First Thoughts…
I’ve been to China five times in the past three years, and I fully enjoy my travels each time.
The idea of writing a blog came as a request from friends in China. Yes, I think they envy my freedom to travel in their homeland… but they also know of my interest and fascination in their great country.
I wish I could begin this with my first steps into China. But, it seems a bit strange now that I delayed that first visit for so many years.
I’ve had good Chinese friends for almost 20 years. It started as a combination of both professional and personal interests in students doing studies at the University of Regina. Later, after taking my retirement, these friendships led to providing housing for International Students in close proximity to our own home and close to the university.
By the time I finally chose to venture overseas to visit these friends and former tenants, we had dozens of potential contacts in various locations throughout China.
Now, with five trips to China in less than three years, I’ve learned to navigate about China with relative independence. No, I don’t know more than just a few words of Chinese, but it is amazing how a mobile phone and the use of a small hand translator can bridge most of the language barriers.
My style of travel in China is still very much dependent on the existence of friends who, typically, speak English and extend a warm and generous welcome to this foreigner. Yes, it was critically important to have friends meeting me on those first arrivals in Beijing or Hong Kong, but now with many friends in Changsha (Hunan Province) and elsewhere throughout China, I feel increasingly “at home” in China.
These are my “first steps” with blogging. I expect there will be some fumbles as I attempt to navigate this new environment. Please bear with me
Photos included here…
1) Friends greeting me in Beijing on my first arrival in China.
2) A Hong Kong scene, at the Tian Tan Buddha site.
3) Another friend explaining a point on a tour to Qufu, home of Confucius.
For those who choose not to wait for an ordered, and more thorough, account of my wanderings, please do check out my Google/Picasa photo-sharing site.
http://picasaweb.google.com/RRinRegina
And, if you really want to know some highlights of my life from day to day, check out my “tweets” on Twitter.
(First written and published elsewhere on Wednesday, May 6, 2009. Updated 091114.)