A Joke: Advice To Retire

A bit of advice for those about to retire. If you are only 65, never move to a retirement community. Everybody else is in their 70s, 80s, or 90s. So when something has to be moved, lifted or loaded, they yell,'Get the kid.'

Fathers Then & Now

Today, I read a story about fathers are much different than 100 ago. The author make some listing to compare what they are different.
1. In 1900, if a father put a roof over his family’s head, he was a success.
Today, if takes a roof, garden decking, swimming pool, and a 4-car garage. And that’s just the vacation home.
2. In 1900, fathers passed on clothing to their sons.
Today, kids wouldn’t touch Dad’s clothes if they were sliding naked down an icicle.
3. In 1900. fathers said, “A man’s home is his castle.”
Today, they say, “Welcome to the monkey pit.”
4. In 1900, when fathers entered the room. Children often rose to attention.
Today, kids glance up and grunt, “Dad, you’re invading my space.”
5. In 1900, fathers and sons would have hear-to-heart conversations while fishing in a stream.
Today, fathers pluck the headphones off their sons ears and shout. “WHENＹＯＵHAVEＡMINUTE…”
I think comapre to 100 years ago, father are much like firend today. But they also have much more pressure, obligation...

Visit to minority area of Guizhou Province

One of my clients just returned from a trip to the minority area (Mainly Miao and Dong minority) of Guizhou province, southwest China. He was impressed
by the harmony relationships between neighbors. Local people take care of each others. The client wrote:” It was in stark contrast with what we heard in the Hong Kong airport about the USA, reports of Americans buying guns in record numbers to protect their goods during the current economic downturn”.

I recalled my trip to the same area in 2006. We visited the unique sheltered bridges and drum towers of Dong people. We even attended the New Year celebration of local Miao people in a small village. The Miao people are famous for their traditional costume. All the female will dress in traditional costume.



We visited many villages of either Miao or Dong people, all those local people lived peacefully. They all have a strong awareness of the importance of environmental protection. They pursue harmony between the man and the nature. To keep the balance between population and nature resource
, they even take some measures to control the growth of population.

A Visit to Shanghai (2)

Our next destination was the Bund, which extends from Jinling Road in the south to the Waibaidu Bridge in the north, is 1.5 kilometers in length along the Huangpu River. There are 52 buildings in different styles to its west, such as the Gothic style, the Baroque style, the Roman style, the classical style and the Renaissance style. No wonder why it is honored as a "World Architectural Fair". Astonishingly, all the buildings, harmonious in color and overall size, make up a distinctive art deco, avoiding anything of clutter. Among them, the Shanghai Building, the Bank of China, Peace Hotel, East Wind Hotel are particularly famous. A retaining wall for flood control, 771-metre long, with a spacious walkway for sightseeing atop, is a good place for a leisurely stroll and a view of the Huangpu River. Paved with colorful tiles, dotted with flower-beds and European-style garden lights, it is Shanghai people’s favorite place for talking love. Roaming it, we intoxicated at the elegance and romance of the Bund.

Leaving the Bund with reluctance, we proceeded to the Nanjing Road, famous as "the First Commercial Street in China", stretching from the Bund to Yanan Xilu. It is said that a man who doesn't reach the Nanjing Road might not be considered as being to Shanghai. We passed the commemorative square at the crossroad on Nanjing Road, featuring an elegant fountain and the statue of Chen Yi, the first mayor of Shanghai in new China. After ten-minute walk, we arrived at the shopping paradise. Nanjing Road, firstly getting its name in 1865, is divided in into East Nanjing Road and West Nanjing Road by Tibet Road. Undergoing significant development during more than one hundred years, it has ranked one of the most prosperous commercial streets in Asia with thousands of shops erecting on both sides. There are big traditional stores with century-long history as well as the modern shopping malls, specialty stores, theatres, and international hotels. For shopping convenience, its eastern end has an all-weather pedestrian arcade. We couldn’t help indulging us in the enjoyment of shopping and returned home fully-loaded! Wonderful!

The delicious Shanghai cuisine is also irresistible to us. After crazy shopping, we reached a renowned restaurant in Shanghai: Mei Long Zhen Restaurant at Nanjing Road to try a lot of Shanghai local specialties, such as Sponge Cake Made by Lard and Fruits, shi zi tou (a kind of meatball), Shanghai dumplings and Cold Noodle with Sauce. Shanghai people have a "sweet tooth", so do I. Therefore I was full with satisfaction, totally forgetting that I was on a diet.

Shanghai, what a fascinating city it is!

A visit to Shanghai

Shanghai, located in the middle of China’s eastern coastline, the biggest multi-culture metropolis in China, attracts millions of visitors home and aboard. I always dreamed of experiencing this fascinating city personally and my dream of Shanghai came true at 1st Dec 2007.

Visits to the Nanpu Bridge, the Bund, and Nanjing Road were included in our itinerary that day. Led by the guider, we headed to our first stop: Nanpu Bridge. On our way, we found that buildings in Shanghai soared fairly high, especially the Oriental Peal TV Tower, 468 meters in height, and the Jin Mao Building, 420.5 meters in height, famous as two landmarks of Shanghai. Driving about ten minutes after passing them, we still felt that we were closely below them. And then we reached the Shanghai Bund Sightseeing Tunnel, China’s first cross-river artificial sightseeing tunnel, which is 646.7 meter in length. Modern high technologies are applied to create a fascinating world full of various images made up by colorful lights and the high-fidelity stereo system match to the change of the pictures. It took us 10 minutes to get through it by cable car.

After a few minutes, we were close to the Nanpu Bridge, the first bridge connecting the west and east part of the Huangpu River. Opened to traffic in November 1991, it is a cable-stayed bridge with a center span of 423 meters between the two main pylons and its total length is 8346 meters. Its bridge approach on the Puxi side is really distinctive, which is helical rounding in three circles to the main bridge. Interestingly, the bridge approach was designed according to a pupil’s idea to minimize the room taken by it. People also can get onto the main bridge by elevator, opening from 8:30 am to 5:30 pm. But we chose to drive through the bridge approach to enjoy the charm of the whole bridge. It was fairly amazing.

To be continued

A Joke: He’ll Follow Us There

A couple had an eight-year-old boy named Jack. Now they were expecting another child. But Jack did not want a younger sister or brother because the new baby would share his parents’ love.
One evening, the couples were making plans for the baby’s arrival. “The house won’t be big enough when the baby comes,” said the farther.
At this time, Jack came into the room and said, “What are you talking about?” “We were saying that we will have to move another house now, because the new baby’s coming,” His mother answered.
“It is no use,” said Jack hopelessly, “He will follow us there.”

Guilin Local Food

My friends just returned from Xing'An's yearly rice noodle festival. They didn' t join the opening ceremony but said there are quite a lot of other activities to compensate it. The festival is still running until the 3rd of May, so I will also try to get there.

While Guilin Rice Noodles are normally one of several breakfast choices for me, you can actually eat them the whole day. There is also a huge variety of toppings you can choose: Horse Meat, Fried Pork, Beef, Donkey, different preserved veggies, etc... I hope I can taste quite a lot of them this weekend.

Posted by Foodlover, aka Julian

A Gift for My Friend’s Wedding

These days, I spent much effort to find a proper present for one of my friend who will have his wedding on May 1st.

Usually, we only need to prepare a red packet with some money in it and take it to the newlyweds when attending their wedding ceremony. It doesn’t require much effort. But, choosing a gift for wedding is not so easy. The gift must be pretty and meaningful.I finally found one: a picture frame which is named “Bai Nian Hao He(合)” (“Bai” hundred, “Nian” year, “Hao” good, “He” together). This word is always used by Chinese people to bless newlyweds because it means have a long and happy and prosperous life together.

Why it is named like this? As you see, the frame is in the shape of a lock and with lotus as its main figure. In Chinese language , the lotus is also called “He（荷）” , with same pronounce of the “He (together)”; and the lock can lock the love between bride and bridegroom forever. So when they are combined together on the frame, the frame was named “Bai Nian Hao He”.

The song 2

I hear Jerusalem bells a-ringing
Roman cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror, my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can't explain
Once you'd gone there was never
Never an honest word
And that was when I ruled the world
It was a wicked and wild wind
Blew down the doors to let me in
Shattered windows and the sound of drums

and this is the second part I love

The Song

I used to rule the world
Seas would rise when I gave the word
Now in the morning I sleep alone
Sweep the streets I used to own
I used to roll the dice
Feel the fear in my enemy's eyes
Listen as the crowd would sing
"Now the old king is dead, long live the king"
One minute I held the key
Next the walls were closed on me
And I discovered that my castles stand
Upon pillars of salt and pill

I love this song very much, and this passage is my farourite.

Let's do some sports

China highlights provide kinds of workout terms for her family-like employees. People here could choose the kind of sport according to their own interests.

Playing air volley ball every Thursday; playing badminton and swim at gym, joining the gymnasium items etc, and these are all free for us. In the gymnasium, ladies prefer those dancing classes, such as yoga, aerobically, jazz, belly and pole dance. For the pole dance, it’s become more and more popular in recent years, which is divorced from the sexy zone has been one of the most popular dance for nowadays white-collar ladies.

It's good time for doing some sports, so just do it!

Miao people’s Silver Jewellery

When a girl was born in a Miao family, her parents make it a point to save on food and expenses for a complete set of silver jewellery for her. The set, 15kg in total weight, includes crown, horns, earrings, neckband, chest plaque, clothing ornament, waistband, and bracelets. It takes more than one hour for a young woman to put the entire kit on and finish her makeup.


The Miao people penchant for silver jewellery stems from their love of beauty, wealth and dignity; also they believe the silver jewellery helps keep evil at bay. Silver jewellery can also be used as a symbol of a person’s marital status or as a betrothal gift.

By Sissi Chen

Boccaro ware

Yixing, Jiangsu Province, know in China as the “Pottery Metropolis”, produces a much-valued red ware or boccaro ware. Teapots of this category made there were appraised as the best vessel there was, already in the Song Dynasty a thousand years ago. Yixing earthenware is generally marked by simplicity and exquisite craftsmanship; it is also appreciated for its practical utility. The material, called zisha (purple sand), is abundantly available in the locality. Although not as white or as fine as kaolin, it needs no glazing and, after firing, the product is solid and impermeable, yet porous enough to “breathe”. A Yixing teapot enhances the tea brewed in it in respect of color, perfume, and taste. Its walls seem to absorb the tea and keep its fragrance.

I have been to Yixing Pottery Museum last year; the teapots are very special and beautiful.

By Sissi Chen

The Way to Keep Healthy

Health is important for all of us. In order to keep healthy, we need some basic knowledge.
Firstly, pay attention to the diet. We should eat lots of fruits and vegetables, because they are rich in fiber and low in fat. As a proverb says, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away." So fruit is good for health. Don’t have a lot of food that contain too much fat, such as the fried food. Meanwhile, sweets should be eaten in proper quantity, because too much sugar will harm to our teeth. Don’t drink too much coffee, either.
Secondly, exercise is necessary. Regular exercise can help us keep from getting fat. Unfortunately, I always sit before the computer and don’t do exercise, so I become fat now.
Finally, form good living habits. We should sleep for about 8 hours at night and never work too hard. Over work and staying up all night will lead to illness. What’s more, stay away from cigarettes. These are the things we should pay attention to.

Luchen – it’s time to witness miracles!

Since Luchen (Chinese name 刘谦), the famous young Taiwanese magician, performed his amazing magic in the Spring Festival Gala Show 2009 of CCTV, has obtained a great fame in China. And I, of course was also shocked and attracted by his surprising magic show.
I was so curious about how he could do that! I decided to crack the secrets of magic and research the person – Luchen. With my approaches to him, I found he is really a great magician. He fell in love with magic since he was a little child and dreamed to be a magician someday. With this dream he kept pursuing and practicing with his greatest passion. He’s won his first champion when he was 12 and was awarded by David Copperfield - the most famous magician in the world. And many awards afterwards. He’s finally made it!
Do you have a dream? Then keep on pursuing it! "For when dreams go, life is a barren field, frozen with snow. "

An Angel

It is the song sang by Declan Galbraith that i heard it by chance. I recommend it to you, not for the lyric, but for the boy's voice. Thy boy has quite a clear and melodious voice which is blessed with the gift for singing. And i have heard his other song before, ‘tell me why', which is an anti-war song that is also amazing for you to listen to. In a word, this is the song form an angel.

Cycling

Nowadays, less and less people choose travelling to work by pedal power. At first, i also wanted to get an electric bike instead of a bike, because electric bike is faster and more convenient. But now, i am so happy that i insist on cycling. At least, cycling is one of the most effective types of exercise at promoting good health. And what's more, i ride my bike along the Gui lake every morning, and breath the fresh air. At that time, i think i am full of vigor and always feel today is a completely new day.

Ladies, are you ready for the summer? ^_^

"Keep your figure", I think it's a forever topic through a woman life.

I am always worried about my figure because to me, the summer is coming and the less clothes I put, the more fat I will be look like. How terrible it is! The delicious food always lure me and I am hard to reject them. I admire the slender girl on fitted clothes, however, although I like such figure, I still rational girl who never buy diet pill or no-eating measures to reduce my weight. I support that doing exercise is the best way to keep fit. :P

What do you think about collage student having a job in the countryside?

Under the worse situation of global financial crisis, most college students will choose to the countryside to take the position of an officer there after they graduate. This year, there are 279 occupations in Shanghai’s countryside and nearly 7000 college students competed for these jobs at the same time.

I believe it's a quite good choice for those students to be government officials in the country.

The first reason is the enhancing constructive initiative of the country. The second reason is the releasing the pressure of the employment. The last and most important reason is the reshaping of self-personification. Life in the country is totally different from the one in the ordinary life. People there are busy with their corps and domestic animals with the help of a little knowledge of modern science and technology. Life there is not so good condition as the one in the city .Electricity and water, communication and transportation are still big problems in some villages. However, only under such circumstances, those graduated students will experience the real hard life to get self-training of encourage and persistence.

All in all, going to the countryside is becoming a new trend in the universities.

Go fishing

This is a farmer Mr. Wang’s house and also is a little restaurant. Several days ago, my family went there for leisure.
Mr. Wang feeds a lot of chicken and ducks. There is a big pool and many fish are in it. Some fishing rods are offered. People can use it to fish and it’s very easy to get the fish. A child can also get a fish.

Look! A boy gets a big one. He is so lucky.

While people get the fish, Mr. Wang and his family will cook the fish for them. They are so happy to eat the fish which is gotten by them. I think the cat is happy too.

There are some restaurants like Mr. Wang’s around here. People living in the city usually come here at the weekends. They don’t only have delicious food, but also spend their leisure. Lots of people work hard and are very tired. So more and more people like going to the countryside for relaxing their bodies and mind.

Flowers

The weather is quite pleasant recently. Well, Spring time for planting.

Yesterday, a client of mine mentioned that she was doing gardening recently. It is quite exciting to hear about it as it seems both of us have the similar interests. I emailed to her and said though I did not have a garden like she did, I did like plants. It reminds me of my weekend.

I got up early in the morning on Sunday and started to tidy up the balcony which is the only place to plant flowers that I love. I moved my cactus to a much more beautiful flowerpot. Refresh the water for my dear fish. In the late afternoon, I went out to the city centre to buy the fresh flowers. I like the flavor of lily, the color of the rose. These can always bring me a new and happy week.

Every morning when I get up, the first thing that I do is to go to the balcony and breathe the fresh air which the plants bring to me.

Lunch

In the very previous articles, some colleagues mentioned breakfasts. Here, I would like to talk about lunch.

Just as mentioned by Alex, breakfast is like a king; lunch, a prince and dinner, a pauper. Lunch is still very important, isn't it?

So here at China Highlights, what do most colleagues have for lunch? Ask Dashu. Dashu is in charge of our lunch. Every working day, Dashu prepares the lunch and takes to the office around noon. The lunch consists of soup, meat and vegetarian dishes, very traditional Chinese meal.

A year before, everybody would rush to the table at the highest speed to get enough food. Now, we are much more civilized. We do not have to rush as long as our bowl is on the table. A volunteer or an appointed colleague would allot the food.

Then what does Sunny have for lunch? Ask Cindy, Jean or anyone who really knows me. As long as it is not rainy or too hot, I would prefer going outside. I could taste either local snacks or something different from what Dashu prepares. It is quite interesting when we are choosing a place to eat. It is Cindy proposes, and Sunny disposes. Usually, when we are far from the office, we couldn't even get a conclusion of where to eat. Then, only very simple food are chosen.

Dinners to be continued…

Foot ache

For some unknown reasons I’ve got a major pain on my left foot. It was so painful that I couldn’t even walk. I’ve never suffered like this before and I never cared my foot before because I firmly believed I was healthy and would always be healthy. But things would not always be what they should be and now I miss the time that my foot had been all right.

Yes, people would seldom appreciate what they have already owned until they finally lost it.

East Guilin Video

This video, taken by me on 19 April 2009, shows the Guilin City area, from the vantage point of a steep mesa on the eastern edge of the city, on a fine spring afternoon that was more like summer.

The video begins by looking east towards the mountains of Linggui (pronounced ling-gway and meaning Spirit Osmanthus) and the city administrative area’s eastern border. In the years to come Guilin is forecast to continue expanding until it reaches these mountains. The white rock of the pinnacle opposite me is directly east. That and the limestone pinnacle I am standing on will probably become a park. I think it’s too beautiful and fun to blast to pieces for building material, like the half peak in the middle distance at the beginning of the clip.

Then the camera swings north and you can see the villages and peaks on the current eastern limits of the city.

Rotating to face west there is the new eastern section of Guilin City’s second ring road, and beyond that the expanse of the current built up area. In the middle distance, first there are the seven peaks of Seven Star Park to the northwest, then Tunnel Hill directly west. In the foreground you can see the bare earth of construction zones on the edge of the new ring road.

Penultimately, there is the mountain and village area to the south, including an old chemical factory that is being dismantled for redevelopment at the bottom of the peak.

The clip finishes with the camera pointing at Yao Mountain to the northeast, which I and other colleagues have mentioned in this blog. At just under 1000 meters above sea level, it’s the tallest mountain in the city jurisdiction.

Ancestor Worship

On the 5th of this month I went with my wife to clean the tombs of her family and other late members of her village. It was hard work cutting back the vegetation and even finding some of the tombs amongst the undergrowth below the karst cliffs. It was interesting to visit a 300-year-old tomb belonging to the founders of my wife’s village.

[I have removed the tomb photo due to protests about it being impolite and in one case too scary.]

I felt I learnt a lot this Pure Brightness Festival (Qingming Jie) about my wife’s village and Chinese culture, but I still had a lot of questions. In particular, why are things always done in threes? Three bowls of rice and three cups or rice wine are always laid out in front of every tomb. Sticks of incense are planted in threes in the earth in front of the tomb. When incense is offered to the ancestor spirits, the villagers always bowed three times.

[I have removed the image of the character ling, meaning spirit, on request on the grounds of it being too scary and the source of nightmares. I find none of this at all scary myself.]

I originally thought it was because the old Chinese character for spirit has three mouths, and that ancient Chinese were aware of a triune God with a triune spirit who should be worshiped, as Christians like me do. However, I thought, this belief has got corrupted into the worshiping of ancestors.

I have just read (see http://www.nanzan-u.ac.jp/SHUBUNKEN/publications/afs/pdf/a493.pdf) that there is a belief in Korea, and therefore probably in China too, that there are three spirits that reside in each human being. After a human dies one of these spirits goes to another world, one of the spirits will remain in the corpse and one will wander about our world.

Does anyone have any other explanation?

Hiking on the Yao Mountain

It was a sunny day! We hiked on the Yao Mountain Last Saturday. It was very significant because we also cleared up the rubbish on the way to the mountain.

Spice up your life

China is a great country for people who like eating (like me). There are restaurants offering exotic meals, markets with exotic fruits and don't get me started on the variety of spices you can buy here....

Just sometimes, a very few times, disillusionment hits: e.g. have you ever tried making pesto without basil? Or did you try to make parsley potatoes without the parsley? Yeah, I thought so..

We now found a revolutionary easy method of alleviating this problem: we grow our own spices*. We went to the market and bought some pots, then to the park around the corner to steal borrow get some earth and finally to the post office to pick up the seed-packets send from home. Now everything we have to do is wait and see what survives in Guilins climate.

The first thing showing after 4 days: Can you guess what it is? Right! Say hello to "Mr Tomato**.

* Our current balcony-portfolio includes basil, dill, parsley, tomatos, lavender, aloe-vera, paw-paw and a lonely tamarind.

**Tomatos are actually growing very well in China, but it is much nicer to grow them yourself.

Posted by: Julian

Fast food and Health of Children

I learned from TV News that a fast food outlet was shut down for setting up too close to a school in London. Becase the fast food shop breaks the rules which ban kebab shops and other hot foot outlets near schools, parks or leisure centres. In China, we have a totally diferent story, you can find KFC or Mcdonald's at the downtown or shopping centers of many cities. Most of those outlets are full young people especially children with their parents. According to the latest statistics, the proportion of obesity among children under the age of 15 increased from 15% in 1982 to 27% today. Among the predisposing factors for increasing prevalence of childhood obesity in China, fast food and physical inactivity are the two most important. Because of the efficient advertisements of such fast food giants as McDonald's and Kentucky Fried Chicken, Chinese children are devouring the American fast food faster than ever. Obesity is a big problem for young people and the furture of our country, we should take all mesures to deal with it.

In Guilin, We can see more street barbecue vendors in the city center than that of before. Some streets are full smoke and smell from the babacue vendors. Many children(even their parents) are dovouring barbecue from those vendors. I understand many people lost their jobs due to the financial crisis, but the economic downturn was not an excuse for allowing a business which is harmful to the public to continue operating illegally. Some similar rules(like that in UK) must be put forward to protect children from fast food and barbecue.

The Air Volleyball

The air volleyball is one of the most popular sports in Guilin at present. It is soft and easy to play comparing with volleyball. People are very interested in playing air volleyball.









Normally, it has similar game ruler with volleyball, but there are two teams and 5 people in each ground. You will win the game by shooting the ball inside of opposite ground.

I love sport and have a great passion of playing air volleyball much more. Our company will organize one or two air volleyball matches in each year, and we will have a great improvement by practicing time and time again. Meanwhile, it is one of the best ways to loosen our mind from the high pressure in the routine work.

Do I Really Like Reading?

Do I like really reading? I keep asking myself. Every time my German colleague Julian buys some books from abroad I will go to him to see what he plans to read. After having a glimpse of his thick books, I tell myself that I should also read something.

What I can be sure is that I like books, but perhaps not reading them. There are lots of books in my house, both English and Chinese, but how many of them have I finished reading, one or two? I even can not remember.

Books make me happy. When my friends or relatives come to my home, they are often surprised by my book shelves, “Tolstoy! You are reading his books?!” That’s what they often shout to me after seeing my collections. Yes, my books are only collections to me, but my friends are thinking I am a knowledgeable person, excellent feeling!

Wild China

China Highlights staffs have a break time at noon from 12:00-14:00. During the two hours we have lunch together, chat with each other. Friday noon is what we expect, because there is a movie screened in our meeting room. Everybody could recommend good movie.

My colleague Ma Huiming recommended Wild China to all of us. It is series to introduce wild life and natural scenery in China. Because of corporation between BBC Company and CCTV, you can see westerner’s logic thinking as well as oriental aesthetic ideas.

To see to believe, it is amazing to see Chinese attractions from a brand-new angle of view. I am so proud I am living in the great country, a wild China!

Tiramisu

Last weekend, I visited my best friend who is good at cooking. She showed me how to make a Tiramisu and told me a touching story about the popular dessert. In Italian, Tiramisu means ‘take me away’ which are words from a wife’s heart.

The story happened in the World War II. An Italian soldier was leaving home to battlefield, his wife wanted to prepare food for him. But all she had are just some biscuits, cakes and a little red wine. She used out all of these material and made them into one dessert. When the soldier had homesick, he took it out and recalled happy time with his family. From then on, the special dessert got its’ name and became a symbol of love and happiness.

Actually it is not easy to make Tiramisu. You must choose good quality material, pay attention to every step, especially baking. Fortunately, we made it successfully. Please see the picture!

Chinese Qing Ming Festival

Visitings tombs of lost relatives and showing respect to the them.

Decorating tombs of lost relatives

I found many tombs decorated beautifully with flowers along the Li River last week when I was hiking along the river. It was Qing Ming Festival a week ago.

The Chinese festival called Qing Ming is a time to express grief for lost relatives. Customs include grooming gravesites and taking walks with loved ones in the countryside. Legend has it that it began when a youth's rude and foolish behavior resulted in the death of his mother. So he decided that henceforth he would visit her grave every year to remember what she had done for him. Sadly, it was only after her death that he remembered her.

Starting from this year, our Government made this day a public holiday for people to show piety to the lost ones. The Bible teaches us to "Honour thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise; (Eph6:2)". That means to honour them when they are alive, not when they are dead.

Yearly Health Check and Setting-up Exercise

Health Check for China Highlights employees

Every year, our company pays for a yearly health check for every employee. The older an employee is the more items need to be checked. I have worked for my company for 15 years, and my eyesight is getting poorer and poorer. Some of my colleagues were found to have periarthritis of the shoulder. That was probably due to our bad sitting habits.
A five-minute exercise routine has been devised to cope with this problem. Our colleagues are required to stop their work and do the exercise routine for five minutes in the morning and five minutes in the afternoon, but we are having a hard time to get used to doing the exercises in the office.

Making Chinese Dumpling

Making Chinese Dumplings

During Chinese New Year Holiday, many of our friends and relatives came to my home to make Jiaozi (Chinese Dumpling). It was not that we love to eat dumpling that much, it has being a tradition and a team work.

The shape of Chinese dumplings is similar to ancient Chinese gold or silver ingots, they symbolize wealth. Traditionally, we may hide a coin in one of the dumplings. The person who finds the coin will likely have a good fortune in the New Year. We don't do this because all of our family members are Christians, and we believe that the good fortune is in Christ.

Making dumplings is really a team work. All our family members and relatives and friends joined the work. I was not very good at making the skins of dumplings and to stuff the dumplings, so my job was to knead dough which requires no skill but muscle.

The dumplings tasted very good after three hours of hardworking.

Everyone Deserves Your Attention

I read a conversation about interview today. It was very impressive.

Interviewer:"How many years did you stay in your previous company?"
Interviewee:“5 years, sir”.
Interviewer:“What is the first name of the woman who cleans your office?”
Interviewee:“Sorry, I don't know.”

No doubt, the Interviewee could not pass the interview. Because a woman may cleans his office for 2 or 3 years, he even did not know her name.So the interviewer did not believe that the interviewee will take care of his staff.

In our careers, we will meet many people. All are significant. They deserve our attention and care, even if all we need to do is smile and say"Hello". So please pay attention to those people who just around you. Because they deserve your attention.

Everyone is the precious of God.

A Terracotta Warrior (1989)

Last night I watched an old film-A Terracotta Warrior, it was made in 1989, twenty years ago.

The film looks apealing because there are two big shots in it: Zhang Yimou- the director of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008, Gong Li- one of the most famous actresses in China.

Actually I dont like Zhang Yimou's films made in recent years, they are too commercial and lack of meaningful themes. I was not watching it closely at the very beginning, but graduatelly I could not lift my eyes from the screen and could not help laughing from time to time.

The story is a mixture of romance, fight, fantasy and plot. General Meng Tianfang saved the emperor Qin Shihuang and was promoted to be the emperor's security guard. The emperor was keen on immortality, and he followed a alchemist's suggestion to send out to sea 500 virgins and virgin boys for elixir. Meng Tianfang met one of the 500 maidens named Han Donger and they fell in love with each other. Han Donger accidentally knew that the elixir was made successfully and she took it away before the alchemists throwed it away. They didnt want to present it to the emperor as they knew clearly that the tyrannical emperor would kill them all once he got the elixir. They left as scheduled but Han Donger ran away to be with Meng Tianfang, of course she was caught by the soldiers.

The emperor was mad at the couple and decided to kill Han Donger, she died peacefully after kissing her lover, when she kissed him she put the elixir into Meng Tianfang's mouth. Meng Tianfang was so sad that he requested to be covered with mud and guard the mausoleum for the Emperor as a Terracotta Warrior.

It seems that the story is a sad one and it should end here, however, the fantasy has just began. After 3000 years, a monoplane fell into the mausoleum and woke Meng Tianfang up. He was, surely still alive because he took the elixir. He found a woman lying on the ground and thought she was his Donger without understanding that 3000 years have passed. He run into a lot of unbelievable situations (which were very funny) and saved the woman several times, the woman, Zhu Lili was very peacocky but she finally knew that Meng Tianfang was the one, the only one to love her. The following story was a bit sterotype as Zhu Lili died for Meng Tianfang when he tried to crash the plan of a grave-robbery group.

I have to admit that the idea was great in 1989! The film itself is also a work of art and Zhang Yimou/Gong Li performed greatly. Dont miss it if you look for good old films!

Do we really need a big house?

Do we really need a big house?

Since we graduate from university, we start to find a job in society. If you do not find a job in your hometown, then you have to rent a house to live. A single room is enough for you.

When you fall in love with a girl,if you want to get marry with her, she definitely will ask you to buy a house. So you may need to spend 10-year-salary to buy an apartment. And you need spend about 20 years to pay back the money which you loan from bank.

When you have two children, you will find that your apartment is not big enough. Especially when you get some visitors, you will find you are unable to provide the accommodation for them. It is very common that the relatives live in your house in China. And you have to ask them to live in the hotel. So you will spend another 20-year-salary to buy a villa.

20 years later, your children will go out and getting married. So your old couple start to think that your villa is really too big. Sometimes you would feel “empty” and alone. So you discuss with each other to change a smaller house—an apartment.

After another 20 or 30 years, if she/he left, you have to decide to move to a single room again. Since an apartment is really too big for you.

Well, go back to the beginning.

So do we really need a big house? 

To be nicer to people

Today I wrote this does not indicate that I totally changed. Changing need time. But I really hope I can be changed to be the 2nd kind of people.
One day, I drived to a forbidden zone and when the guard came to me to asking for fine I got really angry and quarrelled with him. No matter how loud my vocie was, I had to pay the fine and have to say sorry to him at the end.
Several days later, because of something wrong done, I had to call to a lady to apologize to her. I felt very unhappy. However when the phone went though, after I greeted to her. she was so friendly and happy. When she knew that I was calling from Guilin. She told me that she was in Beijing and her family name is Song. She said, if I have a plan to Beijing. Please just feel free to contact her. She never mentioned any word about the things we did. From the beginning to the end, I just can felt her happy voice. I even did not know when I hung off.
The 2nd thing really startled me. It lets me connect the two things happened together. Both are the things affiliating with people., while deferent attitude leaving people totally deferent feeling.
Why I could not be the 2nd kind of people? It is time for me to self-reflecting.

Do you know what it mean?

Last Sunday, the rainny weather finally turned to sunny. I decided to visited Piled Silk Hill again. I remembered that last time when I visited it was several years ago.

When I nearly got to the top, I found an interesting thing: there were many crabsticks were set against a big rock. Why the sticks was set like that? What people did it? I remained perplexed despite much thought. Can you help me?

Honeybees

Honeybees live in large groups and usually make their nests in trees. Nectar and pollen is their food. I affirm the honeybees like spring very much when lots of flowers are in blossom. They can find plenty of food to eat.

In China, people think the honeybees are laborious because they gather the honey here and there every day. So if someone is hard-working, he will be considered as a honeybee.

A honeybee goes out to gather the honey ten times per day and the weight of the honey is 5 times than its weight. It only gather 0.6g honey all its life. So the honey is precious. The honey is nutritious and delicious. It's said that drinking a bottle of water mixed honey after meal every day can keep you healthy.

James Bacher Livingston--6572 Polaroid ''Photos of the Day''

Yesterday Lissy recommended a wonderful website to me. It is about 6572 Polaroid ''Photos of the Day'' between Mar. 31, 1979 to Oct. 25, 1997 by James Bacher Livingston. I cant find more information about James but accidentally find a paid notice on The New York Times, here it is,

LIVINGSTON-James Bacher. Artist, musician, filmmaker and remarkable friend, Jamie died of cancer at Mount Sinai Hospital on Saturday, October 25, 1997, his forty-first birthday. In addition to countless friends, films, images, hand-made instruments, tchochtkas, circus memorabilia and comic books, Jamie leaves behind his most inspired life-work: 6572 Polaroid ''Photos of the Day'', representing every day of the last 18-1/2 years. A memorial to celebrate Jamie's extroadinary spirit, life and work will be announced at a later date. Precious Jamie, we love you.

I was amazed at the photos James has taken, not at the amount of the photos but at the vivid life the photos convey. When studying the photos, you will get to know James well, you will see the sky he sees, see the books he reads, have fun with his friends, travel together with him and suffer from cancer with him...

Qing Ming Festival is Coming

This weekend is Qing Ming. My father and uncles will back to hometown to rebuild the ancestral Hall, clean the ancestors’ tombs. That’s an important activity for our family.

Qing Ming is a time to remember the dead and the dearly departed. More important, it is a period to honor and to pay respect to one's deceased ancestors and family members. Because it reinforces the ethic of filial piety, Qing Ming is a major Chinese festival.

Literally meaning "clear" (Qing) and "bright" (Ming), this Chinese festival falls in early spring, on the 106th day after the winter solstice. It is a "spring" festival, and it is an occasion for the whole family to leave the home and to sweep the graves of their forebears.

By Sissi Chen

Morning Walking in Guilin

Guilin is a small, but beautiful city with lots of trees and flowers. The city life is very relaxing. Each morning, you can see many senior citizens doing exercise along the rivers and lakes.

My apartment is near the Osmanthus Lake. Every morning I walk to the office from my apartment about 30 minutes. One the way to the office, I can see lots of local people doing many different kinds of exercises. Some are playing the traditional dancing with fans; some are playing Taichi. The younger are doing the setting-up exercise, while the senior are playing the Taichi ball or Taichi sword. Sometimes I have to be careful as people are just playing exercise along the road using the fans, swords and Taichi balls. I really enjoy my walking through the morning exercisers. And this is the start of Guilin people's daily life.

How can you make Chinese noodles?

Noodles are a form of staple food in China. They are very popular among Chinese people, especially the people in the north part of China. Noodles can be made either by hand or by machine. As a northern people, I like the hand-made noddles, as they are much more flexible.

The most famous hand-made noddles should be the hand-pulled noodles (la mian) using a flexible dough that can be stretched easily. This is done by increasing the amount of water in the dough (approximately 1 cup of water for every 2 cups of flour). You should firstly cover the dough with plastic and allow it to rest at room temperature for about one hour to relax the gluten. Next, the noodles are made by pulling the dough, resting it briefly on the floured countertop, grabbing the two ends with the left hand, while holding the middle with the right hand. This process is repeated until the noodles are of the appropriate thickness. Each time, the number of noodles doubles.

To cook the noodles, drop them into boiling water and boil for approximately 5 minutes. Toward the end of the cooking time, test the noodles to make sure that it is firm and chewy, not hard or undercooked or overcooked. Drain the noodles using a colander and serve them topped with your favorite sauce. You can also make noodle soup by adding the boiled noodles to a well-seasoned chicken soup. Do you know how to make Chinese noodles now?

The Center Stage, A Lovely Film

Today, I saw a movie - the Center Stage: Turn It Up. And I love it so much! I l watched the dance on the film with great interest. And this film, everyone should want to learn to dance~~!

Daxu Old Town

Having been to Daxu old town for many times, I should show no interest to come again. However, I have task assigned by my mother’s brother for this trip. He has got a real estate for sale there just next to Maozhou Island, with very fantastic and beautiful view to the Li River. When I was there, seeing the land with my own eyes, I found I was addicted once again to the wonderful sightseeing, and dreaming if I could build my own house on this land! But the problem is… it costs RMB 800, 000 for the ownership… Never thinking I can afford this large amount, I’d better just do my job… The land is permanent owned by my mother’s brother (as he told me this way), and he is going to sale this land for emergency. He hopes if I could make advertisements for him on the house market with some photos on site. Anyway, I will try my best to sale for him, meanwhile, my dream to have it is still on :)

Does financial crisis really come?

One day in the morning, I was sent to the market for shopping. I was shocked to find things were so expensive. Price of fish, meat and canned foods had climbed up. Only vegetables are little cheap. Though I hesitated now and then, my pockets became empty in half an hour.
But many customers were buying in larger quantities. They said they were busy to do shopping very often. They could keep the surplus in the refrigerators.
I was wondering isn’t it a financial crisis time now? Shuoldn’t the people save money at this period of time?

Spring Falls on Us

Didn’t you get tired of the humid climate in Guilin? Can’t you feel that spring is coming? Can’t you feel that everything is filled with vigour and vitality? Spring is the best season of a year. It brings green to trees and grasses, activeness to animals, and hopes to human beings.
A good beginning is a half-done. Try to spread seeds in this season and you will get a good harvest in autumn. Spring falls on us. Everybody! Catch this time to make as much money as you can!