A Funeral

Last Saturday we attended the funeral of Sun-Ling's Great Aunt, her maternal grandmother's younger sister, who had gone into a coma on the 3rd day of the Chinese New Year and died without regaining consciousness. She was over eighty and in poor health for many years.

The funeral was in Shanghai, not far from our apartment. Upon arrival at the funeral home - four floors and able to support several simultaneous funerals - we signed in and each received a black arm patch, bottled water, small blue towel, and a single long stem yellow flower.

The ceremony was short: a few words from a representative sent by her former work unit and a few words from the oldest son. After the traditional bowing, the open coffin was tenderly loaded with flowers, blankets, paper money, and other afterlife necessaries, then nailed shut and sent to the crematoria.

We, along with all the other mourners, then walked outside, dropped our arm patches in a small open fire (on the sidewalk), swung a leg over the fire (symbolic jumping over the fire), and all boarded a bus to go to lunch.

Here is a photo of Sun-Ling and Great Aunt - we called her Mei Do Na in the local dialect - on the 1st day of the Chinese New Year, just a few days before she went in to the coma.

Fujian Trip (photos and video)

I'm way behind on travel journals. So, in the meantime, click on the links below for some video from our trip to Fujian, China around Jan 01, 2007 and click here for all the photos (which have descriptions).

Jammin' musicians

Elementary School Marching Band

Buddhist Temple Rituals

March of the Flight Attendants

That's all.

rain or shine ...

It's getting bright and sunny at 30 degrees north latitude. Time to buy that summer umbrella, hat, and gloves.

The Red Menace is gone

"It's killin' me. I can't eat, I can't sleep--all I can see is that giant red sun in the shape of a CHICKEN!" Cosmo Kramer

While we were in the US, the giant red JVC sign across from our apartment was replaced by a giant blue Mercedes sign. While I'll miss that gentle red glow, I welcome the new cool blue rays.

Taiji mania

True to footage seen on TV and photos in National Geographic, morning exercise goes on in every nook and cranny in China. Our neighborhood is no exception. In fact it takes place right in front of our building. John has to dodge taiji swords and fists every morning in order to make it to his bus.

I had been wanting to get into taiji ever since we came to Shanghai. When we moved to Xujiahui in October, I didn't feel I could brave the winter mornings. So when I got word that a new class was starting after the first Full Moon (beginning of March), I was all ready.

The first couple of weeks, classes started at 7. Then it was 7:30, which was not a problem since John gets up at 6:50 for his 7:30 bus.

The problem was that class seemed really fast for me. From beginning of March to mid April (when we left for our US visit), we went through a 24-move set, 88-move set, and a 52-move fan set! Classes take place Monday thru Saturday everyday for about one hour. When I slept in on Saturdays or when we went on weekend trips, I end up studying with videos. So, for a month and half, all my spare time was devoted to studying taiji, first thing when I get up and last thing before I go to bed.

I found I really like taiji. With yoga, I only manage to put in time, not posture. Compared to my elderly classmates, I do relatively well in taiji. Only relatively. Much to my surprise, taiji is hard work, not the mere arm-waving-in-slow-motion as I initially expected. It's really hard on the kneels; I cannot kick; I cannot squat low enough. And it takes a lot of concentration; it's meditative; the fan and 88-move make my heart beat! I can already tell my taiji sessions will be one of the highlights of our Shanghai experience.

Here's the view from our apartment balcony of Sun-Ling's taiji class. She is at far right in green top.