Viking River Cruises initiated a project to support one of the local primary schools in Guanyindang Town which is a suburb of the Jingzhou City. From the the time the school was started in 1974, almost 2200 students have graduated from this school. There is an enrollment of more than 800 students, 16 different classes and they have 50 teachers and staff. The school was renamed Viking Primary School in 2003. In several stages, the Viking River Cruises investment will be used to renovate the schools current facility and to provide more modern teaching equipment.
We left the boat very early this morning and had a 45 minute drive to get to the school. The scenery that we encountered was fascinating. Here roadside vendors are selling lottery tickets! 
We were told that a town of 1 million population was not considered large by Chinese standards. This rural farming community was a bustling place but was very poor. The people who haul things around on these pushcarts sit on them when they aren't busy waiting for work and sometimes they even sleep on them. You'll notice that even though it's a poor community, there's no litter to be found anywhere. 
The farmers mainly grow rice, cotton and sesame plants. You could see the rice spread out on the sides of the streets in the villages and along the roadsides. 
It was put there in order for it to dry. 
At times the workers would walk through the rice with their protective boots on and make rows so it would dry more quickly.
At night they would have to bag it all up in order to keep it safe, and then the next day they would put it back out provided it was a sunny day to dry some more. That's really hard work.
You had to be in very good shape to do this work, and most of the workers were women. Each bag had to weigh at least 40 pounds each and there were MANY bags.
They did the same thing with cotton which had been picked.
We were told that a town of 1 million population was not considered large by Chinese standards. This rural farming community was a bustling place but was very poor. The people who haul things around on these pushcarts sit on them when they aren't busy waiting for work and sometimes they even sleep on them. You'll notice that even though it's a poor community, there's no litter to be found anywhere. The farmers mainly grow rice, cotton and sesame plants. You could see the rice spread out on the sides of the streets in the villages and along the roadsides. It was put there in order for it to dry. At times the workers would walk through the rice with their protective boots on and make rows so it would dry more quickly. At night they would have to bag it all up in order to keep it safe, and then the next day they would put it back out provided it was a sunny day to dry some more. That's really hard work. You had to be in very good shape to do this work, and most of the workers were women. Each bag had to weigh at least 40 pounds each and there were MANY bags. They did the same thing with cotton which had been picked. We didn't see them bagging the cotton, but they had to do something with it at night, just like they did with the rice. At least it wouldn't weigh as much!
The visit to the school was very special. They children were all lined up, ready to play some music for us and they were anxiously awaiting our arrival. 
Once we had said our hello-hello's (and NO ... we were not selling anything ;-) 
the children put on a darling performance of singing and dancing for us. They sang songs that we all know, but rather than the vocals being sung in English they were sung in Chinese.
The children who were waiting in the "wings" were both nervous as well as excited to perform for us. They had been practicing all week and wanted their turn in the limelight. 
Once this part of our visit had been completed and we had the opportunity to photograph them, I left the main group and went over to take some candid shots of the very little ones. They were in a special playground that was fenced in and they were so happy to have someone pay attention to them since they were not part of the planned activities. 
The Peace sign seems to be very popular with the young set. When they were at a loss for words, they would make this sign and it was an easy way for us to communicate.
The visit to the school was very special. They children were all lined up, ready to play some music for us and they were anxiously awaiting our arrival. Once we had said our hello-hello's (and NO ... we were not selling anything ;-) the children put on a darling performance of singing and dancing for us. They sang songs that we all know, but rather than the vocals being sung in English they were sung in Chinese. The children who were waiting in the "wings" were both nervous as well as excited to perform for us. They had been practicing all week and wanted their turn in the limelight. Once this part of our visit had been completed and we had the opportunity to photograph them, I left the main group and went over to take some candid shots of the very little ones. They were in a special playground that was fenced in and they were so happy to have someone pay attention to them since they were not part of the planned activities. The Peace sign seems to be very popular with the young set. When they were at a loss for words, they would make this sign and it was an easy way for us to communicate. Groups of the boys would gather together, giggle, and then give us the International sign of Peace. They were so cute.
I think that a special friendship between girlfriends is International as well. The young ones here in China are already bonding. It is interesting to watch the boys all rough-housing and horsing around doing "guy" things, while the little girls are much quieter and have already picked out a special friend to spend time with. There's something about girlfriends that the men will never understand. I think that's why there are so many "Chick Flicks" :-)
We then visited some of the classrooms and gave them the token gifts that we had brought for them from America.
The biggest hit was this plastic bubble stuff ... I don't remember what you call it, but I loved it when I was young. They apparently had never seen this before and they got SOOO excited. They were adorable, especially this little boy.
I think that a special friendship between girlfriends is International as well. The young ones here in China are already bonding. It is interesting to watch the boys all rough-housing and horsing around doing "guy" things, while the little girls are much quieter and have already picked out a special friend to spend time with. There's something about girlfriends that the men will never understand. I think that's why there are so many "Chick Flicks" :-) We then visited some of the classrooms and gave them the token gifts that we had brought for them from America. The biggest hit was this plastic bubble stuff ... I don't remember what you call it, but I loved it when I was young. They apparently had never seen this before and they got SOOO excited. They were adorable, especially this little boy. We returned to the boat in time for lunch and a quick nap. We have to travel 153 miles to arrive at our next destination, so we set sail right after lunch. Traveling on a river is much slower than in a car.
After our rest we gathered in the large lounge/bar area for a Chinese Tea Ceremony which was delightful.
They described and explained all the different types of teas, how to prepare them and how they were to be served. 
There were little ceramic pieces on the tea table that were called Tea Babies. It seems that when you pour water of a certain temperature on it's head, then immerse it in hot water for about 3 minutes, something very strange would happen. Once you lifted him out of the water (it was a boy baby), and poured hot water on his head again, he would start to tinkle. I call him a Pee Baby and bought one for our daughter-in-law, Beth, who is an avid tea drinker. There was an assortment of these little fellows in the gift shop on the boat and I couldn't resist buying one.
After our rest we gathered in the large lounge/bar area for a Chinese Tea Ceremony which was delightful.
They described and explained all the different types of teas, how to prepare them and how they were to be served. There were little ceramic pieces on the tea table that were called Tea Babies. It seems that when you pour water of a certain temperature on it's head, then immerse it in hot water for about 3 minutes, something very strange would happen. Once you lifted him out of the water (it was a boy baby), and poured hot water on his head again, he would start to tinkle. I call him a Pee Baby and bought one for our daughter-in-law, Beth, who is an avid tea drinker. There was an assortment of these little fellows in the gift shop on the boat and I couldn't resist buying one. It's been another wonderful day. Can't wait to see what's round the bend of the river tomorrow in Yueyang!
Pcasso
1 comment:
This is a wonderful post on the Viking School. What a great thing for the Viking Cruise line to do. The children all looked so happy.
Thanks again,
maw
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