Rural China

Happy B-Day Dad!!! We hopped a train to Qing Xian (Green County) in the Hubei province. About 1 hour and 45 minutes away. The ride was fun!! Bob & Fran sat with some Chinese and gave an English lesson to an eager learner. We took a taxivan to the village, Dai Zhaung Zi. The village was quite interesting. Brick houses, muddy, dirty, no sanitation (like ours). chickens, goats and cows... Saw "Tom's" clinic that he visits once a week. Very minimal. Walked around inthe villae and visited a 74 year old lady who broke her hip 5 months before and basically was on her death bed. No money for an operation. Very sad, but a typical situation. Got to see the house. This house we went in had electricity and an TV. Each house has a 'gate' into a courtyard and then into the kitchen and bedroom. The children were curious and some were scared. We also saw the village mosque. Rather large. Most people are farmers and sell on the side of the street and to distributors.

We were asked by the village doctor to stay to lunch but we were committed elsewhere. We had an excellent lunch with lamb, beefstew, pork and the tops of garlic, some spicy chicken and wcucumbers. Good stuff. We met a collegue of Tom's, Simon, a British nurse. Very good at Chinese! I brought up Red Dwarf and he laughed. This may sound gross but I successfully used the squaty potty!!! Yay for me!!! We then went to a Dr.'s office to cool down and wait before we got on the train to get back to Tianjin.

The one thing that keeps coming to my mind about sharing is guanxi or relationships. That is what it's all about. Developing relationships with others, no matter where you are in Waco, Texas or halfway across the world in China.

We hopped a train and got back to Tianjin. We took a taxi back and home and rested a bit. We then met another brother of Tom's. Michael. He was about 22 or 23 and is leaving for the states on August 1. He's going to Clemson, SC to study economics. We all had dinner together. Had an interesting dish where the fish looked like a blooming onion. VERY GOOD!!! Afterwards we said goodbye to Michael and walked around a bit.

We saw a small group of people on the corner of the street with paper objects and money and then they burned it. There is a belief that when someone dies, you burn items that the person needs for the afterlife, like money, food, clothes, shoes, cell phones... Isabella told me this, but it didn't really sink in until I saw it with my own eyes. There are shops where you can buy these paper items. Very interesting and sad too.