And, in case you need to look at her face to choose your favorite name:

Have fun!

And many thanks to Dave, for creating the poll for me!!

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's capital has recorded its first death from a recent outbreak of hand, foot and mouth disease as authorities try to contain the spread of a potent virus just three months before the city hosts the Olympic Games.

Beijing Health Bureau spokeswoman Deng Xiaohong said a 13-month-old boy from the city's northern Changping District died on the way to a hospital on Sunday, taking the nationwide toll to 41.

She told Reuters on Wednesday that the child had tested positive for enterovirus 71 (EV71), a virus that has caused the majority of the deaths in the latest outbreak, which started weeks ago in the eastern province of Anhui's Fuyang city.

Deng also said another child had died of the disease in a Beijing hospital, but that case would be recorded in neighbouring Hebei province, where the child contracted the disease. No further details of that case were disclosed.

Hand, foot and mouth disease is a common childhood illness, with a number of causes, but the current outbreak has been linked to the EV71 virus, which can cause a severe form of the disease, characterised by high fever, paralysis and meningitis.

There is no vaccine or antiviral agent available to treat or prevent EV71. Enteroviruses spread mostly through contact with infected blisters or faeces.

More than 27,500 cases have been reported in China as of last Friday, Xinhua said earlier, with the number of new cases in Anhui province starting to decline. Other deaths have been reported in the Guangdong, Hainan and Guangxi regions.

Following the Anhui outbreak, China issued a nationwide alert, closing some kindergartens and sending officials to visit nurseries and primary schools to educate staff on hygiene and prevention.

At least two Beijing kindergartens were suspended last week after children showed symptoms of the disease, but a Health Ministry spokesman said then that the number of cases was not abnormal....... (more details from Reuters)

It was about 4:30 in the afternoon and we were still inside the classroom preparing to go home. When our teacher asked us to stand and say our “Goodbyes” for the day, it happened. The floor shook so hard, everybody was stunned. The school building where we were is built on a tilted land. Sometime during the ground was shaking, the floor was cut in half, the half remain untouched but the other half collapsed taking half of classroom furniture and half of the pupils. Fortunately, I was one of those who were standing on the remaining part of the floor. Right after that, she pupils started to scream and cry and when the ceiling posed to collapse, the teacher who was also stunned got her senses back and urged the students to rush out of the door. I was the last pupil to go out of the room. If my teacher didn’t drag me out, I would have just stayed there.

Oddly, I didn't crying. I just sat calmly on the ground as instructed and I watched other pupils cry and scream while teachers are trying to calm them down. The school officials didn’t allow anybody to go out of the gate but the gate was open for those who would like to enter and stay on the school grounds. We have a wide open ground and it should be the safest place in the entire neighborhood.

I was there watching all the chaos but strange because I remember I was not feeling anything. Only when I heard my older sister calling out my name I felt my heart beat faster. My sister and I were the same school. I was in grade 3 and she was in grade 6. Like the rest, she was already crying but was calmed when she found me. We hugged and when she asked if I am okay, I didn’t answer. I cried instead. I cried hard. I felt weakened and I was very scared. I was screaming and calling out “Papa” and “Mama”.

After about an hour, we saw our papa rushing to us and the sight of him gave me the feeling that everything was okay again. We hugged and I heard him uttering a soft prayer thanking God that we are safe. Then finally he said we can’t go home for the night but he promised to build us a tent and we could play Indians. He instructed my sister to keep an eye on me while he gets some things to build our tent. He promised to be back and he made me promised to stay with my sister. After an hour or so, he was back with things he can use to build the tent, some warm clothes for us, blankets, canned good, and candies. He put up the tent while we watched him and I remember, it was a crappy tent but for me it was the greatest. It rained a little bit that night but I slept peacefully knowing that my papa is there and everything will be alright.

The earthquake left around 1,000 people dead in our city and 600 more in nearby municipalities. Just a few compared to how many died in China now but just the same, it was still a difficult time. We lived in tents for months because aftershocks happen so often and it was not safe to stay in our homes. Almost all shops were closed, medical help was difficult to get, and sanitation can’t be maintained because toilets are not enough for the number of evacuees and garbage are not collected regularly. It was the rainy season so that made it more difficult.

Now I pray for the people who are affected by the recent earthquake.

--------------------
INTERNATIONAL
--------------------

To donate directly to a Chinese Non-profit, a good choice is Jet Li's One Foundation. Jet Li is an ambassador for the Red Cross Society of China. His fund, as of 4/15/2008, has raised RMB 10,677,267 ($6,590/RMB 46,130 from Paypal donations)

http://www.one-foundation.com/html/cn/beneficence_01.htm
Click on the "paypal" button

The site is in Chinese only, but I have read it. One key point to know about your donation there:
1. The FULL amount of your donation will be transferred to the Red Cross Society of China.

The website provides full transparency on how its funds are distributed.

http://www.one-foundation.com/html/02/n-102.html

I Googled the foundation and found quite a bit of press coverage, so I felt comfortable posting it as a donation destination.

------
U.S.
------

FINALLY! You can now donate directly to the American Red Cross China Relief fund. The link is provided below, before you donate, please read the paragraphs regarding fund use:

https://american.redcross.org/site/Donation2?idb=252516977&df_id=3198&3198.donation=form1

Additional information regarding relief efforts by the American Red Cross is provided here
http://www.redcross.org/news/in/profiles/Intl_profile_ChinaEarthquake.html

A recent post in this group mentions the possibility that donations to the American Red Cross does not fully transfer over to the Red Cross Society of China. I am attempting to reach the local director of the Red Cross in my area for a clarification on the exact use of fund for everyone, but probably won't get an answer until tomorrow afternoon.

If anyone has any clarification on the matter please let everyone know ASAP.

All this being said, ARC does have a four star rating from Charity Navigator for its effective use of donations. http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm/bay/content.view/catid/2/cpid/43.htm
And your donation will be used specifically for the Chinese Relief effort.

However, your donation maybe be put to best use by directly wiring money to the Red Cross Society of China (listed in the CHINA section) or through Jet Li's One Foundation (listed in the INTERNATIONAL section) rather than the American Red Cross.

More updates to come.

--------
CHINA
--------
Directly wiring your donation to Chinese banks is possible:

Account name: Red Cross Society of China
开户单位：中国红十字会总会

RMB Donations:
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China:
人民币开户行: 中国工商银行 北京分行东四南支行
人民币账号: 0200001009014413252

Foreign Current Donations:
CITIC Bank branch:
外币开户行：中信银行酒仙桥支行
外币账号: 7112111482600000209

Hotline: (8610) 65139999
Online donations:
Red Cross Society of China website: www.redcross.org.cn

中国红十字基金会同时也接受社会各界捐赠：
http://www.crcf.org.cn/donationol/donation.asp
Thank you Clare Gu for the notification!

---------------
HONG KONG
---------------
Online donation for Hong Kong Credit Card Holders
Hong Kong Red Cross:
Thank you Fan Zhang!

https://www.redcross.org.hk/donation/user_donation.asp?langId=2

http://www.worldvision.org.hk/eng/appeal/Sichuan/emer_frame_e.html

-----------
CANADA
-----------

Allows online donors to direct their funds to the China Earthquake Relief effort
https://www.paypaq.com/redcross/new/index.php

-----
U.K.
-----

Direct donations to the Chinese Earthquake Effort via Online Payment has been posted.
Thank you Anna Judson for the notice!

http://www.redcross.org.uk/donatesection.asp?id=81125

---- RELIEF EFFORTS ----
Newest update:

NYC chapter:

Prayer and Donation Event:

Event: Prayer and Donation for Victims in SiChuan

Time: this Sat May 17th. 7:00pm to 8:30pm

Location: Manhattan Chinese Baptist Church @ 236 W 72nd St

Please join us and pray for the Earth Quake victims.

Contact: Vincent Zou. cell. 626-825-2266

You can clearly trace the rise in oil prices with the creation of oil
middlemen and oil speculation. I talked to an oil broker at length and the rise in price is not related to supply demand but the perceived shortfall based on the perceived risk that an event might suddenly create a spike, delivering a massive profit to those holding contracts.

I was in Equatorial Guinea discussing oil futures and now country oil agencies are now learning to game the system (and getting kickbacks from brokers). The profit is staggering if you can find a spot in front of the firehose. It is quite similar to what Enron did by diverting power away from high demand areas and then selling back in at higher prices. Its something that Mr. Bush (the oil industry is the one thing he does know about!) says nothing about.

Though we never properly lived in Chengdu, Peter and I twice spent some quality time in the city while staying with a good friend. On both occasions, we looked for work and apartments and for various reasons never ended up staying there. Although the friend we were staying with is no longer there, we know other people in Chengdu who have contacted us since to let us know that they are alright and that they are available to assist others who might need help on the ground.

Please feel free to circulate this information:

Dear Friends,

With the recent turmoil, we would like to provide an English-language contact point for anybody who might need assistance during this time.

If you have been displaced from your home and need a place to stay please contact us for housing arrangements.

If you are seeking updates from people in Chengdu whom you cannot get a hold of, please contact us via e-mail or on Twitter.

Online: www.chengdoo.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/chengdoo
E-mail: chengdoo@gmail.com
SMS (please call only for urgent matters to leave phone lines clear): 13540708232 13018236092 13880271515

At this time we do not have the capacity to handle Chinese-language assistance and do not wish to interfere with those organizations who have already mobilized. Please refer to www.chengduredcross.org for local aid information in Chinese.

ALSO:

Many of us who have been mostly unaffected by recent events are looking for ways to help those who have been less fortunate.

China Crossroads http://www.china-crossroads.com/)
lists the bank information for China Red Cross for those of you looking to make cash donations. This is as easy as taking a pile of cash to the bank along with the account name and number and saying you want to deposit it into the account.

If you prefer, we have also set up an envelope at Cafe Paname (143 Kehua Beilu, Blue Carribbean Plaza, 2nd Fl. / 巴黎咖啡科华北路143号蓝色加勒比广场以内2楼) for cash donations which we will deposit to the Red Cross of Chengdu on Friday. We will take donations all week.

The people in the areas hardest hit are without shelter, and transport and resource-distribution is limited at the moment. For those who are homeless/foodless, we would like to encourage you to donate TENTS, BLANKETS, PORTABLE MATTRESSES, etc. as well as NON-PERISHABLE FOOD ITEMS, WATER, and ANTIBIOTICS, ANTI-FLU MEDICINE. Any of these items can be brought to Cafe Paname (address above) or the Bookworm (28 Renmin Nan Lu Sect. 4, behind the Sunjoy Inn/老书虫人民南路四段28号) at any time during this week.

For those looking for updated information in English on general earthquake news, we recommend www.shanghaiist.com and www.china-crossroads.com who are doing an amazing job keeping their sites up to date. NPR (www.npr.org/blogs/chengdu/ is also posting some information from Chengdu at this time.

For donations information please contact Jane at 13540708232 or Chloe at 13880271515.

We hope that everybody takes care, stays safe, and helps one another during this time of crisis.

When I used to call my folks from Chengdu, they would ask me how big the city was. When I told them it was a city of 11 million people they would say, "I can't believe that - a city that big and we've never heard of it!" Yesterday morning I heard a conversation on Metro Morning that went exactly the same way between Andy Barrie and a Toronto man originally from Sichuan Province.

For those of you who are following Pete's surreal rants, you should know that he is currently obsessed with Chinese building codes.

A nice CDC fact sheet can be found here.

According to CNN, so far, the virus has sickened 24,934 children on the Chinese mainland, authorities said. All 42 people who died have been children.

現代の建物があのようにぐっしゃりとつぶれてしまうものなのか。
手抜き工事がうわさされていますが、きっとそうだったのでしょう。

それが、学校や幼稚園などに集中していたのが
悲しくいたたまれません。
ある幼稚園では園児80人中、50人が死亡、行方不明だそうです。
お昼寝中だったそうです。

怖かっただろうな、苦しかっただろうなと思うと悲しいです。
そして、両親もつらいだろうな。

少しでも役に立てたらいいなと思い、募金をしました。
少ないですが、チリも積もれば山となるです。

今から救助、復興といろいろ大変だと思います。
なんせ北京は五輪で大忙しでしょう。
ボランティアとして行くわけにはいかないですし、
できることといったら募金しか思いつきませんでした。

阪神大震災のときのことを思い出し、怖くなりました。

You can read the news release here: 中国人寿宣布将收养所有“汶川地震孤儿”

".....中国人寿董事长杨超14日晚间宣布，中国人寿设立的“国寿慈善基金会”将承担所有在地震中失去父母的孤儿成长至18周岁的相关费用，目前正在与当地民政部门洽商具体细则。

据中国最大寿险商中国人寿的消息，截至14日16时，中国人寿四川、陕西、重庆、云南、甘肃共接到受灾客户理赔报案150件，已接报案预估赔款额为1.34亿元，目前该公司已赔付了26件赔案，查勘理赔工作还在紧张有序进行。

此次地震，令中国保险业首次面对巨灾性的人身保险的理赔。面对灾情，杨超表示，“已做好了充分的准备，赔偿金方面没有问题”........"

From The Huffington Post.

Phelps and his ilk have a history of outrageousness, including their "God Hates Fags" campaign, and more recently sought publicity by protesting the funerals of U.S. soldiers because they died protecting a country that accepts homosexuality.

There's been a rash of tornadoes in the last few weeks. If one hits Topeka, KS, home of Phelps and Westboro Baptist, then we'll really know that God really hates Fred Phelps.

(But seriously, we don't need a tornado in Topeka to know how God really feels about Fred Phelps)

===
When We were called Sick man of Asia, We were called The Peril.
When We are billed to be the next Superpower, We are called The threat.

When We were closed our doors, You smuggled Drugs to Open Markets.
When We Embrace Freed Trade, You blame us for Taking away your jobs.

When We were falling apart, You marched in your troops and wanted your "fair share".
When We were putting the broken pieces together again, "Free Tibet" you screamed, "it was an invasion!"

( When Woodrow Wilson Couldn't give back Birth Place of Confucius back to Us,
But He did bought a ticket for the Famine Relief Ball for us.)

So, We Tried Communism, You hated us for being Communists
When We embrace Capitalism, You hate us for being Capitalist.

When We have a Billion People, you said we were destroying the planet.
When We are tried limited our numbers, you said It was human rights abuse.

When We were Poor, You think we are dogs.
When We Loan you cash, You blame us for your debts.

When We build our industries, You called us Polluters.
When we sell you goods, You blame us for global warming.

When We buy oil, You called that exploitation and Genocide.
When You fight for oil, You called that Liberation.

When We were lost in Chaos and rampage, You wanted Rules of Law for us.
When We uphold law and order against Violence, You called that Violating Human Rights.

When We were silent, You said you want us to have Free Speech.
When We were silent no more, You say we were Brainwashed-Xenophoics.

Why do you hate us so much? We asked.
"No," You Answered, "We don't hate You."

We don't Hate You either,
But Do you understand us?

"Of course We do," You said,
"We have AFP, CNN and BBCs..."

What do you really want from us?
Think Hard first, then Answer...

Because you only get so many chances,
Enough is Enough, Enough Hypocrisy for this one world.

We want One World, One Dream, And Peace On Earth.
- This Big Blue Earth is Big Enough for all of Us.

FootNote:
One,
never mind the racist thick fake accent,
I am sure this video Just want human Rights.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdqa8_RB8Mg

Two,
If you don't know the above references,
Go to libraries and Do your own research.
don't get your facts from the tube,
You wouldn't have a Clue.

Three,
Any one is free to use this poem,
Copy Right Notice,
Just Give The Credit,
to the Silent, Silent Chinese.

Thank You and Peace.

Myanmar is barely allowing single planes of aid supplies to land, and there's no guarantee that those that do arrive will actually get to the people who are hurting. In fact, there are reports that the military is stealing supplies meant for the destitute. China, on the other hand, is responding to its earthquake disaster in a fast, efficient way. In both countries, though, the death tolls continue to climb.

Of course the brain goes immediately to remembering how badly we bungled the situation in New Orleans before, during, and after Katrina, and how it still hasn't come back. Much of it will never be the same, nor will the people whose lives were so disrupted. But the numbers there were so much lower than those already known dead in Asia. It's terribly sad.

Want to contribute something to help? Here's a NY Times list of agencies planning to provide relief for Myanmar; my guess is that they will also help with aid for China. Please be generous.

[vodpod id=ExternalVideo.550962&w=425&h=350&fv=] video source posted with vodpod

If you have questions, please contact me either by phone or email:

  delanae@family-tales.com

425-698-3488 (mobile) or 425-605-7716 (home)

Edit : Edit
Comments : No Comments »
Tags : Creative Memories, digital scrapbooking, Family, fun, Heritage Makers, photos, scrapbooking, Slideshow, Template Books, vacation
Categories : Blogroll

The incident has taken away my relatives - a whole family of my cousin (he, his wife, and sons) - and my childhood friends. Looking at the anguish people on the pictures remind me of what my family and relatives encountered back then. They were so in pain ... couldn't help myself bursting into tears.

Even though I wasn't there, but I could feel the pain -- not only during the disaster -- but the aftermath. The aftermath of the earthquake ain't easy. For those survivors, I pray and wish they could get over the pain and let go of the beloved people who've gone. It ain't easy, but along with time, I wish the pain would subside......

As what happened in my hometown, the aftermath imprints trauma in their mind -- they would feel the fear when any slight earthquake happens. In my hometown, after the powerful earthquake, small and frequent earthquakes still happened now and then for about 2 years. So you can imagine the fear and worry they 've encountered.

I hope the survivors could see what is the more important things in life after this incident -- it is not about material possessions -- but about cherishing the love of and to the ones who are close to you. That is for me is the meaning of life. To love and be loved.

Prezados Amigos,

Ocorreu nesta segunda, às 10 horas, no Plenário da Câmara dos Vereadores do Rio de Janeiro, o já divulgado Debate Público sobre a questão Tibetana. Gostaria de apresentar minhas impressões sobre o evento, após um pequeno período para reflexão e contemplação dos acontecimentos ocorridos.

Inicialmente, penso que seria importante valorizar e reiterar a importância do evento que, por si só, contribui grandemente para a consolidação da posição buddhista brasileira frente às questões de direitos humanos e valores éticos sociais, e fomenta - principalmente - a divulgação das propostas humanistas do Buddhismo. O empenho demonstrado pela Vereadora Aspásia Camargo e o Deputado Fernando Gabeira foram, a meu ver, uma clara demonstração de que, apesar dos aspectos profundamente reprováveis associados à instituição política no Brasil e no mundo, não é sábio imputar a falta de respeito aos valores sociais a todos os membros da classe política indiscriminadamente; existem muitas personalidades políticas cientes de sua responsabilidade na defesa do exercício da ética e da reflexão saudável sobre os graves problemas que afligem a humanidade - seja no Brasil ou no outro lado do mundo.

Lamento, contudo, a pouca participação de buddhistas praticantes e simpatizantes. Embora compreenda plenamente que o dia e horário não contribuíram para facilitar a presença de grande público, o fato de que o evento ocorreu apenas no Rio de Janeiro, e sempre considerando o aspecto não-doutrinário e não-coercitivo que fundamenta o exercício do Dharma (sem falar no fato inegável de que, no Brasil, o número de buddhistas realmente praticantes é extremamente pequeno - há um número muito maior de pessoas simpáticas ao buddhismo, mas sem nenhuma real identificação com a prática do Caminho em sua profundidade), ainda assim gostaria de chamar a atenção de todos para a natureza de nossas opções de ação e mobilização em relação ao buddhismo e assuntos buddhistas. É preciso refletir melhor sobre quais ações podem ser realmente úteis e válidas, e quais ações seriam apenas fruto de um entusiasmo puramente romântico ou artificial em relação aos conceitos de esforço correto e ação correta. Espero que, no futuro, eventos semelhantes possam contar com a presença mais efetiva de pessoas interessadas em valorizar o desenvolvimento das propostas de consciencia e correto discernimento características do exercício ético buddhista na vida.

O caráter simples e despojado do evento, e o seu peso conceitual e reflexivo, foram cruciais para que uma porta fosse aberta no âmbito das ações buddhistas brasileiras. A participação do monge Gensho (em seu grande discurso final, onde penso que foi dada uma resposta adequada e firme às atitudes lamentáveis do Consul Geral da China) e da monja Isshin (suas palavras gentis e admiráveis, e sua respeitável atitude de respeito humano e fraternidade ao representante chinês no evento), as afirmações contundentes e fortes do Reverendo Shaku Shoshin em defesa do povo tibetano, as ponderações compassivas e coerentes da Dra. Cerys e do Professor Flávio Marcondes, contribuíram a meu ver para apresentar à opinião pública e à classe política do Rio de Janeiro a força reflexiva e determinação compassiva do buddhismo.

ler o texto completo

There are many unforgettable memories in my life. The most significant memory I always recall is the experience of joining the Roots and Shoots (R&S).

This group is instituted by Doctor Jane Goodall.  She is a famous researcher who studies chimpanzees.  “R&S is an international hands-on environmental and humanitarian education program, with the goal of creating positive change—for our communities, for animals and for the environment.”

Although we could not solve such a big pollution problem, we can start from every little things.  I joined this group 4 years ago and struggled to understand how to best protect our environment.   As a member of Green Piece Group, we collected wastes regularly, such as discard bottle and newspapers, and then recycled them. At the same time, other two members and I started to advocate students to use packages and bags instead of plastic packages. Although we did not succeed at the first, the proposa; was accepted by most students finally by combining it with other strategies.

Due to good performance of works, my school presented me with the outstanding delegates to be awarded by Jane Goodall. I believed that this experience will benefit my future because I possess the desire to protect our planet.

O desenvolvimento de um formato chinês partiu da vontade do Governo em depender menos do estrangeiro, invocando a sua "soberania" no domínio tecnológico.

O grupo promotor é constituído por várias dezenas de fabricantes, entre eles a TCL, uma das maiores empresas chinesas de eletrônica de consumo.

 Segundo a imprensa chinesa, 2008 marcará o fim do fabrico dos leitores de DVD, em benefício do EVD. Embora este último seja capaz de armazenar vídeo de alta definição, não pode ser considerado de todo um sucessor do DVD, já que a tecnologia de leitura é semelhante (baseada em "lasers vermelhos"). É antes um formato alternativo, mas que na prática competirá com aqueles que se apresentam como sucessores do DVD, o Blu-ray (já o que formato HD DVD foi abandonado no inicio de 2008).

Na realidade, o EVD é um disco DVD com diferentes especificações de vídeo e áudio, mas com suporte para HDTV, já que usa um algoritmo de compressão superior ao MPEG-2 (VP-5 e VP6). O formato chinês usa ainda o codec de áudio EAC 2.0. Suporta som mono, estéreo e 5.1 Surround, e é mais eficiente que o Dolby Digital (AC3) ou o DTS, presentes no DVD.

Alguns especialistas defendem que a China tem capacidade (diga-se, mercado) suficiente para manter o desenvolvimento da indústria de EVD. O país tem, aliás, apostado numa série de padrões exclusivos, incluindo sistemas de redes sem fios, televisão digital e telemóveis de terceira geração.

Por sua vez, o Governo chinês, apoioado no peso crescente da sua indústria, exorta as grandes empresas mundiais a "cooperar" em vez de "competir", relativamente ao estabelecimento de padrões tecnológicos.

 O maior entrave à adopção do EVD, por parte dos fabricantes, reside na popularidade e no baixo custo dos leitores de DVD. Enquanto estes últimos podem custar menos de 80 dólares, o preço de um aparelho EVD ronda atualmente os 250 dólares.

Fernand Koda

O Diego me chamou para esse meme, agradecido Diego!

A pasta Ice contém um tema para o wordpress, encontramos também uma clássica agenda para PC, Apocalipse e Dream's of goblin, são duas músicas mals sucedidas criadas para o LDD, e aqueles arquivos zipados ali, é o backup do banco de dados do meu outro site.

Bom meu desktop estava mais desorganizado que isso há um mês atrás.

E sem falar o simbolo chinês Yin-Yang, o qual conecta a harmonia do meu Chi com os meus trabalhos.

ehauheuaheuaheuhauehaueha

Até mais!

E para continuar o MEME, eu invoco o vitor!

Abração do Panda!

My asian eyes and black straight hair immediately reveal my Chinese infusion, yet I’ve always downplayed my ethnicity - bursting out in random Spanish, highlighting my hair, learning to salsa. I’ve always tried to hide what I’ve thought to be this socially less accepted race, playing up my Latina-ness and thin Peruvian roots. But after years of denying my heritage and hiding my ethnic roots, I’ve decided to find them, and with that, find my other half. I am going to China.

This summer I’ll be traveling around Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai for a month! I’ll be going with my sister and my grandma in what I hope will be an amazing, (pardon the cliche) out-of-this-world experience! I’m going to break the tourist mold and attempt to live as closely to the people of China as I can. I will eat traditional foods, dress accordingly, and even attempt to navigate the complexities of Madarin.

I was tracing my lineage yesterday, trying to discover my past and my ancestors. Interestingly, my mom told me about a mistake that has trickled down generation after generation - something you would encounter with the immigrants at Ellis Island. When my great-grandfather immigrated to Peru, he said his name was Yi, Choy Pan. Yi as his last name and Choy Pan as his first name. Customs misunderstood his last name to be Yi Choy and named him and his children accordingly. Thus my mom has Yi Choy as a last name. It’s as if John Michael Smith had children that were named Chloe Smith Michael. Oddly, my dad’s last name is also Yi, but there were no mix-ups with his last name.

At first I thought the Yi last name in both my parents was a funny coincidence. I asked my mom and she said that the “Yi” name comes from one family and that they might be related in a very, very distantly, remote way. Yet my dad knows nothing of his ancestors….

I will be visiting the “Yi” villa and visiting the house of my great-grandfather. But what if I discover my parents are closer than they think?!

I’ll be keeping a travel log so make sure to tune in.

1. Chinese Consulate at Chicago: http://www.chinaconsulatechicago.org/eng/xw/t434219.htm
2. Chinese red cross (*): http://www.redcross.org.cn/ or http://202.108.59.10/english/donate.htm
3. Hong Kong Red Cross (*): https://www.redcross.org.hk/donation/user_donation.asp?langId=1
4. Mercy Corps (*): http://www.mercycorps.org/chinaearthquake/?source=1062
5. International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)  (*): http://donate.ifrc.org/?navid=02_02
6. American Red Cross (*): http://www.redcross.org/news/in/profiles/Intl_profile_ChinaEarthquake.html

1. NPR: Dujiangyan Parents' Search for Child ('Mom is coming for you')http://www.npr.org/blogs/chengdu/2008/05/we_found_fu_guanyu_and.html
2. CNN: China's Earthquake Victims 'Eat Bitterness http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/05/14/china.vause/index.html
3. ABC: 'Today, We Are All Sichuan People' (China Rushes to Help Its Own http://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=4851881&page=1
4. ABC: Remarkable Rescues as Quake Death Toll Rises http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=4850786

They're just normal doors. But the stainless steel makes them look exaggeratedly tough. And they usually feature elaborate patterns and rounded edges, with flowers engraved upon the stainless steel surface (as above). This combination of security overkill and design intricacy gives an almost Gothic impression-- like a Dickensian door knocker.

Somehow the mix of rigid and flamboyant smacks of "the new China" to me...and yet they're all over the place down here in Bay Ridge too!

The length of Eighth Avenue that stretches south from Sunset Park is known as Brooklyn's Chinatown, home to a very large population of Chinese immigrants who hail mostly from Fujian province in south east China.

So I'm going to speculate here: Not only did the design for these doors make it from China as such, but it must have gone from northern China (Beijing) down to Fujian, or vice versa, before even crossing the Pacific. That's kind of crazy in itself.

Let's suppose that the doors are imported, or at least that the steel needed to put them together is imported. Raw materials are relatively cheap in China so it's not an unreasonable assumption. There must be a *very* elaborate set of logistics in place to get these thousands of Chinese doors into Brooklyn. Think of the livelihoods that depend on this set of arrangements. Exceedingly complex human and technical relations come together *every day* just to maintain a simple, crucial equation: Metal and labor and ocean passage goes into ===> a silly looking door <=== and profit emerges out of it.

It's nuts when you think about it...

In a race against time, rescue workers are searching to find 40,000 people.  An estimated 26,000 are thought to be buried in the rubble, while 14,000 are still unaccounted for.

Go to FoxNews.com for more of the story, pictures, and videos.

Our hearts and prayers are going out to China during this hard time.

[vodpod id=ExternalVideo.550832&w=425&h=350&fv=] video source posted with vodpod

If you have questions, please contact me either by phone or email: 

delanae@family-tales.com   425-698-3488 (mobile) or 425-605-7716 (home)