Our hearts ache for China. The rural Chinese were so kind to us as we traveled the Silk Road. Our tandem bicycle was quite a surprise for the small villages we traversed, where we ate and slept and struggled to find our way west. They passed on many opportunities to take advantage of rich foreigners, they shared what they did not have to share. Many of the small hotels we slept in would have fallen in a much weaker quake, so I can only imagine how quickly and violently the mud brick and wood slat homes fell.
The Chinese are still an mystery to most Americans. But take it from Claire and I, who spent two months with them, most of it in rural areas, small villages: they love their families as much as we do, they are a sweet people, a hard working people who shared what they could with two people who's bicycle was worth more than their yearly income.
If given an opportunity to help the victims of this quake, please do. In the century to come, their country may very well dominate world affairs. Now is the time to make friends.
Posts
