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I am starting up this blog again. I will edit this post to provide the details of the past year.

The House of the Dragon King

After I left work today, I went for a walk around Hankou.  I finished by noon, so had the rest of the day to look around.

I wandered through some shopping streets.  There are some bronze statues to iconic Wuhan people along a pedestrian street there.  There is an iconic "stick man" who are pole bearing laborers you can still see around today.  Basically, if you have a stick and a strong back, you can make some sort of living moving things around Wuhan.

There is also a statue of Bao Li, the inventor of the famous "hot and dry noodles" or Ragemian.  In the early of 1930s, there was a small restaurant operated by Bao Li, who made a living by selling bean noodles and noodle soup near a temple in Hankou. One day, by accident, he spilt sesame oil onto his noodles. The next day, he eventually boiled those noodles and added shallot and other condiments. Next morning, his noodles soon became very popular because of its unique taste. Many people ask Bao Li what kind of noodle it is, Bao Li answered: Hot dry noodles.

I eat alot of Ra Ga Mian.  It is very tasty. You can buy good ragemian for maybe 4 kuai (.75 USD).

I walked all the way to the Yangtze river.  There was a temple I had not gone to, so I decided to stroll down that way.

I did not know what temple it was, but have subsequently found out it was the House of the Dragon King.

A long time ago, the people in the area needed rain.  So they decided to ask for help from a friendly dragon who lived in the Chang Jiang (Yangtze).

To create better relations with this dragon, they built him a nice house and remember him with a big statue and alot of donations.

Chinese dragons are benevolent.  They are associated with the ocean or bodies of water.  The Dragons can appear as a flying serpent or as a human.  They are associated with rain and water.

The Dragon king has two interesting horn like appendages protruding from his head. 

Chinese temples are especially fascinating because you have a mix and match approach.  Just inside the door was a wooden carving of the buddhist goddess of mercy, Guanyin.  Flanking her carving was another of a blissful buddha and a huge dragon.  

The Dragon God himself is basically a folk or Taoist pantheon god.

On the second floor of the temple, there is a statue of Shakyamuni buddha directly above where the statute of the Dragon King is on the second floor.  There were many examples of calligraphy and paintings on the second and third floors. There was an image of Guan Gong adjacent to the Buddha statue on the second floor.  Guan Gong is a historical general who is now revered as a sort of buddhist protector.  In the Jingzhou temple of Guan Gong, the monks or devotees had recorded chanting along the lines of mantra, revering Guan Gong's name.

China has a uniquely syncretic religious culture that allows the intermingling of religious images and meaning between what are completely distinct religious traditions.  This I find to be quite fascinating.

The house of the Dragon King has great views of the Han Jiang and Chang Jiang confluence.  

A nice place to take a look around, but certainly more for locals and devotees.  

 The front steps go down to the river.

 Great decorations on the outside of the temple.

 Buddha image on the second floor.  Directly over the statute of the Dragon King on the second first floor.

 View down the main staircase entering the temple.

 The confluence of the Chang Jiang and Han Piang rivers.

 The view from Hankou across to Wuchan.

 I believe this is an image of the Dragon King in his Dragon form.  My friend identified the name of the dragon, for whom the temple was built to be Nanhai.

 Another image of the wicked spear wiedling Guan Gong, protector of the buddhist faith.

 Looking down from the stairs to the statue of the Dragon King.  Not the odd horn like appendages protruding from his brow.

 Wood carving of Guanyin.  This carving was located just inside the main door of the temple.

 Great painting details through the outside.   I noticed one woman, hand washing above the sills of the windows on the outside of the temple.

Walking with a tiny white dog

Little puppy has helped me a lot.  He keeps me company and more importantly keeps me from spending too much time reading or snoozing.

I am not allowed to have a dog at my apartment.  Technically, I think I could get fired for having him there. It is hard to rationally explain why I would take on responsibilities for a small dog when it is not only alot of work but also potentially could get me kicked out of my housing.

Little puppy sort of got stuck in my mind.  I could not help but worry about him and his plight.  He is a sweet and gentle little creature and I could not bear the thought of him shivering to death in some wire cage on a dark night or getting crushed by a truck on some dusty road.  Images like that compelled me to undertake what is probably a foolish thing to do.  I know I am foolish, but I also feel alot richer for being a fool.

Currently, I only have him staying with me for two over nights a week.  The rest of the time he stays with my friend and her poodle.

Little puppy is a very very small dog.  He is under ten pounds and rather short for a Bichon.

I purchased a bag from a pet store big enough for him to sit in.  He can even turn around and stand up in it.  Despite getting antsy at times, he is very good at staying in it when I have to go into a store or sneak him past the guards.

The school campus that I live on is very large.  There are about 13 buildings.  My apartment building is strictly for teachers (foreign and Chinese).  I live on the 5th floor and there are only 3 other foreign teachers up there.

I have been taking Little puppy out to pee on the roof of the apartment building.  This might sound dangerous, except there is a four foot wall around the entire precipice of the roof.

I was concerned that I would be seen by the other teachers on my floor, or worse, the Chinese cleaning ladies.  However, since I work weird hours, I am often at home when everyone else is out working.

Puppy has enjoyed running around the open air 5th floor.  I am fairy confident he had some sort of training at one point, because he does wait to go outside rather than pee or poop inside.

He will only poop on the roof under dire circumstances.

During my two days a week with him I try to take him for good long walks.  This has consisted of walking him for about two hours straight each day.

I try to find suitable gardens where he can walk or run around.

He is not scared by crowds and has been well behaved with other dogs we have met.  He has even kept his cool around rather mean little dogs who have growled at us.

Yesterday, I walked him around a new way.  There is a nice golf course near the school, and I unsuccessfully found a way to walk around the course.  They are not as open to trespassers here.

We did find an odd little garden that looks like it was put together by a real estate developer.  It is a garden that is not close to any residential area or even commercial areas.  It was on the shores of a large pond (lake) that bordered some residential and shopping developments (as well as the golf course).

There were even a few settlements of squatters along the lake.  You find alot of quasi homeless people squatting in any vacant land they can find.  They often eke out a living farming in small plots and catching fish from any local water way they are convenient to.

Puppy has had some very good walks.  When I first found him, he had trouble jumping up on the couch or bed.  Now he leaps around like a crazed monkey.  When he is with my friends poodle he jumps, chases and generally harasses the poor older poodle.

My time in Wuhan

I have enjoyed Wuhan a lot.  The food here has been good, I have worked an average of under 10 hours a week, I have seen many historic sights, I met some interesting people, and the weather has been pretty good.

Since coming to Hubei last fall, I have been to four of the main cities in the province. I visited the mountain temples of Wudangshan.  I visited the medieval walled city of Jingzhou.  I visited a middle school in Yicheng (I guess I could not count this as a real visit because I did not see the three gorges dam or any of the local sights).  I visited Shiyan numerous times and found little puppy there.

I have had alot of Wuhan food, walked on the banks of the Yangtze River, went to museums here, visited the Huanghelou tower, visited the Guanyin temple here, and walked around a lot.

I met a variety of Wuhan Ren and learned alot about this area and the people here.  In addition to my own readings, I have learned alot about the issues in Hubei and China.  I know alot more about this country than I did before I came.

I hope to visit some more tourist spots.  I really want to swim across the Yangtze river, go to the temple to Laoshi, see some more sights, and maybe have one more big feed at a good restaurant here.

Chinese Bar-B-Q

Today I got back from the mountain town and met my friend for dinner. She is taking care of the puppy while I am away from Wuhan.

She enjoys Bar-B-Q. It is different from our idea of Bar-B-Q than what I am used to. I believe the style of cooking is from western provinces.

Chinese Bar-B-Q basically consists of taking fish, meat, potatos, Squid, and any meat you can put on a stick and then rubbing the skewered food with hot peppery spices.

I like it, but you need to be drinking beer to adequately enjoy it. My mouth actually started to hirt ot was so spicy.

I can only assume that this style of cooking comes from a Muslim are because it utilizes the ubiquitous islamic skewers.

People in Wuhan eat late and seem to like doing alot of things in the evening when it is cooler.  The cool ight is still very warm at around 85 F.

My friend and her sister gave the puppy a summer haircut.  He now has a close shave, which accentuates his very small size.  He was hapy to see me, but I think he prefers staying with my friend and her dog.  The puppy really enjoys playing with the older dog.

Attached are some pictures of the side walk restaurant.  The food was tasty, albeit very spicy.  The clientele cosited of som colege age boys who literally had drunk a couple of cases of beer.  Beer is weaker here, so it takes alot to get drunk.  They were well on their way.

I have been going to restaurants with my friend alot.  Lst week I saw the Tom Cruise movie Oblivion.  Movie theaters here usually have at least one film in english.

Little Puppy after a bath and a brush

He looks great.  It has been two weeks since I brought him back to Wuhan and he is doing very well.

Soup is good food

After being in Wuhan for about 6 months I have tried many dodgy foods.  I have eaten meat on a stick sold by central asian muslims listening to gay bath house techno music, frog legs served at an elegant eatery, liquid peas and corn served by the glass, duck tounges, turtle meat served at a baby's first month party, and a variety of other tidbits.

Among the tastiest of all foods I have found has been soup.  Chinese soup is delicious.

The soup I am talking about is not the hot and sour soup or egg drop soup.  I found a soup restaurant that serves excellent duck, pork and chicken soup.  It is a balm to all that ails you.

Soup has a certain restorative property that I have not found in any food type.  After a bowl of pork and seaweed soup at my local soup place, I felt my mind and spirit pop like a buoy upon the vast storm battered sea.

Soup, my gentle readers, is perfect soup.  If humans were birds, perhaps we would provide soup to our young to help them grow.  I suppose we already do, but in my mind I liken soup to the kind of food a mother bird regurgitates for its young.  Full of delicious taste and flavor.  Very nutritious and delicious.

I have gone to the soup restaurant several times with different people from my company.  One of the teachers said that he would not eat the meat and bones from the soup, but would take it to feed a dog, so the dog would get fat and taste good when he ate it.  He is a barrel of monkeys!

I enjoy the duck sou here because, so far, I have not removed a beak or head from my soup.  As you may recall, I have an uncanny habit of locating the chicken or duck head when I eat hot pot.

The soup is cooked in a huge vat, but in small separate clay pots.  At least this is what was explained to me, but in a difficult to understand way that left me wondering how they make the soup.

My favorite soup restaurant is managed by people from Jianxi province.  They are renowned for their soup.

The soup here has no asian flavor to speak of.  It tastes as good as the finest american soups I have tasted.

Soup is an international class of cuisine.

I like the soup with a bowl of rice dropped in.  The rice makes it great.

They also have other dishes.  One of my favorites is some kind of local tuber that is marinaded in liqour and spices.  It is then baked in a sauce and is breaded with something.

I have had distinctly Wuhan style soup which was very sweet and made with liquor.  It was tasty, but not as hearty and full of taste as the soups I had at my local soup restaurant.