[First published October 2, 2014] Last spring, the farmers harvested a grain crop -- I'm gonna say wheat but I don't know for a fact -- by laying it out on the side of the road to dry and thresh it. I never got any good pictures of how farmers used blacktopped lanes, roads, boulevards and parking lots on the outskirts of the city to process their crop because I was always in a bus or a car and couldn't get a good shot.  But a few weeks ago, we spotted this little pile of corn by the roadway leading to the school. This is not sweet corn -- it must be for corn meal or popcorn. The kernels are hard.

Well, that's interesting, we thought. So I snapped a picture. There you go -- some corn.

Then more corn appeared in the lanes that line the boulevard and we soon realized that first little outbreak of corn, that was nothing....

[First published October 2, 2014] ​While searching the Zibo area in Google Maps, I noticed that there was a "Cemetery of Revolutionary Martyrs" on the outskirts of town, not far from the school. I gather there was no shortage of martyrs in Shandong Province. Even if you survived the brutal Japanese occupation and the civil war, you could still be executed by the Communist Party's "Traitor Elimination Bureau" or be eliminated by a political rival for being a Trotskyite. 

What better day to visit the cemetery and contemplate the hardships that this region endured than October 1st, National Day, the anniversary of the day when Mao proclaimed the new Chinese Republic from Tiananmen Square? 

October 1st marks the first day of a three day national holiday, which is extended into seven days off by re-scheduling some classes. For the last few days we've heard the happy clatter of wheeled suitcases rolling over the brick pathways as students returned to their homes after only three weeks of classes. The city buses were crammed full and the taxis, both licensed and unlicensed, couldn't keep up with the flow of students heading to the bus or train station...

[First published October 21, 2014]  One advantage of being an older person living in China is that the mid-day nap is completely culturally acceptable here. Lunch "hour" is 90 minutes long or two hours in some places. Many of my colleagues at school take a brief nap after lunch. They just lay their heads down on their desk and fall asleep (actually, some students do this in class as well). The department managers have folding camp beds. The fact that eight people share one office is no deterrent. 


The farmers, as I mentioned when I was talking about the corn harvest, set up sleeping cots while they tend the drying corn. 

[First published June 25, 2014] ....you probably can't afford to golf in China. Especially if you hit a hole in one. Apparently the tips for all the caddies and the drinks at the clubhouse afterwards can cost you thousands of dollars. But follow this link for a fantasy tour of the golf courses of Kunming, the City of Eternal Spring.

Here's a sample: Honghe Spring already has a reputation as one of China's hardest golf courses. With tees suspended precariously on steep, jungle-covered slopes and narrow fairways carved through dense forest, Honghe will test any golfer's mettle. There's probably no better place than this to stress-test both mentally and physically.

More beautiful golf courses at this link.  According to CBS Sports: club memberships and green fees [in China] are among the most expensive in the world. The average initiation fee of a golf club is a staggering $53,000 - more than four times the cost of a club membership in Spain and Switzerland, the countries with Europe's most expensive entry fees. One in 10 Chinese clubs charges initiation fees exceeding $100,000, with annual dues ranging between $1,500 and $4,000.
What's more, green fees are the highest of any country studied by the Golf Benchmark Survey. Chinese golfers pay on average $161 to play an 18-hole weekend round, topping the average green fee in Dubai ($152).

Out:  Long March.  In:  Long Drive.  
Out: Five Year Plan.  In:  Five Iron.
Out: Cadres.  In: Caddies.