(Ms. Luskin and Ric)Today, the newest link in the chain connecting Pang Liu Village with Dover and Sherborn …
(T) Unlike our last two days, we didn’t see Richard’s smiling face at the end of breakfast; instead, our driver fetched us, and we stopped to pick up Richard on our way to Pang Liu, the village where he grew up. After a drive of about a half hour, our bus turned off a main road south of Xi’an onto a paved lane; Richard noted that the allee of trees was as new as the paving, paid for by the government because so many international visitors had come here of late. We stepped off the bus into the waiting crowd of schoolmaster, town officials, teachers, and oh-so-many students! The band struck up a spirited tune to accompany the many handshakes.
In passing yesterday, Richard had outlined his youth as a village boy, competing his way against well-advantaged city kids on his way through high school, university, and his initial government career when we spoke about the evolution of the communist party’s policies in the twentieth century. If you think this sounds like a dusty corner of history, we certainly didn’t find it so in the context of Richard’s experiences! It’s quite amazing to connect this merry, educated and worldly-wise man with a village boy who rationed himself to three bread pieces per meal (sometimes brushing off mold before setting to) while his feet ached with cold through the winter months. It had us all marveling at his resilience, as well as the way in which he’s used his own success to improve life back to his home village. He’s raised funds (and contributed much himself) to build a library, hire a librarian and an English teacher, build a village office with a clinic and pharmacy, hire a doctor… the list of meaningful changes for his townsmen’s lives is all but endless.
(R) I don’t think any of us had given much thought in advance to what our arrival at Pang Liu would be like. For us it was an anticipated stop among many, albeit one we had prepared for with gifts for students and teachers. But when we approached the school, driving down a narrow lane dotted with new bricks for building and neat piles of sand, intermingled with abandoned, old houses, it became clear that this wasn’t just “any” day for the village. As Terry said, we were greeted by a group of local officials when we stepped off the bus. But what a scene!
The school’s marching band played a fanfare of welcome, one of the young trumpet players blowing with huge puffed cheeks, a la the late Dizzy Gillespie. A bouquet of silk flowers was presented to Terry and the kids and we entered the school like teams enter a super bowl – walking through a gauntlet of smiling, flag waving students lined on either side, arrayed from oldest (6th grade) to youngest. In the interior courtyard there was a fabulous banner reading “Warmly Welcome The Teacher And Students From Dover-Sherborn High School To Our School!” Perhaps to emphasize the importance of the project, we were then ushered into the newly constructed library. A prominent blue sign on the wall proclaims “Books are the steps for the human progress.” Isn’t that a simple truth for all to keep in mind? The room itself, measuring about 250 square meters according to a plaque in the courtyard, was as neat as a pin, with books and magazines arrayed on three low bookshelves. In the English section were picture books about the Boston area – even one on The Big Dig – as well as a number of classics like Anne of Green Gables, Little House on the Prairie, and Harry Potter. We even saw a copy of Hello Wally written by that noted author Jerry Remy. Yes - Red Sox Nation is indeed everywhere.
Richard says that the only parts of the school he recognizes today are two tall pine trees that survive in the inner courtyard. The rest has been extensively renovated over the years with vast improvements, many of which Richard has helped to fund. We observed a group of 3rd graders in a computer lab working on graphics. “We have internet now” proudly proclaimed the English teacher who accompanied us on our tour. After that, we split up into groups to meet some of the students. Nick & Cady went with the younger kids. Emily and Drew did some animal drawing on the blackboard with an older group, correlating the pictures with English names. Terry and I took the 6th graders, telling them a bit about how DHS works and fielding questions ranging from “How old are you?” and “What is your favorite color?” to “Do you like the food in China?” Jjust for fun – with the aid of a translator - I asked if the class could name a Chinese player in the NBA. A chorus of loud voices, boys and girls, all had the correct answer: Yao Ming, of course!
(T) We had a short walk-about along the village lanes to the home of a villager who’d offered to host us for lunch; yet another wondrous meal, served in the south-facing living room of the house. Our English teacher helped bring dishes back and forth, although we’d have much preferred to have her join us at the (already quite crowded) table! We understood from Richard that this family had hosted an exchange student for five days fairly recently, so they, too, are venturesome and curious about people in other cultures. On the walk back, we noticed again the intermixture of construction and deconstruction: some abandoned traditional houses with leaning walls, next to stacks of bricks and roof tiles for a new house. The last sight we had of Pang Liu was the wide vista, for miles in each direction, of winter wheat sprouting. We’ll think about this place quite often, I feel, especially because we’ve become so fond of Richard!
Leap ahead a few hours, and suddenly we’re entering the Tang Dynasty version of Epcot, called Tang Paradise! Very quickly, we encounter a “performance” of stilt-walking female fan-dancers and male flag-wavers, with cymbal players clanging along… all while recorded music clashed with the rhythm of the band. Cacophony reigned!!
We saw quite a few interesting bits in this reconstructed theme park; but as I glance at the clock, I see that I must skip to the highlights if I’m to make our bus on time!! We all enjoyed rambling through the poet’s area where classic Tang poems have been engraved on the stone walls of a multi-level area; pools and rivulets course through, and it’s by far the most authentic experience of the day.
The kids all rallied when we spied the human-in-inflated-ball-on pool activity (wish there were a name I knew for this zany place!)… Drew, and then Nick, climbed into the small zippered access to the clear plastic beach-ball; the ball was then pumped full of warm air, and off they ran/tumbled/fell into the rectangular pool. Drew ran like a hamster on a wheel, Nick’s specialty was the somersault, and the crowds gathered to watch the madcap exhibition!
Must zip along to the evening of lakeside entertainment… What began as a lighted fountain show, with musical accompaniment, morphed into a water/mist screen projection of a mysterious movie about the moon goddess Chang'e and some sort of dragon cartoon guy, with a hero and the monkey king thrown in for good measure. After the movie ended, we kept hearing in Chinese that SOMETHING was to happen at 8:20; that “something” was a multiple-multi media fountain/gas-jet/laser/fireworks display that knocked our socks off! Far more than the fragment of New Year’s fireworks that we saw in Hong Kong!!
(R) As it was “Lantern Festival” night – the official end of Chinese New Year – the entire city was alight with fireworks displays. Some were small. Others were enormous. And from our lakeside vantage point, we could easily count a dozen within a 180 degree view of the city at any given point in time. In fact, the background display made the water movie even more amazing! We left Tang Paradise for a crazy drive through the throngs of revelers to an impromptu dinner (Richard managed to talk our way into a local restaurant despite the late hour). This was a different form of crazy traffic – slow speed chaos as cars, bikes, and people on foot all fought for a place on the road. Our AMAZING bus driver actually started making noises like Lurch from The Adams Family. But we made it through. Then back to the hotel where the boom of fireworks continued into the small hours of the morning. If there is any gunpowder left in Xi’an today I would be amazed! (Ok – having said that, a string of firecrackers just went off outside our window. Apparently someone had some in reserve!).
Must sign off now. This will be my final blog entry as I’ll head back home tomorrow when we arrive in Beijing after an all night train journey. It’s been a blast! Terry, Drew, Nick, Cady and Emily will now get to experience their own set of adventures. I’ll look forward to following along on the blog with the rest of all of you.
(T) Unlike our last two days, we didn’t see Richard’s smiling face at the end of breakfast; instead, our driver fetched us, and we stopped to pick up Richard on our way to Pang Liu, the village where he grew up. After a drive of about a half hour, our bus turned off a main road south of Xi’an onto a paved lane; Richard noted that the allee of trees was as new as the paving, paid for by the government because so many international visitors had come here of late. We stepped off the bus into the waiting crowd of schoolmaster, town officials, teachers, and oh-so-many students! The band struck up a spirited tune to accompany the many handshakes.
In passing yesterday, Richard had outlined his youth as a village boy, competing his way against well-advantaged city kids on his way through high school, university, and his initial government career when we spoke about the evolution of the communist party’s policies in the twentieth century. If you think this sounds like a dusty corner of history, we certainly didn’t find it so in the context of Richard’s experiences! It’s quite amazing to connect this merry, educated and worldly-wise man with a village boy who rationed himself to three bread pieces per meal (sometimes brushing off mold before setting to) while his feet ached with cold through the winter months. It had us all marveling at his resilience, as well as the way in which he’s used his own success to improve life back to his home village. He’s raised funds (and contributed much himself) to build a library, hire a librarian and an English teacher, build a village office with a clinic and pharmacy, hire a doctor… the list of meaningful changes for his townsmen’s lives is all but endless.
(R) I don’t think any of us had given much thought in advance to what our arrival at Pang Liu would be like. For us it was an anticipated stop among many, albeit one we had prepared for with gifts for students and teachers. But when we approached the school, driving down a narrow lane dotted with new bricks for building and neat piles of sand, intermingled with abandoned, old houses, it became clear that this wasn’t just “any” day for the village. As Terry said, we were greeted by a group of local officials when we stepped off the bus. But what a scene!
The school’s marching band played a fanfare of welcome, one of the young trumpet players blowing with huge puffed cheeks, a la the late Dizzy Gillespie. A bouquet of silk flowers was presented to Terry and the kids and we entered the school like teams enter a super bowl – walking through a gauntlet of smiling, flag waving students lined on either side, arrayed from oldest (6th grade) to youngest. In the interior courtyard there was a fabulous banner reading “Warmly Welcome The Teacher And Students From Dover-Sherborn High School To Our School!” Perhaps to emphasize the importance of the project, we were then ushered into the newly constructed library. A prominent blue sign on the wall proclaims “Books are the steps for the human progress.” Isn’t that a simple truth for all to keep in mind? The room itself, measuring about 250 square meters according to a plaque in the courtyard, was as neat as a pin, with books and magazines arrayed on three low bookshelves. In the English section were picture books about the Boston area – even one on The Big Dig – as well as a number of classics like Anne of Green Gables, Little House on the Prairie, and Harry Potter. We even saw a copy of Hello Wally written by that noted author Jerry Remy. Yes - Red Sox Nation is indeed everywhere.
Richard says that the only parts of the school he recognizes today are two tall pine trees that survive in the inner courtyard. The rest has been extensively renovated over the years with vast improvements, many of which Richard has helped to fund. We observed a group of 3rd graders in a computer lab working on graphics. “We have internet now” proudly proclaimed the English teacher who accompanied us on our tour. After that, we split up into groups to meet some of the students. Nick & Cady went with the younger kids. Emily and Drew did some animal drawing on the blackboard with an older group, correlating the pictures with English names. Terry and I took the 6th graders, telling them a bit about how DHS works and fielding questions ranging from “How old are you?” and “What is your favorite color?” to “Do you like the food in China?” Jjust for fun – with the aid of a translator - I asked if the class could name a Chinese player in the NBA. A chorus of loud voices, boys and girls, all had the correct answer: Yao Ming, of course!
(T) We had a short walk-about along the village lanes to the home of a villager who’d offered to host us for lunch; yet another wondrous meal, served in the south-facing living room of the house. Our English teacher helped bring dishes back and forth, although we’d have much preferred to have her join us at the (already quite crowded) table! We understood from Richard that this family had hosted an exchange student for five days fairly recently, so they, too, are venturesome and curious about people in other cultures. On the walk back, we noticed again the intermixture of construction and deconstruction: some abandoned traditional houses with leaning walls, next to stacks of bricks and roof tiles for a new house. The last sight we had of Pang Liu was the wide vista, for miles in each direction, of winter wheat sprouting. We’ll think about this place quite often, I feel, especially because we’ve become so fond of Richard!
Leap ahead a few hours, and suddenly we’re entering the Tang Dynasty version of Epcot, called Tang Paradise! Very quickly, we encounter a “performance” of stilt-walking female fan-dancers and male flag-wavers, with cymbal players clanging along… all while recorded music clashed with the rhythm of the band. Cacophony reigned!!
We saw quite a few interesting bits in this reconstructed theme park; but as I glance at the clock, I see that I must skip to the highlights if I’m to make our bus on time!! We all enjoyed rambling through the poet’s area where classic Tang poems have been engraved on the stone walls of a multi-level area; pools and rivulets course through, and it’s by far the most authentic experience of the day.
The kids all rallied when we spied the human-in-inflated-ball-on pool activity (wish there were a name I knew for this zany place!)… Drew, and then Nick, climbed into the small zippered access to the clear plastic beach-ball; the ball was then pumped full of warm air, and off they ran/tumbled/fell into the rectangular pool. Drew ran like a hamster on a wheel, Nick’s specialty was the somersault, and the crowds gathered to watch the madcap exhibition!
Must zip along to the evening of lakeside entertainment… What began as a lighted fountain show, with musical accompaniment, morphed into a water/mist screen projection of a mysterious movie about the moon goddess Chang'e and some sort of dragon cartoon guy, with a hero and the monkey king thrown in for good measure. After the movie ended, we kept hearing in Chinese that SOMETHING was to happen at 8:20; that “something” was a multiple-multi media fountain/gas-jet/laser/fireworks display that knocked our socks off! Far more than the fragment of New Year’s fireworks that we saw in Hong Kong!!
(R) As it was “Lantern Festival” night – the official end of Chinese New Year – the entire city was alight with fireworks displays. Some were small. Others were enormous. And from our lakeside vantage point, we could easily count a dozen within a 180 degree view of the city at any given point in time. In fact, the background display made the water movie even more amazing! We left Tang Paradise for a crazy drive through the throngs of revelers to an impromptu dinner (Richard managed to talk our way into a local restaurant despite the late hour). This was a different form of crazy traffic – slow speed chaos as cars, bikes, and people on foot all fought for a place on the road. Our AMAZING bus driver actually started making noises like Lurch from The Adams Family. But we made it through. Then back to the hotel where the boom of fireworks continued into the small hours of the morning. If there is any gunpowder left in Xi’an today I would be amazed! (Ok – having said that, a string of firecrackers just went off outside our window. Apparently someone had some in reserve!).
Must sign off now. This will be my final blog entry as I’ll head back home tomorrow when we arrive in Beijing after an all night train journey. It’s been a blast! Terry, Drew, Nick, Cady and Emily will now get to experience their own set of adventures. I’ll look forward to following along on the blog with the rest of all of you.
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