Rural China a delight ©

WARM HEARTS, FULL STOMACHS

Marshall and Valerie Burgess are Terrace residents traveiling in China. By MARSHALL BURGESS WHILE VISITING my wife, Valerie, who is teaching in China, we travelled to a remote area of

southern Shandong Province. Valerie had~ invitations. from

some of her students to visit them

and their families in the cities ‘of

~ Mengyin and Linyi during their ~ school vacation from Chinese

New Year to Spring Festival.

We sel off by bus from’‘Jinan in early February, expecting’ to spend two.or three days in cach cily and then go see the ‘‘tourist sighis’’ in’ China. Little did we know that these short visits would turn into an extended 15-day trip that never did take us fo the “tourist”? places but was the time of our lives!

. Travel is difficult in Chine. for . people: who do not speak Chinese or know: the customs. What —

should have -becn a seven-hour bus ride from Jinin to: Mengyin took us wo days. - Le The worst experience in China occurred’ changing . buses: at Xintai. We were dropped off al a corner on the outskirts of the city for a 15-minute wait until the Mengyin bus arrived, An. hour and a-half later,..we were still wailing in the biller cold: of a North China winler

wind, nol really knowing where we were and unable to communi- cate with the people.

I would have gladly taken a Star Trek transporter home to Terrace, but Valerie never lost heart,

- When the-bus finally arrived, it

- was crowded with country people

on their way home ~to_ visit families during. the coming Spring Festival, a

_They magically made room for.

us and our voluminous Canadian luggage at the front where we were seated on lhe engine cover - the warmest spot on the bus,

Three hours later we reached Mengyin. The directions of how to get-to our host’s home were useless as they began at the bus depol and.we were dropped off in the city’s central square.

A kindly local -woman made sure we had a hotel and some- thing to cat in a nearby restaurant,

Because few. foreigners visit Mengyin, a city of about 70,000, we were instantly the objects of great curiosity. Everyone wanted lo meet. us and to help, so the next morning. someone went to find our host.

Before long, we were taken lo the home of Valerie’s student and sharing a dumpling breakfast with

~ he and his daughter.

Over the 11 days we stayed there, we were guests of the

county officials for a banquet, spent a day hiking the National Forest al Mengshan in the Meng Mountains and were the guesis in many homes for traditional meals.

It is difficult to tell if we suf- fered more from the cold weather or from full stomachs.

We scon learned the most im- portant. Chinese vocabulary. for guesis in Shandong: ‘'!’m full’ and “‘T can’t eat any more.”

~ Virtually all transportation and

commerce Shul down during the New Year period, we soon learned. On top of this, a heavy snowfall blocked the roads for a couple of days, making our stay longer than planned. Our host as- sured us that bad weather is good because guesis stay longer.

The people of Mengyin are proud of their city, county and the nearby mountains,

The mountains are very beauli- ful with mixed forest (predomi- nantly pine), waterfalls and scenic trails. There is a great deal of reforestation being done, as well as extensive orchards producing the finest apples I have ever eaten (sorry, B.C.).

Economic progress is obvious with a large textile mill and vari- ous other industrics,

But the hardworking friendly mountain people of Mengyin are

ens

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They reminded me strongly of the peopie of northwest B.C,, just as the physical geography looked like B.C,’s mountainous areas.

The people we met are enthusiastic about the opening of China and the ties of friendship and commerce with the world.

When transportation finally be- gan to move again, we left the city with regret because of the

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In Linyi, a much larger and more modern city than the mountainous Mengyin, we again were greeted with the generous hospitality of Valeric’s students and their families. -

At last, we boarded the train back to Jinan, taking with us memories and friendships ta last a lifetime. ,

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