Saturday was our last day at the Linden Center. We traversed the village of Xizhou beginning with a stop at the Saturday market. We saw numerous vendors displaying woks and other cookware, locally grown fruits and vegetables, Dali Bread (two different kinds: one sweet stuffed with a sweet kidney bean mixture and one savory topped with sausage and chive - both delicious) and artifacts of the area – some quite valuable, others verisimilitudes of antiques. We peeked in one tiny antique shop which boasted earthenware from the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
Continuing on our journey, we visited the village elder, Mr. Dong, who also served as the area historian. His home ravaged during the Cultural Revolution, Mr. Dong did his best to recover and rebuild his cherished abode. Newspapers wallpapering the ceilings and walls of his domicile, Mr. Dong proudly toured us through his two-story, two-room relic. He showed us his writings and artwork, posed graciously for numerous photos and asked us to come back soon.
Just before returning home for lunch, we stopped by the mosque in the Muslim area of the village for a look at its beautiful courtyard and a quick glance into the worship area. In the afternoon, we gathered at Linden to learn the art of calligraphy. Knight, our instructor, carefully demonstrated the Chinese number one, and we slowly and painstakingly tried to mimic his stroke. Eventually we progressed to numbers two, three, and four but only four of the 14 of our group mastered this skill. Joy, Lily, Margaret, and Lindsay topped the charts – the rest of us suffered diagnoses from Knight, who quite aptly described our failings and hiccups.
After our writing lesson, we tramped down to the kitchen to make dumplings with one of the Linden Centre chefs. Much more forgiving than calligraphy, we all managed to seal and crimp our pastries with relative success. After this lesson, we snacked on our creations – yum!
To finish the day, the girls headed off to English Corner, a weekly event that Brian and Jeenee initiated two years ago to help teach the young children of the village English. We taught lessons on the alphabet, animals, body parts, colors, months, and seasons. Inundated with perhaps twice the number of children who normally attend (they must have know we were coming in force!), the girls handily managed this inquisitive group. We sang, danced, and chanted vocabulary and received warm hugs for thanks.
Sunday, we had a long travel day, flying to Shanghai. Tomorrow we’ll visit the Shanghai Museum, the Pearl Market Tower, Zhujiajiao (Water Town known for its canals and waterways), and in the evening we’ll enjoy a special treat: Shanghai’s acrobat troop. It will be a very busy day!
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