We are heading out to Xiamen, China! Not until May 8, but every time I look at the calendar, it is sooner than I realize. There are many reasons for this journey, starting with my daughter, Calliope. She has been studying Mandarin for two semesters now. In order to express the four tones, she slips into a sing-song style of speech and I am entranced. Now when I see her, I request a mini-Mandarin concert.
Another focus for this trip is my sister-in-law, Hilda. She is Chinese - born and raised in the Philippines, but Chinese none-the-less. Her mother's family is from a village that they translate as "Stone Village" in Fujian province, China. As it turns out, Xiamen is the closest big city to this area. How lucky I am to be able to explore this connection.
Hilda, Calliope, and I will be travel-mates on this adventure.
As if to emphasize the many levels of connections that each of us has around the planet, it turns out that Xiamen, China and Sarasota, Florida have officially pledged each other as Sister Cities. Sarasota has had the distinction of hosting two Xiamen artists this week. Hilda and I had the opportunity to meet them at a private dinner hosted in their honor, by our friends, Jill and Duane, both long-time China hands. The artists were both disarmingly charming. Zheng Sheng Long 郑盛龙(男) demonstrated the art of Chinese brush painting. He shared many insights about this expressive tradition. His movements as he painted were reminiscent of Tai Chi, suggesting to me that the two Chinese forms share a similar energy and motivation. According to Zheng, the resulting painting sums up the uniqueness of the moment for the artist.
Zheng Shenglong, calligrapher and art professor from Xiamen University in China, paints bamboo. Credit: Sarasota Herald Tribune/photographer Dan Walsh from this article.
