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Published: February 4th 2012
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Lingshan Buddhist Centre, Wuxi
Lotus petal pattern on a 50m diameter domed ceiling New photos on:
http://s251.photobucket.com/albums/gg311/draftwrite/ …..local trips only, as the second semester approaches &, after nearly a month of work everyone is wondering how they will cope with kids who have likewise had a month off school. Hence the title of this blog. It'll be all right on Monday, won't it?.....
…..we were told that the hot water would be off for 10 days, 19
th to the 29
th of January. Some of us are back here for at least some of that time, but reasonable in that the school is otherwise almost deserted as the Chinese teachers are with their families wherever they are for the most important festival in the Chinese calendar. However when the hot water trucks arrive & are seen to pump water in but only, at the very best, barely lukewarm water arrives at the shower head in the freezing midwinter, it's literally a pain.....
…..as a resident of South Australia for so many years, with water restrictions imposed by the simple lack of rainfall & overuse of the Murray River for irrigation leaving insufficient to supply Adelaide over the almost rain free 4 months or more of summer, having to leave
Sunny's apartment
Klass, Jenna, George, Sunny's Dad water running for 25 minutes to even get the chance of a hot shower is not just inconvenient. It engenders an unbearable feeling of guilt, hearing that (cold) water gurgling down the drain. Some teachers tell me they have left the water running for up to 45 minutes in the hope that it will magically become hot. Back to boiling the kettle for a few more days.....
…..the generosity of my friend in Hunan, Mr. Xiang, was so overwhelming, not just funding my accommodation & meals during our three days there but also that of George, Jenna & Sunshine, acting as guide & chauffeur; a thank you card doesn't seem adequate. We combine funds to buy a Canon Ixus 115HS camera for his daughter. I receive an SMS saying that it has been gratefully received but it is “Tai zhong gui”, (literally, “too heavy expense”). In the circumstances it was pretty cheap! Thanks again Xiang Kuan Yu.....
…..almost all the foreign teachers are back at the school. A few stayed at the school for the month, avoiding the pain of Chinese New Year travel & in some cases providing welcome income for Ronnie's Australian bar & other places
Sunny's apartment
Sunny's Mum with the fruits of her labours of refreshment in Yangzhou. A number of us go to Shao Kao, the barbecue eatery just down the road to swap holiday notes. Erin, after a few weeks back in New York State to visit family & friends, was so keen to get back home to the school she decided she couldn't face the hike across Shanghai, buying tickets etc, & caught a taxi from Shanghai, over 300km, with the meter finishing at around ¥1800. If that's not an advertisement for our little community here I don't know what is.....
.….a screw falls out of my reading glasses. As usual I take them to the shop where I bought them for about ¥35, (around Au$5), where they are fixed for free, like the broken glass in picture frame that I broke but which the framer still wouldn't accept payment. I have to pay for the replacement for the loose pedal on my bike but there's no charge for the labour to fit it, while I wait. I can drop in any time for chain, brakes etc. to be adjusted but there's never a charge.....
…..our good friend Sunny, from the bank of China, invites those of us at
Dinosaur Park, Changzhou
Mike and Chinese guy both trying to look cool a recent shared dinner in town to his new apartment, Our new friend Klaas, a Dutch engineer, & three teachers get on the bus for a 45 minute trip to the northern suburbs. When you buy an apartment in China it's a bare shell which is fitted out in a separate operation, which at least allows for personal touches inside those endless blocks of homogeneous apartments. Yangzhou, despite all the frantic building in progress, is a small city & you don't see the 30 & even 40 storey blocks common in larger cities. Sunny's is at the top of a 6 storey block. As usual in a low rise block there is no lift, (elevator, for my American friends). Inside it is compact but certainly not cramped, beautifully fitted out &, as usual in China, the living areas face the sunny side, (no pun intended), which makes them seem more spacious & inviting.....
…..Sunny's parents are living there too, another common feature of Chinese homes. They are both really friendly & have that disposition that makes Sunny's name so appropriate. They have cooked a meal that we can't possibly finish, (they insist we take doggy bags), his father gives
Tianning Pagoda, Changzhou
Wood carving from raw timber us a lesson in Chinese calligraphy. The only thing I can really criticise is they are too young. When your friends parents are younger than you, even by a couple of years, it's somehow disconcerting.....
…..Mike & George have never been to Changzhou or Wuxi, despite the fact they are both within an hour or two of Yangzhou by bus. The three of us visit Changzhou, the Dinosaur park then the next day my main destination, Tianning Pagoda, at 153m one of the world's tallest wooden buildings, but also an incredibly beautiful structure, by night or day. We investigate all the floors on the way to the top & the wood carvings, bas reliefs & other artworks are just astounding. Most of them are very recent, the pagoda itself only completed around 2005.
…..in the end I go to Wuxi by myself. Everyone seems to be sick of travelling by now. Wuxi, pronounced, (with an almost non-existent “W”), 'oo-shee, is a very modern, bustling but remarkably clean & well kept city about halfway to Shanghai. My main aim is to revisit the enormous Lingshan Buddha centre, a park that contains, among many other things, an 88m bronze statue
of the Buddha, the 9 Dragon Fountain, the Buddha Palace, built on the scale of a European cathedral but, the whole complex having only been completed a few years ago, incorporating some of the most stunning craftsmanship & lighting effects that sadly my photos can only hint at. The huge domed, illuminated ceiling in the auditorium is around 50m diameter. Lest you think I'm exaggerating, have a look at the photos of the circular corridor around the outside of the auditorium.....
…..sorry, after a month off, seeing amazing places & visiting friends new & old, I have to mentally & materially prepare to face over 300 grade 8 students next week. I'm starting to get shaky, getting panic attacks at the thought of facing classes 1 to 4 again, the PTSD, (Pre Traumatic Stress Disorder) is kicking in again. Wish me luck.....
previous issues of the YYW are on:
http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Laotou/
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The Travel Camel
Shane Dallas
Mesmerising
An incredible photo!