Christmas makes its mark in the Middle Kingdom

                        
Christmas may be just another day in the Middle Kingdom, but it has still made its mark.


This year Christmas is on a Sunday, but when it is on a weekday, the sight of people going to school and work is enough to deflate any westerner's balloon full of traditions.


But shopping malls, restaurants and hotels are decked out in Christmas trees and Santa posters. You may even find a few gifts. But those crowds at the mall are not there to buy gifts, they are just there because it is too cold to stand outside.


Still, on a weekend, it is worse than any Christmas shopping crowd you have EVER seen in America.


Young people think it is fun to celebrate key American holidays, namely Valentine's Day and Christmas. If you invite them to a Christmas party, they'll be ecstatic and probably show up dressed like Santa (they don't know enough about the reindeer or Frosty to go that route, and they sure are clueless about the nativity).


Before Thanksgiving ever arrived, I had bought stockings and decorations. I have a hopeful feeling that it will be a wonderful Christmas this year.

Thanksgiving Day

The sun shone down on this cool, crisp day, making it perfect Thanksgiving weather. I made a tossed salad and eggplant casserole before taking a taxi across town to join my American friends for a Thanksgiving lunch feast. Seventeen of us had deep-fried turkey with all the trimmings. It was a nice day and really felt like Thanksgiving.

On the way back to my place in a taxi, I saw men putting down new sidewalks, and thought what a shame it was that they had to work on Thanksgiving Day. Then I got jolted back to reality. Today's Thanksgiving is a uniquely American holiday. It's not celebrated in the Middle Kingdom. I had a great holiday anyway.

Thanksgiving Holidays of the past

In 1969, I looked out the wide-slat blinds in my bedroom early on Thanksgiving morning in Fort Stockton, Texas, and told my mother, "I wish it would snow." But it was sunny, probably around 80 degrees Fahrenheit, so my mom told me not to get my hopes up.

Imagine her surprise when, a few hours later, the skies opened up and sent a blanket of snow to the west Texas desert. Being with my family that day made for one of the most memorable Thanksgivings ever.

When I was in either junior high or high school, my dad and brothers went deer hunting the day after Thanksgiving, so my mom and I went an hour and a half away to Odessa, Texas, to go shopping at the mall, buy a Christmas tree that we put in the trunk of the car, and eat at Manuel's Mexican food restaurant. That was a really fun day for me too. That was back before people called the day after Thanksgiving "black Friday." We were some of the pioneers who made black Friday black!

I think it was about 1980 when my brother James and I were traveling from our college in central Texas (Brownwood) to our home in West Texas (Pecos) in an ice storm. We had an 8-track tape of the Imperials Christmas album playing in the car as we slowly slid halfway across Texas. It was worth the trip though.

A few years later, I took my grad school friend (from Iowa) from Fort Worth to Pecos, an eight-hour drive. After eight hours of desert, a hypnotized Angelia had figured that in the same length of time it took us to get across Texas, she could have probably gone home to Iowa for Thanksgiving.

Every year is a good one, wherever we may be, whomever we may be with. 

By the way, if anyone needs a good dressing recipe, my mom's is the world's best.

Happy Thanksgiving!

East Nanjing Road, Shanghai

I went to Shanghai by train recently. You have to buy your train tickets in advance to guarantee a seat. Unfortunately, the sunny forecast was replaced by a rainy reality. Never mind. Shanghai's Nanjing East Road, the pedestrian street, makes even the gloomiest day seem bright.

The rain was light. I remember being on Nanjing East Road in 1997 when it was not a pedestrian street. It was a famous shopping street, but it was full of cars. It was also pretty backwards at that time. There was nothing worth buying. Now there's a lot worth buying, but only rich people can afford most of it.

I took my small instamatic camera instead of my better but heavier camera. So these pictures are not all that great. But I didn't want a backache at the end of the day.

At the end of Nanjing East Road lies the Bund, the riverside walkway. The Huangpu is a river that dissects downtown Shanghai from ultra-modern Pudong across the way. I took a ferry from one side to the other. The other ways to get across are by tunnels and vehicle bridges (taxis, buses, personal vehicles and subways).

Shanghai is probably my favorite city in the whole world. I could spend weeks there and never run out of things to do. 

Fall in Bamboo Forest

 A tree-lined bus stop area.

Falling leaves along the bike path.

I'm back from my trip to Thailand. I'm clearly allergic to that country, as I catch a cold 9 out of 10 times that I go there.


Anyway, I didn't want to be gone long from Bamboo Forest, because fall is the most beautiful time of year here. I looooooovvvvve it.


There's a Christian bookstore at a government-sanctioned church here, and they sell Bibles, calendars, and a few little tidbits (nothing extravagant like Christian bookstores in America). I went to get a calendar today. A lady who appeared to be in her 60s stopped me to chat. She wanted to know if all Americans were Christians, because that's what she'd heard. "No," I told her, "some are and some are not." I told her how I had made my decision to follow Christ when I was young, but it is each person's decision and some don't make it for Christ. She was shocked to know that all Americans were not believers. I guess that in the same way we think all Israeli citizens are Jews and all Saudi Arabians are Muslims and all Tibetans are Buddhists, she thought all Americans were Christian.


Today was not the first time I had heard that question. Many people here think that way. You know, they watch the movies that come out of Hollywood (face it, most are not very "clean" at all) and think that's how Americans/Christians live their lives. They think we call ourselves followers of Christ and live like the devil. No wonder some are not very interested in hearing the Message. Oh, I try to tell them that most of us don't live like it shows in the movies, but they don't really believe it. So, though sometimes I fail, I try my best to be living proof in their midst.

A stroll in a Chinese garden

I took some time to visit a garden last week. This man posed for me. I like his green shoe laces, his cap and the fact that it looks like he is wearing pink flowers on his hat (they are actually in the background).

Reading a newspaper, listening to the melodies of the chirping birds.

Twisted branches add to the ancient feeling of the traditional garden.

Rocks, water, flowers, greenery and traditional structures are all elements of a traditional Chinese garden.

The garden is just beautiful. I could sit there for hours (if my schedule allowed, and it does not).

I guess she doesn't need to fill this up with water very often. It's huge!

Young and old alike find solitude and peace in the beautiful gardens, enjoying the elements that God has created.

The laid-back life

Here are some scenes from Bamboo Forest. The main part of town is modern, but if you get out of downtown a few blocks, you see the laid-back lifestyle of the Middle Kingdom in all its glory.

I love these cute little stores that line the roads around town. (Most cities in the Middle Kingdom have these kind of streetside stores.)

More road construction scenes

This is one of the main roads in town. It is like this on both sides of the road, with two small lanes of traffic delicately balanced in the middle of the mess.

They are putting in pipes. I think it is related to the subway construction in some way. 

Above and below are scenes from the main east-west artery through town. Shops along the subway construction route have been hidden from view by metal barriers for almost four years, so most have gone out of business. When the barriers come down, I won't recognize the city. I have no idea what lurks behind those metal shields.

Again, this is the main artery through town. The part in the middle is under construction. But tomorrow, it may be the outer parts of the road that are under construction. From one day to the next I never know what the detours will be. It changes quite often.

You can't tell much in this photo, but it is a big gaping hole in the street. I presume it will be a subway entrance area, as it is several stories deep.

My Neighborhood

The two buildings on the right are in my apartment complex. My apartment complex is huge, and exists on both sides of the canal (has several bridges).

Here's another view of my apartment complex. I live in one of the shorter buildings (eleven stories high).

In the little paved alleyway in my neighborhood, there are little shops like this one that sell house shoes, vinegar, soy sauce, eggs, rice, drinks, etc.

Here's a little barber shop. The guy getting his haircut saw me taking his picture (from his view in the mirror).

Here's the paved alleyway. My apartment entrance is on the left, past the building. The guy who sits along the sidewalk sells eggs. 

I like my neighborhood. The apartment complex is modern and nice. The surroundings are old-fashioned and quaint. If I go out the front gate, I can be at a park whether I turn left or right. The alleyway runs between two of the main roads in town, making it convenient to transportation. I am near the center of town, so I can travel in any direction and see interesting things. As far as I know, there are only two other foreigners who live in my part of town, but I never ever see them. There are THOUSANDS of foreigners in this city, but they all live in one of two districts that cater to foreigners. If I am going to live overseas, I prefer to mix with the locals rather than live in one of those foreigner districts, as long as it is practical to do so (and so far it is). I am thankful for my housing situation.

Garden Windows

 Here are some beautiful windows in some ancient gardens.