Ah Dian's Front Yard
Sunday December 31, 2006

















All the rocks along the path are Gniess, indicating that they were transported from some distance away. Because, the geological neighborhood is Granite.

The fish pond just to the top left of the trellis is full of about 100 goldfish that began with 20 goldfish two years ago.

Ah Dian's Home
Sunday December 31, 2006















Steinway & Sons Piano in main sitting room


























Ah Dian's "New Sound System"
(MUCH!!! SMALLER!!!)










Let there be light and gladness in the once forgotten attic of musty darkness. Four skylights
were installed in the ceiling.

Ah Dian
Sunday December 31, 2006


Ah Dian greeting us at the front gate. Flanking us are two Starfruit trees full of ripe fruit, just begging me to climb up and enjoy the sweet & tart flesh.











Ah Dian, playing Home on the Range on a Steinway & Sons


















Ah Dian and I on the roof of his house, Sunlight Rock in the background

















Ah Dian ecstatic to hear that my parents are enjoying great health.

Time with the Shau Family
Saturday December 30, 2006
















Kimberly and I with Shau Susu

















The three of us again including Susu's daughter Shau Hong Ying
















From left to right; Zhang Wei (Shau Hong Ying's husband), Shau Hong Ying, Kimberly, Josh and Shau Susu
















Shau Hong Ying, Mrs. Cai, Kimberly, Josh and Shau Susu.


At 5pm Mr. and Mrs. Cai picked us up and took us to see Shau Susu, Shau Hong Ying, Zhang Wei and Susu's grandson Zhang Han. Mr. Cai dropped off Kim, Mrs. Cai and myself, he had a meeting to attend.

We visited and relived many memories. Like the time I stole & ate the peanuts on the roof of the #11 Bi Shan Rd. house, the peanuts belonged to the guy living on the 3rd floor. So, much we talked about.

Shau Hong Ying told Kim how I would hide behind doors or under blankets or other places and scare her. I really enjoyed scaring people, and I still get a kick out of it, when I allow myself the indulgence. Hong Ying remembers how her mother adored me and I likewise was Ayi's shadow. We also talked about the Papaya trees that Ayi and I grew in the front yard. Every time I eat a papaya I think of mine and Ayi's miniature papaya plantation, orange fleshed papaya is the best. Mmmmmmmmm. :-)

So many memories, glad that I have them. :-)

Shau Hong Ying teaches piano lessons at her home during the day while her son Zhang Han is at school. She is an amazing woman, mother and wife.
Zhang Wei is a professional Chinese Ink Painter and Amazing husband and father.
Zhang Han is an amazing ten year old boy with the energy of TAZ from Loony Tunes, a huge beatific smile at all times and loves McDonald's more than his parents would like.

Xiamen Friday December 29, 2006

View North-East from our 23rd floor hotel room

View South-East from our hotel room

A family spending time together

One of the numerous dried fish stores.



Journal Entry for this day;

Caught a taxi to Wuxi Airport. Flew to Xiamen and caught taxi to the hotel. We are staying at the Yuejiayibao Hotel. We are on the 23rd floor, room 2307, NE corner. Beautiful view of the main mountain chain, will record Mt. names later.

It is quite warm outside. I am wearing long johns and I hope I do not cook in my own sweat.

I am excited to be back in Xiamen. I can understand why I enjoy lots of light, Xiamen is very tropically sunny.

We walked around the hotel neighborhood. Donated 10rmb to a local Buddhist temple, Kimberly took a photo of the Sister Monk. We stepped into a shop selling Iron Pyrite in matrix, also it was carved into animals and lucky symbols.

We than walked northwards and noticed people selling puppies. One gentleman was selling Chinese Chows, another was selling tiger-striped puppies, kind of looked like Tasmanian Devil pups, one with fur, the other pup was hairless but still had orange & black stripes on its skin.

We stopped for lunch and shared pork steak w/ seaweed, bakchoy, tofu and onion egg pancake, topped off with rice. We paid a whole whopping 10rmb for lunch.

On the way back to the hotel Kimberly took some photo's of partly demolished buildings, alleyway restaurants, spice shops and shadows.

We also visited a rather large aquarium & fish store, with everything from freshwater thru saltwater varieties. Most of the larger fish had been visually enhanced. Someone had injected ink beneath the scales, pigments ranging from fluorescent thru solids. Some fish even had tattooing of landscapes and lucky symbols, though they were of poor quality.

At 5:10pm Mr. Cai called and we discussed time schedules for the next 5 days. Afterwards Kimberly and I went on the hunt, in the mood for food!!! However; we purchased a map of Xiamen and sought out the nearest bookstore. Brains need to eat as well you know!! We spent 3 hours in the bookstore and purchased 4 books;
The Prompt Understanding of Measure Words
A New Dictionary of English Phrasal Verbs
Discover Gulangyu
An Intro to Geology - Chinese Textbook.
Than we at KFC and returned to the hotel.

This was our first day back to Xiamen, nothing grand, but we sure had allot of goofy fun together. :-)

Tiger Hill























A famous Song Dynasty poet, Su Shi said, 'It is a lifelong pity if having visited Suzhou you did not visit Tiger Hill.' This epitomises the general opinion of those who have seen this local beauty spot with its many attractions that we shall endeavour to describe for you.

Tiger Hill, known also as Surging Sea Hill, is a large hillock covering some14100 square metres (over three acres) and is 36 metres (118 feet) in height. Climbing the hill, you will find a number of historical sites some of which can be traced back over 2500 years to the founding of Suzhou. Although the hill is relatively small it has rich history. These are just some of the highlights of what is to be found there:

The Tomb of King He Lu: In 496 BC during the Spring and Autumn Period (770 BC - 476 BC), He Lu, King of the Wu perished during the war fought against the Yue. His son buried him within the hill and three days after the funeral a white tiger came and sat upon the grave as though guarding it. From that time on it has been known as Tiger Hill.

Tiger Hill Pagoda: The pagoda stands on the hill's summit and is the Pagoda of the Yunyan Temple. As the oldest pagoda in the vicinity of Suzhou it has come to be a symbol of the city and has the distinction of being China's Leaning Tower. Built during the Northern Song Dynasty (959-961) it is a seven-storey octahedron after the style of the timber pagodas built during the early Tang period. It is 48 metres high (158 feet) and for the past four hundred years has leant 359' to the northwest.

Sword Testing Stone and Sword Pool: King He Lu was a zealous collector of rare swords and it is said that he tested them upon this stone. The crevice thus made in the rock is the only evidence of the existence of these swords, as it is believed that they were buried beneath the Sword Pool as funerary objects. Another mystery that surrounds the tomb is the whereabouts of the remains of the 1,000 workers who built it and who were put to death upon completion of the task.

Lu Yu Well: Lu Yu was an authority on the art of tea and wrote the first ever book on the subject entitled 'The Treatise of Tea'. As an old man, he lived on Tiger Hill and it was here that he wrote the final part of his book. Lu Yu excavated the well and declared that the water from it was the third best in all China. Consequent upon the research and teaching of Lu Yu tea growing and consumption came to be important factors in the daily life of the citizens of Suzhou.

Verdant Mountain Villa: Built in the tenth year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) the villa is a masterpiece of the splendid gardens for which Suzhou is so famous. The Verdant Mountain Villa (Yongcui Shanzhuang) was designed so that it embraced the natural vistas and views from the halls and porches are most pleasing to the eye.

Wanjing Villa: The ancient art of bonsai tree growing originated in China and there are thousands of magnificent specimens on display at this villa. Many of the specimens you can see have been awarded prize palms in prestigious bonsai competitions. The miniature replicas of full sized gardens are sure to amaze you and will give an insight into the skill and artistry of Chinese master gardeners that has been handed down from long ago.




There can be little doubt that Tiger Hill is a wonderful sight with its leaning pagoda, waterfalls and landscaped paths. It is hard to believe that the hill was man made to be the burial place of king but this is yet another part of the wonder that is China, a land that will never cease to amaze and enthral the visitor with its heritage.

The above information was copied from the following website;
http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/jiangsu/suzhou/tiger_hill.htm

I do not have a written log of this days events ready to post yet.
I will post when Kim and I are ready

Here is satellite photos taken of Suzhou, China 6 years ago. I have outlined our apartment complex in BLUE and our apartment building in RED.

Kim and I have been here in Suzhou, China for 1 week now. The following pictures are scenes within our apartment.

This is our front room. The hanging white cabinet in the left of the picture is for holding shoes. Since the whole apartment has wood flooring (except for the tiled bathrooms), we wish to prolong the beauty and therefore wear socks or go barefoot around the apartment. The white pillar with the blue bottle in the far corner is our sterilized drinking water.

This is the balcony just off of the front room.

This is our dining room, with the little fridge/freezer in the right corner. To the left is the kitchen entryway and the laundry room door is straight ahead.



















This is our laundry room. And if I can negotiate correctly, I can wash my future rocks in the
basin in the back, which is under the purple mop. :-) :-)


Looking northeast from our laundry room.


kitchen sink and window behind opens into laundry room.

We have a propane stove and below is our dish sanitizer, not a dishwasher. :-(

Directly ahead is our black electric oven,
above is the white toaster and on the right
is the lovely microwave. :-) Now all Kim
needs is too find microwave popcorn!

This is the guest bedroom.

Guest bathroom

Office/study room. Not enough bookcases!!
At least we have some to start out. :-)

Master Bedroom window. Nice place
to lounge and soak in the sun during
winter months.

Master Bedroom BED!!! Nice feature is a light
switch to the right of the bed, so no more getting out of bed
to turn off the overhead light. :-))

View down in to gardens below our Master
Bedroom window.

Looking southwest towards old SSIS campus
from Master Bedroom window.

Master Bathroom. Those of you who own cats,
that little floral container near the toilet is the receptacle
for our toilet tissue. No more shredded rolls of paper.
Hint, Hint!!

Well that is all for now. Will keep you all updated. It is a new thing to remember camera when we go out, so bear with us all.

Love you all.