Tiananmen Square photo

Monday, April 3, 2006, 1:11 a.m.
Less than 24 hours until we get Cao Ai Hua.

I won't post again on this blog until Pam and I arrive in Nanchang in Jiangxi province sometime after lunch today. So until then, I'll leave you with this photo of me at Tiananmen Square in Beijing from Sunday following our tour of the Forbidden City. And for my mother, please remember to let my satellite receiver in the living room record "The Sopranos" Sunday night. And don't anyone tell me what happens. --Terry R. Cassreino


















Text and photo copyright 2006 by Terry R. Cassreino.

Notes from Sunday in Beijing

Sunday, April 2, 2006, 8:01 p.m.
Less than a day until we get Cao Ai Hua

By Terry R. Cassreino

BEIJING - As Pam and I prepare to say goodbye to Beijing and prepare ourselves for several days in Nanchang, we offer these observations on life in China’s capital.

Exotic dishes

Yes, to answer a question left dangling from an earlier post: Chinese do eat scorpions, grasshoppers, starfish and sea horses impaled on wooden sticks and found throughout downtown.
But before people enjoy the crunchy treats, they are usually deep fried.
Besides that, some people also dine here on other foods that are considered exotic (and likely frowned upon by Westerners and United States residents).
Among the dishes you can buy in Beijing and other parts of China: cockroaches, small dogs, cats and just about any part of any other animal you can think of (such as duck tongue, pig intestines and turtle shells).
While it may sound strange to some people, keep in mind this fact: This is a foreign culture with different habits than we are used to back home. Plus, we probably eat food that seems strange to them (how about hog's head cheese?).

Public restrooms

Public restrooms across Beijing, and probably the rest of the country, feature the typical toilet: It sits flush with the floor, requiring you to squat to use it.
This is far from just a “hole in the floor.” They look almost like a regular toilet.
But instead of having a raised seat to sit on, the seat is flush with the floor and you simply squat (or stand if you are a man and have to relieve your bladder).
While most Americans probably look at them and run away, I bet they actually are a heck of a lot easier to keep clean.

Traffic lights

On our way to tour The Great Wall of China on Saturday, I noticed something that cities in the United States should consider: timers on stop lights.
As we approached traffic lights, a timer sat next to the light showing the driver how many seconds until the green light turned red. Now doesn’t that make sense?


Text and photos copyright 2006 by Terry R. Cassreino.

More information on Cao Ai Hua

Sunday, April 2, 2006, 7:55 p.m.
Less than a day until we get Cao Ai Hua


By Terry R. Cassreino

BEIJING - I know everyone is thirsting for information about the baby, so I’ll share with you what little we know.
A narrative provided earlier today by Holt International Children’s Services gives us the following information:
Ai Hua feels close to her caregiver and the children in her room at her orphanage. Her pet name is Yur Er, although I don’t know what that means or how to pronounce it.
Ai Hua eats formula with rice cereal seven times a day. She also eats noodles, vegetable soup, snacks and small biscuits.
She is fed by her caregiver by spoon or bottle. And she sleeps alone on her back from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. with a small wall lamp and quiet environment.
In the afternoon, Ai Hua takes a nap from 12 noon to 1 p.m.; she hasn't been toilet trained and is still in diapers.
She likes bathing and “splashes happily when bathed.” She plays with all kinds of toys, likes to be held and is nervous around strangers.
She had no note attached to her when authorities found her. Sometimes parents will leave notes with their baby; that didn’t happen, possibly because the mother feared being tracked for breaking the law by abandoning her child.
The correct pronunciation for Cao Ai Hua’s name is Tchou (pronounce the “t”) Eye Huwa.
On Monday, Pam and I will leave the Kunlun Hotel at about 8:30 a.m. (that’s about 7:30 p.m. Sunday in Hattiesburg) with other Holt families going to Jiangxi province.
We will arrive shortly after noon. We don’t know exactly what time we’ll get the baby; it likely will be sometime after 4 p.m. our time Monday afternoon (or 3 a.m. Hattiesburg time).

Text and photos copyright 2006 by Terry R. Cassreino.

Where emperors once ruled

Sunday, April 2, 2006, 7:51 p.m.
Less than one day until we get Cao Ai Hua

By Terry R. Cassreino

BEIJING - Aisin-Gioro Pu Yi began his brief reign as emperor of China in 1905 when he was 3, ruling over his vast empire from behind the walls of the Forbidden City.
He abdicated the throne in 1912 at age 7, but stayed imprisoned in the Forbidden City until 1924 while living a life of luxury. And on Sunday, Pam and I visited this massive landmark.
At once intimidating and jaw dropping, this 180-acre enclosed area in the heart if Beijing served as the seat of power for 24 emperors and two dynasties that ruled the Middle Kingdom.
Today, much of the Forbidden City sits in decay. Paint flakes from the walls; intricately colored fabric that adorns the walls and ceilings are torn and have faded with age.
Luckily, the Chinese government has come to its rescue with a lengthy, detailed restoration project that will have at least the Great Hall - where Pu Yi once ruled - ready by 2008.
The timing is perfect: Beijing will host the 2008 Summer Olympics and expects throngs of tourists to visit an already jam-packed city.

Repair work

But despite the obvious need for repairs, this historic monument remains an impressive attraction. If you have any doubt about that, then consider the following facts:

• The third emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Yongle, oversaw 200,000 people build the Forbidden City in just 14 years.
• The complex has 9,999 rooms - one short of the 10,000 rooms in Heaven. Nine, by the way, is a lucky number for the Chinese.
• All of the buildings were made of wood. Giant cauldrons held water throughout the complex in case of a fire.
• A total of 9,000 people, including eunuchs, servants and the emperor’s concubine, lived in the city at the end of the 18th century.

On Sunday, workers were every where. They were busy restoring the Grand Hall to its original look. And they were busy replacing the cobblestones that fill the vast courtyard.

Memorable tour

Our tour group entered the Forbidden City from the north entrance and worked to the south, or main gate.
We viewed bedrooms and meeting rooms furnished with artifacts dating hundreds of years. And we admired the intricate artwork that adorns the classical Chinese architecture.
And I thought back to the Oscar-wining film by Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci. “The Last Emperor” was the first film allowed to shoot inside the Forbidden City.
I remember sitting in the darkened theater at the Northpark Mall Cinema in Ridgeland in February 1988 watching the film and awestruck by the beauty I saw.
Those thoughts rushed back to me today as Pam and I stood in the courtyard and gazed in the rooms of one of the most historic places in Asian and Chinese history.
Oh, as for Pu Yi, he eventually found his way back to life as a peasant - working as an obscure gardener at the Botanical Gardens of Peking before he died.


Text and photos copyright 2006 by Terry R. Cassreino.