Title of Blog:  Backtracking to Quianling Park Adventure, Guiyang

Gentle Reader,

Amidst all the flurry of teaching, several adventures have not yet been recorded.  This will be an attempt to partially catch up. 

About two weeks ago, we sent to Quianling Park, along with Li when he was here.  This park is famous for its rhesus monkeys, which hang out on the mountains and interact with the visitors on a very regular basis.  They are known to snatch food and cameras right out of people's hands.  It is amazing how close they come to the visitors, even eating food right out of one man's hands.  He had a sack of apples, especially for the monkeys.  One even climbed on top of the man's head and just hung out there for a while, until he had his fill of apples.  There are periodic resports of these lively monkeys biting people, especially when park goers get a tad too close to a mama monkey and her young.

We also experienced climbing up to the temple.  Incense floated gracefully through the air, and there was a feeling of great calm and peace surrounding the temple.  Li took us into one of the prayer spaces, demonstrating how to bow to the chanting of several monks.  We watched numerous people, including Li, try to take nine blindfolded steps up to the Nine Dragons sculpture.  If one succeeded in walking up to the wall and touching the medallion beneath the child version of the main god, one would receive good luck.  Li succeeded

Scott and Li valiantly climbed even further up the mountain, beyond the temple.  Ah, yes, another zipline moment... and a climb of bonding for the two of them.

We also encountered another "yuen fen" moment upon entering and exiting the park.  An 83 year old man named Camel approached us, wanting to chat us up with his excellent English.  He remembers the Flying Tigers coming over when the Japanese had invaded China.  Camel was about 15 at the time, and he was very fond of the Flying Tigers.  Nowadays, he has an "English Corner" near the entrance of the park, which is a gathering place for anyone who wants to practice their English skills.  To our surprise, he whipped out his harmonica and started playing American songs... asking us to join him in the singing.  He played "My Country Tis of Thee, "  the Marine Corps March, and "Something in the Cold Ground," which we recognized as another old American folk song, but I can't think of the name right now.  Anyway, as we sang away about "sweet land of liberty" in China, a huge crowd gathered.  For a moment, we felt like the monkeys on the mountain.  Anywhere we go, a crowd tends to gather... mostly out of curiosity, often out of a chance to try out their English on the foreigners.  Camel was so kind and so gracious, and he gave us his harmonica sheet music to thank us for joining him in the songs...

Yet another adventure at the park involved an old man with a calligraphy brush attached to a broomstick-like handle.  I will write more about this part of the journey in an upcoming blog...

Oh... and the lotus flowers are so very lovely...

Till then, my friends...

Namaste,

Mei Lan