Shantou Shuffles

2008-09-15T20:52:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a very long day. The famous doctor Lorne Tyrell has been visiting Shantou University over the past few days. His visit was a great honour to the University as he developed a treatment for Hepatitis B called Lamivudine, which has helped millions of Chinese people. Due to that honour, he has been treated very well, and, yesterday, we were taken along with him to see an old Chinese house.

We were picked up in a van and were taken up a mountain road through rural villages nearby. Great care was taken to make sure we had both air conditioning and water. Dr. John Chui acted as somewhat of a tour guide, telling stories of Chinese history and culture along the way. He is a kindly, serious man who works for the University of Alberta and is a representative to Shantou university.

Here is a dam to a reservoir that we saw along the way. The reservoir on the other side - in all truth a natural lake - was very large.

We saw some light industry along the way as well. China is full of construction. In fact, I have been told that the China Construction Bank is now the largest bank in the world. And it's believable - there seems to be building everywhere you look:

Here are some pics to give you an idea of the rural life in China (a bit, anyway) ...

We were told on the way that much of the farmland in China is terraced, and consists of smaller, single-family farms. Some rice, some vegetables. John Chui was explaining that although there is a push in the West to introduce mechanized farming into foreign countries, it probably wouldn't work in China, since the farm plots were so small, and could not really be increased, particularly in the case of terraced land, or rice patties. Rice patties have the extra issue of being flooded with water, and therefore not being suitable to large machines.

So, after about an hour of driving, we arrived at this 400 year old house. It was from the Ming dynasty - one of the few remaining houses of its kind, and perhaps the best preserved. For the most part, I think the pictures speak for themselves:

The original octagonal shape was apparently based upon Feng Shui beliefs; however, it was also the first design of this type to be truly stable. Previously, circular designs were used, but were not structurally sound. There were originally 600 people living in these houses.

A little Engrish:
This is awell that has since been covered up. Still, all the residents use wells for their water, and interestingly, not a child has been lost in 400 years. Steps are built into the sides of the wells to allow one to climb out if you fall in. Also, I have a feeling the purple plant below is non-photosynthetic, meaning it doesn't get energy from the sun. It may be feeding on a fungus in the ground (!). For those of you who just rolled your eyes, I apologize ... I am helplessly interested in the world!

Here you see Doctor Chui and Dr. Lorne Tyrell:
Not a nail was used in the construction of these buildings!
Here is the door to the lovers' quarters - a room for privacy:

This is one of the wells in the centre of the small village:
This machine was used to take the husks off of the rice harvested in fields nearby:
This is Jana, my teaching buddy here at the U, operating an old rice ... well, I don't know the name of it. It was used to pound rice and make it useful for eating in some way:
Sortof an apron, used for protecting oneself when cooking the rice, since they blow apart ... I believe this is the way they removed the rice husks.
An oven of a sort:
Some rice-milling equipment:
These containers were used to keep food fresh, or atleast so that insects could not get at them:
A wood stove:
An old style of bed:
Dinner with the folks. Beside the server are Dr. Chui and Karen - one of our lovely administrative/research friends.
(we actually went to a hospital before the old village, but I will report on that later ;) )

First days - Sept.4-6

2008-09-09T22:49:00.001-07:00

The plane lifts quickly, slowly, skyward. That age old contract between my belly and that of the Earth appears, for a split second, to disappear. A fire of change burning through Newton’s scrolls, freedom, then with a lurch of the stomach, reality descends again. And with this new reality, I remember those that I am leaving: beautiful souls that become a dream until they once again enter my life in a few months.

Rising, rising, piercing through the clouds, a veil between this life and the next. That strange function of memory and perception, now twisted, discoloured, as if a new stream enters this consciousness, lending its floating sediments. And now, I am stuck in-limbo for a time, at once excited about new experience, at once sad about what I have left behind.

Vancouver then hong Kong. Hong Kong: a city of wealth. A twenty minute sky-train runs to the city from the airport, although we do not have time to take it. Everyone speaks English it seems, is well dressed and the first class in-between flight lounges are lavish. “The best in the world,” I am told by Dr. John Chui with whom I am travelling to China.

We board the next flight and after a quick passs of ocean interceded by white and black clouds, we fly over Shantou. From the air, Shantou appears a multi-coloured expression of life. Tall skyscrapers in one patch, run-down huts in farmers’ fields in another, old-boarded-up building in another. All together in this city, all in the present, yet the tides of change seem to have swept inequally, leaving a patchwork-quilt effect.

We land, pick up our luggage and go through customs. The lady at customs seems concerned with the fact that my passport picture shows me with a beard which I no longer have, and pauses to make sure that I am indeed the owner. After we collect our luggage, I leave the cart a few meters behind the van we are taking to the University due to guard rails surrounding the parking lot. Dr. Chui runs back and tells me it is not good to leave luggage unattended.

At lunch, we are taken to a restaurant where we pick from a large selection of newly-butchured seafood. A fish head squirms and, thinking this novel and surprising for foreigners, Dr. Chui takes a picture for me. The lunch is delicious – a many coarse meal of many types of seafood: fish, prawns, oyster omelette all as a complement to the local specialty – duck. I learn it is always polite to serve others before yourself. Also, the head of the table (which is circular), is seated facing the door. Generally the host or most important guest, the head is then surrounded radially by people of decreasing stature. I am told it is best to wait for someone to seat me. I also learn the word for thank you.. It is xie xie (she-eh, she-eh).

After lunch, I am taken to wal-mart. A break of ethics for me, certainly. I buy all the necessities – some small amounts of food, tea, sweets, laundry detergent, soap, razor. I learn that bank cards don’t really work, so I will need to topen a new acccount and wire my money in.

My new apartment is a small one-bedroom. It takes about 1/2 hour to get the electricity and water on, and then, due to a fuss about my having no blinds or laundry machine, I am taken to the medical school guest houses. The rooms there are quite nice – like a hotel. My instruments were left in the old room in a closet since I was told that the new room would be in a hostel.

We are now rushed to dinner for which we are late, where I meet Dr. Frieda Law, her assistant Maggie, and the other English teachers at the medical school. The food was excellent, and the company was good. The greatest challenge of the meal was holding my eyes open. I was very tired from the 24-hour flight and all of the change made my mind thirsty for sleep and dreams.

And now, I am escorted back to my quarters by tour bus and given a temporary cell-phone. My body rejoices in the immediacy of sleep.

Pics from First week

2008-09-09T06:28:00.000-07:00

Construction of the new dormitory:

A couple signs :P :

Some pics from the park and reservoir on campus:

A funny sign :P :

Construction of the new library:

The Newbies arriving:

A Flower Garden:

One of the dormitories:

A walk through the park:

Construction of the new dorm:

Top of the wall surrounding the U:

Park just outside of my current dorm:

Construction of the new dorm:

Construction of the new library, again:

Welcome!

2008-09-09T06:02:00.000-07:00

So for you haven't heard - I'm in China. Yes, China. With three weeks notice, I was thrown a plane ticket and visa and asked to pack my bags.

I arrived in Shantou, China four days ago on Saturday, September 6.