Harbin
China
January, 11 2008

Dear Family and Friends,

"Oh, my goodness!"

The airplane from Beijing descends through the clouds towards the Harbin airport. I stare at the landscape below and I think, "Oh, my goodness!" Actually, "Oh, my goodness" is not the exact phrase that comes to mind. "Holy cow" is a little closer but still not 100% accurate.

Deserted roads and snow-covered farms spread out everywhere like an Amish quilt that landed in a vat of bleach. Smoke from a tall smokestack rises in a disturbing pattern; it blows horizontally.

"Be happy where you are, Jan. What did you expect? Tropical waves washing up against white sand? Coconut palms, maybe, swaying in a light breeze? You are in Harbin for the Ice Lantern Festival. Harbin. 45 degrees North Latitude. North of Vladivostok and halfway to the North Pole. Ice, Jan, ice. Think ice."

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Location

Harbin
Heilongjiang Province
China
January 12, 2008
My Dear Friends and Family around the World,

Now, here's a list of names from the 1920's:

Kulas, Soskin, Longovich, Kabalkin, Gofman, Makievsky, Katz, Azachovski, Trabgin, Kagan, Skidelski, Kisiliov, Kaufman, Drizin, Dobisov, Mordokovich. Russians all. One Austrian: Rosenfield.

Such names! Are they from the Lower East Side of New York? Northeast Philadelphia? The Near Westside of Chicago? Moscow?
None of the above.

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Location

Xi`an
Shaanxi Province
China
January 16, 2008

Dear Family and Friends,

Whenever I told my Chinese friends I was going to Xi`an, they always responded with, "Jan, you are going to an ancient city."

It is difficult to imagine that modern Xi`an, with a population of more than three million, is an ancient city. Yet, ancient it is.

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Location

Luoyang
Henan Province
China

January 18, 2008

Dear Family and Friends,

My old friend Konrad is curious about my traveling lifestyle. He writes, "How did it all begin? How would you suggest one get started?"

The reasons for my travels are varied and complex and Konrad deserves a proper response. In the meantime, I can offer two simple answers to his questions:

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Location

Luoyang
Henan Province
Peoples Republic of China

Sunday
January 20, 2008

Yesterday: Light Snow
Today: Heavy Snow
Tomorrow: More Snow

Dear Family and Friends,

Back in 1974 my wife Alice Dawn and I moved from Philadelphia to Boston. On our very first drive on the suburban country roads I noticed an unusual sight. A tall, thin, red, ten-foot steel pole was attached to every fire hydrant. At the top of the pole was a small, red, metal triangular flag. What the hell? It took me only a moment to guess the meaning of that particular artifact. I pointed it out to Alice and asked for her interpretation. Alice was no fool and she quickly understood. We both shuddered.

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Location

The snow in Luoyang never let up. I was lucky to get a seat on a train east to Zhengzhou where the airport was open. I flew back to Beijing. The weather in Beijing was clear so I made a side trip to Datong.

Datong
Shanxi Province
China

January 23, 2008

Dear Family, Friends and Runners Everywhere,

Did you know that Jan was a Marathon Man? Yes, it's true. Many years ago, my "salad days" coincided with the Running Explosion that erupted after the American runner Frank Shorter won the 1972 Olympic Marathon in Munich. I was one of the millions of insufferable, "I-own-the-road" joggers who clogged the streets and sidewalks of every city and town.
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Location

Datong
Shanxi Province
China

January 23, 2008

Dear Family and Friends,

My "salad days" and marathon days were over long ago. My knees have wilted. Now I am a take-a-leisurely-walk kind of guy. But in Northern China, I endured another day-long deep-freeze travel marathon, including chilled teeth, iced nose and puffy lips. Why did my lips puff up? My guess is that it only felt that way. In reality, I think my jaw shrank!

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Location

Datong
Shanxi Province
China

January 24, 2008

Dear Family and Friends,

The documents of the Polatschek Family record that I was born on a Wednesday morning, the 18th of September. According to the twelve-year Chinese Zodiac, I was born in the Year of The Dragon.

The Dragon is magnanimous, stately, vigorous, strong, self-assured, proud, noble, direct, dignified, zealous, fiery, passionate, decisive, pioneering, ambitious, generous and loyal. The Dragon can be arrogant, imperious, tyrannical, demanding, eccentric, grandiloquent, bombastic, prejudiced, dogmatic, over-bearing, violent, impetuous and brash.

My Zodiac element is metal (gold or silver). Metal personalities are tough and loves to take risks. They like to help others but have to be careful not to become hard-hearted! *
Am I a Dragon? Am I a Golden Dragon? Silver?
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Location

Chongqing, China
July 15, 2010

Hello Everyone,

Just to let you know I am OK.

The weather has been warm, humid and misty, with a little rain.  The heavy rainfall and flooding is south of my route through central China

So far I have been to Shanghai, Chengdu, Leshan and Chongqing.  I leave this evening for a three-night four-day cruise through the three gorges of the Yangtze River.

At the moment I am considering staying out here in the west to visit mountain areas and minority villages.
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Location

Chengdu
Sichuan Province
China

June 15, 2010


Dear Family and Friends,

The Chinese media reported that at the popular east coast tourist sites, the normally large summer crowds had increased by twenty percent because of the tourist onslaught to the Shanghai Expo.  I decided to fly west to Chengdu (pop 4.1 million). 

I landed in the middle of yet another onslaught.  Who knew?  Apparently everyone but me knew that this weekend is the Dragon Boat Festival, one of the most important holidays on the calendar.

 The Qingcheng Shan (mountain), a two-hour bus ride west of Chengdu was swarming with energetic visitors.  It was difficult to find an open foothold on the paths up the wooded hillsides. (“The beautiful trails are lined with gingko, plum, and palm trees, temples and plenty of atmospheric sights.”)* At a fork, I took the road less traveled and found a half-empty lake, half-empty because of the 2008 earthquake. Yuecheng Lake was a welcome and peaceful spot.

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Location