Living in China 1988 April-June

Gu Bo and Pa Lan Ka from 'Learn Chinese Text Book No. 2'

April 1

The three “earlies”.

Meet Hong Yu at 9:00am. She is planning to go to UC Berkeley for a year as part of her Ph.D. program; her time in the US exactly parallels my CIDA Research year. In the long-term, her parents want her to stay and contribute to China. What work will I do after my year of research? Will I be able to stay here? Some of her friends are asking her, “Why is this foreigner so interested in staying in China?”

We visit Ritan Park; Hong Yu used to play here as a child. We arrive at Liu Xiao Yi’s a little late. It turns out they are having a big banquet meal with us as guests. Because were late, they went ahead and started. The “strong candidate” was also at the lunch. “What is Liu Xiao Yi doing?” I agreed to send some slides of Lin Xiao’s work to a gallery in Canada.

Liu Xiao Yi scored 430 in TOEFL; she needs at least 500 to study abroad. She’s quite disappointed.

Hongyu and I wandered for a while, including a visit to Zhong Shan Park with its beautiful old trees, until I caught the 7:40 back to Tianjin. Next week she finds out for sure whether she can go to UC Berkeley for a year.

April 2

I spent the day typing my CIDA Plan. Coincidentally, Hongyu mailed me an article by Rod Hackney about his participatory housing work in England. I was just typing into my CIDA research schedule a visit to see his work. There’s a lot of overlap in her interests and mine.

Harry dropped by inviting me to attend his Qi Gong class and to go to movie later.

April 3

I finished typing my CIDA one-year research plan except for a covering letter to CIDA and another one to my former teacher, Prof. Norbert Schoenauer. At last, it’s done! I’ll mail a copy to Hongyu; she said she will translate it into Chinese.

April 4

AM Second Year Design: Railway Station. Trying to help twelve students is very difficult. I can’t help them all enough.

I am interested in a woman who is divorced, but legally not; and beginning soon we may be apart for a year.

EVE

I went to see “American Anthem” with Sun De Cai (Harry); a disappointing movie. How did it come to China?

Note from 2021: Wikipedia: “American Anthem” received aggressively negative reviews from famed critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert; with Ebert called "as bad as any movie I've seen this year (1986), and so inept that not even the gymnastics scenes are interesting"; and Siskel called the film "complete junk; you can see more interesting gymnastics on Wide World of Sports than in this garbage". Gaylord's performance in the film earned him a Razzie Award nomination for Worst New Star, where he lost to "the six guys and gals in the duck suit" from Howard the Duck.

I went to sleep wondering why my ex-wife, Cathy, refuses to settle the financial business of our house in St. John’s.

April 5

Got up at 5:30am to join Harry’s Qi Gong class, but he wasn’t there. I was too shy to just join in so I ran around the lake instead.

Chinese with Chen Laoshi.

April 6

Architecture English Class: I used a video from the “Architecture at the Crossroads” series, “Columns and Gables”.

I went to the post office to mail copies of my CIDA Research Plan to Prof. Norbert Schoenauer, but they were out of large denomination stamps. I will have to come back tomorrow.

EVE

Met a new teacher from Japan at the Foreign Experts Building. His Chinese is better than his English. My Chinese is better than his English. My Japanese is non-existent; we communicate in Chinese.

Later help Second Year students with design. Every night at 10:00 PM the guards chase everyone out of the design studio building and turn off the lights. When they want to work late at night or all night, they wait until the guard goes downstairs and turn on the lights. When they do want to leave, to avoid passing by the guard at the ground floor lobby, they crawl out through the bathroom windows.

April 7

Second Year Design

The teachers have a mid-morning meeting to discuss the next design assignment for the students. I understand about a quarter of what is being said. No-one translated for me; they assumed I didn’t need it. I made a few comments in my broken Chinese. In my classes with Chen Laoshi I feel a sense of progress; in a meeting with teachers I feel discouraged.

I enjoy being with the students very much. There is a deep satisfaction watching them learn.

Fig: Chen Lasoshi left me a note in Chinese (and a little bit of pin yin).

For over a month I have not rested (since the Spring Festival Holiday). I soaked in my bath tub for an hour. What a luxury! If I am this tired entering my 40s, I don’t think I can handle the 50s.

April 8

Hongyu arrives and stays again with my neighbours, Dave and Marcie Landingham.

April 9

Hong Yu starts to translate my CIDA Plan into Chinese.

I go to the Second Year Studio.

Fang Yuan and his wife take us to see a new movie called “Hong Gao Liang”. The film showed, during the Japanese invasion in Shandong, a Japanese soldier forcing a Chinese man to skin alive another Chinese man. I felt faint and wanted to throw up. It took me 15 minutes of slow deep breathing to recover. I hope watching such cruelty makes us love peace, not want revenge.

EVE

Long talk with Hong Yu.

April 10

Translation and talk continue. We agree she will not come here again until her legal divorce is settled. But we do not exclude my going to Beijing to see her.

We bicycle to Hai He and walk along the river. Often she speaks Chinese while I speak English. I see her off at the North Railway Station. More oranges, and another Chinese goodbye. I feel pain, fear, obstacles, confusion. I also feel attraction, hope.

April 11

Second Year Design railway station project

Marcie and David invite me to their apartment for a spaghetti dinner with salad and pudding. Wow! They are so kind; it cheered me up.

April 12

I dreamed last night I was living in a very isolated treeless place by the sea; with no people anywhere for hundreds of miles. I was living with 2 or 3 people. The dwelling was half buried underground for protection from the strong winds. It is homey, cared for, and lived in. An extension is under construction expanding the house through a tunnel in a small hill to another place for living. There is an atmosphere of perseverance and patience at an outpost. I walked away from the house to see if there was a way to join the rest of the world. In front of me was a sea of churned up, impassable mud that formed the long miles of coastline.

April 13

Architectural English

I still feel out of focus. I force myself. Lesson actually went well. The class was about structural design for earthquakes. As part of the class, I interviewed five Tianjin students in the class, in English, about their experience in the 1976 Tangshan earthquake. They would have been about 6 or 7 years old at the time. The class was very attentive.

After class, Lin Ning said she had some good news. We went off to Ba Li Tan(r) to have a soft drink. Minnesota has offered her a teaching assistant-ship. That’s great news! Her salary will cover her tuition. Later we went over the translation she had done for me for CIDA. It will be ready for Friday so I can take it to Beijing on Saturday and give it to Hongyu. Lin Ning was much happier. Then she asked me if I believed in God. I said yes. She kept asking questions, so I gave her a brief introduction to the Baha’i Faith.

EVE

Help second year with design

April 14

AM Second year design

The students have finished designing and are starting to draw on watercolor paper stretched over their drawing boards.

April 15

AM Chinese with Chen Laoshi

Lin Ning dropped off the translation.

In preparation for my global housing tour, part of my research, I wrote letters to Ginny Rochester, Ann Wilson, Barry Pinsky, Robert Mellin, Don Johnston, Elizabeth Rochester, Mark Shrimpton and Elizabeth McAllister, Director of the CIDA China Country Program.

Elizabeth McAllister

EVE

The Foreign Affairs Office hosted a party. It began with a “Draw the nose on the scholar” game. You were blind-folded and then you had to try and draw a nose on a face on an easel. Xu Xin Feng brought her one-year-old daughter. The person to draw the nose was chosen by passing a scarf around the room to the noise of a chopstick beating on a pot. When the noise stopped, the holder of the scarf blind-folded himself, and tried to draw a nose. I won a stuffed deer for drawing the nose in a good location. During the dancing after the game, I could do a little of the waltz, rumba, and tango.

Zhu Jian Fei’s wife was there. He told me he had a girlfriend; I didn’t know he was married. They married just as he is about to leave for London to study at University College. They will be separated for three years. I plan to be in London, as part of my research plan, next February or March. Hope to look him up.

April 16

Saturday

The three “Earlies”.

Hongyu met me at the Beijing Railway Station. She said the thing she hates the most is religion. Can I find a way to stay in China and have a future with her? Then I think of what a slim chance it was that we met, how we are attracted to each other and have found so much in common. I think of her intelligence and mental agility, courtesy, her interest in having a family, her artistic talent. Her comments about religion are directed, I think, mainly at the abuse of religion; religious and political leaders using religion to solidify their own positions, to foster prejudice, to justify wars, etc. If this is religion, I agree, it is better not to have religion. I tell myself, in time, I might show her another picture.

Hongyu’s mood was a little anxious and quiet. “Was she having doubts too?” American breakfast at the Beijing Hotel. The different levels of skill we have in each others language forces a simplicity and economy of language. Not a bad thing; Peter Pope once said if you ask Joe the time he’ll tell you how to build a watch.

Later we took the bus to have lunch at her eldest sister’s home in the residential part of the People’s Daily compound. This was a significant meeting because everyone knew Hong Yu and I are “courting”. It seems I am acceptable, so far, to Hongyu’s friends; now she is taking me into the family circle.

Hongyu has two older sisters; they are Song Zheng (nick-named Mao Mao) and He Hong Liao (nick-named Liang Liang). Mao Mao is 11 years older than Hongyu and Liang Liang is 9 years older. Mao Mao and I are about the same age. Her husband is Yu Ning. They are both journalists; she is at China Agricultural Newspaper and he is an editor and writes editorials at People’s Daily. They made me feel welcome. Yu Ning was busy making noodles. He put dough in the top of a shiny metal machine, turned the crank, and noodles came out the bottom.

In 1966, Mao Mao and Liang Liang joined a march to Shaanxi, Yan An to see Chairman Mao. Hong Yu, eight years old, was not allowed to go. I played chess and Go with their thirteen-year-old son Bater. “Bater” means “Hero” in the Mongolian language. His name was a sign of the respect they had for the people of Inner Mongolia. Mao Mao and Yu Ning met each other when they were assigned as students to be educated by Mongolian shepherds. They served as teachers; teaching Chinese to the shepherds. They lived in yurts, learned to ride horses, and to speak Mongolian. They were there from 1968-1977. He Hong Liao also went to Inner Mongolia from 1969-74.

Hong Yu, with help from Mao Mao, cooked the lunch. I peeled some potatoes until I was sent out of the kitchen to talk with Yu Ning. He asked me a lot of questions about my plans, my family in Canada, and whether I am accustomed to China; information that, I assume, can be reviewed and reported to Hongyu’s parents. They don’t want to meet me until after Hongyu is legally divorced.

They asked Yu Ning and I to stand back-to-back to see who was taller. “Stand up straight!” Hong Yu ordered me, “You look like an old man”. Bater was enthusiastic, polite, and shy. We taught each other some English and Chinese. Later, he gave a little concert with an accordion. I rested in his bed after lunch while everyone else cleaned up. After a while, Hongyu woke me up, “You didn’t come to Beijing today to sleep” she said, teasing. I spent part of the afternoon looking through old family photo albums.

Mao Mao and Yu Ning went out to meet friends for supper, so Hong Yu and I were left to make supper for ourselves and look after Bater. Hongyu’s middle sister Liang Liang arrived with her daughter, Shan Ying. Liang Liang gave me a welcome look. Shan Ying was shy and giggly. I played Go with her. When we sat down to supper, Liang Liang pointed at me and said “What’s that?” Shan Ying replied, “Da ren” or “Adult”. This was the best welcome I’ve had to China. Other children call me “Lao Wai” or “Wai Guo Ren” both of which mean “foreigner”. During supper we played a game where Hong Yu would point to something and I would have to say it in Chinese. I made some funny mistakes that made Shan Ying laugh. She whispered corrections in her mother’s ear, and Liang Liang would then tell me what I should have said. Liang Liang speaks Chinese, Mongolian, some English and French. Mao Mao and Yu Ning returned; Mao Mao asked me if I would come next weekend and - along with Hongyu - take care of Bater.

Train back to Tianjin.

April 18

Second year Railway Station Design

Preview “Architecture at a Crossroads” videos for Architectural English.

April 20

I dreamed I was on a very steep and wide staircase but there were no stairs - a slippery slope – just occasional landings to rest. The surfaces were covered with thin, loose linoleum tiles. I was crawling up precariously with my fingernails in the cracks. At one landing there was an elevator that would take me down to safe ground. Anxiety.

Chinese with Chen Laoshi.

Architectural English. The video is called “Islam: Search for Identity”. The theme of an old civilization looking for its identity in the modern world is a theme relevant to China.

After class I had a snack with Lin Ning at a restaurant under the Ba Li Tan Overpass.

April 21

Second Year Design. They must finish their work on the Railway Station on April 23 at 5:00 pm.

Lately I’m reading a compilation of Baha’i writings called “Baha’i Marriage and Family Life”.

Today is the First Day of Ridvan, a twelve-day festival commemorating Baha'u'llah's declaration that he was a Manifestation of God with a new message for humanity.

A letter from Liu Xiao Yi came today inviting me to join their family over the May 1, International Labour Day Holiday.

I went to the art factory near Tong Lou to buy a beautiful antique bowl for my mother for her birthday. They will look after mailing it.

April 22

Chinese class with Chen Laoshi. We discuss morals and order in society.

EVE Help students with Railway Station Design

I receive a call from Hong Yu’s friend, Ma Xiao Dong, in Beijing. She said I should come to Qinghua University tomorrow to hear lectures by Richard Meier and Istusaki. “You don’t need tickets”, she said. I got on my bicycle and went to Lin Ning’s place to tell her about tomorrow. I had a chat with her parents all in Chinese. Lin Ning kept laughing in astonishment.

April 23

The three earlies, this time with Lin Ning who also wants to hear the lectures. We arrived at Qinghua at 9:30 just when the lectures are beginning. We listened to Richard Meier until 11:00, then Istusaki’s wife spoke for an hour about her sculpture.

For lunch Hongyu invited us to a campus restaurant. Wang Li Fang, another good friend of Hongyu, joined us. She is trying to learn French, has a boyfriend who is a doctor from Nanjing. She wants a baby more than the Ph.D. she just started.

Lin Ning was shy. She told me earlier she feels anxious sometimes and cannot make new friends easily. At the end of the meal, since I wasn’t paying for it, she reminded me to say “Thank you”. “You must say something”, she said.

We attend the lecture by Istusaki; in Japanese, translated into Chinese. I start to fall asleep, partly from struggling in Chinese, partly from getting up so early this morning, and partly because sometimes modern architecture feels like fiddling while Rome burns.

During the mid-afternoon break Hongyu suggested we leave. Lin Ning was happy with this; she wanted to do some shopping before catching the 7:40 train to Tianjin. She and I agreed to meet on the train.

April 25

Second Year Studio

There is an introduction to the next project; an Art Center and School at Nankai University, a campus next door to Tianjin University. Zhang Chi (Cary) said he had stayed up with the students until 4:00 pm on Friday night helping the students. I felt guilty; I had gone off to Beijing to hear lectures by famous architects.

EVE

I visited the home of Professor Nie Lan Sheng in No. 6 Village on campus. Conversation all in Chinese. She showed me some of her work. I gave her a copy of my CIDA Research Plan and showed her some photographs from Canada.

April 26

Chinese with Chen Laoshi

She said I looked tired and recommended I buy some Royal Jelly as a tonic.

I bought the Royal Jelly and I received a wonderful letter from Elizabeth Rochester. The letter dispelled my darkness; part of my tiredness lately is a lack assurance.

April 27

Today’s Architectural English class was canceled for an all-campus sports day.

I received a copy of a letter to Lin Ning from McGill saying the first choice selection for the Clifford Wong Fellowship had accepted it; so it would not be awarded to Lin Ning. I went to her place to tell her; she might not have received the letter yet. Now her only hope is Minnesota. Minnesota wants her but Tianjin University must agree to let her go. At least she has some hope.

EVE

I start to compose CIDA-project letters for visits outside China.

April 28

Second Year Design Class. For this new project I also have a new group of students. I introduce myself to them and we have our first meeting. Young and eager; shy smiles.

The Foreign Affairs Office invited the foreigners to attend a press conference of a German-Qingdao joint venture refrigerator manufacturer called Qingdao-Liebher (Later called ‘Haier’). At the gathering, an earnest young Chinese manager asked me what I thought of their logo. I thought it was terrible, but just said, “It doesn’t make me think of refrigerators.”

Haier Company Logo

Another company official, looking forward to international sales, asked me “What lucky logo-symbol would be appropriate to put on our refrigerators for sale in Canada?” I didn’t know how to respond.

[Zhang Ruimin, born January 5, 1949 in Laizhou, Shandong is a Chinese politician and chief executive officer of Haier Group. He is known for his work in turning a little-known, bankrupt refrigerator manufacturer into the world's fourth-largest appliances company.]

They gave each of us a red lacquer vase as a thank-you for attending. Xu Xin Feng from the Foreign Affairs Office was with us. I said I could put flowers in the vases; she said “You only do that for weddings”. Then she added, “I hear you have a girlfriend. Let me know if you get married. You should buy an apartment in China….I can help you.”

Temperature is already up to 30 deg. HOT!

EVE

Jin Xin came by for our English-Chinese exchange. We had a good time. We enjoy helping each other.

Tonight is the year’s first big electric storm. It’s 11:00 pm and I hear the distant rumbling. I feel sorry for the workers out behind the Guest House. They are in the middle of a two-day concrete pour for the new foreign student dormitory. They can’t stop even if it rains.

April 29

Chinese with Chen Laoshi

Ninth Day of Ridvan.

I’m so tired. I went downtown for a mentally-unchallenging walk; bought a new watchstrap at Quan da Sha. I ate another expensive salad supper at the Sheraton. I feel anxious about everything: the CIDA project, my future in China, Hongyu, my health, my wealth (now well below Canadian poverty line), the distance between grand ideals and realizing them, and entering middle-age still “floating”. I remind myself that life’s tests are gifts that help us grow.

EVE

I draft letters for the out-of-China visits.

Reading Chaim Potock’s “The Book of Lights”.

April 30

I bought a cutting board to make salads in my room. I think my life depends on it: the Dining Hall diet is making me into a pork and oil food processor. It’s not Chinese family home cooking; it’s Chinese restaurant food.

EVE

Hua Guang came by to get my advice about schools in the West. He also wanted advice about his next design assignment at his Institute; a 200,000 m2 trade center near the Hyatt. He has to come up with a concept in five days. China works at large scale.

I suggested he learn from Place Bonaventure in Montreal - a trade center with a courtyard hotel on the roof with views to the city and links to trains and subways on the lower levels. My teacher, John Schreiber, assisted Sasaki to do the landscape design. The most beautiful part was the hotel courtyard gardens. I remember John talking excitedly about the creeping vines they planted at the base of the massive almost windowless exterior walls. “They just climbed and climbed to their natural height!”

Later Hongyu called. She has a temperature of 39 degrees. I will go see her in Beijing on Monday at 12:30 instead of tomorrow. She said Berkeley sent her a telex inviting her to come for a year and her department does not want her to divorce yet, it might jeopardize her application for a visa to go to the US.

What should I do? Hope, give up, refrain? I think this is a great opportunity for her. I think she might find a boyfriend in Berkeley. She is still young and starting out. I feel some envy; I am in mid-course, low on fuel, and can’t find a runway.

May 1

Sunday

I am writing letters to institutions and individuals who know much more than I do about housing policy and administration, people who have spent their whole lives working in the field. I anticipate a little embarrassment telling them I am a Canadian architect - not an expert on housing policy and administration, that I am doing research for China - I’m not Chinese - “Participation“ is the central axis of my work - a principle that, according to Hongyu, will not apply in China for many years. These days I often say this prayer:

O God! Refresh and gladden my spirit. Purify my heart. Illumine my powers. I lay all my affairs in Thy hand. Thou art my Guide and my Refuge. I will no longer be sorrowful and grieved; I will be a happy and joyful being. O God! I will no longer be full of anxiety, nor will I let trouble harass me. I will not dwell on the unpleasant things of life. O God! Thou art more friend to me than I am to myself. I dedicate myself to Thee, O Lord.

I sat on my balcony with the door open. It’s dark and a few bats flit about. A lucky sign in China.

May 4

Another visit with Liu Xiao Yi and family in Beijing. Our visit ended. The next morning, I went with her on the bus as she went to work at the CAAC office near Wan Fu Jing and the National Gallery. I was planning to get off the bus at Wang Fu Jing and walk about 2 km south to meet Hongyu at the Beijing Hotel. Out of my bus window I saw her waiting to catch a 104 bus to the hotel. I jumped off my bus and chased hers. It was a long one with three sets of doors. Crowds of people were getting off and on. She went in the middle set of doors. I was the last one to get in the front doors. I paid my fare and wove through the crush of passengers. About a meter and a half away I caught a glimpse of her face through the forest of arms clutching overhead grab bars. I pushed closer, reached my hand through a gap in the maze of heads and squeezed her shoulder.

We spent most of the day reviewing our difficulties. Hong Yu thinks it’s possible, even after she comes back to China to finishes her Ph.D., that the authorities at Qinghua won’t grant her a degree if she is divorced. That could be over two years from now. I caught the 7:40 pm train to Tianjin; we had an understated Chinese goodbye in the railway station.

May 5

Classes have begun again after the May 1 Holiday.

In class I tried a five-minute design project. It was a fun way to get at a clear concept. We then had a good discussion based on their sketches.

May 7

Saturday

I gave Jin Qi Min a Chinese copy of my proposed CIDA-Housing Research Plan and invited his comments. From my room I called a travel agent in Hong Kong and, in English, in a few minutes, booked a return flight to Canada. So easy compared with last year!

May 8

I mailed large envelopes with a cover letter and a description of my CIDA-Project to all my Canadian and US destinations. It took over half an hour in the Post Office and I used up nearly all of their daily quote of large denomination stamps.

I studied Chinese for a while and then went out to look at the site for the Art Center on the Nankai University Campus. Later I went to the Nankai’s English Corner.

I bought some greens in the market, cleaned them in my little kitchen, added a few drops of iodine, made a big salad with ginger and garlic in the dressing. What a joy to eat raw vegetables!

Concrete vibrators whine and hum all night as they pour the structure for the new student dorm just to the south of us. I often see Lan Jian. He is taking care of roofing in our courtyard and making it into a meeting-banquet room.

May 9

Second year design.

Wang Qun, a young architect I met at the IYHH conference in Nanjing came for a visit. I gave him a tour of the old Concession Areas, followed by a visit to the Crystal Palace Hotel. He had been living in Sweden for four years and will go back for three more. He says he will come back to China.

May 10

Chinese with Chen Laoshi

She is constant, enthusiastic, friendly, sincere…an oasis. I love her energy and encouragement.

At lunch time Prof. Zhou Zu Shi gave me a copy of a book about architecture in Tianjin, including a paper by him. He is kind, another friend. I dropped by the Foreign Affairs Office to ask about my visa arrangements for the up-coming year. Xu Xian Feng (Susan) said it was difficult to arrange, and, she thought, has not been arranged yet. This set off alarm bells. Liu De Fu told me my status for this year will be ‘researcher’ and the leaders have agreed. I made a lot of arrangements based on this verbal understanding. Is Susan wrong? I left feeling threatened and depressed. I could hardly eat supper.

Later, a telegram came from Zhang Long in Beijing asking me to phone her. On the phone she told me she has set up a meeting Friday morning for me with three very high officials in the housing field in China. She said after my year of research I should stay in China longer. “What’s the use of learning all that, and we don’t use you?” I love this woman. She has told me I can use her spare apartment in Beijing, if I want to live there.

Today, on the same day, my hope scale set a new high and a new low.

May 11

Hongyu told me lately, she does not want to be controlled. Much of her life was and is like that. She felt suffocated by expectations; and found it hard to be herself.

May 12

Second Year Design: The students are “cooking” now, some very good ideas for the Art Center cropping up.

PM I prepare for the meeting tomorrow morning in Beijing.

There was construction noise all night, so I took my blankets and pillow out into the hall and slept on the floor.

May 13

The three earlies.

Breakfast at the Beijing Hotel. Zhang Long picked me up in her work-unit car at 9:30. I felt apprehensive. What would they think of my CIDA Research plan? On the way I told her what I wanted to tell them, a kind of rehearsal. She said she was disappointed, of the three people she invited, only Mr. Gu Yun Chang would be present. He is the senior planner with the Institute of Urban Housing (part of MOC) and is Secretary General of the China Urban Housing Research Association.

He is in his mid-forties; one of the few professional people I‘ve met in this age group. We exchanged cards. He invited me to speak first. I introduced myself for about ten minutes - including my China experience so far - and my proposed research plan for another ten minutes. He then spent about the same time introducing his institution and his views of urban housing needs in China. During both our dialogues (translated by Zhang Long) we did not interrupt each other. We each made notes as the other talked. We then made further comments and clarification for another five minutes.

About 11:45 Xu Rong Lie, the Chief Engineer of MOC came in. We had a quick recap. He had read the Chinese translation of my research plan. He felt the subjects were valuable but I was trying to do too much; it wasn’t focused enough. He suggested I visit Sri Lanka; he said they have an interesting state housing program.

[This was a turning point. My research direction was heavily influenced by the social and economic development discourse of the day. One that I had been exploring since I was in university. There was strong emphasis on self-organization, self-help, and participation. This discourse saw the world in terms of ‘developed’ and ‘developing’ countries. Participants in this discourse did not take into account China’s huge capacity for collective organization and collective action. Generally, at that time (1988), China was regarded as one of the ‘developing’ countries. I, and my sponsor CIDA, looked at China through this lens. Its capacity to develop, on its on terms, was much underestimated. I failed to adequately take this into account when I planned my research. Xu Rong Lie’s comments and suggestions, and from some other Chinese sources, helped me realize this was a problem, but it was too late to modify my plan. In hindsight, I should have discussed my plans with them first. But it took all the efforts I made to obtain a CIDA research grant to open the door to meet them. Maybe that’s why I’m writing this diary; I’m trying to learn something though reflection.]

At 12:00 Mr. Lin Zhi Qun (林志群) came in. He had just had a cataract operation but was recovering well. He is head of the National Real Estate Bureau.

Zhang Long had arranged for us all to go out and have lunch together in the revolving restaurant on top of the Xi Yun Hotel. Another man hovering in the background all the time who never introduced himself. Lin Zhi Qun was very alert and lively, sometimes joking, and very friendly. I am grateful for the chance to meet these eople. Zhang Long has repaid me well for the help I gave her. Gu Yun Chang spoke no English, Xu Rong Lie spoke a little and Lin Zhi Qun spoke it well. I could speak a little Chinese, but Zhang Long had to fill in most of the gaps.

During lunch, Mr. Gu suggested a trial “cooperation”. I will go with one of his staff to Tangshan for three days and learn about the experimental housing reforms that are already underway there. And, after one of my trips out of China to look at housing in another country, I will share my findings with them. We can decide then whether there are any further steps we can take together. I was very happy with this proposal. He said after lunch, we can go to meet the staff person at the Ministry of Construction that he had in mind to accompany me to Tangshan. On the way out of the restaurant, Lin Zhi Qun grabbed my arm and said let’s meet sometime more informally and have a really good talk. That made me very happy.

At MOC I met Mr. Gao Xiao Hui. His English was a little better than my Chinese so basic communication was no problem. The trip is on; we agreed to leave Beijing on July 10.

Everyone left except Mr. Gu and Zhang Long. Zhang Long went out to make a phone call and I was left alone for about ten minutes with Mr. Gu. We had a good conversation in a basic Chinese. I think it reassured him that I could do that.

Later, outside, I thanked Zhang Long profusely and we said goodbye at the Bai Wan Zhuang corner. When she was out of site, Hongyu stepped out from behind the billboard on the southeast corner. I wanted to introduce her to Zhang Long but Hongyu and I agreed it was too early and not wise to be a “couple” just yet.

I was excited about the morning and poured out all the details to Hongyu. I think I earned a little respect from Hongyu; I had managed to make some progress with my work in China. I think it was evidence that I could be here longer term. We took the bus to the Friendship Store to buy some cloth so I could get some shirts made. She talked to the salesperson with great respect and courtesy. I liked the way she saw people. We went to the Jian Guo Hotel for a coffee; I had three hours sleep last night. Later in Ri Tan Park, sitting on a bench, I mentioned how different this was from last week. “Last week we were so heavy”. “Not ‘we’, you.” she shot back. I liked her directness. “You have not yet entered Chinese society”, she said. She’s right. After a couple of years I’m still a foreign guest…but I don’t think it’s from lack of effort on my part.

Another Beijing Railway station goodbye.

May 14

Saturday

The Foreign Affairs Office organized a visit to Da Qiu Zhuang, a model, wealthy village in about 35 km south of Tianjin. On the way there, Liu De Fu explained that although the Foreign Affairs Office and the president of Tianjin University agreed to my staying on a year as a researcher, this matter still had to be approved by the China Ministry of Education. Usually the Ministry accepts their reports, but she can’t guarantee they will. “You understand my situation,” she said. I keep a calm exterior.

Soon after our visit to the model village, we learned that all its leaders were in jail for corruption.

Da Qiu Zhuang

Sunday May 15

Three earlies.

Hong Yu meets me at the Beijing Hotel and we head for her eldest sister and brother-in-law’s home. Hong Yu insists I find their place by myself, a kind of training. Their apartment block is buried deep in the northeast corner of the People’s Daily compound and not that easy to find. And, when you get to the long apartment building, it has several entrances that all look the same. When you enter any staircase, all the floors look the same. I passed the test and knocked on the right door.

While I am looking at Bate’s matchbox collection, Hong Yu and Mao Mao make lunch. Yu Ning was out buying a fish. After a great lunch, Bate does not want to go to his Math class. He must ride his bicycle an hour to get there. It was his idea to join the class and his mother doesn’t want him to give up something he started. She forces him to go. He slams the door as he leaves.

I brought some family photos from Canada to show everyone. Later, Hong Yu and I speak of “our” (future) family. Later we go to visit her friend, Ma Xiao Dong, who is planning to leave this summer to join her husband in Boston. Once again the women are cooking while I rest. It does take energy to communicate and I’m tired, but I feel guilty nonetheless.

Getting off the train in Tianjin, the masses surge toward the station exit. I used to object, in dense flowing crowds, to the bent wrist of the person behind me pressing against my spine, but now I do the same to avoid stepping on the heels of the person in front of me. The press of people rippled up the stairs to the bridge over the tracks and down the other side. Newly-installed lamp bases, with not-yet-installed lamp-posts, crashed into our blind feet as we oozed toward the station.

May 16

Second Year Design all day.

May 17

Chen Laoshi’s infectious good humor and enthusiasm melted my anxiety. She invited me, Margaret, Jim and Nancy - some of the other foreign teachers - over to her home for dinner this Sunday evening.

Xu Zi Ping, who gave herself the English name “Echo”, dropped by to borrow some tapes. Student taste is mostly light and sweet. My collection is eclectic; western classical, folk music from around the world, jazz, rock….I have no John Denver “Country Road” or Richard Clayderman “Ballade pour Adeline”.

May 18

I gave Zhang Chi (Cary) my grades for my student’s design work. He was the coordinating teacher for the three teachers in our studio. Together, we arranged all the designs in order of quality, and then gave marks. They chose seven designs from the whole class to be put in the department archive. Four of the seven works were students from my group. I felt proud of them and happy. We then consulted with the teachers from the other studios, compared best and worst with our best and worst. We decided to move all our grades up by 2% to be balanced with the others.

Architectural English class was canceled because there was no electricity.

EVE

I helped second year students with the design of a Culture Center. The students were given a simple program (a list of main rooms and their areas) and a site; they could then create whatever they wanted.

May 19

Second Year Design Class

Zhang Wen Cai came by to get help with the translation of an article about architecture and semiotics. A topic I still don’t understand.

At 3:00 pm I attended a lecture and demonstration by Prof. Zhang Wen Zhong about water-color painting. The event felt like his goodbye, a retirement party.

EVE

Lin Ning came by. She was upset by the difficulties she’s been experiencing trying to study abroad. She has been accepted by the US side and they are providing financial aid; the problem is she doesn’t have a passport yet. Getting a passport in China involves a long series of interviews at the local public security office. We talked, but mostly I listened; there’s not much else I can do. We went for a juice and a coke at the Sheraton.

May 21

Saturday

Hongyu and I went to the Foreign Expert Office at the Beijing Friendship Hotel to inquire about employment for foreigners in China. They mostly hire teachers of foreign languages - not my strength. We went to visit Hongyu’s friend Zhang Hui. Their apartment is small and their income is low, but they have an Aiyi (a woman from the countryside) living with them to help with the new baby. Now she is Dr. Zhang Hui, PhD (UC Berkeley), Research Specialist at the Center for the Built Environment at UC Berkeley.

Later we go back to Li Ping’s apartment and help her with a translation. She is very involved in arts and craft and needs an English introduction to a book about a Chinese artist friend of hers. Hong Yu gets it into basic English, and then I polish it. Li Ping’s husband works for a Hong Kong food catering company that supplies meals for flights in and out of Beijing. She invites us to go next weekend to visit a village in Hebei Province called Gu Zhuang Tou in Xiong County where, in addition to farming, the local people manufacture a special type of black, pierced pottery. Hongyu and I finish the translation for Li Ping in the lobby of the Jian Guo Hotel. As we work there is an afternoon concert; the repertoire of a Chinese choir includes Bach’s "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring".

May 23

Second Year Design

We put all the work on the wall for a group discussion. Some designs were very good; others weak. I don’t think I could do as well as some of these young people. Zhang Chi (Cary) said he wanted to come to my room sometime and talk about his plans to go to Australia to study.

Echo, one of the students from the railway station design project gave me a poem written out on a couple of pages torn from a notebook. It was Christina Rossitti’s poem by the same name “Echo”. So this is where she found her English name! She also gave me a little stone with a very skillful painting of a Tang Dynasty court lady with a high coiffure surmounted by a lotus flower. On the back it said “For Joe Carter, Echo”. I still have it.

Gift from Echo

I prepare materials for Architectural English lecture about “Illegal Facades” in Hong Kong.

EVE

I went to the studio to help the students with their designs.

Today is the Anniversary of the Declaration of the Bab.

May 24

Chen Laoshi comes for our Chinese class. The class is scheduled for 9:30 to 11:30 but we often keeps going until 12:00. I really appreciate the extra time but she has more energy than I do. After two hours I start to fade.

I prepared an updated set of my CIDA Research plan to show to Liu De Fu at the Foreign Affairs Office. I will not raise the subject of the visa; I just want to let her know I look forward to getting it.

I phoned the American Embassy in Beijing to inquire about immigration requirements for students, especially the financial guarantor. Hongyu needs evidence of financial support while she is in the US, both “notarized willingness and demonstration of ability”. I have the former but not the latter. If Cathy would cooperate about our house in St. John’s I would also have the money.

May 25

Chinese with Chen Laoshi

I received a letter from Dennis Barry, the lawyer in St. John’s. He said he will, unless he hears from Cathy’s lawyer before June 1, divide the proceeds from the sale of our house, except for $3,700 that is “questionable” as to who should get it. I wrote to him asking him to let me know by telex how much he puts into my account on June 1. How timely, if this works out; I will be able to help Hongyu.

I taught Architectural English, “Illegal Facades” a lecture using the book by the same name. It shows the changes over short periods of time to the facades of huge apartment blocks as families make modifications according to their needs. The class didn’t listen. I had to stop three times to wait for silence. I felt angry, but didn’t show it very strongly. At the break I stood by the window brooding. Prof. Zhou Zu Shi came over to me and said, “This is the worst class to teach”. I felt grateful to him; he and I were seeing the same thing. We still need to take some action.

After the class I went with Lin Ning to the ice cream store under the overpass at Ba Li Tai. I asked her what she thought of an idea I had for dealing with the class. I imagined each student giving a very brief presentation in English. She agreed it would involve them, make them listen to each other, make them take some responsibility.

She told me about her plans to go to Minneapolis; no passport yet. Then she said I should have a Chinese wife and she asked me about my search. She said how much she enjoyed our talks and invited me to visit her family again.

At the Guest House I received in the mail a copy of a report on The Youth Urban Awareness Program as it was carried out in St. John’s in the summer of 1987. My proposal for 1986 didn’t get off the ground, but they adapted the idea and used it the following summer. Something came from my effort.

EVE

Zhang Chi (Cary) came by for help with his application to study in Australia. He is interested in the relationship between architecture and social issues. He also shared with me some useful feedback about my CIDA project. And he enjoyed the report on The Youth Urban Awareness Program.

I wrote a letter to Maureen Anderson with a copy of a letter from Zhong Hua in Wuhan. He was the first Chinese recipient of the Clifford Wong Scholarship.

May 26

Second Year Design Class

Prof. Jin Qi Min came by to ask me whether I agreed he write a letter from the Dept. of Architecture to the Foreign Affairs Office saying next academic year I will be “engaged in a cooperation” with them, especially with Zhang Chi. I said “Sure”. This letter, he thinks will help ensure I get a visa. Support!!!

Train to Beijing. Meet Hongyu at Beijing Hotel. The brim of her sun hat was so wide I couldn’t see her eyes. We headed for Li Ping’s place near the Kun Lun Hotel; she’s not there yet so we went for a walk along the Liang Ma Canal nearby. Colored lights from a few restaurants reflect in the water. The moon is out. Hongyu sings, “Moon River” as we stroll.

Later we meet Li Ping and I am taken to a small hotel with Lao Zhang, the leader of Gu Zhuang Tou, the village we are going to tomorrow. We share a room. I was exhausted and as I was falling asleep I heard Lao Zhang out in the hallway persuading the hotel manager to let me stay. Foreigners are supposed to stay in larger hotels that have been given permission to have foreign guests.

May 27

We go in a small van to the pedestrian bridge just south of the Chong Wen Men intersection. This is the meeting place where we pick up more travelers. Our group now includes an artist and his wife (I don’t know what she does), a young couple (both artists), a photographer, Hongyu and I, Li Ping, Lao Zhang, and another quiet lady who is also an artist.

The artist (with a wife) said he makes sculpture for public places but he can’t use bronze because some someone might steal it.

The car is hot and the windows are shut. “Chinese people don’t like drafts”, I was told. Everyone gets very sleepy. The driver is wearing banana-shaped sunglasses. When we arrived at the Hebei Province border, the driver showed his pass to the guards at the checkpoint and we were allowed to proceed. Three hours driving from Chong Wen Men we arrive at our destination, the village of Gu Zhuang Tou in Xiong Xian, about 100 km south of Beijing. Xiong Xian, or “Xiong County” is under the jurisdiction of the city of Bao Ding.

Gu Zhuang Tou

The village, with 3000 people and 800 families, has a small cottage industry that produces beautiful black pottery. It’s non-glazed; it’s hand-burnished to a fine black glossiness. It’s a tradition that dates 4000 years to the Long Shan Culture.

After lunch we have a rest on the kang, a brick bed that runs the length of the room under the south-facing windows. In a three-room farmhouse, the front door opens onto the middle room with ovens beside the door, to the left and right. These are used for cooking and heating. The chimneys do not go straight up; they travel through a maze under the brick beds (kang) located under the windows in the rooms at the left and right. At the far end of the kang, the smoke and heat enter a chimney in the gable end wall of the house.

Today, for our afternoon nap, the room to the left was for men and the room to the right was for women. I lay down first. I put my head toward the window and my feet toward the open space of the room. When people are not sleeping on it, they sit on it; I guess I didn’t want anybody sitting on my head while I was asleep. They said “No! You never put your head by the window. Put your feet near the window.” It made sense if we were going to be lined on the kang like pencils in a box on, we should agree on a direction. “Why is your head away from window? Were they afraid of drafts?” I never found out.

The photographers got busy photographing the many pots, plates, and vases. I was asked to go through a large pile of previously taken photos and select which ones I thought were best; a kind of foreign-market survey.

Late in the afternoon, Hongyu and I went for a walk in the breezy trees on a long, wide man-made berm that bordered a sluice-way for flood control. No sign of water. The low sun back-lit the tall blades of green grass, glowing translucent spears. The alder’s large tree trunk shadows divided the electric grass into lanes of color. We photographed each other.

Hongyu

Just before supper I asked whether we could climb up the water tower, the only tall structure in the village. Six people went up including Hongyu, Li Ping, and I. From the village loudspeaker - also on top of the water tower - came music. For our benefit? The broadcast was interrupted by a whispering conspiratorial voice saying, “Bie hai pa, Ka Te xian sheng, tiao xia lai.” Don’t be afraid, Mr. Carter, jump down.” The whole village could hear; it was very funny.

EVE

We had a big supper with half of the people sitting on the kang (brick bed) and half on chairs. The host apologized for the bad food; which of course was very good.

May 28

We have a group photo before we leave the village and say goodbye. We went to (Xiong County Town) to look at the Bai Gou weekend markets. Every street in town was a temporary market with people lined on ether side selling food, household goods, clothing, luggage, hardware, … a horizontal department store. I went off looking for folk craft. The most hand-made thing I found was some clothing with some embroidery. I wanted to asked the man whether the clothing was made by individuals, not machines; so I said, in my ragged Chinese, “Zhe ge yi fu, shi bu shi se ren zuo de?” What I thought I was saying was, “Is this clothing made by an individual person?” (as opposed to machine made). I said “se ren” intending to mean individual, I gave the “se” word a third tone instead of the fourth. Instead of saying “individual person” I had said “dead person”. I was asking him whether the clothing had been made by dead people. This was doubly confusing for him because, as I found out later, the clothing was for dead people. They were funeral garments.

Back in Beijing. Supper in the courtyard restaurant in the southwest corner of Ri Tan Park. The outdoor tables look over the park. We went to visit Chen Xiao Xuen and on the way back walked in the rainy night, in dimly lit streets, past the Canadian Embassy (old location on San Li Tun) and past the Iranian Embassy. She said it was the best one in Beijing. I knew Husayn Amanat’s firm did the design and the designer was Fariborz Sahba. There were military guards with weapons in dark wet shadows at every embassy gate. A platoons of guards in black raincoats precision-marched down the street. Nervous I am. I pushed my head up into my umbrella as far as I could.

May 30

I went to the railway station to buy a ticket for an afternoon train to Tianjin, and then went to the Canadian Airlines office at the Jian Guo Hotel to buy a ticket to Canada. I plan to stop in Calgary to attend a Baha’i Summer School on my way back to Ottawa. Club sandwich at the Jian Guo. I missed design class this morning and had no way to tell Zhang Chi.

EVE

I wrote a letter to Dean Bender at UC Berkeley about my financial support for Hong Yu.

May 31

Mail the letter to California.

Chinese with Chen Laoshi.

I brought a photocopy of my airline ticket to the Foreign Affairs Office so they can arrange to refund me for half of it.

I wrote letters to Ginny Rochester, Ann Wilson, and Pat Ralph.

June 1

I woke up feeling anxious. Hongyu rejects all authority outside herself; I accept “higher” authority. How deep is that impasse? What are the implications? I am a guest in this country; what behavior does that imply/require?

Today is International Children’s Day. China takes UN special days very seriously. The foreigners at the Guest House were invited to attend a large celebration at the civic stadium on Chengdu Dao. Chen Laoshi came and we sat together. Most of the audience are children. The show included children from the foreign school at Intertech singing and singing two Christian songs, followed by a skit based on the Bible story of a house built on sand and a house built on rock. This was followed by thirteen-year-old local children doing acrobatic, and a slightly erotic, disco dance. The three-year-olds stole the show, I think. Someone had designed a very simple and wonderful activity for them. With background music playing, the children came out in two lines each carrying a large, light-weight, block. They stacked them to make two columns. Some taller children came out and placed a beam on top. Then they took turns dancing through the gate. The piece had elements of working in groups, cooperation, taking turns,……

After their behavior last week, I was not looking forward to the Architectural English Class. I used a video as part of the lesson. To my surprise the students were attentive; I think the class was interesting. However, about 40% of the class was missing. I asked Prof. Zhou Zu Shi, “Why?” No answer. “I heard the students gave blood recently, is that why?” “Maybe”, he said. In this world I only see part of what's going on.

After class I saw Jin Qi Min in the hallway. He said he had sent the letter about me cooperating with the Dept. of Architecture to Liu De Fu, and that he heard my visa should be ready in about a week. Over the past two years, although he sometimes seems a little distant, he has always put a floor under me and I am very, very pleased with this piece of news. In a celebratory mood, I head for another welcome cup of coffee under the Ba Li Tan overpass with Lin Ning. On the way, I saw an old man with paper dragons on his bicycle. I stopped him and bought three. In the crowded street a small crowd gathered to watch me pick them out and pay for them. Lin Ning also watched, and laughed.

Although the coffee they serve is just Nescafe three-in-one; it has the proper stimulating chemicals. Lin Ning is feeling hopeful, now, about getting to America. We have good conversations; a bonus for me is a chance to speak in my native tongue closer to normal speed. Most of the time I must speak simplified idiom-cleansed English, or my rudimentary Chinese; it’s tiring.

EVE

On my Guest Room TV, I watched the Avengers, Emma Peel and John Steed, dubbed into Chinese.

June 2

Design Class

Research in library for Arch English next week.

In the market, I found some imported Philippine bananas!

EVE

James (from Uganda) dropped by to return books he had borrowed.

June 3

Chinese with Chen Laoshi

Good news from CIDA; they have approved my second year of funding, pending approval of my interim report.

Xu Su Bin dropped by to invite me to a jiaozi party and to consult about the topic of her Ph.D. thesis.

EVE

Jin Xin came by for our weekly Chinese-English exchange (an hour of conversation in English; and an hour of conversation in Chinese). We went out later for ice cream under the overpass.

June 4

Second Year Design. I invited James and William (both from Africa and in First Year Design) to come and see the second year student work.

Third Year Design

June 5

Dave and Marci hosted a BBQ in the rear yard of the Guest House; I admire their social gifts and energy.

I received a letter from Hong Yu. She won second prize in a national student photography competition for her pictures of Tibet. She also said, “Now we are two, we can go ahead together, I want to create our future together. I also want; and want to let go of doubts and fears.”

June 6

Design Class: Some of the students are doing very good work.

Arrange Tangshan trip for July 4,5,6. The Foreign Affairs Office gave me cash for half the value of my airplane ticket. I asked Liu De Fu about staying with a Chinese family when I come back from Canada. She says it’s alright as long as the Public Security agrees, and if I can find a family.

EVE

Prepare Architectural English class, about Frank Lloyd Wright. Lin Ning came by to help and later took it to Zhou Zu Shi for printing. Xu Su Bin dropped by to tell me June 26 is good day for an architectural tour of Tianjin. She is helping organize one for some foreigners and for some Chinese students. I am the tour guide. She and Lin Ning start to chat in Chinese. They laugh when they find out I know what they’re talking about.

June 7

Chinese with Chen Laoshi. Today we start Lesson 37 of my Learn Chinese Text Book No. 2 in which the foreign students, Pa Lan Ka and Gu Buo, go to the Department store to buy Chinese style clothes. My reading level is about 700 characters.

A wonderful strong rain falls. I proof-read an article for Zhou Zu Shi and wrote a letter to Dennis Barry. The hoped-for June 1 telegram - telling me how much money from the sale of our house went into my account - did not arrive.

June 8

Chinese class.

Arch English class is about Frank Lloyd Wright. I divided the article into ten parts and divided the students into ten groups. They had to choose someone in their group to present the main idea of their part of the article; and they had a few minutes to prepare what to say. They did quite well; I had to help some groups by asking questions. Although the energy in the class was quite high, there were a few students not listening, especially when the presenter was having difficulty. I had to support some speakers several times with reminders to the “chatty” ones to listen. Some of them now understood better what it was like to be presenting and not listened to.

EVE

Finish proof-reading for Zhou Zu Shi.

June 9

Design with Second Year

EVE

Return to studio to help second year.

June 10

Chinese class

The Foreign Affairs Office arranged for a small group of foreigners to visit a prison in Tianjin. The prison factories, classrooms and cells were all close to each other. The yards had trees and light. It was physically poorer but “happier” than a prison I saw in Labrador.

I still don’t have my visa yet……

June 11

Three earlies. I went to the National Gallery of China with Hong Yu to see her five photographs of Tibet, part of the National Student Exhibition. Her photos were called “pictures of environments with holy feelings”.

Lunch with Hongyu at Ri Tan Park Courtyard Restaurant.

First visit with Hong Yu’s parents. They have been primed. The degree of finality of Hongyu's first marriage must be sufficient for them. They open the door; at the first glance their eyes investigate and report no alarm. There is a peaceful openness. Hongyu's father did not say much. We drank some tea. Hongyu’s mother said “China is like a sick mother; it needs my daughter. Don’t take her away from China”. I told her I hoped to live in China. I sensed approval.

June 12

Return to Tianjin.

EVE

Help students in studio. There are major improvements in some of the students’ work.

June 13

Second Year Design Studio

I received in the mail a video from Pat Ralph called “The Last Chinese Laundry: The Chinese in Newfoundland”. This film relates the story of the Chinese in Newfoundland since their first arrival in 1895. Forced to leave their wives and children behind in China, the men endured both loneliness and prejudice as they toiled for a meager living in the hand laundries of St. John's. While capturing the drudgery and anguish, the film also reveals the humour and achievements of the Chinese as they struggled to gain full acceptance into Newfoundland and Canadian society. The story centers around William Ping, who today owns the last remaining Chinese laundry in Newfoundland.” My difficulties can not be compared to the hardships they endured, but I do feel some symmetry.

EVE

Huo Guang came by and we worked on his English resume.

June 14

Chinese with Chen Laoshi.

I tried to find a video tape machine to watch “The Last Chinese Laundry”. The video was in NTSC and Chinese machines used PAL. I needed a machine that could play both. The Architecture Department does not have such a machine but other Departments do. I tried hard to get a machine, but no-one would lend one - islands of isolation; no free trade.

For the last Arch English class I prepared ten quotations about architecture by architects and planners, and one from a social commentator; “A description of Manchester in 1844, given by one of the most passionate critics of the Industrial Revolution, Friederich Engels, conveys in great detail the deplorable outlook of the city: ‘:…the confusion has only recently reached its height when every scrap of space left by the old way of building has been filled up or patched over until not a foot of land is left to be further occupied’”.

I prepared some information in defense of Buddhism for the Christian teachers, Bill and Margaret. It is not as “selfish” as they say, especially if you look at Mayahana Buddhism.

EVE

Typing quotes for Arch English tomorrow. Some second year students drop by to talk about their designs.

June 15

Chinese with Chen

The last Arch English class of the year was quiet good, but attendance was only about 50%. The students are very busy with their design projects; the term is almost over. Lin Ning was not there. Zhou Zu Shi had to leave early to go to the clinic. There was no ending, no goodbye…..

EVE

I helped second year with their designs. The students work until the last minute. At 10:00 pm the lights are turned off to drive the students out (and save electricity?). Everyone feels their way along the dark corridors, inching their way.

I phoned Dennis Barry (daytime in Newfoundland). He said Eve Roberts, Cathy’s lawyer has received no instructions from Cathy so our money is still immovable. Dennis said he would move $3000 into my account.

June 16

I wake up tense. My visa has still not come through. I’m getting closer to Hongyu, but soon she goes to the US for a year.

Second Year Studio. Some of the designs are very strong.

June 17

Chinese with Chen Laoshi.

Train to Beijing, meet Hongyu.

June 18

Walk and talk all day, supper at Ri Tan Park.

June 18

Take early train back to Tianjin.

Help students with their designs. A fat package of housing-related information arrived from my friend and former classmate, Don Johnston, who works at Canada Mortgage and Housing. This will be very helpful for my research.

EVE

I went with Margaret to the YMCA on Guang Xi Road near Cheng Du Dao to attend a performance and a dance party held by a Chinese Christian group. [There must have been a strong sense of ‘reunion’ and joy when these young western Christians met their religious counterparts who had kept the faith since 1949.]

June 20

Design studio: the students now have no classes and will spend their last week working on their designs. Most have stopped designing and drawing and have started inking and applying watercolor. I feel very close to them. Their work seems better than previous years.

EVE

Jin Xin invited me to join her for supper at her colleague’s home. Her fellow worker was an assistant librarian and her husband taught history in a middle school. They had a 14 month-old daughter who was happy to sit in my lap. The evening was 90% in Chinese.

Later, I dropped in on the students.

June 21

Chinese with Chen

Compile a three-page outline about Buddhism in China. Harry dropped by; he has been accepted, with a scholarship, at Bowling Green, Ohio.

I phoned Liu De Fu and asked about my visa; she said she would look into it.

EVE

I dropped in on Lin Ning and her family for a goodbye supper. Her mother and father are always so friendly and kind. We ate watermelon. She said Zhou Zu Shi was in the hospital for 10 days. As we spoke she was taping “Little House on the Prairie” from the TV and her father and two colleagues moved to the bedroom to have a meeting.

I visited the design studio; everyone still working.

June 22

Chinese with Chen Laoshi.

William dropped by for some help with his design.

I got my Buddhism “compilation” photocopied. I gave it to Bill and Margaret.

Help students with design.

EVE

Hua Guang came by to pick up copies of my slides of his work; he can use the images for his portfolio. Go back to the studio to help students. For half an hour the power was off and no-one could work. No-one complained; everyone waited, talking or napping. I had a friendly chat with a few students.

June 23

All day with the students; they must hand in their work today at 5:00 pm.

EVE Proof-reading for Zhang Long

June 24

Chinese with Chen Laoshi.

Zhang Chi (Cary) came by with an outline, in English, for his proposed Ph.D. research. The English needs quite a bit of work and is very theoretical.

The Foreign Affairs Office phoned: MY WORK VISA HAS BEEN APPROVED! O frabjous day!!! I dance around the room. I have multi-entry visa until mid-1989.

I go to the bank; my bank VISA card expires in a few days and I have to wait until I am in Canada to get a new one. I sent them four letters asking for a new card and got no answer.

I catch the 5:09 to Beijing. In Beijing I bought my ticket back to Tianjin. In the chaotic and tense line-up where foreigners buy tickets, I met Hongyu. We buy a watermelon and go to her friend’s (Ma Xiao Dong) home for supper. On the bus I pretended to be an electric fan with a rotating head and blew on Hongyu’s face to cool her off. The ticket seller stared and Hongyu pretended not to know me.

Later, off the bus, she sang some beautiful Chinese children’s songs. She received an IP66 Form from the US which means she can apply for a Chinese passport.

June 26

We go to Liu Yuan’s place for most of the day. Hongyu does not like the Baha’i law requiring parental consent for marriage. Hongyu gave me several “digs” throughout the day. At supper I told her I was feeling “attacked”.

I conducted an Architectural tour of Tianjin, on bicycles, for about 25 people, mostly foreigners. We visited the British, French and Italian Concessions.

EVE

Wonderful walk around Bei Lou Gu Xiang, a hutong area where she lived as a child. While she lived here, from 1968 to 1978, both of her sisters had gone, indefinitely, to Inner Mongolia to spread the revolution. From 1970 to 1972, her parents were sent to live in a village in Henan Province, Ye Xian (Ye County) to “learn from the farmers”. During their absence, Hongyu took care of herself with the help of neighbours in the same courtyard.

Sunday morning catch the 9:11 back to Tianjin. Chinese goodbye at the railway station.

Later, in my room, watch an old Clark Gable movie on TV, dubbed in Chinese.

June 27

Start work with Zhang Chi (Cary) assigning grades to Second Year Design projects.

Start packing for Canada. William came by to borrow some books and tapes.

I dropped into the Foreign Affairs Office. Xu Xin Feng said, although the Ministry of Education has approved my visa, I cannot get it until I have demonstrated that I do not have AIDS. She will try to show them the results of my test for last year to see whether that will be acceptable. Mr. Liu said I will be the longest-term foreigner ever to stay at Tian Da.

A letter from the Newfoundland Vehicle Registration Bureau; my license expires July 14.

EVE

A goodbye supper with Lin Ning at the Hyatt. Tacos and ice cream. We had a long walk and talk along the river bank. She’s still waiting for her passport. We wondered what would happen to the Arch English course next year when both of us were not there. She gave me a gift; a box with the scholar’s four treasures: ink, brush, chop, inkwell.

June 28

Class with Chen Laoshi. We had just started when Sun Hua Sheng arrived from Beijing. He frequently comes to Tianjin to see members of his family. He dropped by to talk with me about my housing research. Chen Laoshi kindly waited for an hour until we were done. After our class, she gave me a set of tapes for “Practical Chinese” so I can continue my study.

PM Continue packing.

Liu Jie and Xu Su Bin came by to borrow books and to help me. They went off to get more boxes and to get my sandal repaired. Xu Xin Fang (Susan) from the Foreign Affairs Office came by. Public Security will not accept by AIDS report from last year. Without recent proof that I do not have AIDS, they will not let me get a visa. I will have to get the test done again in Canada and apply for my visa from Ottawa. She said she did her best but there was nothing she could do. She said the Public Security people were indifferent and cold-faced, and accused her of only wanting to help foreigners.

I store some of my things with Wolfgang and Irma, a kind German couple.

Goodbye supper with Harry at a new, modern, very clean restaurant with excellent service near the Quan Sheng Lou.

EVE More packing. My worldly possessions are a few boxes of books, a bag of clothes, and a thin bank account in Canada.

June 29

Chinese with Chen Laoshi.

Meet with Zhang Chi (Cary) to finish grading second year designs. I photographed some of the better ones.

I received a very encouraging letter from Eric Carlson about my housing research. He is an American housing expert, well-known in China. He said among other things, re success in providing housing, “The secret is to tap fundamental spiritual and ethical resources.” Eric Carlson was special adviser to the International Union of Building Societies and Savings Associations. Formerly Deputy Director of UN Habitat, Chief of Housing at the UN in New York. He was also a director of a joint housing research project with the China Academy of Urban Planning and Design.

I helped Zhang Chi re-write his proposal for a Ph.D. program at a university in Australia. It was hard work, but we clarified his ideas and his English.

EVE I went for a goodbye ice cream and coffee with Jin Xin at the Sheraton. I plan to be back in November. Our conversation is 90% Chinese and 10% English.

June 30

At the Foreign Affairs Office I picked up the letter from the Ministry of Education approving my stay in China, with Tianjin University as my Receiving Work Unit. I will need this to get a visa to come back to China. I will also need a letter from Jin Qi Min explaining why I am leaving China without the video tapes that I brought in.

I lent my “Urban Sociology” and a book by Barbara Ward to Zhang Chi. He came by to ask me to proof-read a typed out version of our work yesterday.

I booked tickets to Tangshan for July 4th.

I phoned the Canadian Embassy to make an appointment with Bob Hamilton.

PM I used my credit card for the last time before it expires to withdraw some cash.

The walls and bookshelves in my rooms are now bare; my little world, folded up. All the other foreigners have already left; a fleeting community we are.

Living in China 1988 April-June

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