By Terry R. Cassreino
NANCHANG, China - Camryn smiled today.
We were eating at the East Restaurant - the same restaurant where we ate on Wednesday night - when our tour guide from Lotus Travel starting playing with Camryn.
Camryn laughed and beamed a huge smile.
It may seem trivial, but you’ve got to remember what this baby has been through: She has lived for nearly a year in an orphanage and has been grieving the loss of her caregiver.
Camryn has had periods of crying fits in which she seldom stopped. She’ll often calm down in Pam’s presence, but just as often go ballistic in mine.
Things should get easier as soon as she and the other babies get over their loss and settle into their new lives.
Nanchang construction
High above the streets of Nanchang are crews constructing new buildings in this thriving city of 4 million.
And all of them work on scaffolding made of bamboo.
This was evident throughout Beijing. But I didn’t notice it until I took a late afternoon walk today by myself down the block from the hotel, passing by a booming retail area.
While not quite as impressive as the shops that surround the People’s Square in downtown Nanchang, this small commercial strip is just as busy.
Another interesting tidbit: Most businesses are located on the floor level of towering apartment complexes.
Public displays
One thing I’ve noticed unique to the Chinese - and, from what I’ve heard, European - culture is the public affection friends often show each other.
You can go anywhere in Beijing and Nanchang and see women friends walking hand-in-hand with each other and men walking with their arms draped around each other‘s shoulder.
Chances are good you won’t find that in the United States. If you did, our homophobic culture and mindset would automatically lead us to assume those people were gay.
Wake up America: It’s OK to show your feelings to people of the same sex. You don’t have to be gay if you tell a close friend how you feel.
Public transit
Like Beijing, Nanchang has an extensive public transit system.
Besides taxis that appear to be less expensive than the ones in Beijing, this city has an enormous number of buses.
And some are run by electricity supplied by overhead power lines. These are similar to the trolley buses that used to run through many American cities in the 1960s.
I remember the Magazine Street line of trolley buses in New Orleans, not far from where my family lived in Uptown.
Photos and text copyright 2006 by Terry R. Cassreino.
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