Dalian is a beautiful city, situated near the rocky
coastline, with hills and mountains surrounding the heavily populated city.
Traffic in Dalian and Beijing was very busy, with pedestrians and bicyclists
moving in and out of traffic as they could make their way. Changing lanes was a
daring act, often accompanied by a beep-beep as the car moved over, trusting
that the oncoming vehicles would yield. Turning at intersections sometimes
resulted in traffic jams when cars would head in the direction they wanted to
go and others were turning other ways. We don't have any photos of these
scenes, because Linda and I often had our eyes closed. The only way this could
work is because the traffic was moving much slower than we are used to here.
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| Mr. Wong and Linda |
The temperatures were in the 30s F, and the wind could be
quite chilling. Our guide (Nancy) from the Dalian Modern Museum took us to the
Museum of Natural History and a large aquarium. We ate lunch at a place called "Barbecue
Meat in Wang Mazi," selecting food by looking at pictures of dishes posted
on the wall. Mr. Wong, our driver, tried to teach Linda to use chopsticks, but
forks were always provided when they saw how inept we were. We enjoyed and were
brave about trying new dishes . . . well, a little brave.
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| Martha and Nancy |
We toured the Dalian Polytechnic University and visited with
Professor Ren Wendong, a famous Chinese Brush artist, who shared his book of
paintings with us. After my lecture, we visited classrooms where students were
working on weaving, interior design, and clothing construction.
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| Professor Ren Wendong and staff |
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| From window of Dalian Polytechnic University |
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| From window of Dalian Polytechnic University |
7 comments:
I've enjoyed my vicarious trip to China! And how wonderful that your daughter could go with you, not only to run PowerPoint, but to share and be a part of this amazing memory.
What an exciting adventure for you! I was in China a few years ago for a three week tour and absolutely loved it, but never knew that there was western style quilting there. How did you get involved in this project? Did you get to see more of the country?
Yes, Jeanne, having Linda with me made it an even more delightful experience. She thinks I can do PPT on my own now. Maybe. I'll post more as I work through pictures, so stay tuned.
Norma, three weeks sounds wonderful! My schedule was so tight with six presentations and a workshop and traveling that we only got to Dalian and Beijing but enjoyed everything we saw. About how this came about--I'm a firm believer that sometimes when you are standing in the right place at the right time blessings just fall on you! The US Embassy in Beijing conceived the project and worked with SouthArts (Atlanta) and ArtsMidwest (Minneapolis), and with advice from state art commissions, the works were selected. In other words, the artists were contacted rather than the artists applying. Check my website first page (or earlier blogs) to see some links for more details.
What an adventure! I love the photo's of the attendees gathered around you and taking photo's. Dalian looks like a very interesting city. Made me want to go to China at some future date.
I'll look forward to more posts about the trip and your reflections on the experience.
Yes, Jeanne, what an adventure! Dalian is called The Romantic City, and I understand most of the seafood comes from there. There were such interesting-shaped buildings. Can't you imagine it when all those trees are leafed out!
amazing opportunity... thank you for sharing.
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