Hangzhou and the Tiananmen Square Massacure.

Some 7000 years ago rice was first cultivated in an area close to Hang Zhou. About 5000 years ago, the area was inhabited by people who developed jade carving. Hangzhou was founded 2,200 years ago and the city wall was constructed in 591 AD. It sits at the southern end of the Grand Canal which was completed in 609 AD and extends to Beijing. It is listed as one of the Seven Ancient Capitals of China. And Hangzhou sits at the entrance of the massive Yangtze River Delta.

Today, the metropolitan area is home to about 4 million inhabitants. The principle scenic attraction is West Lake. It strikes me that this is a pretty mundane name for people that are prone to have their bodies of water adorned with exotic names rising out of ancient mythologies. The lake was formed because silt built up blocked the Yangtze from depositing itself into the ocean. In 1089 AD the emperor had 200,000 workers build a 1.7 mile causeway across the lake so he could enjoy sitting along the shores and enjoy the aura surrounding early spring mornings. The causeway was built from mud dredged from the lake.

The Sunday Sunny Resort, our conference hotel is reached via this causeway and is nestled into the hilly terrain on the shore opposite the city. It is a 4 star hotel in the Chinese rating system. But is not, by any means, foreigner friendly.

The desk speaks little English and communicating to them on the phone is a lost cause. Having ice in your drink or a beer served cold is not going to happen. There are no English channels on TV. No WiFi in the room or lobby, but thankfully, there is a desktop, cable connected access to the World Wide Web. Breakfast, is buffet as usual and at least you can look and decide. Attempts were made to translate some food into English but when I came to something labeled arterial sclerosis, I quickly passed by without examination.

On the other hand, a Chinese hotel always offers a water heating pot that can be used for making tea or instant coffee. Being a big fan of General Foods International Coffee, I always bring an unopened tin with me and enjoy my favorite cup anytime. Such small comforts can help a new day begin with style.

After participating in these workshops in China several times, there are certain things we can rely upon to happen. We will always enjoy a banquet of food every evening with our hosts. The food will be presented with unique garnishes and creative carvings enticing the observer to at least sample and taste.

All the above were delicious.

Whatever local sights are worthy of visiting, our hosts will see to it that a young English speaking guide will coordinate the transportation and drivers necessary to reach our destination. And they pay for all entrance fees. And they will be there to meet us at the airport, take our luggage, and make sure we are safety ensconced in our rooms. Other than providing a magic carpet, I can’t image how we could be better taken care of.

Typically, a workshop begins with introductions followed by an official group picture. The most important people are always center bottom row

The man in the white sweater is Professor Zeng, a high official in China’s CDC, with Professor Wood on the left and Judith on the right.

Whatever local sights are worthy of visiting, our hosts will see to it that a young English speaking guide will coordinate the transportation and drivers necessary to reach our destination. And they pay for all entrance fees. And they will be there to meet us at the airport, take our luggage, and make sure we are safety ensconced in our rooms. Other than providing a magic carpet, I can’t image how we could be better taken care of.

Typically, a workshop begins with introductions followed by an official group picture. The most important people are always center bottom row

We are guided to a walk around the lake and find many local people enjoying the serenity of the calm waters.

Later that night we are treated to boat ride on the lake.

One afternoon we are taken to the Xixi National Wetlands park which is the only one of its kind in China. We climb into boats and our oarsmen paddle our way through the maze of canals.

This is photo of the couple with us on our boat. Jeri is a professor at UIC and was one of the presenters and Ken is writer with several movie and TV scripts to his credit. They have a long distant relationship between Chicago and Brooklyn
We also visit a silk museum, a porcelain museum (they don’t call dishes China without reason) and an ancient bridge over the aforementioned canal. Apparently this bridge is where the emperor used to disembark from the journey from Beijing.

Here is a photo of our sight seeing crew.

We leave Hangzhou after 4 days and take a 4 ½ hour ride to Shanghai, with passengers in a van and luggage following in a car. While we were in China, the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square occurred. Naturally, there was no news about this in the English written China Daily. During this time China shut down, Twitter, Flickr, and Hotmail. Strangely, Facebook and Yahoo were not, so I freely posted about the censorship going on. Blogspot.com is permanently blocked.


For the flag raising ceremony in Beijing on June 4th, date of the anniversary, tourists were stopped and hassled, and all TV media and other reporters were turned away. In Hong Kong, however, 82,000 gathered in Victoria Park to hear people speak for freedom while holding a candle light vigil.


Twenty years ago, the People’s China open fired on a crowd demonstrating in Tiananmen and the Avenue of Eternal Peace was streaked with blood. Time after time assault rifles were raised and fired directly into the crowd leaving dead and wounded. When an ambulance tried to collect the injured, the troops fired on them. According to eye witnesses, rickshaw drivers slowly pedaled out to collect the bodies of the dead and injured. When I heard about this I was deeply moved by the courage and defiance these old, peasant rickshaw drivers took in support of freedom. When you educate citizens and create a middle class, political participation is nurtured. There will be a time in the future when this political oppression will be overturned. As I wait, I will remember those rickshaw drivers and stay inspired by them.


For all the kindness and hospitality given to us by the Chinese people, I want to see them some day have the same freedoms I enjoy. I hope I live to see it.