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Chapter 82 - 83 - Kites and Festivals

Chapter 82 Kites Kites were invented in China during the 5 th century BC. Ancient and medieval Chinese sources describe kites being used for measuring distances, testing the wind, lifting men, signaling and communications for military operations. Kites were decorated with mythological motifs and legendary figures. Some were fitted with strings and whistles to make musical sounds while flying.   I would see kites flying mostly in the spring when I would go to the parks in Luoyang. Now and then I would see people flying kites at other times also. The kites were beautiful and colorful. Different kinds and designs. They would be in the shape of birds, dragons, owls, all kinds. Some were so high in the air that you could barely see them. It was not only children flying them, there were also a lot of elderly men flying kites.  These first pictures are kites that are for sale. I do not know what they cost. Some of the people would use a big reel with string on it and the kites would go very
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Chapter 81 - Parks

Chapter 81 Parks There are many parks in Luoyang. There are four parks that were my favorites; Xi Yuan, Luopu, Sui Tang Botanical Gardens and China National Flower Garden (Zhong Guo Guo Hua Yuan). There are many other parks that have to do with the Peony Festival in Luoyang. These are huge tourist attractions having hundreds of thousands of peony plants and also some have tulips. I have hundreds and hundreds of pictures and also video of the parks. The pictures of the parks are during different seasons and how the parks changed over time. There are a lot of workers that take care of the parks. In 2003, one of my friends knew the man who was head of Luopu Park and he said there were three hundred workers that took care of the park at that time. It is twelve miles long and covers 4,000 acres. I loved going to the parks. Even though they are in the city, they are quiet places except when there would be festivals going on. I learned when to go to them so there weren’t many people. I didn’
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Chapters 79-80 Bicycles

Chapter 79 Biking Just like crossing the street and driving a car, riding a bicycle is also different in China compared to here. In the US, it is more open and we can just ride. In China, there are lots of obstacles.  I decided to buy a bicycle in September of 2011. It cost 600 RMB which is about $100. It would make it easier and faster than walking to get places. It was good exercise also.  Well, this was another thing to learn how to do. Some people are moving faster, some slower, some do not pay any attention. It’s like they are the only person there among the thousands on the streets. There are bike lanes for the bikes, electric bikes and motorbikes. All three of those vehicles ride in the same lane so the lanes are wider than here. There is also a divider between the car and bike lanes. Sometimes you may also find a taxi in the bike lane. It is really interesting. There are people walking there also.  When you are riding a bike, you have other bikes and people coming at you from e
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Chapters 76 - 78 Everyday Necessities

Chapter 76 Haircuts You would think that something as easy as getting a haircut would not be a problem. It wouldn’t be if you could speak Chinese but when you can’t, then it’s a problem. The first year that I was in Luoyang, one of the teachers took me to a place to get a haircut close to the school. After that, a couple other friends took Justin and I to different places so we didn’t have to worry about anything.  The second year, I went back to that first shop by the school that I was shown and went there from then on. There was the lady (Lu Yanling) that was the owner and I think there were three other girls there. The owner would give me the haircut and one of the girls would give me what I guess you could call a massage. I would sit in the chair and she would massage my shoulders, hands and arms. That was really nice. It cost ten yuan extra, $1.20, and it was worth it. The shop was a small place just like many of the stores on the streets. Maybe ten by twenty feet. The second tim
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Chapters 71 -75 Some Cultural and Social Observations

Chapter 71 Chinese People Are Very Social They love to go out to eat and talk. It is a big part of their culture. They are happy and excited to see their friends, eat together and talk loud. They don’t just sit together and talk about things, they are very loud. They will even tell you that. If you go to a restaurant in China, don’t be surprised when it is loud. Not all restaurants are noisy, some are quieter. It all depends upon the kind of restaurant that you go to. I don’t know if it is the same now as when I first went to China in 2002 but I would often be asked if I was lonely being I was single and living alone. Sometimes people would ask about family and I would tell them that I had many relatives but I was not married and I lived alone. They couldn’t understand how I could do that. Being they are so social, family oriented and close as a people, it was hard for them to understand. To go along with that, the years from 2004-2010, hundreds of tall buildings were built in the New
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Chapters 67-70 Music

Chapter 67 Chinese Music I came to really like Chinese music. Here in the states we have many different kinds of music, they do also of course. I am not a fan of Beijing Opera. The first time I went to China with the LLFA delegation we went to see that. I do appreciate what they do and their talent and all of the work it takes to put a performance on but I just don’t like listening to it. I don’t like opera here in the US either so I am not prejudiced. During the first week that Justin and I were in Luoyang in 2002, we asked Jigang if he would take us to a store so we could get speakers to hook up to our computers. When we walked into a store, there was a song playing. It was a woman singing and I liked it right away. It was both her voice and the music that I liked. I asked Jigang if he would ask one of the people that worked in the store who the singer was. They told him and I bought a CD. The singer was Meng Tingwei. The song that she was singing when we walked in became one of my f
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Chapters 65-66 Chinese New Year

Chapter 65 Chinese New Year Fireworks The date of the Chinese New Year (CNY) changes each year, like Easter, it is not always on the same date. The first day on the New Year falls on the new moon between January 21 and February 20. They use the lunar calendar so it depends on when the first full moon of the lunar calendar is. During the Chinese New Year, I think it could be the biggest display of fireworks in the world. There would be firecrackers starting a week before the actual celebration. The closer it got, the more fireworks and the noisier it became.  On New Year’s Eve day, the sidewalks and streets would almost clear out. It was wonderful for me, I could go for a walk and no one was around. I couldn’t believe it. I have pictures of the streets with no one there. To walk down a street in China and not see people or traffic is really amazing. There were times that I could see for three blocks and there were no people. Very little traffic on the streets, I could walk across from o
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