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| China! |
I am in city of Tongren, in the province in Ghizhou, in the People's Republic of China. It is a capital city of the Tongren Region, or Tongren Prefecture.
Tongren is located in the Karst Mountains, and the Jinjiang River flows through the city. The city is five or six square miles square, and I can run across town in an hour, with a few steep hills along the way. You can see the mountains from anywhere in the city. Sometimes you have to peak between a few tall buildings or just move a bit to the left.
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| These bumpy, tree-filled mountains surround Tongren. |
Between 250,000 and 500,000 people call Tongren home. No one really has a solid answer. People come and go; cities often have a large transient population. Everyone lives in apartments, and single-family homes do not exist. I think this in partially due to Communist ideology and the shortage of space in this mountain valley. There are many people in a small space.
Tongren is known for Mt. Fanjingshan, a very popular tourist destination, but it is still a few hours away. I'm sure that I will visit the mountain during my time here. I read that this city is also known for it's stature of Zhou Yiqun Martyr, apparently one of the generals of the Chinese Red Army. I did indeed see this statue, but because I can't read anything, I couldn't figure out why everyone having their picture taken next to this statue of some guy.
Instead, I took a picture of this:
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| Happy Buddha! |
Even though you are doing so much more than traveling--you are living in your Chinese home--this quote about pilgrimages made me think about you. Here are five practices for travelers on sacred journeys inspired by a conversation between Zi Zhang and Confucius about the practices of wise rulers. "Practice the arts of attention and listening. Practice renewing yourself every day. Practice meandering toward the center of every place. Practice the ritual of reading sacred texts. Practice gratitude and praise-singing." May this be sacred time for you. Nancy A
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