Travels in China 2008
Arrival in Beijing
After 17 hours of pleasantly uneventful travel, we arrived safely in China to days of brilliant blue skies and bright sun, an unexpected change from the heat and smog of our last two summer visits to Beijing. The purpose of this first week in Beijing is to prepare for the arrival of the first Golden Courage delegation from the U.S. this weekend. Strong supporters of Golden Courage children and programs are now practically bursting with anticipation for their upcoming travel, having prepared for this journey with cultural trainings, Chinese classes, and a delicious Chinese dinner at the home of Dr. Lu and Katarina.
In addition, this week, the young staff members of the Beijing office are training with my son, Matt, a video and computer professional, to learn how to edit short video interviews with our children so we can offer you a more vivid introduction to each child online. Yes, we are really getting more high tech as we grow this young organization and hope to more fully connect the U.S. and China in a variety of creative and innovative ways.
Each morning Oran and I are waking early and walking to the nearby park with Dr. Lu and his mother and father, Dr. Pang and Dr. Lu Sr. Just walking through the streets of Beijing is an amazing adventure of wafting breakfast aromas, crowds of old and young making their way to work and school, and the blaring sounds of horns honking as we try valiantly to cross huge streets packed full of a vast variety of bicycles, cars, buses and trucks intent on making it to their destination on time.
Parks in Beijing are like nothing I have ever seen before in any other country. They are a combination of community center, dance hall, amusement park, carnival, gymnasium, and opera house in an open and aesthetically breathtaking natural environment of lakes, ponds, waterfalls, manicured gardens, towering trees and powerfully sculptured rock and stone. The Toaw Ren Park that we had the great pleasure of visiting also includes the grounds of an ancient Buddhist monastery that sheltered Dr. Lu when he was a child trying to find refuge from his 11 years of living homeless on the streets of Beijing during the Cultural Revolution.
Because the apartments for the millions of Beijing residents are quite small, the parks form a very important role in the social life of the city, bringing together old and young alike in the practice of tai chi, various forms of martial arts, ballroom dancing, badminton, singing, sword dancing, and truly almost any other type of group activity you might conceive of.
Something of particular interest to me is the health sharing groups Dr. Lu points out to us as we walk through the park: groups of elders over 90 and survivors of life-threatening illness. These "survivors" share their secrets of longevity and success with various herbal and healing remedies and regimes with community members anxious for guidance and support, a fine example of the best in Chinese communal life.
I look forward to sharing more of our experiences with you over the next two weeks and hope to give you a flavor of Chinese culture and the unique role of Golden Courage International in the growing non-profit sector of this dynamic society.
Many blessings,
Lucinda Kurtz and the Golden Courage Family