Bill's Chengdu Journal 2006-2007

Old Photos 1910-1913 by Luther Knight

2007-04-17T05:40:00.006+08:00

From the China Daily, January 6, 2003:
Photos Remember Times Past

Li Mengqiu, a 78-year-old retired government employee, often feels a little nostalgic for her home city of Chengdu.

The capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, known for its rich history and culture, has changed beyond recognition in the past 50 years.

"The city is like a never-ending construction site," she complained to China Daily.

"Almost all the buildings conform to the design dictates of modern steel-and-cement structures, as in any other Chinese city. Very often, I cannot help thinking that my city doesn't really live up to its reputation as a historically and culturally famous city."

To Li's great delight, however, she recently received a picture album from an old friend that reminded her of the city's "good old days."

Published by the Beijing-based Travel and Tourism Press, the album -- Looking Back at Chengdu through the Lens of an American Photographer in the Early 20th Century -- is bilingual, in both Chinese and English. It has a collection of 106 pictures taken by Luther Knight, a United States scholar who taught in Chengdu from 1910 to 1913.
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Other Resources about Luther Knight's Photos of 1910-1913:
Old Pictures--An American's Memory of China - a two-part video of China Central Television.
Old Photos 1910-1913 - a 2002 documentary by Bibo Liang for China Central Television.
Looking Back at Chengdu through the Lens of an American Photographer in the Early 20th Century published by Travel and Tourism Press in Beijing (2002).
West China Impression: An American 1910-1913 in Western China published by the Sichuan People's Publishing Agency in Chengdu (2003).
Pictures by Luther Knight (1879-6-8--1913-4-19)
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Born in 1879 in the state of Iowa, the United States, Knight obtained his Master of Science degree from JohnsHopkins University in Maryland.

At the invitation of the government of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), he left Seattle in July 1910, traveling for nearly one month by boat to reach Shanghai in August. Two months later, he arrived in Chengdu and began teaching mathematics, chemistry and geology at the Sichuan Institute of Higher Education. The institute, which is today's Sichuan University, was founded in 1902 and was Sichuan's first modern institution of higher education.

In his spare time, Knight took many pictures of Chengdu, recording the area's scenery, historic and cultural sites, local customs and social events. "They are the oldest pictures of Chengdu," said Zhou Mengqi, director of the Chengdu municipal government's Information Office and mastermind of the album's publication.

For local residents such as Li Mengqiu, these pictures remind them of many familiar and old things that no longer exist in the city. These include old buildings, streets, marketplaces, courtyards and houses typical of Chengdu, as well as recreational activities and traditional customs.

"Everybody in Chengdu knows that the city had a 'royal city' for more than 500 years," said Yang Shirong, a 59-year-old chef. "But no one below 35 years of age has ever seen it. Now they can."

Built in the early Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the so-called "Royal City" was the residential palace of Zhu Chun, the 11th son of Zhu Yuanzhang, the first Ming emperor. Known for its majestic buildings, the Royal City -- which was regarded as the symbol of Chengdu -- was demolished in 1968 during the "cultural revolution" (1966-76). Knight's pictures of the Royal City are the oldest yet discovered, according to Zhou Mengqi, who is also a photographer.

Chengdu has been regarded as a "land of abundance" as it has been a leading farming area in

China

since ancient times. Its grain, rapeseed, pigs, lacquer, bamboo, wood and medicinal herbs are famous throughout the country.

The photo album displays the lives of farmers in the "land of abundance" with pictures of them working the fields, raising cattle and ducks.

During religious festivals in old Chengdu, people burned incense, kowtowed and offered sacrifices in Buddhist and Taoist temples.

In the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907), visiting the flower fair became a local folk custom. Later, the temple fair and the flower fair were combined. In the late Qing Dynasty, the government took advantage of the fairs to exhibit and sell goods from different parts of Sichuan Province. Prizes were given to the best products.

"Chengdu people still visit the flower fair annually," said Yang. "So it is amusing to find a picture of Qing Dynasty officials with long pigtails commending prizewinning products in the flower fair held in the spring of 1911."

For historians such as Tan Jihe, a researcher with the Institute of History at the Sichuan Provincial Academy of Social Sciences, Knight's pictures are exciting because they also capture the profound transformation in Sichuan's social fabric that occurred in the early 20th century.

At the beginning of the 1900s, farmers and landlords in Sichuan Province raised funds to build the Sichuan-Wuhan railway. But the Qing government sacrificed their interests when it decided to sell the railway's construction and management rights to foreign companies. The infuriated people of Sichuan launched a six-year railway-protection movement in 1905. This movement became one of the triggers of the revolution that overthrew the Qing Dynasty.

The movement led to the founding of the Dahan military government in Chengdu on November 27, 1911, which ended the rule of the Qing Dynasty in the province. Thousands of residents of Chengdu stormed into the Royal City to participate in celebrations.

Luther Knight zoomed in on the event, and his photos in the album are the only pictures documenting the establishment of the military government, said Tan, who did extensive research for the album's publication.

During Knight's two years and 10 months in China, he traveled extensively along the Yangtze River. His photos of cities, towns, wharves, navigation lights and boats along the river are also included in the album.

His panorama of Diexi town -- which was taken in the summer of 1911 -- is priceless, Tan said.

It was the only one taken of the ancient town, which has long since disappeared.

With a history of more than 2,000 years, Diexi was located in Sichuan's Maoxian County. It lay on the eastern bank of the Minjiang, a tributary of the Yangtze River in its upper reaches.

The town was flooded under a lake 80 meters deep and 10 kilometers long after an earthquake registering 7.5 on the Richter scale struck at 3:50 pm on August 25, 1933. More than 3,000 civilians and soldiers died. There were only five survivors.

Diexi Lake is located along the road running from Chengdu to Jiuzhaigou, a scenic spot on the World Heritage List of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. The lake impresses every tourist with its clear blue water but few know that the ancient town lies beneath the surface.

The Chinese Government is planning to turn the lake into a national geological park. Knight's pictures can be valuable references for the planning.

Critics speak highly of Knight's pictures not only in terms of their historical value but also in terms of photographic art. "Knight used an old xeroradiography camera. It was very difficult for users of this camera to focus properly. But his composition is first-class, and his handling of light is superb," said Wang Yulong, a photographer from the Tibet Autonomous Region.

Knight's love for photography started at the age of 15 when his father gave him a camera as a birthday gift. That was only a short time after the modern camera had been invented. With this camera, Knight shot the first photo of his father.

He showed his dedication to photography in his pictures. Many of his pictures along the Yangtze River were taken from the mountains, which he climbed while carrying his heavy photographic gear, said John E. Knight, a descendant of the photographer.

Luther Knight had planned to leave China at the end of the school year in 1913, travel through the Middle East, Egypt, Paris and London on his way back to the United States, and introduce

China

to the rest of the world through photo exhibitions.

Sadly, these plans never came to fruition. He contracted typhus in early April 1913 while taking some of his students on a study trip to a copper-ore refinery in a suburban county of Chengdu. In the same month, he died at the age of 34 in the Canadian Mission Hospital, now known as Chengdu No 2 People's Hospital, and was buried in the suburbs of Chengdu.

"Unlike many foreigners who have come to and gone from China, Luther died and was buried in Chinese soil," said John Knight, a US philanthropist and educator living in Hong Kong.

"From the information contained in Luther's writings (sent to his sister Uintah), we sense that he had a deep respect and admiration for the Chinese people, culture, language and land.

"The industriousness of the common folk, the diligence and intellectual curiosity of his students, and the beauty of the terrain are just a few of the things that seemed to constantly amaze and enthrall him," he said.

Luther Knight kept detailed records of all the photographs he had taken. But, after his death, this information was lost, including all of his diaries and a number of important photos. Wang Yulong, who is a friend of John Knight, spent two years traveling and verifying the locations and backgrounds of 90 per cent of the pictures.

Sealed away for nearly a century, Luther Knight's existing pictures were not open to public view until a photo exhibition was held in Chengdu in the autumn of last year. All the pictures in the photo album are being published for the first time.

The Chengdu Zoo - A Family Place

2007-03-12T21:14:00.001+08:00

The Chengdu Zoo is in the northern suburbs of the city, surrounded by gardens. It covers 18 hectares, with 250 or more varieties of animals living in the halls, houses, ponds and fenced-up mounds, which are scattered among green trees and colorful flowers.

One unique and most popular feature of the zoo is the panda houses, spacious and ingeniously designed, shaded among bamboo and surrounded by ditches. They are really good homes for the giant and lesser pandas. The Chengdu Zoo is the world's most successful breeder of pandas by artificial insemination. In recent years, tourists from different continents have arrived in a continuous flow to see pandas in their hometown and pandas of the Chengdu Zoo have traveled abroad to charm poeple of different countries. From TibetTours.net.

During the spring, the fruit blossoms make the Zoo an extra special place to spend an afternoon.

The Red Panda, or Lesser Panda, is not as well known as the Giant Panda. Red Pandas are 20-24 inches long with 12-20 inch tails and weight 6.5-11 pounds. They are reddish with well furred and banded tails, large round ears with white fringe and two black stripes from the eyes down the cheeks.

A "Mushroom Garden" in the Zoo

The Monkey Mountain reminded me of the Monkey Island in a public park in Davenport, Iowa, where my father particularly enjoyed watching these wonderfully playful animals.

Chengdu Zoo ... More ... The Birds

2007-03-12T20:56:00.000+08:00

Especially for the birds, the Chengdu Zoo had interesting large signs painted on ceramic tile. Here are some examples and the birds they identify.

The Zoo had many birds in cages and in the open pond area ... the pond and a sampling of birds.

Chengdu Zoo ... More ... Large Animals

2007-03-12T20:48:00.000+08:00

Chengdu Zoo ... More ... The Deer Family

2007-03-12T20:41:00.000+08:00

Chengdu Zoo ... More ... Horned Animals

2007-03-12T20:30:00.000+08:00

WuHou Shrine - The Peach Garden

2007-03-11T10:27:00.000+08:00

The story of the sworn botherhood of Liú Bèi, Guān Yǔ and Zhāng Fēi in the Peach Garden during the Three Kingdoms Period has been passed down through the ages and commemorated in the Peach Garden at Wuhou Shrine. In the Peach Garden are erected the statues of Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, which are carved from white, red and black granite respectively, keeping the shape and interest of the natural stone and depicting the spirit and charm of the three righteous men at the same time. In spring when all the peach trees are in full bloom one seems to see again the scene of the three heroes meeting together. -- From the WuHou Guide Book.

The peach blossoms yesterday were very beautiful in the Peach Garden at WuHou Shrine!

YMCA Staff English Class

2007-03-07T17:03:00.000+08:00

This morning our staff English class had our picture taken for the upcoming YMCA magazine. From left to right are Isabella Hua, General Secretary of the Chengdu YMCA; myself; Huang Hui (Susan), Public Relations Director; and Li You Quan (Paul), Xinercun Branch Director. I've also used this picture to up date my photo in my profile on the right. My new red pull-over, I think, has a message for those who can read Dongba!

Chengdu Botanical Garden Chinese Flowering Crabapple Garden

2007-03-04T04:48:00.000+08:00

On Saturday, March 3, I visited the Chengdu Botanical Garden to see the spring blossoms. The Garden has sections which are labeled [Chinese Flowering Crabapple Garden, Cherry Blossom Garden, Sweet-Scented Osmanthus Garden], but hardly any of the individual plants and trees have specific labels. Most visitors were picnicking in the Chinese Flowering Crabapple Garden which was the only garden in bloom. I believe the sign in this section [pictured above] was meant to read: "Chinese Flowering Crabapple Garden - The garden collects Hall Crabapple [Malus Halliana], Huph Crabapple [Malus hupehensis], Midget Crabapple [Malus micromalus], Quince [Chaenomeles] and Japanese Quince [Chaenomeles speciosa]. The former three species belong to Crabapple Genus, Rose Family; the latter two species belong to Flowering Quin Genus. Chinese Flowering Crabapple is the famous decorative flower at courtyard." [I've added what I think are the scientific names of the intended plants.] Since I am not very knowledgeable about these plants, I've posted pictures below in hopes that others might help to identify them. I've posted a picture of the tree or shrub followed by picture(s) of its blossoms. If you recognize any of them, please let me know; otherwise just enjoy the beautiful blossoms. Since the sign identifies five plants and I've posted eleven examples, some of my examples are obviously duplicates. Let me know what you think they are? Thanks.

Exhibit #1

Exhibit #2

Exhibit #3

Exhibit #4

Exhibit #5

Exhibit #6

Exhibit #7

Exhibit #8

Exhibit #9

Exhibit #10

Exhibit #11

Lantern Festival - March 4th

2007-03-03T07:55:00.000+08:00

This year's Lantern Festival falls on March 4 and it's one of the three major traditional festivals in Chinese folk (the other two are Spring Festival and Mid-autumn Festival). With a history of more than 2000 years, Lantern Festival is celebrated grandly. Its celebrative activities mainly consist of three parts: the daytime Huahui (lively and jolly celebrations), the nighttime Denghui (display of various lanterns) and eating Yuanxiao (sweet dumplings made of glutinous rice flour)....MORE from the China Daily on this year's Lantern Festival.

Tiger Leaping Gorge on the Jinsha River

2007-02-27T23:51:00.000+08:00

Tiger Leaping Gorge on the Jinsha River is north of Lijiang. It is the most beautiful place I've ever seen. In my book it is #1! All I can do is share a few pictures which do not do justice to the real beauty of Tiger Leaping Gorge.

The Old Town of Lijiang in Yunnan Province

2007-02-27T23:41:00.000+08:00

The past few days of the Spring Festival holiday period were spent in Lijiang in Yunnan Province about a 90-minute flight from Chengdu. The classic view of Lijiang is above. Taken in Black Dragon Pool Park, the source for the water that runs through the Old Town of Lijiang, it features the Deyue Pavilion (originally erected in the 17th century, restored and rebuilt in 1963) and the marble, five-arched bridge with Jade Dragon Snow Mountain in the background and reflected in the pool. I'll make several posts about different places in and around Lijiang.

Huan Hua Xi Park - The Everglade

2007-02-21T20:15:00.000+08:00

A sign in the park says: Everglade means wetland, marsh or swamp land with immobile or flowing fresh water, brackish water or salt, including the area with a depth lower than six meters at the ebb. It does not matter if the wetland is natural or artificial, permanent or short-time. Below are some scenes from the Everglade section of Huan Hua Xi Park.

Huan Hua Xi Park

2007-02-21T17:58:00.000+08:00

Huan Hua Xi Park is relatively new and is located in western Chengdu next to The Du Fu Thatched Cottage. Huan Hua Xi means Flower Washing Stream and it runs through the park. The map below appears on sign boards in the park. In the northeast corner of the park is the new Sichuan Province Museum which should open shortly. West of the museum is an area of wetlands known as the Everglade. In the section of the park directly south of The Du Fu Thatched Cottage is Cang Lang Lake and a walkway that leads to Poem Avenue. The southeast section of the park includes Poem Avenue, a reforested hilly area, a children's playground, an outdoor cafe and an underground parking garage.

Dr. Theodore Johnson, in his Sichuan English Guide [2005], tells the folk story related to the origin of Huan Hua Xi Park's name: "A long time ago, a pretty young lady lived near the stream. It is said that she had a kind heart and often did something good for her friends and local people. One day a monk arrived when a group of ladies were washing their clothes by the stream. The monk had serious ski disease. He scratched his skin as he walked towards the ladies. At the first sight of the monk, all the ladies ran away as quickly as possible. However, the pretty young lady stayed and continued her washing. The monk had some clothes in his hand. Those clothes looked very dirty. It seemed that they had not been washed for several months. The monk keep scratching. He said to the lady, 'Would you like to wash my clothes?' 'Yes, I will,' said the lady. She took the dirty clothes from the monk and put them into the stream. The young lady dipped the clothes into the water, and immediately lotus flowers appeared and blossomed. Lotus flowers were everywhere in the stream. 'It's amazing,' said the lady to herself. She turned to the monk, but there was no sign of the man. Upon hearing the wonder, local people came and saw the flowers. Since then, they have called the stream huanhuaxi or the Flower Washing Stream."

Separate posts on each section will give you a better view and understanding of Huan Hua Xi Park.

New! Sichuan Travel Guide Chronicles of the Shu Kingdom

2007-02-20T17:13:00.000+08:00

The Sichuan Travel Guide is Chengdu's and Sichuan's newest English-language publication brought to you by iHotPot.com, Middle Kingdom Studios and the Sichuan Publishing Group. A fun and entertaining guide to Sichuan in a light-reading format (48 pages). It can be purchased (only 12 元) at several restaurants and the Foreign Language Bookstore.

Common Flowering Quince Chaenomeles Speciosa

2007-02-20T16:36:00.001+08:00

With the Chinese New Year (February 18) and the Spring Festival, the trees and shrubs are beginning to blossom in Chengdu. The temperature now reaches the low 60s F most days. Among the first to blossom are the "Winter Red Flower," the plum trees and the common flowering quince. Today, I went to Tazishan Park to see the lantern display and found a grove of beautiful Common Flowering Quince (Chaenomeles Speciosa) with a label to confirm their identify. I hope my family and friends in Pennsylvania who are clearing snow can enjoy a touch of Chengdu's spring.

A Busy Time in Chengdu Chinese New Year & Spring Festival

2007-02-20T16:22:00.000+08:00

Sorry I have not posted any new material for the past week. With the Chinese New Year & Spring Festival comes many special activities, a ten-day holiday for most people and travel for many during the holiday period. Prior to the Chinese New Year, I enjoyed the Chengdu YMCA's New Year's Dinner for staff and volunteers and the family New Year's Luncheon with my General Secretary and her family. Family, organizational and business luncheons and dinners are major events of the New Year's season. The Chengdu YMCA is closed for ten days (February 15-24). The YMCA arranged for me to go to Xishuangbanna in Yunnan Province for four days including the Chinese New Year and to go to Lijiang in Yunnan Province for five days at the end of this week. During the three days between the trips, I have been visiting several parks in Chengdu which have special flower and/or lantern displays. Also, at the end of January, I spent five days in Guilin. A major event last week was the opening of the reconstructed Tianfu Square in the center of Chengdu. All of this activity has produced many, many photos, but I am not sure when I'll get time to post them to my blog. I think after I get home I will be adding to my blog for several months to complete the story of my stay in China.

China's Life Expectancy to Jump

2007-02-12T15:57:00.000+08:00

From Reuters, February 12, 2007:

BEIJING (Reuters) - Average life expectancy in China will jump 13 years to 85 years and all households will be lifted out of poverty by the middle of the century, Chinese academics forecast in a report issued in state media on Monday.

The number of years a Chinese child spends in school will almost double to 14 years and an increasingly affluent population will spend a far smaller proportion of their income on food, the official China Daily said, citing a 20-volume report called an Outline for China's Sustainable Development.

But the weighty report, put together by 184 academics and policy makers mainly from the influential Chinese Academy of Sciences, warned a growing population and environmental problems posed risks to China's sustainable development, the Chinese News Service said.

Poor use of energy, social inequality, the country's rural woes and a lack of creativity and innovation were also risks, it added.

"The United Nations says current life expectancy in China is around 72 years, compared with around 82 years in Japan. About 200 million people in China live below the poverty line while a child spends, on average, just over eight years in school.

Large swathes of China are affected by chronic air pollution from factories, vehicles and coal-burning power plants. Water and land pollution have poisoned many other parts of the country.

Last month the China Modernization Report 2007 said that China had failed to make any progress in protecting the environment in the past three years, despite government pledges to put the issue at the top of its agenda.

China ranked 100 out of 118 countries in terms of environmental protection -- the same level as in 2004, the modernization report said.

But it said that by 2015, China's social and economic indicators should be on par with developed countries in the 1960s, by which stage China would have moved from an agrarian economy to an industrial one.

Chengdu - Rated Best Tourism City in China

2007-02-11T22:21:00.000+08:00

Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan, was rated as the Best Tourism City in China (BTCC) by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA).

The BTCC project aims to develop the tourism capacities of Chinese cities by meeting a number of standards and guidelines and to set a benchmark for other cities to follow. There are only three cities rated as BTCCs in 2006. Besides Chengdu, the other two cities are Dalian, a coastal city in Northeast China and Hangzhou, the capital city of Zhejiang province. Chengdu is the only BTCC from central and western China.

With the nation’s rising standard of living, and as the Chinese government is making efforts to turn its economy to a more consumption driven one, tourism has become a fast growing industry. In 2006, Chengdu raked in RMB 34 billion from its tourism industry, 18.7% higher than in 2005. -- From CHENGDUONLINE, February 11, 2007.

The Little Birch Tree Dance Troupe from Russia -- Beriozka

2007-02-11T19:22:00.000+08:00

Last night I saw The Little Birch Tree Dance Troupe from Russia (Beriozka) at the Jinsha International Theater of the Chengdu Art Center.

The troupe, recently named as the Traditional Cultural Heritage of Russia, presented a colorful display of Russian folk songs and dances. The program included a girls' round dance "Beriozka" (a birch tree) to the music of the folk song, Vo Pole Beriozonka Stoyala (There was a birch tree in the field.).

The round dance Beriozka, now acclaimed as a national treasure in Russia, marked the birth of a new style of performance in the Russian stage choreography, featuring the wonderful "floating" steps, which has delighted spectators all over the world.

Being the representaives of Russian folk dances, the troupe has become the symbol of Russian folk arts. In the past 59 years, the LIttle Birch has visited more than 60 countries in the world. Their visit to Chengdu was part of the troupe's tour to eight cities in China, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Suzhou and Shenzhen. -- From the Chengdu Weekly, February 4, 2007. Below are a series of scenes from their performance last evening.

BatesApex - First Foreign-Funded Advertising Agency in Chengdu

2007-02-11T18:01:00.000+08:00

The top advertising agency Apex recently established a partnership with the world's leading communications service group WPP. Both companies announced their marriage Thursday in Chengdu and the inauguration of the BatesApex Integrated Marketing Co., Ltd. which is viewed by WPP as a significant investment in entering the western China market. Insiders believe BatesApex is a good example for other domestic and international communications companies seeking cooperation in expanding the Chinese market. WPP is made up of leading companies in advertising, media, information and insight consultancy, public relations and public affairs, branding and identity, direct mail, promotions, relationship marketing, and many other disciplines. Its clients include 300 of the Fortune 500 and over half of the NASDAQ top 100. -- From the Chengdu Weekly, February 11, 2007. [Note: The husband of the Chengdu YMCA's public relations director is CFO of ApexBates.]

Chengdu Population Rises to 11.03 Million

2007-02-11T17:55:00.000+08:00

By midnight of December 31 last year, Chengdu recorded a total population of 11.03 million, a figure based on the number of permanent residence registrations. That is a population increase of over 210,000 compared to the beginning of 2006. According to the Chengdu Population and Family Planning Commission, there were about 73,000 newborn babies last year, which continued to demonstrate a low birth rate level. It is predicted that the city will face the fourth baby boom as children from the third baby boom period (1985-1990) reach the marriage age. From the Chengdu Weekly, February 11, 2007.

The Beautiful Roof Lines of the Historic Chengdu YMCA Building

2007-02-10T14:25:00.000+08:00

Yesterday, while looking out from the Fitness Center on the fourth floor of the New YMCA Building, I again realized how beautiful the roof lines are on the historic Chengdu YMCA Building.

Valentine's Day

2007-02-10T09:57:00.000+08:00

I've been told that Valentine's Day has become a major event with the young people in Chengdu. While I have not seen lots of signs promoting Valentine's Day, I've seen several and more seem to have appeared this week. I got a Valentine today -- from China Airlines!

Feeling at Home in Chengdu

2007-02-10T09:26:00.000+08:00

Yesterday morning I had really strong feelings of "being at home" in Chengdu. Each morning I've been eating two sliced bananas with milk and several fresh Mandarin oranges (they are delicious!) before I leave my apartment. Then I stop at the McDonald's near the Y for coffee and a Sausage and Egg with Cheese Burger. Yesterday, as I walked through the front door of McDonald's, the counter supervisor smiled, placed my order, range up my charges and laughed before I even got to the counter. It felt good to be predictable and known -- like being at home. By the way, at McDonald's I get the coffee with free refills and the Sausage and Egg with Cheese Burger for 10 Yuan (US $1.25).

Then, as I approached the YMCA, two separate children with their mothers on their way to the YMCA Vacation Arts School greeted me with "Good Morning!" At the YMCA entrance gate was the large poster promoting next term's English classes with my picture spread over it.

Once inside the gate, there were the normal "Nín hǎo!" or "Good Morning!" from Y staff. It all just made me feel a strong part of Chengdu and the Chengdu YMCA -- at home in Chengdu.