Farewell Banquets

On Tuesday, June 18th there was a banquet for the foreign teachers of Nanjing University. I was still in the hospital but Bob managed to get there. They presented all the foreign teachers with certificates and gifts.

On Thursday, Dr. Wong, the head of the Department for Applied Foreign Studies, held a dinner for Connie Slater and I who both teach in that department. Dr. Wong, our husbands and several of the Chinese teachers in that department were there. Again they presented us with gifts.

Friday evening two of the teachers from the law department took Bob and I out for dinner at a restaurant that serves authentic Nanjing food.

Gulou Hospital

Well, no adventure in China is complete without a four week stay in the hospital and unfortunately I managed this feat.

I had a private, air conditioned room that had wireless internet. The Doctors and nurses were very professional. The Doctor who was head of the department (gerontology) spoke excellent English and the Doctor that looked after me also spoke English although I had a hard time with some of her pronunciation. In China they believe in long hospital stays. They insist that antibiotics have to be given IV. I would still be there if I hadn’t insisted on getting out.

The nurses all wore the cute little caps like my mother wore when she nursed. They wore white or pale blue dresses, but instead of the long white stockings my mother wore they wore pants underneath the dresses. Many of the nurses were young and spent a lot of time giggling when they were in my room. They didn’t speak a lot of English, but had a paper with some English translations on it. They would go down the paper and find something such as, “Are you nervous?” and read it to me. I would say, “Yes” and they would look at their list again and read, “Don’t worry. You are in good hands.” and they would giggle.

The patients in the hospital wore pyjamas (color coded by the department) and not the gowns worn in Canadian hospitals.

Being in the hospital was a good way to get my daughter to come to China and spend 10 days with me. It was certainly good to have her there.

From my hospital window I could see the building that will be the 8^th tallest building in Asia when it is finished.

Taiping Heavenly Kingdom

The Chinese government has not seen fit to unblock blogspot, so I am sending this to my son in the hope that he will post it for me.

On the 19th May we visited the Taiping Museum. Here is a bit of history about the Taipings.

During the Qing Dynasty (1644AD to 1911AD) a Hakka called Hong Xiu Quan (1814AD to 1864AD) founded the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom (1851AD to 1864AD). He titled himself Tian Wang (Heavenly King), the Second Son of God and the
Younger Brother of Jesus Christ.

Hong Xiu Quan (1814-1864) was the son of a farmer and an aspiring Chinese bureaucrat. He came under the influence of Christian missionaries, and reached the conclusion that he was the younger son of Jesus sent to found the Heavenly Kingdom on earth. Faced with the collapse of Qing dynasty rule (under Western onslaught), Hong tapped into the deep millenarianism (belief in a coming ideal society and especially one created by revolutionary action) of the Chinese peasantry (previously expressed in Buddhist terms) and began a rebellion - the Taiping Rebellion.

Lasting from 1851 to1864 the rebellion took control of large areas of south and central China, including the southern capital of Nanjing. There a theocratic ¬military government was established.

Although it was millenarian in form, the Taiping leaders adopted many policies which would later become the marks of modernizers in China: prohibition of opium ¬smoking, gambling, the use of tobacco and wine, polygamy, the sale of slaves, and prostitution. They promoted the equality of the sexes: they abolished foot-binding and appointed women as administrators and officers in the Taiping army. They also tried to abolish the private ownership of land and property, and they developed a program for the equal distribution of land.

As the movement developed Hong became more and more an Emperor and less and less a religious leader.

The impetus of the movement suffered greatly as Hong withdrew from active control of policies and administration in 1853. His sanity progressively eroding he devoted himself to meditation and more sensual pursuits, including his private harem. The failure of the movement to secure European support or that of the middle classes was another blow. The Heavenly Kingdom was eventually defeated by the imperial forces who were helped by Europeans. The imperial army consisted of 2 million to 5 million regulars along with hundreds of thousands of regional militias and foreign mercenaries operating in support. Among the imperial forces was the elite “Ever Victorious Army”, consisting of Chinese soldiers led by a European officer corps (Frederick Townsend Ward and Charles Gordon).

The museum did not have much to say about the religion behind the Heavenly Kingdom and emphasized the military conquests.

Welcome Rain

Starting on Thursday the 8th May we had above 30 degree C. weather for four straight days. The following Monday about 9:00 p.m. it started to rain and for the next few days the temperature was down in the 20 degree C. Range. It rained a bit. By Friday again it was getting very hot, but during the night it started to rain and rained all day Saturday and the temperature was much more comfortable.

On the 8th and 9th we heard many firecrackers in the mornings because there were weddings those days. The 8th is considered a good day for a wedding because in Chinese eight sounds like wealth. Nine sounds like long so the 9th is also considered a good day for marriages. A Chinese would not get married on the 4th because it is considered unlucky. Four sounds like death in Chinese. The Friday before was a national holiday so there were also quite a few weddings then.

On the wedding morning the groom goes to the bride’s home and carries her back to his home (actually he piggybacks her out to the car and drives). Her feet aren’t allowed to touch the ground between her home and his. They set off firecrackers when they go to the bride’s home and maybe when they get to the groom’s home. Weddings used to be at the groom’s home and were very small but now often the marriage takes place at the restaurant where they hold the reception.

Red is the colour for marriages. Both families decorate their homes in red and the bride is often married in red. Pictures are taken in the weeks before the wedding and for the pictures the bride often wears the typical white western wedding dress.

A wonderful thing happened this week. We found the foreign bookstore in Nanjing. I bought four paperbacks.

Tuesday we went out for Mexican food and Friday to Poppa John’s Pizza (American ingredients and American prices).

Saturday I was the deputy chairman for a model UN conference. It was interesting. I have never had anything to do with MUN before.

The Chinese government blocked out youtube starting in March and this week they blocked Blogspot, so if this gets posted it will be because of one of my children did the posting for me.

Here are a couple of pictures of the campus that we teach at:

The hill behind the Campus

A square in the middle of the building

The view from the bus stop Rocks with uneven surfaces are considered attractive in China.

Working Methods

Hauling Away Branches Trimmed from Trees

Load of Branches from the Back

Scaffolding

Crane Above the Scaffolding

Tree Support

Take Time to Smell the Roses

In the spring a young man's fancy

In the spring a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love.
Alfred Lord Tennyson