FIELD TRIP…..  I took my senior IB students to the Yuejiang Tower or Lions Gate Temple for an art outing.  We had a lovely afternoon.  The focus was on photographing patterns, architecture, people, light and shadows.  Mike, Anna and Ophelia accompanied me along with the economics teacher, Michael. When we got to the steps to climb the hill to the pagoda  Michael took a leave (something about nap-time) and it was just me and the students.  The temple was part of a Buddhist monestary built in 400AD.  Much was destroyed, rebuilt and opened to the public in 2001.   Being new, there are no Buddhist monks to be seen.  More of a tourist attraction, it still represents the Ming Dynasty when Zheng He sailed to the Atlantic. It includes complex architecture lines in traditional Chinese style.  Housed inside is information such as ship building, scientific sailing, how to conquer the ocean, peaceful diplomacy, good-neighborly relationships, transmission of civilization, equal trading and culture exchanges as well as local customs and practices in western countries. (This last sentence I copied from a tourist guide!)  Since I can’t read the Chinese characters I enjoy the museum visually.

This tower can be seen from my office window and I look at it daily.  It is fun to be standing on the top balcony and see my building for a change.  I can see the Yangtze river bridge, the vast array of apartment building, old and new, hi rise and small old hutongs.  It is miles and miles of building, so unbelievable, bigger than New York City, so awe inspiring.