This post is only a little more than a year late in coming. I’m not exactly certain why I have been so remiss about writing this: possibly because it was a wonderful experience that both demands and defies a good discussion. In the course of the trip and in the months since it, I have come to feel a special connection to this place and the people that live there. It’s hard to capture that in a blog post, but I guess it’s still worth trying. Continue reading
Strolling
It all began with jiaozi (Chinese dumplings), a sidewalk table, and an unusually beautiful November day … Continue reading
Sounds of Chengdu (3): Opera in the Park
While taking a short-cut (sort of) through one of the parks in town recently, I was treated to a nice performance of Sichuan Opera (chuanju 川剧). The park looked rather nice too. Continue reading
Spring, the Limits of Expression, and the Men who Won’t Fit In
How’s that for a title? Spring has been steadily growing here, and as I sat outside one warm evening, it occurred to me that there are definite limits to how much of my experience I can communicate in this blog. I add audio recordings to this blog to help fill in some of the details that photos can’t capture (and I’m going to post a video soon!), but there’s no way I can capture the soft, moist touch of a warm spring breeze blowing through the trees of a park at night. I suppose I could record the sound it makes, but even that would be difficult–it’s too quiet, too subtle–and without the accompanying feelings of the gentle night-warmth and the soothing way the wind brushes across your skin, it just wouldn’t be the same. Continue reading
Wenshu Temple
Wenshu Temple (Wenshu yuan 文殊院)–named for the bodhisattva of wisdom Mañjuśri–is the premier Buddhist institution in Chengdu. I’ve been a fan ever since my first visit in 1996. The vegetarian restaurant there (more on that later) became a favorite place for celebrations. In those days, the actual Buddhist practice there seemed a little … lax … but there was a vibrant cultural scene of people singing and doing qigong healing and everything else in the park surrounding the temple, not to mention the genial chaos of the teahouse. It was a great place! The temple and its associated monastery have really thrived over the last two decades, and devotion is more evident than ever before. We decided to go for a visit one of the first warm Sundays this spring. Continue reading
Poetry (4): Weaving the World
Just bought tickets to the Association of Asian Studies conference in Seattle and realized that I’ll be following in reverse the same route I took on my first trip to China in 1996. On that trip I flew from Seattle to Beijing to Chengdu. This time I’ll go from Chengdu to Beijing to Seattle. On top of that, I’ll be arriving in Seattle ten days short of the twentieth anniversary of my first arrival in China!
Winter Warmth
Among the many types of “common cold” described in Chinese medicine, there is one type–called “winter warmth (dongwen 冬温), that I have often invoked in treating patients. In particular, it is the type of cold my daughter is most prone to catching. Continue reading
February Showers Bring … ?
Today we had our first real rain shower since winter began. In spite of being humid, foggy, and overcast much of the time, it seldom rains in Chengdu during the winter. Continue reading
Poetry (3): Li Bai 李白 and Others
[Warning this one rambles!] This is not my own. It’s by one of China’s most famous poets and misfits: Li Bai 李白。 The translation, however, is mine. This was the first Chinese poem I read, and like many Chinese grade school students, the first Chinese poem I committed to memory. I can still recite it–rather better than most grade-schoolers … I think. 🙂 Continue reading
“To have friends come from afar …”
Outside of East Asia, not many people realize that the first line of the Confucian Analects is a statement about the joys of life:
The Master said, “To study and at times put it into practice, is it not a pleasure? To have friends come from afar, is it not a joy? To take no offense when other do not recognize [your virtue], is [such a person] not a gentleman? Continue reading
Ten Thousand Li 