Introduction of Grand Canyon West

Tour Fees at Grand Canyon West

Colorado River_Grand Canyon West

Colorado River from Helicopter_Grand Canyon West

Eagle-Ponit_Grand-Canyon-West

Helicopter is waiting for me! _ Grand Canyon West

Grand Canyon West _From Helicopter

Grand Canyon West Valley 1 _From Helicopter

Grand Canyon West Valley2 _From Helicopter

Me in Helicopter_Grand Canyon West

Shadow of Helicopter_Grand Canyon West

Landing in the center of Grand Canyon West

Path from Pontoon Boat to Helicopter_Grand Canyon West

Powerful Mountains 1_Grand Canyon West

Powerful Mountains 2_Grand Canyon West

Powerful Mountains 3_Grand Canyon West

Stone and Me_Grand Canyon West

Hoover-Dam 1

 Hoover Dam 2

Hoover Dam 3

Still in Construction_Hoover Dam

After amount of sleepless nights, I got up at 7:00am on June 2nd, had some simple breakfast which prepared by my dear daddy and drove to the Xiaoshan Airport accompanying by my mum and dad. We arrived the airport around 10:00, but was told the transfer flight to Beijing was postponed at the moment I stood in front of the counter of Air China. I realized I should take some action, otherwise I could miss the flight. I rushed to the Air China service desk to confirm the update flight info, the answer still kept the same. Unexpectedly, they didn’t know what time the flight would take off, because the plane was still in Beijing at that time. The earliest flight which can connect to the international flight to SF is 10:40am, which means if I can not make this flight in 15 mins, I will miss the next flight, I will lose time and money, I will not arrive at the same day in S.F. at U.S. time, thus, I might miss my best friend’s wedding party which will be held on June 4th in another city. During this 12 weeks adventure, the first 13 days will be with my friend Yang and her daughter. I did not hesitate to call Yang to check where she was. She was on her way running to the airport.

I made a quick decision that we should change our flight from Air China to China Eastern Airline. There was a picture of missing our international flight in front of my eyes. I was a little bit nervous and tried to clam down. The lady working for Air China showed no worries about the situation, helped a staff who jumped the queue. I was annoyed and said to her if she could not transfer my flight to China Eastern Airline right now, she should find someone else to do it for me. Then I turned to another working lady sitting aside and asked her favor.  When she  made several calls to check the available seats, I called Yang again. Yang and her daughter finally arrived the airport. We were lucky to get 3 seats. Yang was peaceful and communicated the counter staff to check in. My dad took pictures of us, I had no mood to do so. What I thought was no other than being hurry for the passing security check. It was a pity only few words saying goodbye to mum and dad at the airport.

Yang lift two bags, I held her daughter’s hand, we were the only three persons who run to the gate in the big terminal.  People was standing in a long queue waiting for the check in, When we reached the gate 24, the same gate I got on the flight to Beijing in this year’s Spring Festival. Lucky guys, aren’t we? The seats were arranged at first class area. The first time to have a chance to sit at first class owing to the delayed flight.

Another one hour was waited for the flight to take off because of air travel restrictions. Oh, my gosh! Time was not wasted, we three tried different functions of the first class chair, it’s a funny experience. Each button on the right hand of the seat was pressed. W aha!  To kill the time, I started to ask Yang what about her feeling on this trip to U.S. Her answer was exactly the same as mine. Not being that excited when we sat on the plane. I explained to myself that it takes time to put ourselves from dream back to reality. We are truly on our way to United States of America, the country on my world travel list. Wowhoo!

Lunch time was just after the taking off.  Not a bad meal!

Mum called me when I was at Beijing Airport. I promised her to call her back a few minutes later, since luggage had to be transferred from China Eastern Airline to Air China. We were safe and on time made the transfer flight. I were happy we were on the international flight, even though the type of this airplane is Boeing 747 disappointed me. 6 years ago, when I flew to Europe, the same type plane attracted me a lot, but not today. 6500 yuan for a round trip is reasonable, I can’t complain.

Having talks and watching movies are the best killing time options. I have watched any movie other than The Princess and the Frog by Disney Pictures. A nice movie, keeping the Disney Pictures tradition with life learning through classical fairy tales. :8 To be honest, to be earnest and down-to-earth echo as the theme from the beginning of the movie to the end. Tiana remains single minded in opening “Tiana’s Place,” working two jobs to save enough money to secure the ideal building for her restaurant. Ray, a Cajun firefly, is honest and brave, he loses his life to save Tiana and Naveen and gets to know his lover Evangeline is a only star far in the sky just before his death. Lawrence, a kind-hearted crocodile, is thinking he can make his dream as a music band player come true. Tiana’s kiss breaks the spell. Finally, the happy couple Tiana and Naveen purchases Tiana’s desired building and opens their restaurant. As the film ends, Tiana and Naveen host a gala opening for “Tiana’s Palace” and dance underneath the Evening Stars. Beautiful end. Welcome to San Francisco appears at the right windows. People cheer. Time shows to 11:20am west coast time of U.S.

        丁韪良，一位在中国生活逾六十载的美国传教士（1850—1916，其间有四年时间不在中国），将他的原名William Alexander Parsons Martin改成了中国名字，并取字“冠西”。在查询学校和地方图书馆馆藏史料无果的情况下，我大胆地猜测这位清末在华外国学者中首屈一指的“中国通”定怀揣着一种希望或者说是一种信念，作为一名传教士，他希望将中国、中国的文明、中国的文化介绍到西方，成为一个融贯西中的西方人。

       认识丁韪良，是在沈弘教授的课上。沈教授对在华传教士的研究仅以丁韪良的研究为例，我在谷歌搜索中输入关键字“丁韪良”，搜索结果为 17,800，而输入“丁韪良 沈弘”，搜索结果为 54,900，足以证明沈教授的研究成果之丰硕。在沈教授的讲授中，丁韪良曾任北京同文馆和京师大学堂的总教习。他精通中国语言和文学，对晚清中国社会有微细的观察和独到的见解。著有《花甲记忆》、《中国觉醒》和《汉学菁华》等。而且丁韪良这三本著作均由沈弘教授亲自参与翻译，并定稿。

        由此，开始了我对这位清末著名汉学家的著作《汉学菁华》与《中国觉醒》的阅读之旅。丁氏在他的字里行间引领我们穿越了中国的历史、经济、社会、文化的各个层面，他的文字的意思不仅仅是对他六十二年中国生活的总结，而是他向西方世界介绍中华帝国的文明，纠正西方人对中国的偏见与歧视的历史佐证，对我而言，更为主观的意义是他唤起了我的爱国之情。

        清政府迂腐、落后的思想导致中国的国门的敞开不是自由贸易的结果，而是西方的船坚利炮轰鸣之下的彻底催跨。蓝眼睛、卷头发的西方人多以传教士的身份来到中国。六十二年与中国的联系，丁韪良谙熟中国各阶层的社会经济生活、宗教信仰、行为风俗、语言文化、政治制度等。1901年问世的《汉学菁华》，纪录了丁氏观察、分析中国人内在精神生活、中华文化的核心与内涵及包括科举考试、国子监、翰林院与京师大学堂的等问题的中国教育定位的心路历程。而于1907年首版的《中国觉醒》一书介绍清末的地理、人文以及中华几千年文明史的同时，着重描述了作者所亲身经历的1902—1907年间清政府所推行的新政和改革，并试图解释推动中国社会变革的潜在力量，书名取自《汉学菁华》的序篇“中国的觉醒”，可视为前一书的赓续及补充。两书均表达了丁氏对于中国光明未来的极大期盼。

        在一百多年以前的这位西方人的内心深处，“中国是当今世界正在发生的最伟大运动的舞台。……它所承诺要做到的事情是让这个最古老、人口最多和最保守的帝国得以彻底的振兴。”

       “中国是一个具有无穷精力之民族的故乡，它如今之伟大和未来之繁荣都足以令人仰慕不已。……用蒸汽和电力将这个庞大国家的所有成员都凝聚在一起时，我们很难想象它未来将会变得多么强盛。”

       “假如能去掉对中国人民心智的禁锢，并鼓励他们去自由地发明和想象，谁又能怀疑这个曾经发明过罗盘的国度也许哪天就会产生一个牛顿或爱迪生呢？”

       “所有的改革都归结于新式的教育，而中国已经义无反顾地开展了教育改革。……只需要几代人的努力，中国人民就将在世界民族之林中占据一个主要的位置。”

        丁氏语言中蕴含的文化信息以及渗透的精神力量无不让我由衷敬佩这位包涵学识而又富有政治远见的西方人。他对中国这头“沉睡的雄狮”在百年前就做出了自己的预测。21世纪的今天，作为一位中国人，我心中除了油然而生的敬佩之情外，对自己国家爱、民族的责任感也不禁而生。丁氏对中国人的了解与同情，对晚清社会细致入微的观察、特立独行的思辨，以及对中国国家地理、历史与炮火硝烟中的变革的审视。正是这种对汉文化的热爱与对中国独特地洞察，丁氏当初笃信的传教信念已被更为崇高、更为远大的信念而替代，那就是全然融入中国文化，又将中国文化带回西方的强大社会责任感和历史良知心。

        中国正处在走向富强的变革时期，责任感与良知心是关系国家转型是否成功的内聚力，而历史观与文化素质是决定国家竞争力的关键。

         所有现象只是浮夸在表面的泡沫，真实的数据与事实的真相永远沉在深不见底的渊谷。当经济危机来临，几乎所有的国外媒体都指责中国的人民币汇率政策的时刻，丁氏又在百年前以他比其他西方汉学家更为深刻的中国文化了解，比绝大部分西方人更为深厚的中华民族的感情和同情心，用他富含历史的眼光和充满哲学思辨的语言传达着他对中国、中国人民的信心，“这种思想互动的一个基本条件就是相互间的思想理解。假如中国要成为文明国家中的一员，西方人就必须理解作为中国历史和生活基础原则的中国思想。作者将《汉学菁华》一书奉献给英语世界的公众，也正是希望推进这种理解。”

        汉学家、教育家丁韪良在这两本书中的语言早已超出了语言本身，字里行间是他对于不是自己祖国，但确实是他的故乡——中国的热爱。他传播一种百年思想，那就是，爱国家并不是一种空谈，而是对于国家文明的骄傲，对于国家变革的信念以及对于国家富强的贡献。1868年10月，丁韪良曾在美国远东学会上作过一个著名的演讲，题目就叫做《中国的文艺复兴》，之后，他对这篇演讲稿的内容进行了更新，并将经过改写的文章以《中国的觉醒》（The Awakening of China）为题，作为《汉学菁华》（1901）这部书的序篇。我将以他其中一段话作为我的结尾， “中国人并不像人们一般所认为的那样，在其漫长的民族生活中是停滞不前的。中国人的民族心态随着时代的变更也在不断地前进，尽管并不总是直线前进，但我们认为每一个朝代都记录了确凿无疑的进步，就像北极的黎明那样，东方天际的第一抹曙光会消失好几个小时，但随之而来的是更为明亮的曙光，就这样周而复始，在经过几个黑暗的轮回之后，日出的时刻终于来临了。” 　　

Brand new day! Someone may say like that.

But someone may say life is tough and boring.

No one is right or wrong on this topic,

because no one knows what tomorrow will be.

To be brave!

To become mature and stronger!

 Those are the only things we can be and we can do.

Bless to everyone, to everyone who has dreams!

Happy the year of tiger!

郭语翼

春天甘心地生了一个美丽的小孩儿

那么长的冬天让它感谢孩子的到来

春天保护着新的家人,不要外面的东西伤害它的宝贝儿

但是漫长的夏天让她快快的长大

那个小孩儿爱上夏天的天气

白天时她跟阳光一起唱歌儿

晚上时她告诉月亮她的心情

她忘了孩子天真烂漫的事,也忘了夏天有限期

秋天让她的样子改变

她不能认出她花儿的颜色

冬天让她太冷了

她没想到有一天树上会没有叶子

春天来时她看不到外面

所以春天看不到她

虽然她的母亲给世界新的生活斑斓的风景

但是她盲目地等待着更美的夏天

今年的夏天来时她高兴极了

当然它会记得她得体的动作

但是她发现夏天还不在意她喜迎人的行为

不能认可她的芬芳

春天甘心地生了一个美丽的孩儿

那么长的冬天让它感谢孩子的到来

没想到这么热情的季节能变得冷漠

没想到被呵护的孩子能感觉到失落

Yuyi GUO

who is my dearest friend and student, wrote this poem.

I posted here to show my great respect to her love on Chinese language and Chinese culture.

I wrote a email to her. In the email, I said,

It is a surprise to me when I received this poem. It’s amazing that your Chinese has improved so much. I am very very proud of you. You are not a language learner, you are a language genius.

 

I can read the strong will on your research in another language, I can read the romantic quality of you between the lines. I should say I like this poem very much.

 

Keep going on! I will be there always support you, my dear friend!

 

 我们是一群“Toastmasters”。

Toastmasters人邀请各位志同道合人士参加12月19日下午

1：30在南山路102路火知了酒吧举行圣诞大派对。

精彩的是节目，

丰富的是奖品，

 热诚的是来自

Westlake Bilingul Toastmasters Club

Moto Metalk Club

Moto Say hello Club

SSS Hangzhou Club

MSD club

State Street Club

Zhejiang University Club

的每一个Toastmasters人。

一起加入吧！

票价说明：由于Toastmasters为NPO性质的NGO，按照国

际惯例，盈余部分将用作区域Toastmasters俱乐部的发展。

 30.00/人，学生20.00/人。名额有限，请发邮件至

 ying@chinesebridge.info联系Ying，获取门票。

Toastmasters ABCs:

http://hztmc.blog.sohu.com/

www.toastmasters.org

Three meetings within three days!

But I missed one.

I refused to be the next turn President. And I explained why I did so. Thanks for the totally understanding from my dear toastmasters. I promise to be a competent VPPR in the coming year.

(simplified Chinese: 庄子; traditional Chinese: 莊子; pinyin: Zhuāng Zǐ) was an influential Chinese philosopher who lived around the 4th century BC during the Warring States Period, corresponding to the Hundred Schools of Thought philosophical summit of Chinese thought. His name is sometimes spelled Chuang Tsu, Chuang Tzu, Zhuang Tze, Chouang-Dsi, Chuang Tse, Chuangtze or – in English – Master Chuang.

逍遥游

北冥有鱼①，其名曰鲲②。鲲之大，不知其几千里也；化而为鸟，其名为鹏③。鹏之背，不知其几千里也；怒而飞④，其翼若垂天之云⑤。是鸟也，海运则将徙于南冥⑥。南冥者，天池也⑦。齐谐者⑧，志怪者也⑨。谐之言曰：“鹏之徙于南冥也，水击三千里⑩，抟扶摇而上者九万里(11)，去以六月息者也(12)。”野马也(13)，尘埃也(14)，生物之以息相吹也(15)。天之苍苍，其正色邪？其远而无所至极邪(16)？其视下也，亦若是则已矣。且夫水之积也不厚，则其负大舟也无力。覆杯水于坳堂之上(17)，则芥为之舟(18)；置杯焉则胶，水浅而舟大也。风之积也不厚，则其负大翼也无力，故九万里则风斯在下矣(19)。而后乃今培风(20)，背负青天而莫之夭阏者(21)，而后乃今将图南。蜩与学鸠笑之曰(22)：“我决起而飞(23)，抢榆枋(24)，时则不至，而控于地而已矣(25)；奚以之九万里而南为(26)？”适莽苍者(27)，三飡而反(28)，腹犹果然(29)；适百里者，宿舂粮(30)；适千里者，三月聚粮。之二虫又何知(31)？小知不及大知(32)，小年不及大年。奚以知其然也？朝菌不知晦朔(33)，蟪蛄不知春秋(34)，此小年也。楚之南有冥灵者(35)，以五百岁为春，五百岁为秋；上古有大椿者(36)，以八千岁为春，八千岁为秋(37)。而彭祖乃今以久特闻(38)，众人匹之(39)，不亦悲乎？
汤之问棘也是已(40)：“穷发之北有冥海者(41)，天池也。有鱼焉，其广数千里，未有知其修者(42)，其名曰鲲。有鸟焉，其名为鹏，背若太山(43)，翼若垂天之云；抟扶摇、羊角而上者九万里(44)，绝云气(45)，负青天，然后图南，且适南冥也。斥鴳笑之曰(46)：‘彼且奚适也？我腾跃而上，不过数仞而下(47)，翱翔蓬蒿之间，此亦飞之至也(48)。而彼且奚适也？’”此小大之辩也(49)。
故夫知效一官(50)、行比一乡(51)、德合一君、而徵一国者(52)，其自视也亦若此矣。而宋荣子犹然笑之(53)。且举世而誉之而不加劝(54)，举世而非之而不加沮(55)，定乎内外之分(56)，辩乎荣辱之境(57)，斯已矣。彼其于世，未数数然也(58)。虽然，犹有未树也。夫列子御风而行(59)，泠然善也(60)，旬有五日而后反(61)。彼于致福者(62)，未数数然也。此虽免乎行，犹有所待者也(63)。若夫乘天地之正(64)，而御六气之辩(65)，以游无穷者，彼且恶乎待哉(66)？故曰：至人无己(67)，神人无功(68)，圣人无名(69)。

The table topic I made for the first time several weeks ago was DO NOT FEAR. But the turtle I bought for the prop and award as well was sent back to the seller, just because I do fear I can’t raise it well.

There are a lot of other things I did fear or do fear.

I was scared of big dogs, because I had been chased by a ferocious dog.

I was afraid of feeling sorry for myself, because I am a completist.

I fear of aging, because I am not such young any more.

I am worried about my parents, they are getting old, but I do not satisfy them. I regret having not planed my life according to the ordinary people’s timetable.

……

One day I started to think why I have so many fears.

Then I found with my growing, the big dogs are not as big as when I was 12 years old, and one of the most ferocious dogs named Husky becomes my favorite one.

I am a person who chases for flawlessness. But now I find out that things are not going worse if I lower my standard.

Age is not only a number. When I count it, the feeling of getting older and the pressure from the people around me affects me truly. But we are lucky that birthday is counted every single year and to each one of us is equal, no one could skip or prolong seconds for minutes, minutes for hours or hours for a day.

My parents are at their sixties; to me they are the most tolerant parents to their children in the world. The more they understand me, the more I feel guilty about what they do for me. Loving them is to put saying into practice.

……

The conclusion I made from the above presumption is my ability to continue with an unpleasant or difficult situation, experience, or activity over a long period of time has been improved. This ability is called endurance.

To endure the scare of ferocious animal, to endure the feeling of sorry for myself, to endure the fear of aging, to endure the worry of regret …

To endure is to experience it and do not avoid it or give up.

I feel ease and peaceful when I suddenly realized it.

I do fear, at the same period, I become mature. It’s growth. As we grow, we learn more. If I stayed at twenty-four, I would always be as ignorant as I was at twenty-four. I turned to my thirties this July, the last few days before my 30’s birthday and the first few days after that time has been one of the most painful time up till now. We hear people always say, “Oh, if I were young again.” We never hear people say, “I wish I were sixty.”

All these fears will happen anyhow, no matter whether we are always going to be unhappy or not. Fears reflect unsatisfied lives, unfulfilled lives. Lives that haven’t found meaning. Because if we’ve found meaning in our life, we don’t want to go back. We want to go forward. We want to see more, do more. And we can’t wait until sixty or even much older.          

The culture we have doesn’t encourage us to think about the question like what if today were the last day you had on earth. We are wrapped up with our career, family, having enough money, meeting the balance, buying a new car, so we don’t get into the habit of standing back and looking at our lives and saying, is this all I want? Is something missing?

Having a fear is not such a terrible thing, but lost ourselves is.