Qujing 9-21 to 9-28

I'm giving up trying to arrange the pics after I write what I want to say. I'm putting the pics in first and then typing to fit the placement of the pics. This is more of life in Qujing. The nice lady Tai Chi sword dancer is typical of so much that we see, especially in the morning or the evening. Ladies and to a lesser degree men will doing various types of Tai Chi and other forms of exercise. It is also done in the courtyards of the ubiquitous apartment complexes. This lady had just talked w/Marion admiring the baby cap that she was knitting. She was practicing before the rest of her troupe came to workout. The 2nd photo is one of contrasts with widespread use of bikes versus the influx of motor vehicles. The streets of less affluent cities are not congested, though they have many taxis, buses, scooters, and bicycles. If you work for a company, you might deliver goods in a small truck, but if you are an independent seller/vendor deliveries will usually be by bicycle, many use this three-wheeled variety which allows much more to be transported, sometimes with an unimaginable load. The 3rd photo is in one of the parks that we call Dragon Park b/c of this magnificent statue. The park, like every park in the city is meticulously maintained - it is always clean and always in full bloom! China seems always to be a country of contrasts; so much is clean & beautiful and so much is dirty and in need of repair. More on that later. The last picture is one of our residence. This is one of eight 7-story buildings comprising our complex. It is very typical of apartments all over Qujing, though just a little bit nicer. All the apartments under construction appear to better than or equal to ours. The standard of living is improving rapidly, at least for city folks. Perhaps China's biggest problem is the huge number of poor farmers and how to raise their standard of living. Pics of farm life coming soon.