they grew up in the countryside, knowing each other as kids, then later moved out into the city of shenzhen (深圳） for a better life... know these people thru taiwan friend alder :) big gratitude. not pictured, but pictured at some other time: their kids. amazed at the tight knit family community, and how when they go back home to their old town, they just jump right back into the village life: the mama's family processes medicinal herbs as a family business; the papa's family farms
the rooftops- eye over xin'an (兴安). this was my view from my window in xin'an. these old chinese wooden buildings can last for such a long time. they remind me of old barns in new england. (bill, is your barn over 100 years old?) a melding of old and new: construction everywhere, all over china. this old town is getting torn down and rebuilt in places to create a new tourist industry here. most of the population are farmers and construction workers. bamboo harvesting and cultivation is huge here. chopstick and other bamboo manufacturing taking place night and day. landscape here like in connecticut woods... many people fit into the landscape, but a great majestic landscape also. rivers everywhere. wetness. trees and so much life in the forest. jungle, really. humans have greatly altered this landscape. most of the hills covered with cultivated bamboo trees
the kids- an example of my (teenage) students' interactions with the local (elementary school) students... the local students thought the world of our students. treated them like heroes. asked for our autographs every moment they could. give one autograph, and we immediately get mobbed by children wanting more autographs. we play games, paint a mural on their wall, teach some english, give them lots of time and attention... and the kids connect so deeply with these students within the small space of three mornings... that by the time we leave the school at the end of our journey, there is not a dry eye among our students or staff. our students are reluctant to leave the school, and the local kids hang onto our students. everyone is crying tears of joy, tears of sadness, tears of connection and farewell, tears of being deeply moved by something indescribable... profound moment. so grateful to these children. always so grateful to them. moments like this make every challenge feel worthwhile
the forest- the girl- this was one of my favorite places to come sit and be in xin'an. i didn't make a photo of my absolute favorite place, which was where all the previous photos of the plants came from (except for the mossy sorrel photo). but here, i love the bamboo. i loved their knocking sounds when wind strongly blows them together. i love the gentle sounds of the soft yet tough leaves as wind moves through the forest. you can hear when wind enters forest, and exactly where she enters from. love looking up and watching the various small birds and identifying which beautiful sound came from which beautiful bird. i love the dragonflies and butterflies winging about. and then at night... oh, the fireflies!!! (magic in its most primal form)
