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.