Happy Water Tiger Year

It’s Chinese New Years time. This Spring Festival (Lunar New Years) is going to be more subdued than usual because of the Covid – again. This is the year 4719 in the ancient Chinese calendar. I enjoyed some great holiday celebrations during the twelve years I lived in China. We would travel, along with literally …

Street Photography in China II

The photo above was taken by the West Lake. Many couples come from far and wide to have their photos taken at the West Lake. The lake is the location of are several famous romantic tales. This group of photos were taken during my first few months of my twelve years living in China. I …

Not Lost in Translation

He who neglects to drink of the spring of experience is likely to die of thirst in the desert of ignorance. – Li Bai (Greatest Tang Dynasty poet: 701AD -762 AD) I got some great news this week. One of my poems – a Haiku – is going to be published in an upcoming issue …

Happy Chinese New Year

I made a Lunar New Year card from one of my paintings. The painting is of the Winter Blooming Plum, and the Chinese phrases are various ways to wish people a happy New Year. Today is Chinese New Year’s Eve or Lunar New Year’s Eve. It is the year 4719 according to the ancient Chinese …

Where Heaven and Earth Touch

There are unusual locations where the barriers between this world and that of the metaphysical, or spiritual, are thin. Sensitive people can perceive the harmonic vibration between the two worlds. Celtic people call these “thin places”. Introduces and explores the Longmen Grotto in China.

Happy Teachers’ Day

Those who know, do. Those that understand, teach. – Aristotle September 10 is Teachers’ Day in China. Several of our former students have contacted my wife and I. Before living in China, I had the honor to work with hundreds of teachers as part of my job at a major university. My actual title was …

Off the Beaten Path in China:Part 4

Su Shi, Su Dongpo, transformed himself through meditation. He wrote his final poetry while sitting in his final home amongst the sugar palms.

Off the Beaten Path in China:Part 3

To a mind that is still, the entire universe surrenders. – Zhuangzi Su Shi was ethically unyielding. The subtle political context of one of his poems caused him to be thrown into a dark prison cell for one hundred days. The hopelessness of his miserable condition changed the great genius forever. This terrifying experience further …

Off the Beaten Path in China:Part 2

Journey to the end of the world in China. Part 2

Off the Beaten Path in China: Part 1

Getting ready to travel in China takes some unusual preparations.