Blog Post #6

Thursday, March 27

Today was a rest day for us, if we ever do that! Students went off on a daylong BBQ at a park. We were invited, but didn’t wake up in time for 7:30 departure. Jet lag shows its face about that time of the morning!

Instead we met my pastor friend whom I am tutoring in English later in the morning and she took us on a tour of part of this city.  We are in a very old part of the city, but ¼ mile away, through a tunnel, and we were in a very modern part. We visited the Museum of the 1911 Revolution, built and opened this past year, with a huge park surrounding it, and within sight of the Yellow Crane Tower, and very old pagoda which sticks up in the horizon. The museum traces the revolutionary ideas and attempts to overthrow the emperor of the Qing Dynasty from 1885 until 1912 when the Emperor abdicated. The photos I sent show some of the dioramas or depictions of those events, and the rise of Sun Yet Sen, first democratic leader of the Republic of China. One of the interesting photos was of a Caucasian riding in a rickshaw, labeled Missionary. It seemed to me, though there was no explanation, that the reason the photo was included was to show how western ideas of democracy may have gotten into the minds of the people.

Our pastor friend talked to one of the guards while we looked around. He was very friendly and kind to us, wanting to make sure we saw the important things. She told him Jim was a pastor and was going to preach at Thanksgiving Church on Sunday. He knew where it was. He said he had never been to a church, but that he would come on Sunday!

We stopped in a nearby food court for lunch, noodle soup, rice cakes and a bowl of dry noodles, as they are called. A very poor man came up to us when we had just sat down to eat, jiggling a bowl with a few coins in it. I didn’t know what to do, but our friend immediately stood up, took her bowl to the next table, set it down and invited him to eat it. Then she went and ordered another for herself. She said, “I don’t like to give people who beg money but if they are hungry, I will give them food.” I thought that was wonderful.

After walking back through the tunnel we stopped for some cold chrysanthemum tea at a little stand. Our friend said its name was “Alleluia” and that her husband had suggested the name. The booth was owned by Christians who attend Thanksgiving Church, so we chatted with them, sipping our tea. She too may come to church on Sunday.

As I have said, our hotel is in the middle of a huge fabric building, with many many stalls. So we went exploring in it today. I stopped by a display of silk, beautiful fine material in many colors, thinking of getting some for a scarf or shawl. Before I knew it, the vendor had found me a piece (2 meters for $20!) and arranged for a man in a neighboring stall with a very fancy sewing machine to hem it for 10 Yuan, about $1.40. I might go back there and explore some more!

The sky was a glorious blue today and the temperatures were in the 70s. Locals are still wearing warm winter-type clothes and they say this time of year the weather fluctuates from cold to warm to cold, but we saw rows and rows of beautiful pink cherry blossoms, so that is certainly a sign of spring.