I am thankful to be home in the USA, but I know that I will always have a special place in my heart for the people and places of China.
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I smile every time I see this picture. When I translate from English to Mandarin (using online translator of course), I always wonder if what I write causes my Chinese friends to chuckle.
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Unforgettable? I’m 62 years old, and I have a lifetime of unforgettable moments; I had not truly appreciated that fact until I started to look for images to post for Jakes’s Sunday Post.
I now realize that I am blessed to have had far too may unforgettable moments to post on this blog.
Unforgettable: the first time I opened the blanket to touch Baby Elle’s little toes three years ago. (“Image by Mona” … nope my son/her daddy took this shot.)
Unforgettable: All of the incredible moments I am fortunate enough to spend with her as she grows into a remarkable little girl.
Unforgettable: If you’ve followed my blog for any time at all, you know that I spent the past two summers working and playing in China, part of it trekking about by myself. The first summer, when I was 60, I took a night-train from Shanghai to Beijing alone and toured the major sites with an English-speaking tour group. The second summer, I spent a week alone in Shanghai. This might not be that remarkable to those of you who are seasoned travelers, but it is quite UNFORGETTABLE and remarkable for me because this was my first time out of the United States.
Unforgettable: An invitation to dinner in a private home in Feicheng, Shandong Province, China. What’s even better is that we were allowed to “help” in making the dumplings.
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Posted in: Sunday Post
I surreptitiously watched card games and Mahjong games being played on make-shift tables on sidewalks all over Shanghai and Feicheng. The players, seated on small collapsible stools, spent hours at their games.
I was disappointed that I was never able to get a picture.
At the end of my stay in Feicheng, I had a few hours to wander in the park across from our hotel, and finally got my shot, not of cards or Mahjong, but something equally absorbing. The haze of cigarette smoke drifted amidst the men who were so focused on the game that they took no notice of me or my camera.
I arrived in this beautiful city last night and have enjoyed walking in the streets around my hotel. The skies are cloudy, hinting of rain; however, I have not yet seen a drop. I am savoring the food as I had not found a single restaurant in Phoenix that serves authentic Chinese food and I have missed the delicious flavors and textures of the dishes here.
The shot below is from my stay here last summer. I am looking forward to roaming the city with my camera in hand again.
When I was in Beijing, I chose the Mutianyu Great Wall over the Badaling Great Wall because it was advertised as less crowded. I had seen incredible shots of endless vistas revealing the immense structure snaking across the mountain ridges and looked forward to capturing similar images.
However, it was not to be as a fierce storm set upon us … actually, when I was alone on top of the wall. For a few minutes, when I was standing at a juncture, with the rain falling in sheets and lightning painting the sky much too close for my comfort, I did not know which way to turn. I had moments of true concern (fear?) thinking of the tour van leaving at the scheduled time while I wandered in the pelting rain on top of the mountain.