Shopping and Tripping

We started off the day by taking a short taxi ride to the bus stop in Lang Fang. This bus line is run by a private bus company, and they definitely have their own style. A common phenomenon here is the little flip-down seat, which is attached to the seat next to it. This increases the bus capacity by extra seats where there would normally be an aisle. Forget about aisles. You don’t get to have one when these buses are filled to capacity, which seems to be all the time. In the above photo, you see
Deedee, secretary and translator at Bethel, posing so I can actually show you what the bus looks like – but hey, isn’t she a cutie?

Once we were in Beijing, Deedee lead us to the subway and told us where to get off, also explaining how to retrace our steps and pointing to where we had to get the bus on the way back – of course it was across one of the wide, scary streets, near Beijing’s version of the World Trade Center. Cindy and I got off at the Forbidden City and decided to start our adventure there. We bought some water, in an attempt to stave off dehydration in the steamy heat, along with a kiwi popsicle thingy each, then purchased our ticket for the bargain price of 2 yuan. We soon discovered that this wasn’t as much of a bargain as it seemed, unless all you wanted to do was hang out on the grounds and not go into any of the buildings.

Then the incident happened. We were heading toward the stairs that lead to the Temple of the Worship of the Ancestors, when Cindy tripped and bonked her head on the stone step. It was because there was one of those nasty steps that’s about an inch thick and she just didn’t see it. She decorated the steps with her blood and we soon had an audience of about half a dozen young 20ish guys, who, before then, may never have seen a blonde bleed all over the place. One of them actually seemed quite concerned and tried to give her a plastic water bottle that had ice in it. She already had a tissue to pressed against it though, and we headed to the washroom for a clean-up job. Fortunately, she didn’t have a serious bonk that could have let to a concussion, but she wondered whether she might need to have a stitch. If any of Cindy's relatives are reading this - she really is fine. She has done a masterful job today (Sunday) of butterflying the wound shut.

After the incident, Cindy recovered enough to visit some of the buildings. We paid 10 yuan to enter the Temple of the Chimes, a place where they have the beautiful bells that you see in the photo. We hung out in there for quite a while as it was cool and they had some ancient artifacts behind glass, along with the display of the chimes.

The grounds of the Forbidden City are very open with lots of area paved with rectangular blocks of stone. The roofs are beautifully curved and many have gargoyles as you see in the photo. There are many variations on the dragon theme; my favorite is this piggy dragon, whose expression I am trying to imitate:)

We decided to walk next to a shopping area to look for a restaurant – we were beginning to get peckish, as Wallace (of Wallace and Gromit) would say. As we headed down Wangfujing Daijie, we noticed a big bookstore on the other side of the street with big signs advertising the new Harry Potter book - and soon after, we came upon a kiosk on our side of the street where folks were crowding around to buy their copies, hot off the press.

The search for the restaurant continued till we finally turned a corner and landed in front of one that looked like it had air conditioning, which was just as important as food at that point. It was 3pm so there were many lovely young girls standing around just waiting for someone to serve. The first thing they brought us, after the menu, was a couple of bandaids, as Cindy had a dribble of blood running down her temple, which we hadn’t noticed because of her bangs. Once she had taken another trip to the washroom, we settled on our choices and also figured it was time for a beer. I’m a real lightweight when it comes to alcohol, but I was so hot and sweaty that the Tsing Tao beer went down just like water. We had a yummy beef and green pepper dish, cooked with black bean garlic sauce and another chicken dish which had not enough chicken and WAY too much celery. The food was good, and we were refreshed after spending about an hour over our leisurely meal.

Later when we went into the huge Beijing version of Powell’s Books we discovered that the Harry Potter books people were buying were all in English. In the photo you see the front steps of the huge bookstore, with a bunch of young people - probably jabbering about their new copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The Mandarin version will not come out until December. Doesn't that make us look like total wimps in the language-learning department? How many of us could read the Mandarin version??

Earlier we got a kick out of an American guy, probably in his late 20s, sitting on the ground at the entrance to the Forbidden City, engrossed in his copy of Harry Potter. Harry is almost as popular as the ubiquitous Mao! (Just as an aside, my grandfather, when he first came to America, went into business with a fellow named…you guessed it: Harry Potter).

To be continued… by the way, email me if you have news from the states, email me at: tate.theresa@gmail.com

Home Shopping Network

When I was a little girl in Richmond B.C. we had the Chinese grocery man who came to our house with his little vegetable truck. My mother would go outside and pick out the vegetables she wanted – he would weigh them on the spot and she would pay him. His veggies were always wonderfully fresh and good. He was a very nice man with a strong accent and every Christmas time he would give us a present of candied ginger.

Yesterday we witnessed another variation on this theme. When Cindy and I arrived back home at #22, there was a creatively designed front half of a bike, with a cart attached, sitting in our driveway (check out the photo - would you call this a bart?). Plastic bags bulging with various kinds of vegetables and some melons filled the cart. The cook was there along with the vendor, who lifted a large old-style weighing scale down off his cart. She picked out the particular things she wanted, he weighed them and we helped her carry the plastic bags full of veggies into the house.

There is another variation on the bike theme that is very popular here. Cindy and I have wondered why we don’t have these nifty bikes in the States. They are electric, but you can also pedal them. You plug them in and charge up the battery – they are about the size of a moped, but much quieter. Why don’t we have them? Granted, they don’t have that wonderful, patented Harley Davidson growl, but they don’t pollute the atmosphere.

Take a whack at the rat!

Last night the 20-somethings organized an international food night and a piñata event. The food presented was Mexican (sort of) and Malaysian (closer to reality). Because tortillas cannot be purchased here, Theresa made crepes instead – and because cheese is a rarity, they used American processed cheese, purchased at the Walmart here (yes, Walmart is ubiquitous and everywhere present!) For the sake of expediency, the “cheese” was placed between two “tortillas” and placed in the microwave for a minute or so.

Now the salsa really was authentic, as they were able to find all the necessary ingredients, and it was delicious. There are no corn chips, so the salsa was eaten with potato chips, and of course, it was liberally spread on the “quesadillas.” Actually, it was all pretty tasty!

The Malaysian dish consisted of rice cooked in coconut milk, served with a hot sauce that had little fishies in it, hard boiled egg crumbled up, cucumber slices and salted, roasted peanuts for a garnish. Again, very tasty, although the little fishies were a bit questionable.

When the meal was completed and each child had washed his/her bowl and spoon, it was time for a little free-form play (including Chris whirling smaller kids around in a big disc thingy), very loud chatting, and digestion of food.

The piñata victim was a large pink rat with velvet green ears, googley eyes, and a long blue chenille pipe-cleaner tail to compliment his black pipe cleaner whiskers. The students created him in their arts and craft class. In the photo above, you see a close-up of said victim, held by LiQin.

Since there was nothing on the ceiling to hang the rat from, we suspended him from a stick held up by Guillaume on one end and Chris on the other. I held an end for a while, and was really thankful when Chris finished his turn at whacking and came back to his post.

This little guy turned out to be tougher than you would have imagined. In the initial stages he was whacked at with a rolled-up stick made of cardboard (see Lulu having a go with that weapon). When that didn’t even make a dent after many turns, we switched to the wooden drumsticks that go with the drum-set that sits in the corner of the dining/therapy/party room (see Yuan Yuan using the second weapon).

Many whacks later, the rat was still impervious to all this abuse, and the students started attacking with a vengeance, using banzai yells and extra heft. It reminded me a little of “Lord of the Flies” (kill the pig!). Finally the adult troupes had to be called in and Faguo Papa (French Papa) and Faguo Mama (French Mama) each had several whacks. Finally a dent appeared and then a hole – and it was downhill for Mr. Rat from there on in. In the final explosion, there was a matching explosion of kids who hit the floor scrambling for candy.

My daughter Sophie reminded me that children are usually blind-folded and turned around three times before they are allowed to take a whack. In our situation this was not necessary, needless to say, and in fact we showed the kids where the rat was so they'd have a fighter's chance at doing battle with him.

Following the candy grabbing scene, when the candy was safely in the hands of the nanny (except for that which had been consumed), a dance party ensued, with children ages 7 through 19 bouncing to the music, along with the 20-somethings. This was the time for the 50 and 60-somethings to exit state right and head upstairs where things were considerable quieter. We had reached our party limit.

The Little Room

OK - to get to the real reason Cindy and I are here: the work with blind children. One of the odd-shaped packages that I brought with me contained two 2-foot-square pieces of plexiglass and two matching pieces of pegboard, as I mentioned previously. These were for the construction of the “Little Room” which is used to encourage “active learning” in visually impaired babies. Blind babies do not have a sense of where things are, so parents often hand them toys, food and other things. Because of this, these babies don’t develop an awareness of the fact that they can and search for and discover things.

The Little Room provides a space where babies can reach out and explore things in safe environment where things are in predictable places. They can independently explore this space and discover things without the help of others. Also, they develop a sense of a contained space – their first experience of a “room.”

In the photos you see Cindy working on the construction of our little room. The frame is made of PVC pipe, which we also carted across the great waters, and the pegboard and plexiglass (with holes drilled in appropriate places) is held in place by plastic ties – the kind that ratchet up as tight as you like. We hung a set of metal measuring spoons, and a rubber yellow toy with a textured surface from the ceiling. Also, we placed a piece of shiny mylar paper on the side wall.

The little room should be in a quiet place where the baby is not distracted by noises and other movements in the larger room. The child we introduced to the little room is Dong Qiang (pronounced Chiang), who had a brain injury at the time of his birth. His is a complex situation, as he has a crooked esophagus and not much use of his right side. His nanny holds him much of the time and care has to be taken as he cannot independently clear his lungs. He is almost three years old.

When Dong Qiang was placed in the little room, he gurgled and smiled. The little room acts as an echo chamber, and he seemed to like hearing his voice slightly amplified. He moved his arms over his head and hit the yellow rubber toy - that hung from the ceiling - with his right elbow many times. He turned his head in the direction of the mylar and seemed to be attracted to the shininess of its surface. It is not completely clear whether or not Dong Qiang has any vision. We think he may have Cortical Vision Impairment, but this has not been diagnosed.


In the final photo you see Dong Qiang in the little room, beginning to interact with his new environment. He is an endearing little guy with an angelic smile. If you are in the habit of praying, please pray for this child.

If you would like to read more about the little room,from a parent who has experience with it, please click here.

Stormy weather

It’s Wednesday morning here and I’m experiencing something that’s a first for me. I went for a walk at 5:40 this morning and it was moist and overcast; there were large puddles on the ground from the rain last night. I came back “home” and, after cooling off for a while, took a shower. When I got out of the shower, I heard it start to rain – and that soon became a downpour, tropical style. Then the sky went dark, and I mean, dark as night. It is now 7:30 and still dark – so dark that I have to have the light on to see what I’m doing. Wow – this must be what a tropical storm is like – except that Beijing isn’t in the tropics. Maybe we are on the edge of a typhoon? When I find out, I’ll let you know.

Now to backtrack. When I got to Bethel on Saturday night, I met the delightful group of 20-somethings that are here. Two young Chinese men, Isaac and Jude, work for Bethel. They were playing cards with the volunteers: Chris and Miriam, who are getting married in October, and three Chinese-American girls from California: Theresa, Shuli, and Rosa. I sat and chatted with them for a while, then did my nesting thing – putting away clothing etc. It was comforting that my bed from last year was vacant, so I could slip into a familiar spot for my first snooze in China ’07.

Arriving at Bethel on Saturday night worked very well, since Sunday is very quiet around here. By the time I woke up, everyone had gone to church, so I continued to settle in and get organized. Later in the day, the girls and Jude asked if I wanted to come with them to eat a late lunch at a restaurant in Lang Fang. We were unable to talk the taxi driver into taking all 5 of us, so had to call another cab.

When we got to the restaurant, a discussion ensued regarding what everyone liked and didn’t like – I think the jargon for this is consensus-building. I was a happy observer of this process: “I like everything, except sea-urchin.” Eventually it was decided that we would have lian yu – some kind of white fish – with garlic, onions, yams, carrots, red pepper, all cooked together with a delectable sauce that had honey, ginger and a bunch of unknown but delicious ingredients.

All of this was placed in a pot with a glass lid and put on a burner in the middle of the table next to ours. When it was cooked, the waitress put it on the burner in the center of our table and turned the heating element to simmer. We each had our little bowl of steamed rice to compliment the rich flavor of the fish dish – YUM!

When we were finished with this round, the waitress came with a kettle full of beef stock, which she added to the pot to water down the sauce, which was now quite thick from having bubbled along as we ate. Next we threw in some slices of sweet potato and those long skinny-stemmed Japanese mushrooms with the tiny white caps. This combo bubbled along for about 10 minutes while we chatted and then it was time to toss in the spinach-type Chinese greens (not sure which kind). This round was just as delicious. I want to take Cindy back there and repeat this experience, but language skills are a problem. Maybe I can talk one of the Mandarin-speakers into doing a repeat.


This is a photo of Jude and Shuli enjoying the meal. The top photo shows two Theresas who are both teachers:)

In spite of an impending typhoon

Among the many perks of first class travel, my favorite is probably the seats that lie completely flat (or very close to it). The only problem with this is the complex set of buttons that one has to operate in order to adjust the seat: one set of buttons that makes the foot thingy go up and down, and one that makes it get longer or shorter; one for your lumbar region; one that adjusts the up and down of the back of the seat; one that moves the part under your butt forward and backward – are you as confused as I am? Aside from those, there are two very special buttons that make the chair go completely flat or into a lounge position. At one point I dissolved into a state of hysterics and had to ask my neighbor, Mike, for assistance, which he kindly gave.

Notable was the fact that there was a sharp increase in the quality of the food on the leg from Japan to China. The main meal on the flight that departed Portland featured hunk-o-beef (Mike had the halibut which looked better) – and some succotash-type stuff with shriveled corn. The meat was OK – but overcooked (of course) – and the Ben and Jerry’s Cherries Garcia with the Godiva cookie was the best part of the meal.

Soon after leaving Tokyo we dined - with little white tablecloths laid neatly over our tray tables - on yummy salad rolls, a nice fresh salad with crispy lettuce, thinly sliced teriyaki beef (yes, I was stocking up on my beef intake in preparation for the rare appearance of meat in China) – and for dessert an adorable little ramekin of panna cotta served with papaya and kiwi slices.

The flights went very smoothly, in spite of the mention of a typhoon south of Japan by the captain – but not to worry…

The most exciting part came when I got to Beijing and there was no one in sight from Bethel. Absent was the cheerful face holding up the sign “Bethel…Theresa Tate.” Not to panic. Think Theresa, you have considered this possibility, now act rationally.

I wandered up and down for a while, thinking the driver must just be late, but after about 10 minutes, decided to call Guillaume. The first attempt, using my credit card in the public phone failed miserably. Then I remembered the cute Chinese girls with their bright blue uniforms that work for China Mobil. I bought a phone card from one of them and, after a couple of tries, managed connect with Guillaume. He called Han Chuen, the driver, on his cell phone and found that he was at the wrong terminal, which was relayed to me when I called him back. Soon Han and I were face to face and I was ready for the usual harrowing drive from Beijing to Lang Fang.

The photo reveals two gorgeous young Chinese couples who are very excited about KFC!!