We live right next to a coal furnace out of which sprouts a huge brick smokestack. This is the energy source. Last night in the dark, I saw a man shoveling coal into the furnace, his face glowing red. I looked up, and yup, there was a huge cloud of black smoke rising. It reminded me vaguely of "Hardboiled Wonderland and the End of the World."

Today, I went to the market with my aunt and we got a big, fresh rooster for 33 RMB. I saw its throat being sliced, blood drained, and its feathers steamed off. When I get back to the States and pull a pack of frozen chicken wings from the freezer at Costco, I will think of this poor soul.

It's -10 degrees celcius outside and dropping. I hope I hope I hope it snows. Thick.

Even though it was frigid, my aunt and I took a three-wheel bicycle "taxi" from the hospital to the market. It's run by pedalling manpower. One of these guys makes as much as 30 RMB a day, about 3-4 dollars. Our ride was 2 RMB. It was a pleasant ride; your body is in the open air, and you're moving at a slow enough pace that you can see the faces of the people you pass. On the way back home from the market, my aunt and I took a little bus. The woman who collects the ticket fare let us take the ride for free, because my aunt always sees her around.

I touched a piano (my cousin's) for the first time in about half a year, and played a Bach invention. I liked it. It gives me the itch to play when I get back ... Pathetique.

wen wen

My little nephew Wen Wen.

I bought a bunch of hair clips the other day. My little nephew Wen Wen comes across the bundle, and wants to play with them, so I take them out, and he's trying to fix them in his hair, except his hair is like a few millimeters long.

I ask, "Wen Wen, I don't think you can put them in your hair. Your hair is too short."
He says, "Why?"
I say, "Well, I guess it's because you're a little boy, and your hair is short."
He says, "No, I'm not a little boy. I'm a little girl."
I say, "Wen Wen, it seems like you're a little boy to me."
He says, "Well then, I want to turn into a little girl."
("Na, wuo xiang yao bien cheng xiao nu har.")
And he continues attempting to fix the clips into his hair.

---

On a separate occasion:

Wen Wen loves trains and subways, especially photos of real, live trains and subways, of which I have a very small collection. So, he always wants me to open my laptop and look at those photos. We came across a photo of me with a mustache drawn over my lips in black marker, and he starts screaming with joy. He thinks it's the funniest thing he's ever seen.

He says, "Huan Huan Yi, why do you have a mustache?"

I say, "Well, it's because one day, I decided to grow a mustache. I thought it would make me look good. What do you think?"

He says, "I think your mustache should transform into a train, and then into a subway! And then become an airplane!!!"

("Wuo xiang ne di hu zhi ying gai bien cheng huo che, zhai bien cheng di tie, zhai bien cheng fei ji!!!")

He continues to squeal, and then insists on looking at the photos of trains. -eyes spinning!- ... a little Rene Magritte!

Religion and Food.

Yesterday morning took a short taxi ride out to allegedly the largest miao (I'm not sure if that means temple or monastery) in Asia, or at least in Jilin Province. It was chilly but stunning, flying eaves and everything. It was so silent, and you could see your breath rise like smoke from incense; my cousins and I made a lengthy climb up a tall mountain, I figure around 224 steps, to the peak (no Mt Everest, but it felt like it), and there was a eye-opening view of Donhua mountains.

It's nothing like I've seen before. The mountains are gentle, the leafless trees are spare and ethereal, the lake, an ice field. It was surreal, to say the least, climbing up granite steps lined with young birches. It's one of those places where your mind plays tricks. You feel like you are flickering between someone's imagination and sensual reality. A somewhat unsettling setting for a film, if I were to ever film. After climbing down from the peak, my lungs were having some kind of asthmatic reaction to the air. I think it was a little too cold for me. Later, my cousin's husband (my jie fu) got my cousin and I matching water crystal bracelets, and we took a 20 minute taxi ride back into town.

For lunch, we had the uncommon common fare: ban ban (aka "half mix," bibimbab), egg/potato pancakes, la cai (kimchi), mi chang (rice sausage), and grilled pork. Oh yes, and this excellent beer (brewed in the city of Donhua!) called Bing Chuan, or "icy fjord."

Afterwards, I went with my cousin Miao Miao (did I mention that all my cousins are soo pretty?) to this teahouse that our uncle's wife works at, and we both unwittingly feel asleep on the heated tatami. After several hours of slowly rising and falling back asleep, we finally got up and headed to a bathhouse. For only 15 rmb per person, we took hot showers, sauna-ed, and were washed with exfoliating gloves on massage tables. Basically, I got a total scrub down by this old woman. Three times. After about an hour and a half, soooo fresh and clean! Makes me want to open a bathhouse or spa of my own.

For dinner, the whole family got together (fourteen of us) at another restaurant. Walking in, we were greeted by a large tank of frowning arrowanas at the entrance (five, long silver ones), and later, ordered an enormous meal of silkworms (crunchy and delicious), vermicelli dishes cold and hot, warm potato kimchi dish, bean and beef dishes, spicy squid dishes, cold mixed dog meat, dog meat soup (takes some time to get used to), ming tai fish (a traditional Chao Xian-Korean-Donhua dish), everything mostly spicy. Then, I got drunk with my uncles on beer and northern Chinese sweet soju, much to my gramma's discontent. We separated, and taxied it back home, and I fell asleep quite fast.

Today was too sunny, and all the snow came down in drips from the roofs. I found a police car, and it was a Land Cruiser with a Mao brocade dangling from the rear-view mirror. (I actually just got the same one from one of my aunts!) Streets are much more empty than any other city I've been, but this might just be because it's cold, and it's a work day. I'll have to see tomorrow if the people come out to play. There are so many real traces of the Communist era here (not catered to kitsch-seeking tourists). For example ... my relatives, who lived through war, great leaps, and book-burnings. Took as many pictures as long as I stayed not embarassed of taking pictures of strangers. Took even more video of my little 3-year-old nephew dancing to Daft Punk. (I started playing Underworld off my laptop and he started nodding his head). I want to take a million million pictures so I could recreate a virtual world of this place whereever I go ... if only I could. Lots of colorful textiles--makes me want to study textiles; trying to get a cotton jacket made of this fluff. I think I might take a solitary journey back to Shanghai on the train (30 hours including a transfer at Chongqing). I think I'll do some cross-stitch to pass the time. It's kind of nice to be lost in this land, although my dreams have been extra vivid lately. More later!