Beihai Park

Intriguing why most of the ducks sat on top of the ice.

Ladies dancing to music in the sunshine.

Ancient juxaposed with modern. The lady talking on her cell phone.

Willows in the wind OR Wind in the Willows?

White Dagoda or we might say White Pagoda.

Chinese New Year decorations wishing good luck and prosperity for the new year.

Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands.  They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see. They have ears, but do not hear; noses, but do not smell. They have hands, but do not feel; feet, but do not walk; and they do not make a sound in their throat. (Ps. 115:4-7)

Catching up on the news.

The noodle shop inside the park where we ate lunch and chatted with the locals.

Lakeside Pavilions

Kids having fun tossing coins through a hanging hole.

All worshipers of images are put to shame, who make their boast in worthless idols; worship him, all you gods!... For you, O Lord, are most high over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods. (Ps. 97:7, 9)

ZhongShan Park

The last few weeks we have had beautiful, clear, blue skies with cool, crisp winds and moderate temperatures so Mark & I took advantage of the good weather to explore some Beijing parks.

One week we visited ZhongShan Park that, according to Top 10 Beijing "was once part of the grounds of a temple and the square Altar of Earth and Harvest remains."

The more temples and parks we visit, the more we see the same things over and over again - temples of Buddha worship, altars to unknown gods, long histories of dynasties, attention to beautiful details, and the friendliness of Chinese people.

A little noodle shop in which we ate lunch before entering the park.  We spent the afternoon with our friend Jana and her daughter Lili. This is the left side of the restaurant.

Other customers sitting in the front corner.

One of the shop workers, maybe owner. As we ate, Mark talked with everyone in the noodle shop, impressing them with his Chinese. He also impressed Jana with his boldness in just standing up and talking with everyone. No shyness in him!

As we have visited many of these types of altars, I remembered the apostle Paul experienced something similar.

So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. (Acts 17:22-23) The ancient Chinese worshiped a God they didn't know.

 

Walking through a bamboo forest.

The texture on this iced-over pond intrigued us.

Day of the internationals

During Spring Festival season, most schools take a long break, much like Christmas Break in the States but longer. While many of our friends take the opportunity to travel, we take the opportunity to meet with people more often. Some days we pack in the appointments, like today. We began the day meeting an Australian friend, moved on to meet a Chinese and a Luxembourger to sign a contract for the BBC space, then did pre-marital counseling with a Philippina and Hungarian, ate lunch with men from Tanzania and Ukraine, then will end the day sharing dinner with an American family.  All in all, a very international day!

BBC's newest addition - meet Amelia

BBC is growing. 

Introducing Amelia - the first of three babies due between Dec. 31 and June 7

1-month-old Amelia with her proud parents and Mark

How does a dad carry a small baby on the subway? In a pouch, of course.

People Stories - the Farhans

One day as we caught the bus to ride to the large grocery store in the mall, we met a Pakistani family. They all (minus Dad) sat in the first seats on the bus so we had to walk by them as we entered the bus. Naturally we couldn't miss an opportunity to talk. We discovered they were also going to the same grocery store so we talked and walked the entire way - riding the bus, crossing the street, walking through the parking lot, entering the store. The girls especially spoke perfect English. We learned a bit about their family during that time and exchanged phone numbers. They are here for a year while the dad studies at a nearby military academy. 

About a week or so later, they invited us to their home for dinner. We had a delightful time getting to know the whole family, eating Pakistani food, and laughing about all kinds of things. We chatted about family, their country officially known as the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, kids growing up, future educations plans, living in Beijing, etc. So the next week they all came to our home for dinner, a few rounds of UNO, and more chatting.

We hope to continue our new friendship.

Amna 14, Anna 18, Cheryl, Shazia, Farhan, Omer 9