We left the institute and returned to the hotel, the emotion was palpable and it was clear we were drained. We needed to walk and process our thoughts thus far and at Chris' suggestion we set off to walk the streets of Ning Yuan. He had walked out the night before to reconnoiter a Confucian temple for such an occasion, or to walk off the local brew, and it was the perfect antidote to a draining morning.
It was an interesting afternoon, marrying the heritage and philosophy of the temple and grounds. We were shown the beautiful stone carved dragon pillars and formal temple buildings, with their serious-faced statues. Interestingly there was a hall lined with photographs of local adults and students who had obtained recognition for their studies and the educational philosophy of Confucianism was very much to the fore. The grounds were scented and it was clear this building had been here significantly longer than its neighbors.
As we walked back to the hotel, Ning Yuan was coming alive as children began to erupt from school, spilling onto the surrounding streets and in turn the scooters loaded with parents and children swarmed the area.We ducked off the main road into a market street and almost immediately my wife nearly got run over, having told us on numerous occasions to 'mind out'! The shops were open-fronted and an array of foods and dry goods lined the shelves and paved areas outside. The smells merged but some dried fish smells lingered in the nose for minutes. The sights, mainly of red decorations, were quite blinding and we tried not to touch anything as our unfamiliarity meant we had little idea of what many things were.
Our daughter brought some biscuits and for 10￥came away with an enormous bag that lasted until the end of our Guilin visit. The staring was now part of our daily experience, we ignored it in the main but it was clear in Ning Yuan we stuck out like fireflies in a dark wood, it did not detract from our experience and actually meant we saw and discovered more. It really felt as though we were touching Ning Yuan and its people, the genetic pool that bore our daughter, and for a fleeting time became part of this maelstrom.
On our return to the hotel we were advised the director and his team from the institute would again join us for dinner. We paused, wrote notes, washed and changed and made our way down to the restaurant. To say the day was a busy one would be a gross understatement.
At dinner we followed the same path as the previous night and the local brew was once again rolled out. I tried one glass and can now speak from experience; an experience I will not be repeating! Our daughter sat next to Ài and we managed to communicate enough to swap details and organised to link up on WeChat after we left China. We were also joined by a journalist who wanted to write about our daughters return to Ning Yuan and through Chris managed to ask many questions throughout the meal.
The article URL at time of writing was working:
http://m.voc.com.cn/wxhn/article/201612/201612231539201647.html?from=singlemessage&isappinstalled=1
At the end of the meal we said our goodbyes, I think we were too tired to do anything else, so I paid for the meal and at 400 ￥ for a banquet was quite a steal. The hotel remained its noisy self but it did not stop us collapsing and sleeping like logs until the next morning.
第7天是2016年12月22日 - 第2部分
第7天是2016年12月22日，因为日志太長我分成两部分。
我们离开了福利院，回到酒店，情绪是显而易见的，很明显，我们已被耗尽。我们需要步行和进一步理清我们到目前为止的想法，在克里斯的建议下，我们出发走在宁远的街道上。在晚上以前他走了出去，机缘巧合下察看一下孔庙，或许释放掉晚餐中喝过的酒精，这也对一个已耗竭的早晨来说，是一个完美的解方。
这是一个有趣的下午，结合古迹和寺庙的哲学和广场。我们看到美丽的石刻龙柱和正统的寺庙建筑，与严肃面孔的雕像。有趣的是，有一个大厅布满了当地成年人和学生学习获得认可的照片，显示儒家的教育哲学是非常重要的。这广场有着香味，很清楚可以知道，这个建筑在这里明显比其他邻近的更长。
当我们回到酒店时，宁远活络了起来，孩子们开始从学校奔出，散落在周围的街道上，反过来，骑着摩托车准备来接孩子的父母聚集在这个区域。我们从主要道路走进一条市场街，我的妻子差点被辗到，已经告诉我们很多次“注意”！商店是开放式的，一系列食品、干货物排列在货架，同时延伸摆放到外面的铺砌区域。这气味不但合并一些干燥的鱼味，且在鼻子里停留了几分钟。风景名胜，主要是红色装饰，是相当盲目的，由於我们的不熟悉，所以我们试图不触摸任何东西，因为我们不知道的事情还很多。
我们的女儿带了一些饼干，花了10元人民币就有一大袋，持续吃到桂林的最后一天才吃完。现在每天都有很多眼睛看着我们，基本上我们不去理会，但很明显，在宁远，我们看上去像是在黑暗的树林中的萤火虫那样突出，但这样并没有减少我们的经验，实际上我们看到和发现更多。这真的使我们感觉到正在触摸着宁远和它的人民，我们的女儿的基因库，这样短暂的时间就将成为这个漩涡的一部分。
我们回到酒店，我们得知主任和福利院的团队将和我们一起吃晚餐。我们稍作休息一下，作了笔记，梳洗更衣后，我们下来走去餐厅。要说这天是忙碌的一天，那只是轻描淡写的说法。
晚餐我们循着前一天晚上相同的路径，再次拿出本地酿造的酒。我喝了一杯，所以现在我已经可以说; 经验告诉我，我不会再喝第二杯！我们的女儿坐在艾旁边，我们设法沟通并交换彼此的生活细节，并打算在我们离开中国后可以用微信联系。在晚餐时还有一位记者加入我们，他想写有关我们的女儿回宁远的事，透过克里斯翻译在晚餐中提出了很多问题。
http://m.voc.com.cn/wxhn/article/201612/201612231539201647.html?from=singlemessage&isappinstalled=1
在晚餐结束时，我们告别了他们，我想我们太累了，不能做其他任何事情，所以我付了这餐费，400元人民币一餐相当便宜。酒店依然很嘈杂，但这并没有阻止我们一睡到天亮。
No comments:
Post a Comment