Barbara & Bruces' Asia Adventures continue (China, Hong Kong and Korea too!!!!)

Yin Yang- the Importance of Balance/Harmony We have been back about 2 weeks, my/our jet lag has abated, I no longer have to remind myself to make sure there is enough- or any- toilet paper before squatting or sitting.  And  that it is now perfectly fine (in fact expected) to put the used paper into the toilet itself, rather than the handy wastepaper basket that is usually near-by. (Cultural note, while the term ‘toilet’ might be considered a bit too ‘personal’ in the US, it is the English term used in China.. .and perhaps not as confusing as the term ‘bathroom’ that is used in the US).   We were welcomed back home by unusual and extremely hot weather combined with horrible air quality, although I suspect our time in Beijing made it seem not quite as intense, in comparison (sometimes distant buildings visible the day before had disappeared into the smoggy air by the next day).  I have been continuing my learning and reading about cultural differences betw...

China has changed so much in the past several generations, since 1949: first, wrenching social, political, economic, and family changes under Mao, until his death in 1976.  Then the "opening up" of China from 1978 to now, when China grew from a poor country to the second largest economy in the world, and lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty while becoming a key power in exporting its products to much of the world (including the U.S., raisin  U.S. concern about trade and deficits with China in political debates today).  How has this affected the dreams of the young? The painting at right (in the Shanghai History Museum) depicts (perhaps in a rather nostalgic and idealistic sense) the work of young women in the cotton weaving and cloth industry which was a key part of Shanghai's economic strength in earlier times.  In this past generation, young women (often those who've left the rural villages and farms) are still important in the now-industrial...

I'm trying to sort through what religious faith and practice play in China.  Are there practices and beliefs and traditions in which people take pride?  Which the government discourages, even seeks to suppress--or at least tries to manage?  Which though banned may be growing? Here I'll try to share more of my questions and experiences than my answers; I have more of the former than the latter. At left is the Dongyue Temple here in Beijing, the largest Taoist Temple in northern China.  Taoism is said to have become an organized philosophical and religious system several centuries before the "Common Era" or Christian Era, growing out of earlier indigenous Chinese traditions of shamanism and beliefs about human relationships with the natural world.  In this photo above, we see a very old tree, over half a millennium old, on which people in a Chinese tour group are leaving small red wooden markers with prayer requests. What drew my attention in particular...

While Bruce has been busy exploring the huge city of Beijing (and discovering new places I will want to see at some point!!) I have been busy teaching a 3-day workshop on relationships and intimacy. WHEW, if you are wondering what I as an older, Western, American woman have to say about relationships to younger women in China, I was also wondering the same thing. Here are some thoughts and impressions, now that the workshop has finished (Note: These are my impressions of young Chinese women, so there is still a lot I don’t know.)  Bruce at DongYue Daoist Temple I didn’t take a lot of photos in the workshop, but I included some photos from other settings, since this is a longer and wordy blog entry.  The focus of a workshop on relationships and intimacy is daunting: what kinds of relationships? Parents and children? Intimidating supervisors? A friend to whom  you would like to become closer? Deepening or changing the relationship you already have with ...

We are often drawn to China's youth.  Barbara has been doing some of her work here with young people, and so there's a real if brief connection, particularly because coming of age people have been important in both our lives in our teaching and friendships for so long.  But of course we are drawn to the kids we see--on the subway with a grandparent, in the parks--and in the museums, such as the (wonderful) Shanghai Natural History Museum at left (kids are the smaller creatures in the photo at left, looking up in some awe at the larger creatures done in real-life size (some even move and make plausible sounds!). As a former science geek (I went to college to become an astronomer), I found the museum so well done and informative--accounts of the creation of the universe, the plausible origins of human beings (which the little girl in the photo at right is drawn to), the variety of very small and large creatures in the past and present, all were very up to date.  The ...

We've been Beijing for several days now, and Barbara's already enjoyed doing a workshop with local college students (see her posting about that).  But we've also been wandering about and exploring, and of course in a city this large and interesting and with so much history there's still much we've yet to explore. The last two days we've walked along two large lakes just northwest of the center of Beijing (the "center" defined by the Forbidden City and Tienanmen Square).  We visited both the historic Bell Tower and Drum Tower (in the photo to the right we see Barbara at the Bell Tower), each of which involves climbing a whole lot of steep steps to get to the main attractions within (bells and drums).  These sites are centuries old, and were still in use into the early 20th century as a way to keep time in the central city before more modern methods came into use.  The Chinese people seem very proud of their long and deep history, still visible toda...