the street and at first seemed to have stopped breathing. At the time when he wondered if he needed to start resuscitation, the young man groaned and moved. His girl-friend sat in the middle of the street with a big gash by her knee, taking on her cell-phone. We keep wondering if they are OK. Did they have insurance? Did they lose their prize possession, the motorbike. But our cab flagged down another cab for us, asked for his fare and we made it to the airport in time. But sometimes our thoughts go back to the departure and we just hope that everyone is OK.

Viet Nam-Hanoi Tet Holiday 2010

2010-04-17T03:55:00.001-07:00

Chinese New Year means happy celebrations when families get together to welcome the new year. Everybody travels back to their family home for this most important holiday. Which means that millions of people are on the go, and as ex-patriots one should either stay put or leave China. As Philip had a week off we decided long ago to take the second option. Vietnam was our destination: First some days in Hanoi including a 1-day bike-trip there followed by a flight south to Saigon or Ho Chi Min City as it is now officially called, where we would take a 4-day trip in the Mekong Delta on bikes, followed by a day of sightseeing.

The folly of choosing as destination another country with Chinese traditions came to light as we had trouble finding a guide for the one day Hanoi bike tour. Vietnam also celebrates the same New Year Holiday holiday, calling it Tet. Luckily (for a little bonus) we were finally able to secure a guide on the first day which was the preparation day leading up to the festival. As soon as we landed, we realized that this was going to be different from Beijing. Scooters and motorbikes were buzzing around us even at 3 Am, each carrying numerous passengers, huge blossoming peach trees as decorations for Tet, giant containers of produce and flowers etc.

Next morning we were picked up by our guide. By now we are pretty comfortable riding in Beijing, this though was something totally different . Making a left turn across scooters 10 deep with no apparent rules other than trying to criss-cross with the other cyclist was an act of total trust in our guide. Soon we crossed the river by barge and were in the country-side, seeing busy markets selling live fowl, fruit, numerous flowers and trees, and everything else imaginable. and everyone busy preparing for the holiday. Rice fields and poor villages dotted the landscape.

Soon we changed course and returned to the city. On one busy our guide and I lost Philip. Our guide went back and found Philip at the last Y intersection, he was ok other than bruised hands and ego having flipped off the bike into traffic after an abrupt stop by a taxi. Biking around the central big West lake, our guide told us that only foreigners live in the beautiful French villas by the lake, no Vietnamese can afford it. This is a contrast to Beijing where we have a lot of poor people, but also quite a few extremely wealthy Chinese citizens. Our tour then went to the administrative area of the city, situated on big, tree-lined boulevards with French architectural mansions, now mainly housing embassies. A giant park surrounded "Uncle Ho's Mausoleum", but we did not have time to go in. A lone soldier guarded the garden and tribute to the grave of the unknown soldier, at the entrance a sign was posted, warning that there was no admittance. The guarding soldier for some reason beckoned us to enter, opened the gate and suggested that Philip light some incense. - An extended hand in forgiveness for our past.

As we entered the hotel after the tour, we were handed an invitation to a New Year's Party with dinner that evening. As we had no other plans, we asked about the price. No, we want you to be the guests of the hotel owners was the answer. Bewildered we looked at one another, and decided to go. So did most of the fifty other guests, and we were treated to a banquet with numerous tasty holiday dishes, free-flowing champagne, happy guests from around the world and a gracious, smiling host exemplifying the Vietnamese hospitality. For New Year everyone should eat a festive meal, which we did thanks to our very generous hotel owner. As we exchanged the greeting: Chuc Mung Nam Moi, we felt the warmth and hospitality of our Vietnamese host.

The next day we were invited to lunch at the home of one of Philip's Beijing patients, her mother was also present. Again we had to marvel at the hospitality as we tasted special New Year treats. The mother did not speak English, but at the end of the meal she turned to face Philip, and it was clear she did want to say something. Looking directly at Philip, and being translated by her daughter, she timidly, but directly asked: " And what are your memories of the American war with Vietnam?" (in which she lost her only brother) The last question came right to the point: "Why did such a big nation like yours see the need to attack a small country like ours?" Despite it all, she extended an open hand to citizens of the country whose former behavior she could not understand.

The next day we spent walking around the city of Hanoi. Everywhere we were met by Chuc Mung Nam Moi. We really enjoyed the city and it's people tremendously, and found it very different from Beijing. Hanoi in many ways appears as if 50 years behind the present date. Very few high rises, instead lower buildings of individual houses. The majority of people seemed to have enough to survive, a moped or two, but not much more. Looking into the stores that were closed for the holiday, we saw people sitting around their dining tables which were in the middle of the store, common living and commercial space . And the precious mopeds were also parked inside.

As we left Hanoi Monday evening, we really wished we could have stayed longer in this city where the past still seemed to exist in it's elegant French government quarters and parks, it's somewhat shabby older city living quarters and an open hand in forgiveness for shameful deeds by our country not too long ago. As our guide put it: We believe two crazy leaders were responsible for the war, we like the people of America.

Small Fish in a Small Pond

2010-03-24T05:19:00.000-07:00

Beijing may not be considered a small pond. With it's masses of people, a vast ocean rather comes to mind. However, if you narrow it down to Norwegians in Beijing, the pond shrinks dramatically. Having met the ambassador and his wife Eli once before, it was still a surprise, yet somewhat more understandable when the hospital got a phone call from the embassy, asking if it was correct that they had an American physician with a Norwegian wife. A nice invitation for dinner at the embassy with 16 other people arrived, and we had a lovely meal with the elite of Beijing Norwegians. Although, there is a subway entrance right across the road of the embassy it was nice that the hospital offered to drive us there in one of their black, shiny sedans- we did arrive in style. Above you can see Philip and me with the Norwegian ambassador to China,Svein O.Sæther and his lovely wife Eli.

Another small pond consist of Jewish medical people, so a meeting with the Israeli ambassador happened shortly afterward as the Israeli embassy celebrated their 18 year in Beijing by donating 18 heart surgeries to 18 Chinese orphans. For those of you who may not know, the numeric value of eighteen in Hebrew is the word "life"

From the Israel's Embassy celebration we went directly to a meeting of BIS, or Beijing International Society. This is a forum where interesting talks are arranged by a club of ambassador’s spouses in various embassies every two weeks; all foreign passport holders are invited. (The Chinese government does not allow Chinese nationals to attend, as the Embassies are technically on foreign soil) This last meeting was in the Norwegian Embassy, so below is a photo of me with the wives of the ambassadors from Norway, Sweden and Luxembourg. Even minnows get to swim with sturgeons when the pond is small.- Astri

Hong Kong

2010-02-25T05:02:00.000-08:00

For some strange reason, I did not really expect to enjoy Hong Kong. In my mind it was a giant shopping mall built of skyscrapers. As our plane descended, my heart started beating faster at the sight of islands, ocean and busy boats crossing from one harbor to the next. I know Flekkefjord is no Hong Kong, and yet it reminded me of home. Boats docked at the harbor, containers waiting to be loaded, only the size was overwhelming. But ocean is ocean whether in Norway, Maine or Hong Kong, and thus a beautiful sight.

For us, memories of Hong Kong include:

-a trip to the Peak by cable-pulled tram
-a hike on the Peak seeing how narrow the strip of skyscrapers really are, and how beautiful the nature is
-a boat-trip to Kowloon on New Years eve
-a walk through Kowloon asking ourselves: Does anyone really buy these watches from numerous stores priced at $30.000 and more? Do they not know you can get a fake in Beijing that looks the same and cost less than $ 100?
-a boat trip to Lamma island
-a 2 hour coastal hike on rural Lamma island ending with a seafood dinner at a small restaurant on the pier
-a final trip to Kowloon to a busy (frantic) shopping district, realizing this is what most people do in Hong Kong
-a 12 hour wait for our return flight due to another storm dumping 1 feet of snow in Beijing. However, we were treated to lunch, dinner, a hotel room for the evening and then a call at 1 AM " we are leaving" We had great books, so no big deal.

As we left the islands behind, I realized that I would be very happy to I have a chance to return some day.

Harbin-January 2010

2010-02-24T05:01:00.000-08:00

Minnesota has Fargo, but here we have Harbin. If winter talk turns to cold temperature, this is the town most mentioned. Beijing has had a good snow year, but to make sure we got a little extra touch of cold air, we signed up with China Culture Club to visit Harbin the last week-end of January. We went with our new friends, Pam and Stewart Hughes from Leeds, UK.

Harbin lies north of here, close to the Russian border and is heavily influenced by Russian architecture, churches, bread making and more. Typical winter temperature hovers around -22 and 40 F we are told but we were spared such serious numbers. Clever enough to make this it's draw, Harbin sponsors a Winter Festival every year. So decked in our own and our friends’ warmest clothing, we headed for Harbin, enjoying the sights of impressive snow carved figures (anything white in the photos), ice houses built of ice blocks chopped out of the river that runs through town, complete with electricity to create a stunning night-time ice city. Our visit also included a trip through the Siberian tiger- park where we were happy to be inside strong vehicles and thus escape the fate of the chickens being fed to the hungry beasts.

I think the photos will tell the story better:

Beijing Itinerary

2010-01-09T05:27:00.000-08:00

The holiday season is over, a very special holiday for the first members of our immediate family finally made it to Beijing. Rebekka and Lee cleverly scheduled their trip between a crippling, flight-stopping snowstorm in Washington and another here in Beijing 2 days after they left. During their visit we had beautiful cold days, good for traversing this giant city of the East. With Rebekka and Lee , finally it was time for Philip to set foot in the Forbidden City. One of his Chinese co-workers spent a long time telling him he had to go to The Emperor's Palace Museum. Philip was very embarrassed to tell him that he had not even heard of this attraction which the senior surgeon claimed was very famous. Finally after zeroing in on a google map, it dawned on Philip that indeed they were talking about the same place!!.

By now we have a pretty good itinerary for Beijing. We climbed The Great Wall and perhaps because of the cold, the hiking was exceptionally good. After the climb we were lucky to meet Roberta and Ted for lunch at a local restaurant with a great regional cuisine. We then visited the vacation home that they are building near the Wall.

It may be winter, but we still visited the Summer Palace. It is a place that never ceases to surprise. I have now been there five times, each time entering from a different direction or walking different paths and discovering new sights. Late last fall a new subway line was opened that takes you all the way to this giant park-like palace. This time we entered from the North, climbing up to the top of the temples and stone formations before heading down the hill covered with buildings and arriving at the lake. A frozen body of water greeted us, posted everywhere with signs to stay off the ice as people ran, skated and slid over the slippery surface. Beijingers do know how to enjoy nature.

Nobody should come to Beijing without visiting the Hongqiao Pearl Market, and Rebekka did not. I have my own "pearl-lady" who I trust and who give me good prices, and as mother, so daughter, Rebekka did enjoy a little shopping there. Then we all did a little "back-alley shopping"as I led them through winding, narrow alleys to the place that seems to be a locked back door, but which magically opens to those who know. Inside you find great deals for prescription glasses, fake high quality brand watches, CD's (which probably can't be used at home) and bags. All this shopping made us hungry, but no problem: across the street "Lao (old) Beijing" beckons with home-made noodles and all kinds of Beijing treats- definitely a must when it comes to food.

Across a another street lies 'The Temple of Heaven (Tiantan)" the architectural, circular wonder of a building held together without any nails. The emperor used to come here annually to offer sacrifices to ensure rain and thus a good harvest. It is surrounded by a large and much used park. As always, the park was teeming with people , some playing cards, some dancing and several groups singing to their hearts delight. I am always struck by the joyful exuberance of Beijingers utilizing the local parks to join with friends and strangers doing what they love to do. Perhaps this is happening because people live in small apartments and the parks are where they can enjoy the great out-doors. But I always wish we westerners could be less inhibited, and just DO IT. Nobody here seems to care if you behave in a manner that if done other places, might make you a suspect of being in need of prozac. (Like walking backwards long distances, swinging your arms in circles and beating your chest, thighs etc)

There are very few churches or synagogues in Beijing. Most congregations meet in hotels or other public buildings. By co-incidence the Jewish congregation we attend, and the Protestant congregation I visit use the same space, just at different times. Rebekka accompanied me to a beautiful musical and light-filled Christmas service to ring in the holiday. Then home to a meal of Norwegian shrimp bought at the Norwegian Embassy followed by risenkrem.

Beijing duck was of course on the menu during the week, as were dumplings and vegetarian Buddhist fare. The dishes look and taste like meat and fish, but it is all tofu (or dofu as it is called here). Part of the China experience is definitely the food.

For the body there is massage. This week we went twice, once to a full body massage, and once to the famous foot massage, which is a misnomer, they actually massage your back and legs in addition to cleansing and massaging your feet. And as the saying goes "No pain, no gain." It hurts a little, but feels awfully good afterward. So thank you, no. 61 and 72. The attendants do not tell us their names, only numbers.

We also managed to get in an evening at the National Center for Performing Arts, affectionately called "The Egg" It is a beautiful building across the street from "Tiananmen Square" The egg shaped glass building rises from the moat that surrounds it, reflecting it's beautiful shape in the water. To enter the building you have to go downstairs into a large lobby and cross under the water. Apparently some locals are not happy with the feng shui of the building as it is situated slightly off the meridian that bissects the city and which all other important buildings are built on, but the acoustics are good, and we thoroughly enjoyed our percussion concert, for me the six giant xylophone orchestra was a real hit, and the gongs were fun as well.

We have been very lucky to meet a young tailor couple who do a great job as they come to your apartment to measure you for clothes, then return for a fitting before finally delivering the finished suit, shirt or qipao (Chinese dress) Lee now looks very suave in his gray suit, while Rebekka beautiful in her qipao. She also commissioned a professional-looking suit for the job-interview season she is now in. We really enjoy June and Ding.

The week went fast, what a treat to explore Beijing with Rebekka and Lee. Come April, Gabe and Jess will be here, while Max remains undecided of when he will visit. The itinerary is ready!!!

Yang Lao's Funeral

2009-12-01T05:11:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-24T06:23:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-18T04:58:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-15T04:27:00.000-08:00

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

2009-10-31T21:31:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-25T04:43:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-02T08:33:00.001-07:00

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

2009-10-02T05:39:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-04T22:42:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-15T06:38:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-13T07:47:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-12T07:11:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-09T17:03:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-02T19:15:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-25T20:06:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-19T05:10:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-04-09T01:14:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-06T06:18:00.001-07:00

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

2009-03-28T16:37:00.001-07:00

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

2009-03-21T17:10:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-11T03:08:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-07T03:21:00.000-08:00

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

2009-03-01T03:01:00.000-08:00

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.

2009-02-23T15:47:00.001-08:00

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

2009-02-15T04:41:00.000-08:00

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

2009-02-10T16:48:00.000-08:00

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

2009-02-06T16:54:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-29T06:47:00.001-08:00

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.

Walk to work

2009-01-27T02:38:00.001-08:00

If interested here is a glimpse of my walk to work. Quite different from my previous drive in. It presently takes me about 12 minutes and the apartment complex that Astri is most interested would be another 5 minutes away. We are about a 20 minute taxi drive to the CBD (Central Business District) if there isn't too much traffic.

If you double click on the slide show it will take you to the Picassa website where you can see a bigger version with some captions.

If you want to see first post, click on First week in China.

New Year's Festival-Year of the Ox

2009-01-27T01:25:00.000-08:00

Sunday January 25 started the Chinese New Year festivities. Since our prior New Year's Eve was spent in a Motel 6 with Sadie on our way to Colorado, we decided to do something special to start the Year of the Ox (Philip actually was born in another year of the ox) The '7 star" Pangu hotel was having a special for the holiday, reducing their prices by about 90%. The hotel can be seen behind Philip in a photo. You see 2 buildings, one is supposed to resemble the head of a dragon.
Anyway, a beautiful hotel overlooking the Olympic park. The aquatic center, the Watercube, was seen from our room, as you see in a photo. Dinner was a great buffet with as much lobster, shrimp,crab,oysters you could eat plus lots of other food items. Philip is also seen in a photo with the Swiss born pastry chef Thomas, during an equally impressive breakfast buffet. He popped over to make sure we tasted the waffles with cranberries, his french pastry etc.
All evening spectacular fireworks went off all around us, as colorful and impressive as any we have seen before-all by regular private citizens, shot up from any sidewalk. (Which is why we preferred to watch from a safe distance)
Monday morning started with a walk in the Olympic park including a tour inside the impressive Watercube. Hundreds of Chinese citizens were also touring, and very happy to try out their English knowledge and try to teach us some Mandarin greetings.
Afterward it was time for a taxi trip back to our temporary apartment. Our taxi-driver greeted us with a big smile and a" Welcome to China, Welcome to Beijing!" His vocabulary trumps though were :'NBA" and"Obama, Obama".
Today we were invited by Guang Jun (Philip's nurse) and Xiao to go to a Temple Fair. We were told that traditionally one visits family the eve and first day of the new year, but on the second full day everyone goes out. And it felt as if everyone was there! We did not really visit any temple, but tasted many delicacies from stalls lining the entire Longtan park,as can be seen in the photos;Philip eating lamb, Philip eating Chinese hawthorne, plus skewers of multiple tiny birds and and various sizes grasshoppers.(Notice, Philip did not eat those)
Various acrobats and dancers added a festive atmosphere to a fun day of the spring festival. We feel very welcome everywhere, even by the little girl who pointed at us today, exitedly exclaiming: Foreigners, foreigners!(in Mandarin of course!)
Most people have a week off for this holiday. We were lucky for Philip to get a 5 day break (inc. week-end)so early during our stay). So one more day to continue exploring our new home city of 17 million inhabitants!!

First Week in China

2009-01-18T05:59:00.000-08:00

Week 1- January 17
We arrived on January 9th and have had a very busy week. We are in a temporary apartment and Astri is busy with a realtor looking at new apartments. We have had many wonderful meals both expensive and inexpensive. My first week was very busy and actually saw my first patient on Tuesday and then accompanied him with my nurse, Guang Jun, to Beijing Hospital for his Radiation Therapy appointment and met Dr.Li and we agreed on a treatment plan. Meeting many people and learning a lot about the hospital. Astri and I went to a chamber of commerce event at "7 star" hotel, Pangu, overlooking the Water Cube and Bird's Nest. The week culminated in the hospital New Year's party at a buffet restaurant with 600 staff members. I drew the Lucky 5 lottery and judged the fashion contest.

This weekend we were taken by colleague, James Glucksman, VP of HR, to food market, Sanyuanlu which was great and where Astri will frequent for our food. On Saturday night, Guang Jun and her husband Xiao took us to central Beijing Oriental Mall for a wonderful Sizuan meal at South Beauty restaurant. Today we visited Chaoyang park, reputed to be largest urban park in Asia, had a brunch with new friends and colleagues, went to see some carpets, and were taken to busy Chinese "department" store with many vendors of everything.