Swiss Hotel Blues

Our stay at the Swissotel is to come to an end next Friday, Oct. 24, as faculty and students will pack up and move to the Conference Center at the DKU campus.  The first session of the undergraduate semester finishes this week and the next session begins Oct. 27.  It's a bittersweet time for all of us as the faculty who came to DKU to teach for just the first seven week session are packing their bags and
are making their plans to leave.  Brian Hare and his family are going on to a sabbatical in Australia.  Vicki Russell, Jeff Moe, and Hippo Tan will return to Duke.  Haiyan Zhou has been given medical clearance to fly back to the US and leaves on Monday.  Our DKU family will move on to a new adventure on campus.

Duke's Liberal Arts in China Committee visited us this week to talk about plans for a four-year undergraduate curriculum for DKU.  We had a reception to honor them on Thursday night.  The reception was held in the bar of the Swissotel so we also took the opportunity to celebrate the end of this academic session.  Jeff Moe, Alan Burn, and Don Snow performed their "Swiss Hotel Blues" and you will see the library is featured in one of the verses.  The video is posted on YouTube.  I hope you enjoy it as much as we did, http://youtu.be/Vj366qQfM1I

The National Holiday, Oct. 1-7

I've just returned from a vacation in the Yunnan province which is in the western part of China. 

http://www.chinatravelcompass.com/kunming/img/map/origin/yunnan-map02.jpg

The Chinese have a national holiday from Oct. 1-7 so I thought I would take the opportunity to explore the part of China closest to Myanmar and Laos. 

We were told that all parts of China would be unpleasantly crowded so we hoped we were choosing an area that would be off the beaten path and would give us some needed respite from the hustle and bustle of Shanghai and Kunshan.


I went with my friends Chris and Edie Allen who kindly took me under their wing as traveling companions.  It was a tiring journey to get to Dali, our final destination, from Kunshan.  We used lots of different means of public transportation on this holiday: taxis, trains, subway, the Maglev in Shanghai, airplanes between Shanghai and Kunming, buses, and even a motorized scooter.  The journey was well worth the trouble. 


Dali is a place of incredible natural beauty.  Many Bai people, a minority group in China, live in Yunnan and the architecture is made of whitewashed homes with fluted tile roofs. 

We stayed in a small bed and breakfast built around a central courtyard.  We were warmly welcomed by Daisy, the manager, and Dali, the inn's Golden Retriever.

The Bai wear white clothing decorated with brightly colored tie dyed vests, shoes, and headdresses, with elaborate embroidery. 











In one of the small towns we were fortunate to see a newly married couple being escorted through the streets by their friends.  Their way was marked with loud firecrackers.  The couple looked very young and very nervous.








On one day we went up by cable car into the Cangshan Mountains to walk along the mountain trails and to visit a Buddhist temple. We had a spectacular view from the top of the ride of Dali in the valley below. 

The tall spire in the middle of the photo is also a Buddhist temple, one of the Three Pagodas of Chongsheng Temple, supposedly built 823-840 AD.  

We also explored the coast of Erhai Lake, which lies to the east of Dali, and visited Xizhou whose name means "happy village" (pop. 35,000).  Xizhou is known for its Bai architecture and was the home of many Chinese intellectuals during WWII since it was not invaded by the Japanese.  



A favorite saying of my friend Pam George applies to this area, "Always work where the heaven is high and the emperor is far away."




The weather was ideal and it was a welcome relief to be out of Kunshan and in a room where I could open the windows and the sky was a clear blue.  We ate delicious food.  Many restaurants were open to the street and they had containers piled with fresh vegetables.  We could point to the ones we wanted prepared and they brought dishes simply prepared and had wonderful flavors.

Dali is about 1600 miles from Kunshan and I felt like I was in a different country while I was there.  Dali was a nice change of pace from the bustling streets and highrise buildings out my hotel window. 

We are moving to the DKU campus on Saturday so we are about to make this long awaited shift.  It'll be another phase of this wonderful semester that offers challenges and new adventures at every turn. 

My Neighborhood Park

The park outside the hotel bustles with activity from the time the sun comes up around 5 am until the lights are turned off at 9:30 pm.  There is a large soccer field encircled by a four lane track covered in AstroTurf.  There is open space around the track area and often groups gather for aerobics, tai chi, jump roping, and badminton. 



The early risers are usually out walking or running around the track.  I even see women in their work clothes and carrying their handbags out for exercise before they head to work.  One popular way to exercise is to walk backwards.  I found out that walking backwards burns several times more calories than walking forwards.

I have tried to maintain my Durham schedule of running every other day so I now see familiar faces and the same dogs out when I go out before breakfast.  I've enjoyed the wonderful food in Kunshan so much that I feel I must have regular exercise or I will need a new wardrobe before I return home.  I get lots of stares when I run and I try to return their looks with a smile. 

One interesting aspect of night in the park is that huge groups of people come together for exercise

classes.  These are not strenuous exercises but movement classes that usually last about 90 minutes.  Four people stand in the front of hundreds of people to lead the group and music blares out across the field.


I miss my morning run around the East Campus wall and the familiar faces and smiles.  But, I find comfort in the regularity of the schedule and this interest in good health. 




We had a special treat last weekend as three DKU faculty (Alan Burns, Jeff Moe, and Don Snow) and Tong Meng, DKU's undergradate academic manager, performed onstage in the park.  The audience were quite impressed when Don spoke to them fluently in Chinese.   The quartet performed four songs and then the crowd sang "Happy Birthday" to Jeff in Chinese to help him celebrate this 65th birthday.

The DKU group was followed by a number of interesting groups who sang and danced, including this group of women who performed with their leaf cutouts.  The lighting in the park was dim so my photos are not very clear but I think you will be able to tell we had a great time.

Sept. 6 (Shanghai: cont.)

We walked through the markets of Shanghai.  We saw shops selling every imaginable trinket.  It reminded me of the Raleigh flea market except there was a lot of jade, historical figures and chopsticks of every variety. 


We also saw vegetables of every shape and color.

The bird market had birds of every variety.  I even saw some that looked like black capped chickadees.  The conditions were not humane as the finches were packed into cages and parrots were tied to perches on short leashes. 



The cricket market was very loud.  The chirping of the crickets was constant.  Men were busy removing the lids from the cricket containers and poking the crickets with long sticks to see how they responded to the prodding.  Evidently, crickets face each other in cricket fights and the first one to make their opponent go across the line is the winner. 

Sept. 6

On Saturday, Sept. 6, a group from DKU took a van to Shanghai to go on a guided walk with Patrick Moreton, Associate Dean of Graduate Programs, and Christina, Patrick's wife.  Patrick and Christina have lived in Shanghai for 10 years so they were very knowledgeable about the history of the city.


Shanghai is a city of great contrasts. We went from a new shopping area to the narrow streets where many people of the lower class live without indoor plumbing.


 
Given the rising prices of real estate in the city, the government is in the process of moving many people out of their homes and into high rises.

Christina told us that everything is recycled when the buildings are razed.




The people living in the small houses in the narrow streets took advantage of the warm weather to hang their laundry out to dry. 
 Laundry festooned the streets. 








Women were cleaning their homes.  The children were out playing with their trucks and skateboards.

There were groups of men playing mahjong.

August 20

The opening ceremony for the Duke Kunshan University took place on Aug. 20 and it was a great day of celebration.  The convocation welcomed the first group of faculty and students at DKU and included a morning of speeches, a Kun Opera performance, the signing of the university’s Community Standard by each student, lunch at a local restaurant, and lots of photographs.  More details about the convocation ceremony can be seen on the DKU website.

The Kun Opera was performed by students from a local school.  The performers were twelve and thirteen years of age.  According to the Wintergreen Kunqu Society, "Kunqu (pronounced kwin chu) is one of the oldest and most refined styles of traditional Chinese theatre performed today. It is a synthesis of drama, opera, ballet, poetry recital, and musical recital, which also draws on earlier forms of Chinese theatrical performances."

"In a Kunqu performance, recitative is interspersed with arias sung to traditional melodies, called qu-pai. Each word or phrase is also expressed by a stylized movement or gesture that is essentially part of a dance, with strict rules of style and execution much like classical ballet. Even casual gestures must be precisely executed and timed to coordinate with the music and percussion. The refinement of the movement is further enhanced with stylized costumes that also serve as simple props."

I could not understand the words being sung but the beauty of the dancing and the melodic singing were spellbinding.

The Kun Opera performance helped to place the opening of the new campus within the rich cultural tradition of the city of Kunshan and the Jiangsu province.  

August 16

Jek, the head chef of the Fairmont Hotel took Keith Dear, Rey Azares, John Straffin, and myself on an early morning bike ride into the neighborhoods of Kunshan.  It was a culinary tour of some of the local food.  Our first stop was at a noodle shop.

Keith's noodle soup with duck.

Our next stop was to try out the buns offered at a street stand.   

We saw a lot of interesting scenes along the way.  Here is a one man barbershop.

There were quite a lot of people out washing their clothes in the river.

A woman selling a small bowl of meat by the side of the road.  She had a fan to keep any insects away.

Women selling freshly caught fish in small bathtubs.

 

Our last stop was at a fried bread stand.  As you can see, this is not a health food tour but all of the food was delicious.

August 13

I visited the DKU campus yesterday for the first time.  I was very impressed with the vision and beauty of the campus.  It is going to be a stunning place when it is finished.

Construction on campus is in full swing.  The Conference Center which will temporarily house the faculty, students, and library is not complete.  We will be living in the Swissotel in Kunshan until we can move into the Conference Center.

View of the Conference Center from the Academic Building

Mary Bullock and I were given a tour of the Academic Building.  The Academic Building will be the home for the library when we leave our temporary space in the Conference Center.

Outside view of the Academic Building

Atrium on the first floor of the Academic Building

The Blue Room

Future home of the coffee shop in the Academic Building

August 11

The grounds of the Fairmont Hotel are beautifully landscaped with miles of trails, an organic farm, and scenic overlooks.

 It's the end of the waterlily bloom season in Kunshan, yet the waterlilies are still stunning.




 The classical gardens in Suzhou, located in a town close to Kunshan, are said to have beautiful waterlily gardens.  The gardens are a UNESCO World Heritage site, http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/813, and I am hoping to go next weekend for a visit.

With my experience as a landscape designer, I can appreciate all of the hard work that goes into maintaining such beauty.  Every day, including Saturdays and Sundays, the workers are busy manicuring the grounds.

The workers have makeshift bicycles they use to get to work and do their errands. 

August 7

I promised I would share my trip with you so this is the first day of my Chinese adventure.  I'm off to Kunshan after much planning and a deliberate decision to remain calm about all of the uncertainty of this project.

It's not my normal inclination to write a blog but this has truly been a group effort to set up the new library at DKU and it doesn't seem justifiable to hold my experiences so hidden.  I hope you will enjoy my observations and photos.  I will try to not be too mundane.

My flight took me from RDU to Detroit to Shanghai.  The flight left Durham at 6 am so we got very little sleep last night.  Michael had no complaints about his early rising even though he has a full day of work. I'll miss my sweet husband and feel very grateful that he's willing to take care of all of the home responsibilities while I am away. I'm very lucky.

I had a four hour layover in Detroit so I took advantage of the Delta Sky Lounge.  I've never flown business class so this was a treat. The flight from Detroit to Shanghai took fourteen hours and it made a huge difference to be able to sleep comfortably.

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Mengjie Zou, the library assistant at DKU, met me at the Shanghai airport with a driver.

So, off we went to Kunshan.  The Shanghai streets were crowded and several times I thought we were sure to have a collision with another car.  But, there seems to be an uncanny understanding of who can merge and who needs to yield.  We made it to the Fairmont Hotel in Kunshan without a hitch.

Mengjie has been wonderful! She has answered all of my questions and helped me orient to my new surroundings.  It would have been much more difficult without her help.

I'm settled into the Fairmont Hotel.  It's a luxury hotel with lots of amenities.  It's been good to arrive before all of the students and faculty as it gives me a chance to meet the DKU staff who have been here working hard to prepare the campus.

There's a happy hour every day in the hotel from 5-7 pm and I've met the IT guys working at DKU and Mary Bullock, Executive Vice Chancellor at DKU, to chat about our plans and the progress of the campus.  It's been a nice introduction to what feels like a quickly changing and intense beginning to this new semester.