Gong Gong Qi Che 公共汽车

So far in China we have stuck with our bikes to go anywhere. Well, due to some minor back issues with me (Emily) and the need for Asa to be in a stroller we tried taking the gong gong qi che 公共汽车(bus) yesterday to a nearby park. It went well, and it was really nice that Asa could sleep while we strolled. Parks in China are really hard to put into words, pretty much everything a park in America is not. Let's just say one of the highlights was a group of elderly Chinese in a pavillion on top of a hill heartily singing song after song that sounded like high pitched screetching to us. Bottom Line - Tons to do and see, and A LOT of people.

Chinese names

We all have Chinese names. English names are harder for the Chinese to pronounce and since Joab has had a Chinese name since he was 18 it just seemed appropriate for us all to have them. Our last name in Chinese is Zhou (Sounds like Joe)- and you say your last name first. Joab's Chinese name is
Zhou Wei Bo. Mine is, Zhou En Xi (meaning Stream of Grace) , Miriam's is, Zhou Yun Tan (Meaning Rhymic Deep Waters), and Asa's is, Zhou Hong Wei (Meaning Mighty Flood). So our Chinese friend's' here know us by these names and not our English names. Kinda like a second identity!

The Hong in Asa's sounds like the word for the color red, we like this as it matches his hair color. Also the Wei in his name comes from Joab's Wei. Miriam's name is a bit complex (which is appropriate as Miriam is pretty complex!). It comes from a Proverb in the Bible that talks about "many are the plans in a man's heart and a man of understanding draws them out". Since Miriam was a baby we sensed a deepness to her heart. Also we named her Miriam from the Miriam in the Bible who danced with the women when they were led to the other side of the Red Sea: this is where in Yun in her name comes from. The Tan part of her name means a small lake that is very deep.

The park we visited yesterday has a tan in the middle, so below is a picture of our Yun Tan next to a real life Tan 潭.



















Miriam and I also rode a crazy water ride at the park that had little boats (chuan 船) going in a circle arouond spinning fruit, animals and the Monkey King from a famous Chinese story!















Joab traveled this week for work, and it went really well. It was amazing how many people I was able to get together with and keep busy. We are so blessed to have so many good friends here. This Friday we leave for Inner Mongolia. We leave Friday at 10 PM take the overnight train and get into Ho Hot at 8 AM. It is going to be crazy, and one night we plan to sleep in a Yurt camping Inner Mongolian Style). A yurt is kinda like a big teepee- I will let you know how sleeping in one with a 11 month old goes. I am thankful for a chance to get out of this big city and show Miriam another side of China.