Guizhou Photagraphy of Yu Jia Hua

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Yu Jia Hua is a nature photographer who has taken beautiful pictures of Guizhou Province. This web site will feature more of his work. Shown here are photos ofthe  Cao Hai Wetlands, the winter home to the Black Necked Crane. This beautiful bird migrates from Russia to Guizhou for winter. (Click on the thumbnail for a big picture)

Yu Jia Hua is a photographer who has taken beautiful pictures of Guizhou Province. This web site will feature more of his work. Shown here are photos of Cao Hai Wetlands, which is the home to the Black Necked Crane, which migrates from Russia to Guizhou for winter, and Hong Feng Lake, a man-made reservoir that provides water to Guiyang  (Click on the thumbnail for a big picture)

Fly Delta — Back to Guiyang

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I just returned to Guiyang after a two week visit to the USA. The trip was about 30 hours: Traverse City to Detroit 1 hr, Detroit to Shanghai 13 hours, and Shanghai to Guiyang 3 hours. Together with the layovers and delays, it added up to about 30 hours. I make it a point not to sleep too much before the flight, and the last six or eight hours of this trip went fast because I was asleep.

I watch the air ticket rates, and the rates have come down. This round trip ticket was $750, complete. I was in an overbooked situation last trip and got a $500 credit for the next flight. The entire trip cost a net of $250 after applying the credit. The flight was comfortable and the movies were quite good. The twenty minute taxi ride to my apartment cost about $7 (50 RMB).

I cast my ballot and talked to a lot of people. We talked about the politics in the USA, election process, and so on. It was a privilege to participate. More about that later . . .

 

Donald Trump’s Granddaughter, a Viral Sensation in China

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Trump’s Granddaughter

trumps-granddaughter

Above is a photo from a CNN news clip showing Donald Trump’s granddaughter practicing her Chinese poems. It went viral in China. You need a VPN to visit the CNN web page if you are in China, but it has been making the rounds in China on Youku and social media..

My  two-week visit to the USA has been very interesting, and a little frightening. Hillary supporters are in mourning, like when terrorists attacked us on 911. People seem to be determined to get you into an argument. There seems to be a lot of fear over what Trump will do, even from the Trump supporters. These stories about what Trump will do is colored by the campaign, which I wasn’t present for. So I can’t fully understand. I went to bed at midnight on election night and woke up in a different country. Now I understand what Einstein must of felt like when people were saying dumb things around him . . .

Art of De Deng — Chan Yi Qi Xi

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De Deng is not just an artist. He is a monk. He studies Budha, philosophy of all religions, aesthetics, Chinese Caligraphy, modern art, traditional Chinese painting, and “action art”. Before he became a monk he spent a year and a half helping clean the polluted environment in the Dian Lake, of Yunnan Province. He has tried to educate people about taking care of the earth. I was happy to visit his art exhibition at the 219 Gallery. His current art is abstract style and was displayed on October 18 to 22 at the 219 Gallery on Baoshan Beilu, in the He House Hotel (Heshe Jiudian).

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There are too many paintings to show here, but photos of the event are below:


Deng Chuan Qi shown below attended the exhibition of his former student. When Deng was younger, he was a Guiyang art teacher. He inspired a lot of students to become artists, including De Deng. Many of the Guiyang artists of today were students of Deng in middle school. They met their old teacher at the exhibition.  Also shown is Diana, our interpreter, one of students on the island who studies calligraphy, and a cat, who really seemed to appreciate the event.

After the event I was invited to the artist’s home and studio. He has two students living in his compound, which is on an island. Ironically, the island has no water around it right now because recent construction has resulted in the river being drained. De Deng is an environmentalist and his island retreat is no longer an island.

 

Babies and Baby Bags of Guiyang

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It is very common in China for grandmothers to take care of grandchildren, as the sons and daughters work. It isn’t uncommon for two working adults to support four grandparents, themselves, and a child. Grandparents are critical in the upbringing of the children.

Guiyang has a cool fashion for carrying babies . . . wawabao “baby bag”. The minority people of Guizhou create elaborate embroidery for the baby bags. It is common for the children to ride out in the open on the back or chest of a grandparent.

I have a friend that emigrated to Canada from Guiyang.  When he had his first child I delivered a baby bag to him. He almost cried from homesickness.

Soccer — A Guizhou Issue ?

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I have friends that are very into soccer. They play and even talk about coaching kids. The article below came as kind of a lightening bolt. How many out there think this is a good idea for Guizhou People? Perhaps there is funding to help coach the kids coming up. Please let me know at: tourguizhou@gmail.com .

Jack

Bloomberg, on China Soccer <VPN Required- see text below>

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Bloomberg•October 16, 2016 [https://www.bloomberg.com/gadfly/articles/2016-10-17/a-fifa-boost-for-china-s-soccer-goal]
China’s Soccer Goal
Gianni Infantino, FIFA’s new president, has ambitious plans. They are, however, easy to execute and may help further the goals of some of the soccer body’s major sponsors.
Planned total of teams in World Cup: 48
For a start, Infantino is pledging to invest $4 billion to increase the number of football participants to 60 percent of the world’s population, from the current 45 percent. Guess what: He doesn’t have to spend the money. More Chinese kicking a ball around could get him to his target in one move.
Coincidentally, that would fit well with the strategy of Wang Jianlin, China’s second-richest man, whose Dalian Wanda Group in March became the first major sponsor of FIFA since a criminal corruption scandal overwhelmed

soccer2the organization and led to the ouster of longtime president Joseph “Sepp” Blatter. Jack Ma, the nation’s richest man, followed suit in courting the federation.
When he announced his cash injection into the soccer authority, Wang said that having multiple sponsors “will help China bid to host the World Cup.”
That remains to be seen, but another of the aims Infantino laid out on Friday may at least help the world’s most populous nation return to the World Cup, in which it participated just once, without winning any games. The new president plans to increase the number of teams in the event to 48 from the current 32.
Ranked 78 by FIFA, China still has to work on its national team to reach the World Cup, even with the greater number of participants. But from a statistical perspective, a 50 percent increase in the number of available seats increases the odds that the nation makes it.
That’s just what Xi Jinping needed. The avowed soccer fan has declared football a national priority and harbors an ambition to see the country host and win the World Cup. Naturally, it makes sense for people in the private sector to help him get there.
The China team’s recent losses to Syria (really) and Uzbekistan indicate that the only way is up. As FIFA continues to grapple with the fallout from the corruption scandal, it needs supporters with deep pockets such as those in China. This is the start of a long friendship.
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