Discovering Lin Zexu in Red Hill Park

One Sunday afternoon I was exploring Red Hill Park with friends in Urumqi…. a statue to commemorate Lin Zexu…. Only later did I learn the significance of this man, and the fact that students throughout China learn of him as a hero of recent Chinese history…. What most Chinese do not understand… Lin Zexu is honoured for his stand against the drug trade… also today in New York City!!

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On a Hard Seat Coach from Wuhan to Changsha

I was on the train to Changsha (Hunan) from Wuhan (Hubei) and chose to travel “hard seat” this time. Across from me was a university student. He watched me do Sudoku—the addictive number game…. Here we were, very close to the big lake (Hu) from which the Province of Hunan (south of the lake) and Hubei (north of the lake) get their names.

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First Thoughts…

I’ve been to China five times in the past three years…. I’ve had good Chinese friends for almost 20 years…. By the time I finally chose to venture overseas to visit these friends and former tenants, we had dozens of potential contacts in various locations throughout China….

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