20 January, 2008 Bekah Biking

I know, I know, she doesn't have a helmet. Read the story, and recognize that some risks are worth the avoidance of a broken heart! :)

Bekah and I ventured off to Kowloon City yesterday, and had a great time checking out the wet market, and area shops. This is a very old part of Hong Kong, what one would call a local area, and not much of a tourist destination. It is one of the places to go to for the freshest of fruits and vegetables, beef, lamb, chicken, duck and fish. I mean fresh in the strongest way possible, as Bekah saw first hand when we passed the meat section. The animals were still in line, waiting for their turn to go from just involved to committed!

In walking around the area, we tripped on the Kowloon City walled park, which weighs in somewhat significantly in Hong Kong's history, it seems. Apparently, this walled in section of the city was contested as concessionary land between Britain and China, yet it was clearly inside 'Hong Kong'. As a result, it was a bit of a no man's land, where lots of shady activities occurred, right up to the passing back of Hong Kong to China in 1997. At that point, the place was knocked down, and they put a beautiful park on it.

How does that weigh in with a lowly expat family? Well, we didn't bring bikes with us, as one might imagine. The park, as it turns out, has a dedicated bike course, and you can rent bikes for a nominal fee. When Bekah saw this, she about popped out of her skin, and she had a great next hour riding around the course. It was really nice to see her that happy. She really misses the freedom of just riding around, even if it is in a yard. What a great day she had yesterday!

My pics aren't the best, but not so bad, considering it is a cell phone taking the pictures. One travels light when you walk so much, and carry all your family's food on your back!

We found a nice church today, Alliance International Church in Hung Hom. After, we grabbed a bite to eat, and had a nice meal in a Thai Restaurant. David likes to play mean, nasty Samurai with his chopsticks, and Bekah likes to show off her missing teeth, that she loves to yank out herself. Nice, Bekah. Who knows what Lydia is thinking; she is fading fast! We stayed up late last night with another Hong Kong family, who came over and has 4 children the same age as ours. That was almost 1/2 of the 4 children families in Hong Kong, all under one roof! This is a guess, but it can't be far off. :)

13 January 2008

This past week I spent working in Ningbo, and Hangzhou, China. They are both on the south/southwestern side of the greater Shanghai Area, part of the Yangtze River Delta. I have been in Ningbo many times, but never cease to be amazed, saddened, and excited about what is going on in areas such as these all around Asia. The rate of change in infrastructure (roads, buildings, power, availability of commercial and industrial goods, etc.) is amazing. The rampant pollution, absolute poverty and struggle to survive, to feed one's family, the 'Oh, well' attitude about one more person dying amongst 1.3 billion in the country, is saddening. The new opportunities for people to earn money, to take care of their families, and have capacity to ponder about why they are here on this earth is very exciting. I know money does not fix all things; look at the US! The opportunity to go beyond basic existence can often just result in idleness, and not a seeking after more cerebral and spiritual pursuits. At least the opportunity to pursue more than basic survival is arising now, and I do believe that is part of the reason for the resurgence and rapid growth of such pursuits now.


Odd in China, but observed a few times: in the background, there is clearly a church with a steeple.











Being in a river delta, water is everywhere, and flowing nowhere fast. The pollution and lack of infrastructure such as trash removal in outlying areas (we in Maine would call these cities!) makes these waters very questionable for more than moving goods on.








The land is not so fertile over here; pollution makes this worse. Notice the work to plant vegetables, but the dead trees.