#12 Retiring Teacher preparing to teach in China (Freighter, Train, or Plane?)

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Today I received the documentation from my friend Arthur Lee, the Foreign Affairs Director for Taizhou Teachers College, needed to apply for the "Z" Visa. It is the one-year visa, designated for foreign-expert-status, and is issued by the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs, P.R.C. It is an impressive looking document, with the required red signature-stamps. It will permit me to visit the Visa Agency, which is helping me with the process through the Chinese Consulate in Houston, Texas. There might be some additional red-tape, such as a medical-physical and some vaccinations. For those who are interested, I will continue to post the process of the efforts.

Until the certainty of the Visa, I am still somewhat hesitant about the travel arrangements. The freighter from Miami to Hong Kong is still on top of the list, but the expense of 39 days of travel, and the limited availability of cabin space on a freighter once I receive my visa, still poses a little uncertainty. The freighter-travel-agencies with whom I have had contact, all urge early bookings, but require a visa in hand. Most freighters only carry 8 passengers, at most. That type of travel has increased in popularity, and so space is at a premium, especially the closer the date of departure.

The second way of travel, via the Trans-Manchurian-Railroad, still remains another option,
though it requires greater pre-travel preparations and travel-savy, (Miami-London-Belgium-Moscow-Beijing and Visas for both, Russia and China). But I figure, over time that will become easier and ever better.

The third option, the regular and most modern way, is travelling via any of the number of airlines, taking passengers ever closer to their ultimate destinations in China. Though the least adventurous, it is certainly the easiest option. I guess, one way or another, I'll get there, and options will always remain options.

When I visited China this past summer, I visited many temples and shrines. So I thought, I would post some photos of some fine moments, and comment on them with my limited knowledge of modern China. It will be exiting to revisit some of sights during my year-long stay at Taizhou's Teachers College, which is north of Shanghai.

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Photos

a very humble man
This monk engaged us in conversation for an hour, but we were honored by the attention he gave us.

impressive outside and inside
Temples have once again become a place of peace and calm and open to all.

bells
beautiful bells evoke the sounds of ceremonies past and present.

images in temple
each face deserves careful examination and keeps once attention

each image is a representation
This honored man grew some serious eye-brows. I'll have to stop clipping mine.

each image is a representation
This gentleman grew some serious eye-brows. I'll have to stop clipping mine.

Guardians of the temple
This guardian brings all who enter to a stop.

ancient statue of the Buddha
This carved statue seemed to be the pride of the temple, and occupied a separate hall.

hundreds of hands
offering help with a hundred hands, a work of art, that gives pause to think

temple offerings
incense offering upon leaving the temple, as the incense is burned in bundles

hundreds of little Buddhas
each of the cones contains hundreds of small individual buddhas, each with unique features.

close-up of the hundred hands
the temple is kept wonderfully clean and each statue showed signs of very special care and pride