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Published: April 3rd 2007
Upon completion of our teaching with Global Volunteers, we flew to Chengdu, 1 1/2 hrs from Xi'an. Chengdu, is known today as the 'GATEWAY TO TIBET'. It is an ancient city, 2,000 yrs old, with a long history. It was capital of Sichuan Provence during the 'Han Dynasty', 220-265 A.D. In ancient times, it was known as the 'CITY OF SILK'. It was the beginning of the silk road which continued south towards Yunnan Provence (Kunming) and into Burma, India;the end of the silk road was Xi'an.
The highlight of Marilyn's time in Chendgu were the pandas! There is a large panda breeding facility an hour out of the city which we went to. They have been very successful at breeding the pandas They are bred at 5yrs of age & are quiet, rather solitary animals. They are not a part of the bear family.
Roy's was fascinated by the Dujiangyan Dam constructed by hand in 220 BC by a father & son. It is still in use today & provides water for Chengdu & outlying areas, especially for the farmers.
Our driver, Lingh, was married & had a daughter. She drives a new black Audi! She
was the owner of a shoe factory. She told us there is a strong labor union which protects workers. We toured the 'Xin Lang' (New Fashion) shoe factory, which employees 400, they work from 8 am - 6 pm;both skilled & unskilled shoemakers can earn a good wage. We toured her factory & then she took us out to lunch along with the GM & the Mgr.
From Chengdu, we took an hour flight to Guilin, which means 'Forest of Cinnamon Tree'! We were amazed at the beauty of Guilin! The mountains jutted up, some like church cathedrals and surrounded the area........there were 2 rivers. We enjoyed two boat trips, one in the city and the other an 1 1/2 hrs from the city on the Li River. On the way to the Li River, we had lunch at Yangshuo, an ancient village, which now attracts many young people from all over the world. There is a language school & many go there to study. We were amazed that the restaurants advertised their menus in English. Lijiang, where our boat trip began, was very old & primitive, was known for 'fan' making......We went to 'THE REED FLUTE CAVE', which
was enormous & lite up beautifully! One of the highlights of our time in Guilin, was an spent with our guide, Jerry, and her parents at their home. They had us for a traditional 'Spring Festival' (Chinese New Year) dinner! It was quite a feast! Jerry was our translator. We had a wonderful evening with these fun loving, warm & kind people!
All good things must eventually come to an end! We deaparted the China mainland & flew to the island of Macau, China on Monday, Apr 2nd, in a blinding thunderstorm!
'China is generous. To those who give.....she returns in brimming measure'.
Ruth Harkness '38
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