This photo was taken in the city of Nanning by Robert Daboss, in which this billboard shows Chairman Mao, Deng Xiaopin and Jiang Zeming looking at the modernization efforts underway.

这张南宁的图片是Robert Daboss在南宁拍的,照片里的政治宣传牌描绘了毛泽东,邓小平和江泽民三代领导人展望中国的现代化发展的画面.

“Let’s strive together to revitalize Nanning”, the poster board reads

牌子上写着:”团结奋斗,振兴南宁”.

In China, tremendous progress has been made in reform, opening up and modernization, which was intiated by Deng Xiaoping over the past two decades.

在过去的二十多年里,在邓小平的指引下,中国的改革开放和现代化建设取得了卓著的进步.

Beneath the board, a sanitary worker is also on camera, watering the plants for use in improving Nanning’s urban landscapes.

在牌子下面,我们可以看到一个环卫工人了正在为城市的绿化植物浇水

While many of the National leaders in China have made a deep and lasting difference in the life of Chinese people, ordinary people like him are also performing their service to make China a better place.

很多中国的国家领导人为改善人民生活作出了很大的贡献,而像这位环卫工人一样的普通人民也正在为祖国的建设奉献自己的一份力量

This photo was taken by Fu Ling in a small water town in Zhejiang province, which is known as the “Land of Fish and Rice”.

这图片是Fu ling在浙江的一个水上小镇拍的,浙江又被称为”鱼米之乡”.

And this photo from Robert DaBoss was taken on one of the waterways of Shaoxing, where two little boats sat quietly on the water.

而这一张是Robert DaBoss拍的图片,地点是在中国的绍兴市.在图片上我们可以看到两艘小船静静的躺在水上.

There is a new blog in town. China Golf and has courses from around China featured on its pages. Soon, about 300 courses from around China will be featured on the site with prices, play dates and more.

新的博客来了:中国高尔夫 ,在上面有中国各地的高尔夫球场的信息

网站很快会提供大概300多个遍布中国的高尔夫场的信息 包括价格,场地数据等等

China Golf : Hainan, Mission Hills, Sanya, Great Wall Golf Tours

中国高尔夫:海南,观澜湖,三亚,长城高尔夫之旅

几天前我的女朋友华Di去了中国的梅州市出差,在那里她看到河源亚洲第一高的喷泉.这座美丽的喷泉169米高,也就是554英寸.喷泉坐落于河源的新丰江森林公园

See the magnificent fountain below

看看下面这座宏伟的的喷泉的图

To get a better view of the fountain, refer to this video I found on Metacafe

想看清楚点的话,下面我找到个在Metacafe的视频,也是这个喷泉的.

[metacafe 849525]

我在我朋友的网站The Chonx上找到这个重庆的视频

Almost as good as our Guangzhou film

几乎和我们广州的宣传视频一样的好看

This picture was taken at Detian Falls in Guangxi, China by Robert Daboss

这是一张Robert Daboss在中国广西德天瀑布照的图片

It has been a year since we began this blog!!! We have traveled, written, photographed and even started a business to help fund this adventure–more on that one day soon. It has been amazing and we love China even more than we did when we started.

We have had a rough few weeks for a number of reasons. The toughest thing to recover from was a spam hack of the site. I think we are OK again, but we lost a lot of pages to a security flaw in WordPress. We are still working to get everything back.

You have helped immensely and we are asking you to give us a few minutes one more time!

At the bottom of tis post please comment and tell us why YOU love China. And help us reach the goal of becoming one of the longest comment threads on the net.

About us for those who are new:

For a year has been a place where we have posted positive stories, pictures, travel adventures and announcements about ways to help where help is needed.

All ad proceeds from the site are immediately donated to the Library Project which now has an earthquake rebuild fund.

The Dreamblogue is one long-term solution to this tragedy and any others that may come our way. It is also a way to support positive projects in China like the Library Project’s commitment to orphanages and rural communities.

We don’t ask for donations ever. We do ask that you send us original photos that we can post, keep us informed about great stories and do five simple things:

1. Favorite the blog on Technorati by going here:

TECHNORATI

We want The China Dreamblogue to be the #1 favorited blog on the planet. How great would that be?? It will take about 10,000 favorites to make that happen.

2.Comment on our “Why I Love China” post. We want to set a world record for longest comment thread in cyber-space.

3. Link to us on your own blogs. We will have badges later on, but for now a text link will do it.

4. Invite your friends here to ILC! so we can have a place to announce when other groups, like now, need your support. And feel free to post any needs and connections that fit with this goal!

5. Add this post to your favorite Social network: Facebook, Digg, Stumble….

We are already #1 in many key words on Google and Baidu for China Travel, China Pics and such. As we get bigger and stronger we will expand the site, so people can find only engaging and positive information about the country we all love.

Help us get to #1 and we’ll try to help people for years to come in China….

<h1>UPDATE </h1>

You can also help us by joining our group on Facebook: A Million People who Love China.

It has been a short two years since I first encountered David DeGeest. I met him shortly after he came to an exchange program’s rescue by traveling to China to replace a teaching fellow who could not accept the annual honor. The volunteers from Grinnell College, one of America’s top liberal arts schools, are competitively selected by Grinnell’s office of Social Commitment and spend one to two years in cultural education pursuits around the world. In order to come, David had to first surrender admission to a law school in America and then join Grinnell’s long tradition of International humanitarian service–unequaled in numbers by any college of any size.

Within a few months of his arrival David was forced by local immigration laws to leave his duties because host and parent institutions had failed to make the proper arrangements for his visa. He spent four months of uncomfortable nights on my sofa in Guangzhou waiting to return and finish what he had started. During his layoff David made use of his time in ways that would soon change him, and those around him, forever.

“Dawei ” as he fast became known by his admiring students, fervently studied Chinese, gave freely of his time to help an insecure translation student edit several hundred pages in a world-class set of books on Chinese Penjing (the parent art of Bonsai), served as an administrative assistant for the interim CEO of China’s top corporate leadership training company, studied Taekwondo with Macau’s Olympic Team players, wrote articles on his experiences in China for the Blogger News Network and became the beloved “American Son” of the Unsinkable Ms Yue, the cancer survivor who, along with The League of Extraordinary Chinese Women, would become the inspiration for this blog.

During his stay in Guangzhou his association with Ms Yue inspired his voluntary, and uncompensated, co-teaching of college classes on blogging, SEO and International e-Business. It was in in concert with his students that he co-developed the Dreamblogue and helped write and promote the Onemanbandwidth blog that won the Best Blog in Asia prize at the annual Weblog Awards in 2006.

By the time he returned to Guangzhou, after finishing his fellowship assignment, he had a deep and abiding love for China, one that permeated his personal and professional aspirations.

Within a few months David, once again sleeping on the sofa, had written more than 50,000 words in support of the Dreamblogue in the form of: grant proposals to Global Voices Online, and the Knight and MacArthur Foundations. He drafted sponsorship support proposals for colleges in the UK and the US; authored PR Web releases about our mission; sent out hundreds of e-mails to potential supporters (not donors as we decided never to accept funds directly); developed project profiles on social networking sites; created several successful groups on Facebook; corresponded and coordinated activities with intended recipients of our charity; edited and revised over 22 articles about the mainland provinces we intended to visit; and trained handicapped and able-bodied interns in the subtleties of SEO and online networking.

David helped transformed my apartment into a two-man hermitage where he literally spent 15 to 20 hours a day, carpals to the keyboard, in preparation for dreamblogue adventures. The only breaks he took were to watch reruns of House, M.D. (while he kept editing and planning) and to play an occasional round of online Scrabble. Chinese studies continued and Mr. DeGeest devoured dozens of books on Chinese history, business, language and culture while learning podcasting, photography, HTML coding and more. He spent a few weekends traveling the roads running through rural China and wrote beautifully of the magical work of the Library Project, the Volunteer English Program and the US-China Medical Foundation.

David made his spending and food money by teaching corporate communication classes for one of China’s top companies. Later, the generous support of students and staff of the best pound-for-pound MBA program on the planet, Cal Poly, kept us traveling, writing and promoting…

…until David realized that a more sustainable income was needed. Being in a country where non-governmental charities cannot be officially sanctioned, David pointed us toward creating money the old-fashioned way: earning our keep by giving something for something and then turning any profits into good works. He suspended travel in hopes of bringing in much needed funds.

We started offering SEO services to SMEs and Multi-nationals. It was during this time that David learned that Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has a long maturation period ahead of it and is not always born of true good will or altruistic intentions. David was lied to, cheated and humiliated by some of the most high-profile advocates of engagement and good on the Internet. It was enough, at times, to make a saint doubt his world-view. But, he always looked for the good that came of his efforts and the fantastic people he met along the Internet Superhighway

Years ago, there was talk of a self-perpetuating machine…If he could have figured out a way to not take a food break daily he would have.

After we were contacted last year by a Fortune 100 company in Silicon Valley, David was certain that we would have the money we needed to help our interns and continue this blog’s original goal to promote rural education, literacy, charity and a positive understanding of China through travel and blogging.

The call I mentioned, and subsequent promises from Silicon Valley, were cleverly crafted lies that cost both of us hundreds of hours of labor and all of our savings. Culture Fish Media was born to accommodate the wishes of a company that we now know never meant to follow through with assistance. But, David learned much from the ordeal and undaunted, kept right on writing the blog, managing the photo group on Facebook (it now has amateurs and professionals lending him their work), writing business plans and teaching 20 hours a week at a college as a China certified foreign expert in education and culture –did I also mention he filled in for free when graduate professors in South China’s best University needed a replacement in Literary Studies?And he tirelessly campaigned for a chance to carry the torch in the Olympic relay (a glitch in the Lenovo voting software cost him a slot) as a tribute to the cancer victims to whom he had dedicated so much time (his essay is still in the top five results that come up on Baidu for “Olympic Torch Dream”)… He did all of this while negotiating with respected country and international marketing managers, answering digital marketing request for proposals, and optimizing small and formidable websites with only two, 3-day vacation breaks the entire time: one was to Yangshuo where he spent half of his time working on the computer and the other half in playful contemplation…

David went from reticent, inquisitive new graduate to passionate liaison engaged in negotiations with world renowned companies, service providers, Internet luminaries and educational institutions. He practiced and succeeded at tasks, with a BA in Math and English, that MBA students only dream of tackling….No, it wasn’t all work and no play–almost–and yes, there were cherished moments of complete frivolity:

There is more, but I will save that for future posts and maybe even a book. Many of his well-researched proposals are still making their way through the digestive tracks of various commercial and organizational enterprises–and anything that is achieved by the BOD, or its soon to be retired offspring, is directly due to David’s perseverance and dedication.

I’ve read several stories on the Internet this week bemoaning the lack of medical care in China, the widening gap between rich and poor, and descriptions of the continuing disasters in north and the south that have devastated China. We have a “surviverthon” scheduled for October that will aid the blog’s regular charities and contribute to cancer and disaster survivors. While some people may think the fforts are new others know that David started work two years ago trying to make life better for those challenged by cancer, flooding, poverty, earthquakes and lack of educational opportunities. Just ask Thomas Stader of the Library project what part David’s viral marketing gifts played in the building of numerous libraries this year in orphanages and rural communities throughout China. The first 400 members of the Facebook group devoted to their project were in some way connected to David and the BOD. And he has never asked for credit.

David has been my colleague, student, family member, friend and valued counsel. The only thing he has ever wanted in return for his efforts is that people would socially network his honest requests, give a few minutes of time and space on blogs (which he knows are valuable), and share when and where they could of their time and talents.

And before he sounds a little too altruistic to be true, you need to know what has been in this for him: He has selfishly wanted Ms Yue and the League of Extraordinary Chinese Women to live longer, he has wanted a new prosthetic leg for “Coffee” and he has wanted Chinese students to be able to achieve dreams of a better life.

He is off now to graduate school in pursuit of an MBA en route to a finance/Business PhD so he can teach at the University level. Some farsighted college needs to be putting in an early bid for his services.

Thanks David.

Post Script:

One of my favorite stories of the year was David’s first short return to the US after the visa issues. It involved his bewly learned ability to communicate with his adopted Chinese mom, Ms Yue, and her unique language. It seems appropriate to end with it here:

I wish I could teach my students the secret of true communication that Ms Yue has mastered. Too, I wish I could help self-absorbed colleagues understand that a lack of established vocabulary is not a lack of intelligence or sophistication and does not have to hinder a conversation. Ususally I chide the expat, who knows bupkis about what is being said, for not honoring someone who probably speaks two-and-a-half languages fluently and several dialects within them, for being so ethnocentric…

Ms Yue could understand and explain Quantum Physics given enough time! Mu Mesons and Quarks might translate into something pretty hilarious, but if you were humble enough to enter her world you might actually learn something new.

Ms Yue is the bravest person I know and not because she is emotionally fighting cancer better than any patient I have ever seen in battle. But, it is because she has a fierce determination to learn, and then connect with, new worlds of information and adventure.

In contrast, my students, in the middle of a speech, will look to classmates to rescue them and find the right word for a sentence while Ms Yue will simply invent one. The students seek to have a command of English vocabulary; Ms Yue already has a command of communication skills.

One student last week stumbled through a date and ended up saying one-nine-seven-oh for the year 1970. He got the exam’s highest grade as much for his creativity, sorely lacking in Chinese college students, as his boldness. He did not reach out for help; he solved the problem himself.

Some very simple examples of Yueyinglish:

Check in = Exchange
Ki = Ticket
Laundry = Clean
This (while pointing to her heart and then mouth) and this , no same = Untrustworthy
One more = Do it again, repeat an act
The near = close to
Me the = mine
You the = yours
Where = what and sometimes who and how
You me together = we, us
The man = him, he or any person of male persuasion. The ultimate personal pronoun
Later = then, so or after
Crazy = funny, nuts, ridiculous
You wait me = Wait for me
No way = impossible, not, no
Try Try = Eat it you foreign wimp
Boy love the boy = transsexual, drag queen, effeminate man, gay
Open = take off, turn on, make use of

Now your test:

I laundry the ki so later check in no way.
I washed the ticket so there’s no way to get another one.
Together you me you me watch where the boy love the boy DVD?
Which Queer as Folk video are we watching together this time?
You the soup the pig meat xue try try no way? Try try.
You are not going to eat the pig’s blood soup I ordered you? Get over it!
The before the no same the man drink the coffee house the near wait me?
Are you going to meet me close to the place where your untrustworthy breakfast partner lives?
Open the shoes. Close the den.
Take off your shoes and turn out that light.
Where the crazy?
And what is so funny?

And all of these are accompanied by perfect facial gestures, sound effects like Cantonese tsk’ing (used for everything from displeasure to amazement), and exaggerated body language.

She bade goodbye today to a visiting fellow from Grinell College in America, a young man the age of her son, that she had come to care about and look after as though he were one of her own. Some problems, out of his control, with his visa are taking him home much sooner than expected. So, with sadness and anticipation in her voice that could bring tears to a native Yueyinglish speaker’s eyes, she simply said:

Later, one more, China. You try try, Ok?

Safe journey David. Please hurry back.

Some examples:

These first photos come from the China Photo Contest group on Facebook and were posted by Robert DaBoss.

These next photos come from our Facebook group A Million People Who Love China and were posted by Elisabeth Rowley Mitchell.

To see your photos here, post your photos first on the Blog of Dreams’ associated groups on Facebook: China Photo Contest and A Million People Who Love China. We will feature weekly photos on the blog from each group and from any part of China and its autonomous regions. Stories, anecdotes, notes about context, and information about the location where the photo was taken are more than welcome.

All money raised as a result of views of these photos and click-throughs on ads for these sites go directly to the Library Project and the Library Project Earthquake Relief Fund, a China charity now leading a campaign focused on helping to rebuild libraries and schools.

I wanted to feature Tom on the Blog of Dreams because of the intense passion and deep commitment his photos and writing seem to commit to understanding China. He does not seem to be content with the metropolises of Beijing or Shanghai, but has a deep interest in looking at parts of China that are often forgotten about or little-known to foreigners who have spent a short amount of time here. Most of us know that we need to go to Sichuan to see pandas, but how many of us are familiar with the Yao Minority people or Guizhou’s minority village of Zengchong? Tom’s articlulate stories and photos on both of these places are worth a thoughtful read.

More of Tom’s photos and articles can be seen on his China photo website, http://tomcarter.org.

This photo from Robert DaBoss was taken in Guangzhou.

And this photo from Joew Huang was taken in Guangdong Province.

We’ll announce more photos and contest winners in the next couple of days.

An ancient Buddhist holy site built in 537 AD, during the Liang Dynasty in Guangzhou, the Temple of the Six Banyan Trees (六榕寺) was originally called the Baozhuangyan Temple, which probably means means something like . During the Northern Song Dynasty, a writer called Su Shi wrote the inscription Liu Rong (Six Banyan Trees) because of the six banyan trees he saw there. (The Chinese for “Captain Obvious” has escaped me). Ever since, the place has since been called the Temple of the Six Banyan Trees.

Just as dynasties in China rise and fall, so did the Temple. One of the dynasties burned the temple down, and it was rebuilt in the Northern Song Dynasty (989 AD). The Flower Pagoda, the main structure of the temple, was built in 1097, and was named for its colorful exterior. Though its original base was square, it was given an octagonal base during the rebuild in 1097. It was rebuilt again in 1373 AD after another fire in the early Ming Dynasty period, and finally restored in 1900. In all, this temple has over 1,400 years of history.

After entering the main gate, Tianwang Hall is the first major area, and The Laughing Buddha is there to welcome visitors. Next comes Weituo Hall. An old Chinese legends tells of a general Weituo who recaptured the Buddhist relics which had been stolen. In contrast to the laughing Buddha, Weituo keeps a straight face–apparently getting the relics back didn’t do all that much for his mood.
The piece of architecture that most often catches a visitor’s eyes is the Six Banyan Pagoda, where the Buddhist relics are placed. Its roofs curve upward and appear to be dark red flower petals, while the tip of the pagoda is like stamens. The whole construction looks like a huge stigma high in the air. Therefore, people like to call it the Flower Pagoda. The pagoda not only is architecturally elegant, but also provides visitors a good place to overlook enchanting scenery around.

To the west of the Six Banyan Pagoda is Daxiong Baodian Hall – the main hall of the temple. The three biggest copper Buddhist statues placed there are among the biggest and most ancient Buddhist statues in Guangdong. In the center is Sakyamuni; to the left, the Amitabha; and to the right, the Apothecary. Together, they represent for present, past, and future.

Burning incense sticks is a major part of visiting the temple and paying respect. Thus, every year on the night before the Chinese traditional Spring Festival and Lantern Festival, the temple swarms with people. Masses queue to light and burn the first joss sticks so that they are blessed with good fortune in the coming year.

Nowadays, the temple’s proximity to foreign consulates in Guangzou has made it a regular destination for families participating in the international adoption of children from China. Typically families receive blessings for their newly adopted children at this temple in front of the statue of Kuan Yin.

Photo from Ken L.

This photo of the Lily Tower in the World Horticultural Expo is from Catty Lee.

Shenyang, the capital of Liaoning Province, is one of the largest cities in Northeast China and one of the most important cities in the nation. Historically, this is where the Manchu people built their capital before assuming political control of China and forming the Qing Dynasty in 1644. Since then, the city has retained its heritage as the center of Manchurian culture.

Even with its considerable historical legacy, Shenyang today is a bustling city. A massive city of over seven million, Shenyang has visible ethnic communities of Manchu, Mongol, and Hui peoples operating business and restaurants throughout the city, including a Korean influence. Modern, wide boulevards and international shopping centers only form a small part of picture: old hutong districts also cohabit the main downtown districts. These areas, filled with merchants and street vendors, give the city a festive atmosphere, while ancient trees provide shade for many of these places of ancient brick and lantern.

This photo of the Expo Garden in Shenyang is from Donicia Habiling.

The Horticulture Exposition Garden in Shenyang was recently chosen by the China National Tourism Administration as one of 66 high-profile scenic spots in China out of over 3,000 potential candidates.

This photo of one of the exhibits in Ocean World is from Donicia Habiling.

Shenyang’s Ocean World, actually located a little outside of Shenyang, opened in 2006–around the same time as the World Horticultural Exhibition. Ocean World features a large “walk-through” aquarium with a variety of fish, sharks, turtles, and rays, among other attractions of the sea. The aquarium includes a sea lion show, a small reptile garden, a beluga whale, and what it claims as its most amazing attraction…a “mermaid show.” Tickets cost around 80 Yuan/person.

Today’s photo is from Ken Leaf and was taken in Beijing:

Send your photos to to see them on the blog of dreams.