The Amazing Race

I know most of you have seen a little of the AMAZING RACE reality show. The last part of our trip was just like this. We didn’t know exactly where we were going or how to get there. We had to ask a lot of people for directions and help along the way. We had deadlines to meet so we had to be in certain places at specific times. Ron runs a very tight trip schedule.

Chinese people are not accustomed to seeing old people wandering around China (not part of a tour group) so they are both curious and understanding.

The only people we watch out for are at bus stations and train stations who try to grab your bags to get you to take their taxi. These are illegal and scalpers. They charge a very high fee. Some are very aggressive and rude. They walk beside you for long distances trying to take your bags even though we tell them NO over and over. They are not just being helpful like the other people.

When we returned to Xi’an, Jackie got us to the airport and we flew that night to Wuhan. We stayed one night in Wuhan and left early the next morning for the bus station not knowing what time we could catch a bus to Jing Zhou. We only had about an hour long wait. No one spoke English at this bus station, but one lady was kind enough to look at our tickets and escort us to the right waiting room. She came and got us when it was time to board the bus. We find people very helpful at most bus and train stations.

It was a very cold three hour long ride. We encountered cold weather in Wuhan and as in most of China, no heat is turned on until November 15th (hotels do have heat but not in other buildings). The bus station was cold with doors open and there was no heat on the bus. It was raining and very windy.

Someone who knew Ya Ning Langley came to meet us at the bus station. Her husband came to drive us around and a friend of hers from the school (a middle school English teacher) came to translate for us. They were so kind and generous and would not let us pay them or cover the lunch expenses. This is the kind of generous people we find everywhere we go in China. We first went to the government office, but the manager was not there. We went to lunch and enjoyed that time getting to know these very kind volunteers.

After lunch, we went back to the government office. A man and woman joined us in their conference room and I could tell immediately that we would not work out any kind of deal there. The woman took over the meeting and was as cold as a dead fish and as kind as a tiger. It was evident in her tone of voice and body language. After a long discussion between the volunteers and this lady, it appeared our volunteers did their best to represent us and our reason for being there. The lady informed us that they had an orphanage for 40 children and had no need for us coming there. We were told that they do not feel that orphans who now live with an old relative should live at a care center. Most of the children we find do have old relatives but they are poorly cared for and they are happy for the children to have a better life and a good education that we can provide for them.

It was reported to us before we went to this city that they have at least three buildings that could be used for an orphanage. Communication sometimes gets off-track if you are not getting the information from the person making the decisions. It was evident this lady was making decisions and our presence was a waste of her time.

The volunteers were extremely disappointed. They drove us to a location of interest in the city where the city wall is located and has become a beautiful tourist site. They drove us back to the bus station and helped us buy bus tickets for Yichang. They tried to pay for our bus tickets. They made sure we had some snacks and water and knew which bus to get on. Within a short time, we boarded another cold bus for another two hour long ride. It was still raining.

At Yichang, Rod, a classmate of Judy Yang‘s, one of our workers in Atlanta, met us at the bus station and escorted us to the hotel he had reserved. It was a new 39-floor hotel (five star hotel). He got a big discount for us so the room only cost us about $60. If a Chinese person makes the reservation, the room rate will be considerably less than if an American does it. It amazed me that rates are so flexible. I prefer a system where rates remain the same for everyone, but it seems most of the world does not work on that system. I had been cold all day so I took a hot shower and slept for eight hours under a down filled comforter. It was really nice. I can truly say we have had the best accommodations and the very worst accommodations. It changes from day to day.

The next morning, Rod met us at the hotel. Rod teaches Economics at a university. He is a very nice 30 year-old young man and he worked very hard for us arranging everything. He would not take any payment for his time. He said for us to just consider him a volunteer.

We checked out of the hotel and went to the travel desk to get airline tickets for Beijing. A government worker and driver came to the hotel to meet us. This was a very good sign. We drove about one hour to the Three Gorges Dam area. What a beautiful sight! This was perhaps the prettiest place I have seen in China. Clouds were covering the tops of some mountains. Valleys and rivers ran beside the roadway. There are about three check points along the road for people entering this area but with a government car, we drove right through. As they say, “it’s all in who you know!” We did not get out to see the Dam on this trip because we were limited in time. It was hazy and rainy again that day. We arrived at a small town just past the dam. It was a mountain town with streets running up and down steep hills.

We met the Civil Affairs workers at the first care center we visited. It was a three-story building housing 91 elderly people and all rooms were occupied. The outside of the building needed painting but the rooms were all clean and tile floors were spotless. The old peoples’ beds were neatly made and their clothes put away in chests. Each old person had a room to themselves. I think three people shared the same bath. The grounds were well kept and it appeared to be a very nice home for the elderly. Some were watching TV and others just walking around very curious about foreigners visiting them.

It was lunchtime when we finished at this facility so they took us to a hotel for a very delicious lunch. The two Civil Affairs ladies were very kind and nice. This was helpful after our encounter with the tiger lady in Jing Zhou.


They drove us to another care center where they house 70 elderly people. This facility is a seven-floor building. It was unbelievable! I did not see a single mark on any wall and the floors were clean. It is a brick and some type of block on the outside. The rooms were all as clean as a museum.

Again, the old people’s rooms were neat. Some of them were playing chess and others were walking around the gardens outside. There are exercise rooms and empty rooms that can be used for a library, classroom, recreation room, etc. on each floor. The outside was perfectly landscaped with trimmed shrubs, a bridge crossing a little stream, and beautiful concrete and gravel paths running to different areas. A playground was nearby and a newly paved area is ready for a basketball court.

We could use at least four floors for orphans, housing at least 100 (if not more) children. I think there are three rooms, bath and sitting room in each section. We can probably get four bunk beds in each room (8 children) so that would house 24 children together in each section.

The officials said we could set up a separate kitchen for the children. We feel sure the food they serve the elderly is not as nutritional as we would prefer for the children. They also said that although there are primary and middle schools within safe walking distances, they would provide transportation to take the children into town to better schools.

Everything we encountered this day was positive with full cooperation and them going above and beyond whatever we could possibly imagine. It is another “too good to be true” situation.

We met the director and vice-director (the man’s daughter) and they were very nice. We need our directors to go there to train because this facility was as near perfect as any care center you could find anywhere. I know a home for the elderly is just as difficult to run as a home for orphans. These directors want it to be the best and they have succeeded. If this works out and a contract can be signed with these officials, I should call this section “We struck gold.” It is far more than we ever expected to find. Our trip has been hard but very successful so far.

Our next challenge will be to find directors for the next two orphanages. Locating Christians or believers who can be trusted is not easy in China.