Wanping City
Wanping County
China

August 9, 2010

From the book: Sights with Stories in Old Beijing *

Editors’ Note:

There is virtually no sight in Beijing that has not a fascinating story or legend attached to it, whether to do with its founding, its architecture or the historical figures associated with it.  This time-honored local lore, still very much alive in the city, weaves marvelous tales around the natural wonders and architectural showpieces of the capital, peopling them with miraculous immortals and imaginatively embroidering their history.

Apocryphal though most of then are, they embody in their story of honest toil and talent and their condemnation of wickedness, a historical reality that all too often is missing from the history books themselves.

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Beijing
China

August 7, 2010

Dear Family and Friends,

From Bangkok, en route to Ulan Bator, Mongolia, I decided to stop over in Beijing.  I wanted to see my friends and to visit one or two sights I had missed two years ago.

Actually, my first stop was a return to the small village of Chuandixia.  My friend Diego, his friend Miland, and I rode the Beijing Red Line subway for almost an hour to the last stop.  Diego then negotiated with a driver and we took off for the 90km ride through the hilly green countryside west of the city.

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This essay will be published in To Shangahi with Love - ThingsAsian Press.

"When everything seemed hopeless, there was an open door.  I don't want anyone to forget where that door was.  That is why the story needs to be told.  Soon there won't be anyone around to remember how we survived against all odds."   Shanghai Refugee

                                          "To Shanghai with Love"

By Jan Polatschek and Cheng Na Dai (Daisy)

Jan writes:

The Goldstaub Family loves Shanghai.  The Blumenthal Family loves Shanghai.  The Rossback and Zysman and Rosenfeld Families love Shanghai.  These European Jewish families along with thousands of others owe their lives to the government of China and to the people of Shanghai.  When they visit China, they come to Shanghai with love.

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July 5, 2010

Back in Shanghai, I returned to the World Expo 2010 to try to find something of interest.  The exhibits I chose during my initial visit last month were crowded and uninspiring.  The international pavilions were mostly public relations ads to promote tourism.  I didn't see any that followed the theme, "Better City - Better Life."

Someone I met on the grounds recommended the Urban Pavilion of Footprint, and I was so glad that I went.  On display in this enormous multi-floor pavilion were dioramas and descriptions of many of the major cities and civilizations, past and present. "The concept and design for the Urban Pavilion of Footprint were contributed by the Shanghai Museum. The pavilion portrays the growth of the cities as a decisive factor for human progress over the ages." My favorite was the display of art and gold sculpture from Tibet.

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Changsha

Hunan Province

China

July 3, 2010

The guidebook is not very encouraging about his city of more than 2.7 million.  South of the city is the birthplace of Mao but since my time is limited here, I decided against a pilgrimage.

The guidebook mentioned the Hunan University.  (One thousand year history. 4600 faculty. 46,000 students.)

I haven't been on a college campus recently, so HU is my destination for the day.  Read more »

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"Music is the space between the notes"

Claude Debussy - French Composer (1862-1918)

"The notes I handle no better than many pianists.  But the pauses between the notes - ah, that is where the art resides."

Arthur Schnabel - Austrian Classical Pianist (1882-1951)

En Route to Changsha

Hunan Province

China

July 2, 2010

At 7:00am, the Jishou railway station was crammed.  There were no seats so I am standing amidst several thousand other travelers.  The information board flashes the platform number for my train and a long queue moves towards the gate.  

The train was scheduled to depart at 7:15.  How will so many people be able find their proper car in such a short time?   There must have been twenty cars on this train and my luggage-laden quick-step-trot along the platform seemed endless.

The disciplined crowd moved slowly yet efficiently and everyone found his car and assigned seat.  At the appointed time the train pulled out of the station, headed north and then east.

I will gaze at no giant Buddhas today.  No fog-shrouded gorges, nor mysterious mountains.  No misty waterfalls.  No temples.  No monuments.  No museums.  Just a crowded railway coach filled with Chinese families on a long day's journey from Jishou to Changsha.   A very long "space" in between the "spectacular."  A long pause.   Read more »

Golden Leader International Hotel
Jishou
Hunan Province
People's Republic of China

July 2, 2010
8:00 am

My Dear Comrades,

Yesterday, July 1, was the 89th Anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party in China.  That must  explain why, after more than twenty four hours, my laundry has not yet been returned to my room.  Maybe the washers and driers took the day off to celebrate.

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Fenghuang

Hunan Province

China

July 1, 2010

Dear Fellow Tourists and Travelers,

Here's what the guidebook says about Fenghuang Ancient City, a popular tourist destination:

"In a round-the-clock siege from domestic tourists - the Taiping Rebellion of the modern age - this riveting town of ancient city walls, disintegrating towers, rickety houses on stilts overlooking the river and hoary temples can easily fill a couple of days.  Home to a lively population of the Miao and Tujia minorities, Fenghuang's architectural legacy shows distressing signs of neglect, so get to see it before it crumbles away under a combined onslaught of disrepair and overdevelopment aimed at luring marauding tour groups." *

Do you see what I have to put up with here?  I must tolerate "distress," "disintegrating," "rickety,"  "disrepair," and "overdevelopment."  Then I must navigate "siege," and "marauding tour groups."  And finally, I have to endure such guide-book prose, opaque and contradictory, that my head is throbbing!  Will this place be "riveting" or "crumbling"?  And what, in the name of all that's holy, is a "hoary temple"?

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Dehang

Hunan Province

China

 June 30, 2010

 Dear Family and Friends,

 Thank heavens!  I remembered to bring along my Leki Super Micro easy-lock, collapsible walking stick.

The hilly path along the Yuquan riverbank is narrow, rocky, muddy, slippery and flooded in places.  Treacherous.  I should have rented a pair of straw shoes!    

Feeling my way along the track, with one hand holding the stick and the other my camera, there is no way I can also use my umbrella as I approach the Liusha waterfall.

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Zhangjiajie
Hunan Province
China

James Cameron
Sierra Retreat
Malibu, California
USA

June 28, 2010

Dear Mr. Cameron, 

Cc: Family and Friends, 

“Avatar! Avatar!”  sing out the ladies at the  Zhangjiajie National Forest Park souvenir stands. They are hawking large holograph photos of majestic karst mountains. 

I hadn’t the foggiest notion why Avatar would be an integral part of the sales routine.  My best guess was that even here, in Hunan Province, far, far west of the modern, affluent metropolises on the east coast of China, even here in the Wulingyuan Scenic Area the local vendors are aware of recent popular cultural events. 

Then I did a little research.  

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