Bernice and I visit the Countryside

We Ride our Bicycles to the Countryside

One day in 1985 in Chengdu, while we were teaching for the Chinese National Academy of Sciences at the Language Training School, Bernice, Shawn Chen, a Chinese teacher, and I decided to take a bicycle ride into the countryside. It was a hot, sunny day in Chengdu and we rode a long way out of town. When we saw a interesting unpaved side road we took it and rode some distance further. The road was really no more than a bicycle path. We would often just travel to see what we could see with no particular destination in mind. After a while we saw this house situated a little way off the road. We really wanted to visit a rural family and to talk with them. So I asked Shawn Chen to go to the house and tell them that there was an elderly foreign couple who would like a drink of water and a rest. We knew that the Chinese would be hospitable and invite us but they would never invite us as they felt they were too poor to invite some foreigners to their home. This was a ruse to break the ice to meet them

We visit a Peasant Family Home

Here we are entering their home. They were most polite and delighted and honored to have us visit them. They were most gracious and invited us to have a cup of tea. And it was pleasant to sit and rest after our long ride. The house was very clean but humble. They gave us some chairs to sit on and poured tea and we began to talk. They had a son about 25 years old living with them and they farmed about 1/2 acre. The floor was just dirt and the furnishing were quite simple but comfortable. The walls consisted of adobe bricks. The roof was thatched straw with open beams of tree branches. I think that they were as interested in us and how we lived as we were about them. After a while they asked if we would like to see the rest of the house and we replied that we would like to very much. The house consisted of three rooms, a living room, a kitchen and a bedroom. It was the bedroom that held the big treat and we were most amazed at that room.

A Wonderful Day

In the bedroom was this beautiful hand-carved Four-Poster bed with a matching dresser. It spoke of a better day in the past. They were very proud of their bed and dresser. It was a magnificent piece of furniture. They were delighted that we enjoyed it so much. We took this picture of the bed to remember the day. They then invited us to stay for dinner. We accepted if we could contribute something to the dinner and they agreed. We gave the son some money to buy some pork and other things in town and off he rode on his bicycle. After a while he returned and the mother fixed a wonderful dinner for all of us. We spent a couple of hours there enjoying the delightful couple and their son. We never saw them again but we have always treasured that day we spent with them They are the kind of people that have made China the great nation it is. They are the 80% of "Rural China" that makes the country prosper.