It's day 5 of our China In Depth adventure. We've been in Suzhou at Furman's sister university "SuDa". Now arriving in main part of Shanghai. This the biggest place I've ever seen and yet we've seen so little of it. We stop for a visit to the beautiful Yu Garden, and a brief shopping excursion before lunch. We see shanghai acrobats tonight and fly to Tibet tomorrow.
But first back to SuDa. Many highlights but perhaps the most appreciated was a lunch in a home. Our host is Dean Xu. He is an English lit prof who is retiring this semester. Born in a farming village, he is the first in his family and among about six from his village of 1,000 to go to college. His opportunity arose from his service as a "barefoot doctor" as a youth. Medical care was needed desperately in rural China and he was tapped. We learn his life story told in a genuinely humble manner. He tells us that prior to moving to Manchester, Eng for his PhD work, that he bought into the perception that Brits (and Americans) were "foreign devils". Great metaphor for why Furman needs rigorous Asian Studies. All for now. More later.
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