I Knew I Had Arrived
when a blast of humid air hit me like a vacuum cleaner in reverse. After nearly two days in airports and planes, I’d lost touch with what real air felt like, but wasn’t feeling terribly appreciative of THIS air or the cockroach-like critters scurrying in front of my...
Off to Hong Kong
in the SE of China sent me west out of adjacent Shenzhen, the much-touted area that was tiny fishing villages just several years back before becoming a bustling early success story of China’s economic boom. I boarded my first overnight sleeper train and headed for...
I Sit Presently
on the upper deck of our ship, cruising the Yangtze River, while steep, wetted rock walls embrace our path along this green river and waterfalls toss themselves down the cliff sides in narrow ribbons of white against black and white walls covered in clinging green. We...
Up at 4am
to catch a taxi to the T3 Beijing airport, I was rattled when I walked into a seething early-morning mass of people the approximate size of a small country, all vying for space at check-in counters.Not one attendant in sight, I had no idea where to check in amidst the...
The Great Wall
had not been high on my priority list, but I am certainly glad I had the opportunity to visit it, for it was a much more meaningful experience than I thought it would be. Actually, there is no ONE Wall, but rather many segments of walls built at different times to...
Onward to Kashgar
Heading west again across the southern rim of the Taklamakan Desert wove us in and out of desert land, oases, and villages. I have not yet figured out how to describe villages and their constant hum of life, but suggest you imagine whitened-beige adobe walls...
Back Tracking a Moment to Where I’ve Been and Setting the Stage for the West
Let me take just a moment to give you some sense of where I am and where I have been. Let’s draw a mental map juxtaposing the U.S. and China. China and the U.S. are similar in continental land mass size, though certainly not in population, wherein China weighs in at...
Invisible
By day, they are invisible, scattered about the city like stray dogs on the prowl, digging through yesterday’s trash, begging outside of restaurants, or sleeping in the ragpiles of cardboard and debris. But as creatures of the night, they regroup,...
Lima’s Villa el Salvador
Shantytowns and Squatters
They abandon mountains or fields for an uncharted journey into a city that doesn’t want them. In post cards, they are the picturesque peasant farmer who gives character to the landscape; in the cities, they are the forgotten, left on their own to reinvent...