Sunday, September 18, 2011

Sep 18: A day which will live in infamy in China

Sep 18, 1931, was a day which, even today, lives in infamy here in Shenyang,  China.  At 9:18am today the air raid sirens blew and traffic stopped with horns blowing. On this day in 1931, Japan launched an attack on Manchuria right here in Shenyang.  According to people here, the attack and treatment of the Chinese was very brutal and thousands of lives where lost.

Japan likely saw China as an easy target as there was alot of internal turmoil following the collapse of the Qing dynasty and the last emperor Pu-Yi.  

With the collapse of the last empire in China in 1924, Pu Yi (the last emperor), was kicked out of the forbidden city in Beijing.  Fearing for his safety from numerous waring factions in China, Pu Yi  sought asylum from the Japanese Embassy, where he was warmly received. He and his entourage enjoyed the hospitality and protection of Japan.   In 1931, (right after Japan invaded here in Shenyang)  Pu-Yi was asked to help establish an independent Manchuria (there really was no option of declining). He agreed as long as it would be a monarchy. He was smuggled into Manchuria on February 13, 1932 and declared the independence of Manchuria.  When the Japan surrender was announced on August 15, 1945, he was "asked" to abdicate, which he did.


The attack on Manchuria would be the first of several that Japan would launch in China (Nanjing would fall in 1937, Guangzhou in 1938...after that the Chinese resistance stopped).   Japan needed China for all of the natural resources to feed the conquest for power.   All of these conquests in China would eventually lead to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, HI on December 7, 1941...another day that lives in infamy in the USA.


There is a museum here in Shenyang with a giant calender in front with the date displayed of 18 Sep.  We have not visited yet...it's not the type of place I want to go when I'm not ready for it.  And so far, I'm not ready.

If you're like me, you didn't learn that in school...if it was taught,  I didn't get it.  Now, I do and hope it makes it a little clearer for you too!

Have a great week!

     
    
  

Friday, September 16, 2011

16 Sep 2011: Playing music in the park and Mid autumn festival with our Chinese family

Greetings all again (I'm on a roll here!)

This was a 4 day week after a 3 day weekend for Mid autumn festival.  Rod and I both went playing music in the park...it's been probably 15 years since I played a horn, so I was certainly not ready for prime time...but you gotta start somewhere, so why not here.  It all started when we went looking on music street and I tried out a Chinese hammered dulcimer.  The problem was it wasn't tuned or strung the same way as mine in the US (in storage), so I didn't buy one.  Rod had found a used baritone in a market, so he bought it.  It was in the same key as Rod's baritone, so he thought we could play together...and we did ...but boy, was my lip not ready for that!  The fingerings are the same as a trumpet (which is what I played for years).  It was fun to just play around and play together though!
Rod & Sarah Miller playing the baritones in the Zhongshan park in Shenyang

Rod Miller playing his tenor tuba in Zhongshan park in Shenyang


The big highlight of the weekend was a lunch with our Chinese family.  We went to a nice traditional restaurant.  We exchanged moon cakes and they gave us one of the biggest moon cakes in the world!
I'm thinking we're going to keep it and let it get good and hard..then maybe whirl it like a frisbee...at least once!
The biggest moon cake in the world...with a Phoenix bird and a Dragon on the cake!

Our Chinese family with us celebrating Mid Autumn festival in 2011

Rod & Sarah celebrating Mid Autumn festival

Sweet & Sour fish...with cherry tomato eyes...actually pretty good!

That's about it for now!

Sarah & Rod
 

Sunday, September 11, 2011

11 Sep 2011: We remember where we were 10 years ago and Mid Autumn Festival story

Greetings all!

10 years after Sep 11, 2001...May God bless all of the families who where there in NYC, Washington DC and PA on those doomed flights and those in their path.  May God bless the leaders of our country today and give them wisdom so that we may never have to face that again.  Like most of you, I will always remember where I was on this day.  We were living in Romania at the time and it was about at 3:00pm in the afternoon at work when my assistant Liliana came to me with an ashen face and tears in her eyes letting me know that her son had called and told her to turn on the news.  Me and the other members of the expat team gathered in a conference room and watched in horror as both towers were burning and falling down. We left work a little early that day, sick to our stomachs and just wanting to go home to be with our families in Bucharest.  We called our families in the US to be assured they were OK and to let them know we were OK.   The Romanians were so gracious to us, escorting us home and wanting to help us.  We had visitors from the US and we tried to help them get home, but they could only reach Paris...not any further because the airports had already been shut down.  I will never forget that time in our life.

Onto a more joyous occasion!
This is a 3 day weekend here in China, celebrating mid autumn festival.  There are long stories and legends about this holiday in China on the internet.  I got the following on wikipedia: (Probably more than you wanted to know...if you want to skip the wikipedia part, I've put it all in purple.  I start writing and showing pictures after that! 

The Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋節), also known as the Moon Festival or Zhongqiu Festival is a popular harvest festival celebrated by Chinese and Vietnamese people, dating back over 3,000 years to moon worship in China's Shang Dynasty. It was first called Zhongqiu Jie (literally "Mid-Autumn Festival") in the Zhou Dynasty.[1]
The Mid-Autumn Festival is held on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese calendar, which is in September or early October in the Gregorian calendar.

I love the legends that go with these holidays in China!  Here's another copy/paste from wikipedia on the Mid autumn festival story of two lovers Haoyi and Chang'e

Houyi and Chang'e

Celebration of the Mid-Autumn Festival is strongly associated with the legend of Houyi and Chang'e, the Moon Goddess of Immortality. Tradition places these two figures from Chinese mythology at around 2200 BCE, during the reign of the legendary Emperor Yao, shortly after that of Huangdi. Unlike many lunar deities in other cultures who personify the moon, Chang'e simply lives on the moon but is not the moon per se.
There are many variants and adaptations of the legend of Chang'e that frequently contradict each other. However, most versions of the legend involve some variation of the following elements: Houyi, the Archer, an emperor, either benevolent or malevolent, and an elixir of life.
One version of the legend states that Houyi was an immortal and Chang'e was a beautiful young girl, working in the palace of the Jade Emperor (the Emperor of Heaven, 玉帝 pinyin:Yùdì) as an attendant to the Queen Mother of the West (the Jade Emperor's wife). Houyi aroused the jealousy of the other immortals, who then slandered him before the Jade Emperor. Houyi and his wife, Chang'e, were subsequently banished from heaven. They were forced to live on Earth. Houyi had to hunt to survive and became a skilled and famous archer.
At that time, there were ten suns, in the form of three-legged birds, residing in a mulberry tree in the eastern sea. Each day one of the sun birds would have to travel around the world on a carriage, driven by Xihe, the 'mother' of the suns. One day, all ten of the suns circled together, causing the Earth to burn. Emperor Yao, the Emperor of China, commanded Houyi to use his archery skill to shoot down all but one of the suns. Upon completion of his task, the Emperor rewarded Houyi with a pill that granted eternal life. Emperor Yao advised Houyi not to swallow the pill immediately but instead to prepare himself by praying and fasting for a year before taking it.[2] Houyi took the pill home and hid it under a rafter. One day, Houyi was summoned away again by Emperor Yao. During her husband's absence, Chang'e, noticed a white beam of light beckoning from the rafters, and discovered the pill. Chang'e swallowed it and immediately found that she could fly. Houyi returned home, realizing what had happened he began to reprimand his wife. Chang'e escaped by flying out the window into the sky.[2]
Houyi pursued her halfway across the heavens but was forced to return to Earth because of strong winds. Chang'e reached the moon, where she coughed up part of the pill.[2] Chang'e commanded the hare that lived on the moon to make another pill. Chang'e would then be able to return to Earth and her husband.[citation needed]
The legend states that the hare is still pounding herbs, trying to make the pill. Houyi built himself a palace in the sun, representing "Yang" (the male principle), in contrast to Chang'e's home on the moon which represents "Yin" (the female principle). Once a year, on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, Houyi visits his wife. That is the reason why the moon is very full and beautiful on that night.[2]

This is a time for family gatherings and exchange of mooncakes (kind of like Christmas gifts...and it's a huge business here in China...it's just as much about the box and packaging as the cake inside!)
Here are some mooncakes we have given some of our Chinese friends:
Here is a "suzhou" style moon cake, we purchased here in Shenyang

Cross section of a mooncake

Rod eating a piece...this one was filled with mungbean paste and walnuts...not too bad but heavy! (certainly much better than the silkworm larvae!)

These are moon cakes in their box from our hotel home
























































































Saturday, September 10, 2011

10 Sep 2011...fish, silkworms and Erhu's...some pictures are not suitable for weak stomachs!

Greetings all!
It's been awhile since I've written...all vacations are good, but it seems that the workload that comes afterwards is always on "overload"...mine was no different! 

When we got back from vacation, we bought a small aquarium to put in the apartment...it looked so nice..and easy!  Well, of course it's a lot of work (for Rod)...and unfortunately several fish have died in our trial and error methods..starting with the "easy" gold fish to the "easy" tank cleaner fish etc.  They are cheap and beautiful, so seems sometime most every weekend, we've been going to the fish market to replace casualties.  Here's a snapshot in time...looking at this photo now, most are not are still with us...oh well, live and learn!  I'm amazed at the variety of freshwater fish here...very colorful and interesting to observe!

Side view of our aquarium..it's capacity is somewhere around 3 liters of water
Sarah putting the aquarium together...aqua-scaping could be a whole new hobby!
This past week, I had to go to Shanghai for a business meeting and Rod didn't come with me.  He visited our friends at the market and, as usual, he was offered lunch....authentic "healthy" Chinese fast food!  Today's delicacy was silk worm larvae...cooked and from the looks of it slimy!  I told him "I leave you alone in Shenyang for 1 day, and you're eating silkworms!"  Here's the proof...and if you're wondering, he said the outside was like eating a crawfish tail and inside was mushy and gooey..a little salty and oily...not very good..and long-lasting (a little dab will do ya!).  He is still alive and well, so we know they won't kill ya, but I don't think he will be temping fate anytime soon again!
Cooked silkworm larvae, halved and ready to eat...yum...NOT!

Rod getting ready to put one down the hatch!

Rod crunching down on one...I'm thinking the look on his face is not one of pure eating pleasure!
Today, in addition to going to the fish market, we went on "music street" where they sell all types of musical instruments.  We went in a shop where they make and repari "Er Hu" (a 2 stringed instrument that is played with a bow).  I'm sure it takes good technical qualities to play the thing, but no matter how good they are, my ear is just not up for it yet!
Rod with the Er Hu makers in a street-side market/shop here in Shenyang

A bunch of Er-Hu's for sale

Rod scratching around on an Er hu.  The bow goes between the 2 strings and depending on what tone you want, you put the bow across that string...a technique all it's own!
 Monday we've been invited to enjoy the Mid Autumn festival with our Chinese family...I'll write another update about the meaning of the mid autumn day and our time with them when we come back...I'm thinking there will be some more interesting photo opportunities!

Just to let everyone know, Rod's email has changed:  it is now tubarod@gmail.com  His account on hotmail was hacked, so please use this one to contact him from now on.

That's about all for now.  Have a wonderful Fall, wherever you are in the world!  We are blessed to have friends and family from all over the world and we cherish everyone of you!!

Rod & Sarah

Thursday, August 18, 2011

18 August 2011: Hot pot lunch, then Soup for the Gardener's Soul...ahhh!



Greetings all,
As you know from the last post, we returned from a 2 week whirlwind trip around China with my sister and her husband and came home very satisfied, but somewhat exhausted!!  Since we didn't go back to the US for our vacation this year, we had some additional days here in China, so I took an additional week off and just rested and relaxed for a week in Shenyang and the surrounding area.  One of the first things we did was go to lunch with our Chinese friends at the "hot pot" restaurant.  This is where you have a hot plate and a pot at your table and the ingredients go around on a floating boat type thing and you take them off and put it in your soup bowl to cook it, then eventually, you take it out and eat it with some selected sauces and vegetables.  Here are a few photos from our "hot pot" lunch
The "boats" circulating around the tables with containers of meat & vegetables at the Hot Pot Restaurant

Mr Sun, The Xhou family and Rod & Sarah Miller at the hot pot restaurant

Some selections before cooking at the hot pot restaurant

Sarah Miller, Zhou Min and Rod Miller cooking and eating at the Hot Pot Restaurant
Another little trip this week was to go to the West Lake, outside of Shenyang.  For those of you who have been long time readers, you may recall that we went there last October and found it to be eerily beautiful in the Fall, but we imagined what it would look like in the Summer.  This year we went to see for ourselves.  We were slightly past the peek season for the Lotus flowers, but we still saw some, and even if they weren't blooming, these were the biggest lily pad's I've ever seen in my life!  We took a boat out onto the lake and got our in and amongst the flowers..and other critters!  Here are some pictures from our trip to West Lake.
As in Life, the journey is  just as interesting as the destination...here an overloaded truck hauling rice stalks

The dragon boat we took out on the West Lake outside of Shenyang

Not the way  I wanted to start my boat ride...but this snake just showed up...he lives here..not me!

Some of the lily pads and Lotus flowers on the "West Lake" outside of Shenyang

More Lily Pads and Lotus Flowers on the West Lake outside of Shenyang


Rod holding a new type of fruit for sale after the boat ride...we ate the juicy red seeds inside and chucked the orange outside..kind of reminded me of a pomegranate for the taste with the texture of a grape

A view of the West Lake outside of Shenyang
Then today, I went out with the Zhou Min family and went to a Lavender garden...this is where being friends with a Chinese family has definite advantages...I would have never known about this place and as it turns out, it really is in the middle of nowwhere!  It was worth the trip...and for those of you who really love the color Purple...these pictures are for you (you know who you are!!)  Rod opted out of this trip...and so did Mr. Zhou...so it was a girls day out and we had a ball!
Daisy, Sarah and Daisy's mother in front of Ziyan Lavender Garden entrance, outside of Shenyang, China

A view of the Lavender and Blue Salvia...soup for the Gardener's soul!

Sarah & Daisy in the purple flowers (not lavender here..not sure what it was but it was beautiful..and acres and acres of it!)

Cosmos flowers then acres and acres of the purple flower looking towards the entrance...a long way back there!

Sarah Miller in the purple flower patch!



Blue Salvia with the horse carriage in the background in the Lavender Garden outside of Shenyang

Daisy's mother in a rare (non-pose) photo in the Cosmos patch

Diasy in the Lavender garden outside of Shenyang

Sarah in the Lavender garden outside of Shenyang

A little Chinese boy climbing on the rocks in the lavender patch
To get an idea for the size of this place, I took a 360 degree video below.  I'm not sure what exactly has inspired this...or if the flowers will be harvested for some reason..so I just take it for it's face value of beauty and enjoyed every minute of it!  Two garden trips in 1 week...truly spoiling myself this week!

So, that's about it for today..I'll go back to work on Monday...but for now, and updates may get sparce again...so for now, I'm really enjoying some time off and sharing some scenes from China with you!

Until next time, thank you for your continued prayers and thoughts...we really do appreciate them!

Rod & Sarah

Friday, August 12, 2011

12 August 2011: The River Cruise Vacation in China


12 August 2011
Greetings all from hot, humid, sticky, overcast, hazzy,  North-eastern China!
Rodney and I just got back from a wonderful family vacation with my sister Patricia and her husband Tom on a visit around China!  We met them in Shanghai and then we all did a River cruise/tour of China together...the cruise/tour was nice and we got to see alot of China in 12 days...but the best part was to spend time with my family!!  As I write this, Tom and Patricia should be home in Florida, probably sleeping!
In this blog, I'll take you on the cruise tour here in China taking us from Shanghai on a flight to Wuhan then on a river boat from Wuhan to Chongqing on the Yangtze River, then flying again to Xian and finally flying up to Beijing...all in 12 days!  In the ~1.5 years we've been here, we really hadn't taken the time to tour the big sites...so we were just as touristy as anyone else!

We started off in Shanghai with trip to the Yu garden.  I've been there before, but it never disappoints!

One of the beautiful doorways in the Yu Garden

Rod & Sarah at the Yu Garden in Shanghai
The beautiful Yu Garden in Shanghai

The protective dragon in the Yu garden in Shanghai

Yu garden in Shanghai

After the Yu garden, we went to the Bund and then to a couple of "museums"...where everything in the "museum" just happened to be on sale!  It was hot and hazzy...a typical day in Shanghai in the summer!

The Pearl of Shanghai as seen from the Bund side of the river
Tom and Pat Hurley on the Bund in Shanghai

Sarah & Rod Miller on the Bund in Shanghai...I think Rod was saying something like "how many of this photo do we have to get?"!

Rodney..."His majesty the baby" sitting on a throne in a silk embroidery "museum"

Sarah & Rod Miller on the throne together in Shanghai
 After Shanghai, we took a flight to Wuhan where we would catch the river cruise boat and go up the Yangtze River.  Wuhan is one of the three 'furnace city on the Yangtze" (the other two are Changqing and Nanjing)...where, as the name implies, it's hot in the summer!  Wuhan's claim to fame is a tomb that was unearthed where they found alot of musical instruments, and specifically a big set of ceremonial bronze bells.
The bronze bells at Wuhan on display at a real museum.
The set is huge...check out the size of the people on the left of the photo


We attended a short performance of a small group of people playing replicas of the instruments found in the tomb...very nice!  The above video (if it ever gets finished uploading!) doesn't really do it justice, but you get the idea...

In Wuhan, we get on the boat..the name of the company we used was "Viking River Cruise".  It was recommended to us and we can recommend them as well.  The itinerary of the cruise is for adults...I would not recommend it for children...they would really be bored and there are not alot of activities on the boat...the time on the boat is meant for relaxation...and that is exactly how we found it!
The Viking River Cruise boat on the Yangtze River being loaded in Wuhan.  Capacity somewhere around 250
The big deal on the River cruise was seeing the 3 gorges that have been made navigatible due to the big dam project...and it is a big dam.  It's quite controversial still with people and entire villages being moved up the hillside so that they not under water!  Overall, I'm sure they have better living conditions...but I'm also sure it was hard to leave the land and village that has been home for generations.  In any case, I'm sure that the electricity that is generated by the hydro-electric plant is much needed to drive this country forward!
A boat next to the cruise ship going through one of the locks on the dam

Coming in or going out of one of the locks on the 3 gorges dam...can't remember which!


A view of part of the 3 gorges dam site from the 185m platform...this is just part of the dam..there are 5 locks total..notice the pretty gardens in between the locks...classy!

A view of the Yangtze River (muddy flood season in the summer)

More of the muddy Yangtze River and some dwellings along side

The level where a bridge used to be and some of the rolcated houses along the river...much better than before I'm sure

Some of the gorges along the Yangtze
Tom & Pat Hurley on the boat...raining as you can tell!

One of the new bridges across the gorge..the river will be about 30m higher during the winter...they keep it low during the summer flooding season!

Rain made for some beautiful waterfalls on the Yangtze
After the dam, we stopped at a pagoda where a dyke was built around the pagoda in order to protect it from being flooded.  The pagoda was actually just a set of steep steps to get up to a Buddhist temple on top of a big rock.  Trish and I climbed to the top (of course!) and we were ringing wet with sweat...but we were happy!
The Pagoda at Shibaozhai

View from inside the Pagoda to the landscape on the Yangtze River

Sarah and Patricia after climbing the steps to the top of the Pagoda...sweaty but happy to be together...and to be alive and well after the climb!
After the Pagoda the river cruise portion was really about over..and so we cruised on into Chongqing and while there, we visited the zoo, which had some Pandas!  They are so cute!
One of the Panda's munching on the bamboo..he was very content to just sit there and eat!

Patricia and Sarah at the zoo with the Panda eating in the background!
Rod Miller happy with the Panda eating behind him!
Chongqing is a big city...even by Chinese standards...in the city proper there are about 10 million..but add in the "greater Chongqing" area, and there are about 33 million people...wow!  It's known for it's hot spicy food...they say they eat hot spicy food to make them sweat in the summer so that they can cool off!  I don't know if it works or not, but they do have hot spicy food...they have peppers there that can make your mouth numb and others that cause blisters...I didn't try them!

After the zoo, we took a flight up to Xi'an.  In the evening, we went to a musical about the Tang (the 3rd dynasty in China, (618-907 ad) and Xi'an was the capital of China.  The Tang Dynasty, said to have been a very prosperous period for China and supposedly the fatter the person was, the more money he had, and consequently, the more admired they were (wish that were the case today!).  We saw a beautiful show about life in tang Dynasty which was beautiful!  Funny though...I didn't see any fat women  or men in the show!  For my friends in China reading this...if you want the information about this show, I have it..I highly recommend it!
A dinner theater show about the Tang Dynasty while staying in Xi'an

Some of the "concubines" in the Tang Dynasty show at Xi'an

The next morning, we went to see the Terra Cotta soldiers...what an amazing site!  The soldiers were all around the tomb of the 1st emporer of China, called the Qin dynasty era.  He started working on his tomb when he was only 14 years old...must have had quite an ego to have made this size of monument to himself!
Some of the soliders at Xi'an

Sarah and Patricia in front of the Terra Cotta soliders in Xi'an

Rodney, Tom, Patrica and Sarah in front of some of the soliders at Xi'an

A close up of one of the soliders...what a work or art to get the expressions!

Close up of a soldier

Another close up of a solider

Tom, Patricia, Sarah and Rodney under a shade tree outside...don't we look like tourists?!
After Xi'an, we took a flight to Beijing.  It seems like every flight we took in China was delayed...we sat for at least 1.5 hours on the aircraft for every flight...but we  all arrived safe and sound!
In Beijing, we went to a spot on the Great Wall....the Great Wall is an amazing piece of work...there were too many people for my taste...and I'm sure there are spots that are not crowded, but we went to the section that is one of the best preserved Badaling (I'm sure they tell this to all the tour groups!) .  Rod and I climbed up to several watch towers...and it is really a climb!  In some places there are steps, in others it is a ramp...but in all cases, it's steep!!
View of the Great Wall from one of the watch towers

Sarah & Rod taking a break on the climb up the wall!
Rod climbing the Great wall...with 10000 of our closest Chinese friends right beside us!

Rod climbing the wall...it's not raining...the Chinese women use sun shade umbrellas so that they will not get tanned!

A view of the wall from our highest vantage point...it goes on for over 5000 miles, starting at the border with North Korea all the way to the western parts of China.  It's not 100% contiguous, and it winds around several areas.  The same emperor that built  the soliders in Xi'an started the wall and the road system in China.
 After the Great Wall climb we were all worn out...but we had signed up for an excursion to see a sampling of Beijing Opera. I had heard on my Chinese language classes that Beijing Opera was a "must see", so I signed us up...it was very interesting...but I don't think I'll be going back again any time soon...I liken it to cats howling just before they go to the vet, or when two male tom cats are fighting...and I guess my ear is not tuned up to the eastern music tones yet...The costumes were really fascinating...but I can't really say the same for the music!  In the not so distant past, women did not go on stage, so all of the female roles were played by males...and they all sung in female ranges...I don't think it's the case today though...but that really didn't make much difference...I was still hearing the cats howl even after we left!
One of the actors in the Beijing Opera

Another scene from the Beijing Opera
The final day of the tour, we went to the Tienanmen square, the Forbidden City and the Summer Palace...and I think, so did every other Chinese person...what a hot,  crowded day!  I'm sure we'll go back, but not in the summer...I think either April or November would be good...and especially a day when the kids are in school!  There were too many people there to enjoy looking at the sights!
Sarah standing on Tienamen Square just in front of the Forbidden City (notice the picture of Mao in the background!)

A closeup of the little guys on the roof at the Forbidden city...there are always an odd number of guys (3,5,7,9) and the more figures, the higher ranking the building is...9 is for the Emperor only! Notice the blue skies in Beijing...this was a rare day for us...it was mostly overcast and hazzy!
Patricia in front of the Forbidden City on Tienanmen Square

The Throne room at the Forbidden City

Sarah and Patricia at the Forbidden City

Rod at the Forbidden City Garden

The boat ride at the summer palace.  It's really not a palace...it's a huge park with a nice lake...another place I would go back to , but not in the summer!

Sarah in front of the marble "boat"..it's a carved marble boat..interesting to look at, but that's about it!
After all of that touring, we were all exhausted!  It was soooo good to spend the time with my sister and her husband and of course now I'm really missing them...but hopefully they will come back and we can see some other sites on a more leisurely pace! We met alot of very nice people and got a good tour at each site from knowledgable tour guides.  But the best part, was spending time with my sister!

If you want information about the Viking River Cruise we did here in China, here's the link.
http://www2.vikingrivercruises.com/rivercruises/china-yangtze-beijing-shanghai-2012/itinerary.aspx

Take care everyone, and looking forward to some rest now before I go back to work!

Sarah & Rod