Excerpts from the Diary: This little town was totally charming as we drove through it – reminded me a lot of the towns in Thailand. The main street is a dirt road with side roads that are BARELY wide enough for the car (a person would have to step into a recess to let us pass), little stores and LOTS of very interesting people busily going about their lives. I was thrilled to get the chance to see this part of China, and looked forward to exploring it with Stephan.
But part of the charm is that everything looked very old and dirty, and I know from past experience that the puddles and water on the streets were probably sewage, and there was a very strong odor of feces as we drove through some of the streets. … Thank GOODNESS, the hotel is delightful! ... [see below]
And it all was worth it this morning when we went into the town for breakfast outside, the people are CHARMING, we met the mother of one of the Tai Chi teachers that we had dinner with last night (both she and her son have a delightful smile all the time!) [The Tai Chi teacher is in the photo to the right, saying goodbye when we left Yong Nian]. So I’m settling in for a very interesting visit to a very interesting Chinese town, with a safe, clean, air-conditioned haven to retreat when I need a rest. And I’m starting to recognize my need for rest a little earlier now, and respecting it so I don’t get like I did in ZhengZhou, so I can enjoy myself.
Yong Nian is a bustling town.
Below, a man herds his goats through the main street, and Master Sun (blue shirt on the right), his disciple (black shirt on the left) and Stephan (behind Master Sun) walk along a side street. To the right is the tunnel under the city wall, as seen from inside the town looking toward the moat.
Excerpts from the Diary:... Thank GOODNESS the hotel is delightful! It is actually only 3 rooms and a bathroom, attached to another building complex. These people had JUST completed building it, the rooms are clean with tile floors, the beds were SOFT (hurray! The best bed I’ve had in China!), the bathrooms – well, you can’t have everything, they weren’t that clean but not bad, and the water is COLD (the German guy and I each screamed a little when taking our shower – separately, of course!). But I told Stephan I’m fine staying here, the room is very comfortable.
[Above, left]: Stephan, Master Sun and his disciple walk back to the hotel after dinner [see photo of the restaurant]. The building to the left of them is an apartment building -- our hotel is attached to the far end (the side is visible past the pole). Ahead of them is a bridge going over the moat to the tunnel under the city wall.
[Above, right]: Stephan prepares his speech in our hotel room.
[Below]: Our hotel seen from the bridge – the arch has been installed to celebrate the opening of the tai chi center (see photos). This clinic was just outside of Yong Nian, on the way to the home of the original Yang Shi Tai Chi Master (see photos). To the right below is a bamboo ladder in a home in Yong Nian (click here to see scaffolding made of bamboo in Shanghai).
Excerpted from the Diary (August 5.5, 2005): In Yong Nian there were several restaurants that consisted of a row of small rooms with a table and chairs inside. Customers would be escorted through the courtyard or hallway to one of the rooms, the server would turn on the air conditioner and bring a little teapot with green tea and leave a thermos of hot water for us to replenish it, take the order, and then bring the food. It was in quiet, private rooms like that where we often sat for the long, delightful discussions that I've reported to you.
Diary from China – Saturday, July 30, 2005; Yong Nian, China
