From Carolyn's Letters Home:
Sunday, March 1, 2015
Dearest Family and Friends,
Can it really be March 1st? We have now been in China for over 6 months
and plan to return to Las Vegas at the end of June. Hope this letter finds all of you healthy and
happy. So much has happened since I last
wrote to you, I hardly know where to start.
On January 20th, we left Jinan and headed south
on a high speed train to Nanjing.
Nanjing - It was sobering visiting their War Memorial
Museum. Our hearts ached for tragedies
of war. We also visited another museum
that told about the grueling tests that Chinese citizens would take to show
their intellect and knowledge and allow them to have high governmental
positions. This began at the time of
Confucius.
Suzhou – Another train ride and a great city to visit.
Ancient walls, presidential palace and a river cruise on a boat…all to
ourselves (except our guide, the captain and the crewman/salesman) We left with
postcards, playing cards with photos of Suzhou and my favorite, a fold up
hat. J We also visited a silk factory where we
bought a scarf for me and a tie for Richard.
Shanghai – Another day with just Richard and me. We really enjoyed the market and finally
found a bookstore that had an English travel book that Richard wanted. We loved the Holiday Inn and were joined that
evening by 9 others and officially joined up with the “Marvin Tours”. The next day we went to the river, the
market, to the top of the Pearl Tower then saw a wonderful wax museum depicting
the history of Shanghai.
Sanya – We flew to the south end of Hainan Island to a
tropical resort. It is very much like
Hawaii with beautiful beaches and warm ocean water and a gorgeous view of the
harbor from our hotel. We were glad to be out of the cold and really enjoyed
this beautiful place. At one end of the
beach were carvings on rocks that said “The End of the Earth, the Beginning of
the Sky”. After a short boat ride, we
spent several hours on Monkey Island where the monkeys roamed freely. We also went to two “circus monkey” shows
where they performed for us. We thought
that our grandchildren would really love this island.
Shenzhen – Just across the border from Hong Kong is a more modern
city, unlike most of the ancient cities we visited in China. We had a Polynesian Cultural Center
experience there walking around miniature villages, sites and mountains of
China. We enjoyed the dancers on stilts,
a private boat ride and an indoor dance extravaganza. That evening, we went to an outdoor theater,
very much like the one at PCC which depicted Chinese history through many kinds
of dances (including fire dancing) and extravagant sets and costumes. We had a great day.
Hong Kong – What a beautiful city! We loved our YMCA Hotel (actually very nice)
and were excited to see most of the other 75 BYU China Teachers as well as our
directors, Jeff Ringer and his wife Amy and Jamie and Geneile Ballantine. We were able to do a session at the Hong Kong
Temple, meet with Elder Gong of the Seventy and share our best teaching ideas
with each other (posted on BYU China Teachers website). We loved watching the fireworks over the
harbor and Richard and I had a special treat.
We walked across the street to the performing arts center and saw a
production by the group “Riverdance”.
We wish that we had been able to spend more time in this wonderful city.
Guangzhou – Bus trip, stop at customs then to the airport in
Guanzhou. We had been lugging around 4 suitcases,
much to take home to the USA, and were glad to leave the 2 large ones in the
airport storage. Off to Guilin!
Guilin – Left the boat dock in the morning and followed the
river to Yangzhou. The mountains (karst
formations) lined the river and valleys with centuries-old tales about their
shapes and formations (like Mt. Timpanogas).
I had left my jacket in Guangzhou thinking it would be warm. Fortunately, my dear friend Charlene Welsh
loaned me one until we reached Yangzhou where I was able to buy a new one. We loved visiting a farming village outside
the city and riding at night on a small reed boat to see the fishermen and the
cormorant birds. Each bird had a ring
around his neck that allowed him to catch a fish but not swallow it. They were trained to bring the fish to the
fisherman and eventually, they would be fed.
The fish were attracted to the light in front of the reed boat. It was definitely an adventure worth
seeing. The next day we headed back to
Guilin where we went to a silk factory and bought some beautiful silk quilts. We also toured a gigantic cave called the
Reed Flute Cave where residents would hide when approaching enemy armies came
to their village. It was spectacular.
Lijiang – Rode a bus from Guilin to this ancient cultural
city of Naxi people. We visited a
beautiful park where older people were dancing and doing Tai Chi. Many of us joined in and had a great time. We bought inscriptions from the Dongba,
though he wasn’t there that day because he was visiting another village. The small lake was beautiful with a Chinese
bridge across to the other side. We also
visited an embroidery school and an old, functioning Naxi village with crystal
clear water flowing through the center of the village. We could see the beautiful snowcapped
mountains in the distance.
Kunming – Airport only, but very special to me. My father had been stationed in Burma during
WW2, just on the other side of the Himalaya Mountains and done the sheet metal
repairs on airplanes that would fly back to Kunming and help the Chinese fight
the Japanese. Dad died last July, just
before we left for China. I’m so proud
of him. He was only 17 when he joined
the Army Air Corps.
Dali – Bus ride to this beautiful city at the foot of the
Himalaya Mountains. We stayed at a
lovely (though cold) hotel next to many markets. We watched a Bai Minority dancing and singing
show and visited 3 pagodas at the foot of the mountains. The air was clear and we could see the moon
and stars. The Bai people painted their
homes white as a symbol of purity. The
women wore white tassels on their headdresses and their husband trims their
tassel when they get married.
Kunming and Guanzhou Airports – Deposited more luggage at
storage, then off to Hanoi, Vietnam
Hanoi – Went to the prison where John McCain was held for
part of his 7 years interment during the war.
It was very sad and we all left feeling that we didn’t want to be in
Hanoi. Fortunately, we drove for 3 hours
to Halong Bay and took a 5 hour boat trip to one of the most beautiful spots on
the earth. The river was surrounded by
islands and we stopped at one of them to explore a cave. It was definitely a peaceful, beautiful, much
needed trip for 2 weary travelers.
Angkor, Cambodia – Toured 6 ancient temples (amazing) and
took a river trip to a lake with floating homes (boats) filled mostly with
Vietnamese refugees who had fled Vietnam and couldn’t get out of Cambodia
because they weren’t allowed off the lake.
There was so much poverty. We saw
many people gathered at a cemetary at the side of the river and thought that
they were burning a body, but they were just making an offering to their
gods.
Saigon – A very modern city.
We loved the night boat dinner cruise on the river and Richard and I
danced to the music of the Vietnamese singers and native instrumentalists. We went to our first Water Puppet Show. It was very amusing and fun seeing dragons
and puppets pop up out of the water. The
music and story was provided by musicians on either side of the puppet show. They were wonderful, in spite of some of the
screeching they had to do. After the
puppet show, we sat in a padded seat in front of a bicyclist who followed the
lead cyclist on a one hour city tour.
Saigon (Hochimein City) was preparing for the Chinese New Year, so
lights, decorations and red and yellow flowers were everywhere. It was hard to concentrate because of the 80
or so motorcyclists and cars who were heading right for us as the cyclists
would boldly ride right in front of.
Traffic in Asia is really crazy and sometimes you just have to close
your eyes.
Back to Guanzhou then to Las Vegas – 14 hour trip to LA,
missed our flight, arrived at the Mirage Hotel at 3 am, dentist appointment at
9 am.
Las Vegas/SLC – Enjoyed dinner with Richard’s mom and all
but Bill and Chery (we missed you).
Dinner with Carolyn’s brothers and sisters and spouses living in
LV. Chucky Cheese with the Leavitt clan
for 3 ½ hours….lots of fun. Looked for
and bought a home near the Las Vegas Temple.
Met a wonderful realtor named Ann who was an angel. Carolyn had a great visit with Mike, Lindsay,
Becky, Adam, Jessica and Andy and kids in Payson, Ut. Finalized everything on the new house after a
much needed morning temple session. Already
missing our family.
Jinan – Still trying to recover from 37 days of travel. School begins tomorrow. Ready or not!
J
Sorry this letter is so long, but we have had so many
adventures. We feel a little like Bilbo
Baggins when he said that adventures are “mean, nasty, disturbing things that
make one late for dinner”. J Not really.
We wouldn’t have missed a single one.
Glad we can still get around.
Thank you for your support and your prayers. We know that we have been blessed more than
we could possibly imagine. You are our
greatest blessings. May the Lord be with
you always!
Love,
Mom, Carolyn, Grandma, Richard, Dad, Grandpa
