Everything will fall into place

For the life of me I couldn't figure out why my father-in-law Eric (FIL) had picked the Holiday Inn Lido Hotel in Beijing for our first several nights. It seems a bit out of the way, relatively non-Chinese looking (no dragons in the pictures), and the rooms looked a bit like, well, the old Holiday Inn. It seems luxurious enough, but I was still curious.

When checking into this further, I noted that the now-renamed MetroPark Lido Hotel Beijing does not stand by itself in the inner suburbs of Beijing. The hotel is actually part of a complex called Lido Place (sounding more and more like rich DC suburbs every day). For the kids, the pool, health spa, and shopping will provide all the amenities so long restricted to American children. I am guessing there is even Internet access, outside of the tight regulations known to so many Americans. But best of all is the 20-lane bowling alley just across the street from the hotel and apparently part of the complex! Amazing. I bet we will bowl a bunch in the evening as we try and dust off the Beijing air from our smoking jackets. The fact that my house has three bowling alleys within 2 miles of it in DC has had no affect on the frequency with which we bowl; it seems likelier that we will roll gutter balls in Beijing than in Annandale.

But none of these is the real reason why my FIL has landed us here at the Lido. I reviewed the information on the gated community that surrounds the hotel and, much to my surprise, found there was an actual International School on the grounds of the complex. Indeed, the hotel map shows that with just a quick hop and a jump we can find ourselves in a "faith-based" academic environment for international families. Yes! Erin and I can't stop talking about schools, day or night, and now we will find ourselves in a hotel right next to a school. Knowing the two of us, will we bowl or wander through empty, summer classrooms? You guessed right. Why not check out their curriculum, their student-teacher ratios, how they juggle the faith part and the international part? My FIL was looking out for us! Or else he just wanted us out of the way . . .

Thus, the third chapter of the Tao te ching, with the famous advice to practice "not-doing" (I think it translates as "wu-wei"). As we look forward to our trip, and realize that so much is already in place, we can not-do and everything may, indeed, fall into place.

If you overesteem great men, people become powerless.
If you overvalue possessions, people begin to steal.

The Master leads by emptying people's minds and filling their cores,
by weakening their ambition and toughening their resolve.
He helps people lose everything they know, everything they desire,
and creates confusion in those who think that they know.

Practice not-doing, and everything will fall into place.

Things arise and she lets them come

Three weeks from our full assault on China (Zhongguo for those in the know (the Central Kingdom if you are even further in the know)) and the pressure is heating up. Besides the ever-increasing pace of emails from many of the participants, I am beginning to feel the pressure to the extent that I made a list of things I need. Like many of my lists, it looks great - full, rich items; a comprehensiveness that is breath-taking; and yet, a certain sense that it is more of an aspiration than an actual list of things to get done. With three weeks to go, am I really going to make dentist, eye doctor, and primary care physician appointments? I haven't made them in the last six months when I didn't have the pressure of a trip; now seems a bit unlikely as well. Perhaps there is someone who does all three who makes house calls between my catnaps? Here's hoping.

The list for China poses its own sort of quandaries. For example, in Costa Rica or Europe I pretty much knew the ratio of internet cafes to hotel pools and other important equations. Forgot sunscreen? Buy it there! But in China, I am a bit perplexed. Since virtually every product I own is made in China, shouldn't I just leave my suitcase here at home and then shop on the way from Beijing International Airport? Surely I shouldn't tote t-shirts to the land of the t-shirt; cameras and laptops and hats and shoes and socks and belts - if I don't take anything with me, I will save on my $25 luggage fee and buy everything for less than that after all. I imagine I could just drive up to some dark factory full of hard-working Beijingers and order what I want at the counter. I mean, Chinese food comes to the counter in about 2 minutes, imagine what they could do if I just wanted a shirt? But coals to Newcastle it is!

Part of planning is to figure out really what will be needed, and the weather is about the only deciding factor I support. I have been warned that the temperature in Beijing will be incredibly hot, or polluted, or stifling, or some other unpleasant status. Then I realize that we are not going to the surface of Mercury; most of us live in DC or New Orleans or somewhere in between. We know what hot and muggy feels like - like right now! Maybe I will pack as though I am going to work? Someone mentioned that China is like one big casual Friday, but everyone works outside. My plan for t-shirts and shorts seems pretty solid.

I can't end with such a note of cynicism. There is something exotic about this little excursion. I mean, 1.2 billion people have already been to China and decided to stay there, not to mention that half the teachers at my school will be bumping into each other in China this summer. And yet, China tantalizes. Is it the combination of the overwhelming nature of the population? The tricky way that socialism is balanced with capitalism (wink wink nudge nudge)? The idea that we will be "handled" by the government? Maybe all this is just some cold war fantasy and China will be a lot like other places - full of hard-working people who appreciate where they live and who don't talk about their government - like people everywhere.  I harbor this strange belief that you can't really say you know a place until you have smelled it. I still remember 33 years ago getting off the plane in Jakarta and being assaulted by the wet jungleness of the air, a smell that never left me in my three years there. I can't smell China yet (I tried drawing breaths in my clothes drawer but it smelled like detergent, not Shanghai). I look forward to stepping off the plane after 14 hours, taking a deep breath, and then knowing all I need to know about China.

And now, part 2 of the Tao Te Ching. I have always liked this section, but perhaps it is because of the doing without doing anything part. The quote at the front of this post is a request for travelers on this trip to let the place come to us, rather than foist ourselves upon it.


When people see some things as beautiful, other things become ugly.
When people see some things as good, other things become bad.

Being and non-being create each other.
Difficult and easy support each other.
Long and short define each other.
High and low depend on each other.
Before and after follow each other.

Therefore the Master acts without doing anything and teaches without saying anything.
Things arise and she lets them come; things disappear and she lets them go.
She has but doesn't possess, acts but doesn't expect.
When her work is done, she forgets it.
That is why it lasts forever.

Darkness within darkness. The gateway to all understanding

It is just about a month until our large group sets forth to China, a month of anticipation, eagerness, anxiety,  peacefulness, and maybe a lot of hot weather. This trip is the culmination of more than a year's worth of planning and careful execution. The idea started as an inkling, that wouldn't it be great if there could be a large excursion of friendly, loving people setting off together in an exciting place, unknown to most of us.

For me, the trip, (China Trek 2011?, The Long March Part 2?) started a lot longer ago. Back when Eric McVadon was defense attache in China, there was another trip across China. In that one, I believe Doug and Michelle travelled for six weeks with the Macs. (I am pretty sure I am getting a lot of this wrong, so feel free to use that little comment box below to correct. Just be gentle!) Erin and I have hundreds of photographs from those days in 1992. But we couldn't go because we were in the midst of adopting Manuel and Alberto. When confronted with the choice (children or China?) we opted for the path taken. Somehow I knew we would get the chance to go to China. When and where would be left to the fates. So when this crazy madcap trip first germinated in Eric's mind, I was pretty sure that my patience had paid off.

So with this blog, I am going to try and capture what I see, what I hear, what I miss, and what I don't know about China as seen through my eyes and those of my fellow travelers. We leave in a month or so, with last minute changes being made probably daily. I still have a hard time remembering who is going, but I am pretty sure I will figure it out July 15. My last trip with this many people was to shepherd 56 8th graders through Central America, so I am glad to have to do less chaperoning and more experiencing.

From our clan, Jim (me), Erin, Eddy, and Alberto are going. This is Eddy's graduation gift from us. Neither Eddy nor Alberto has been to Asia. Erin was in Japan as a little thing, and I lived in Southeast Asia and Japan and have been back once. Everyone is pretty excited and not a little trepidatious - traveling is always a challenge, traveling with family and friends even more so, and going on an exodus with 18 people (I think) is just downright crazy.

I am going to try and add a bit every couple of days or so until we get into the thick of things in Beijing, at which point I will send pictures and posts on a more regular basis. I am not sure who would care to read this, but I will at least use this as a record of what we did (or didn't do). So, stay tuned.

Oh, the quote? From the first chapter of the Tao Te Ching. The complete text is as follows:

The tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao
The name that can be named is not the eternal Name.
The unnamable is the eternally real.
Naming is the origin of all particular things.
Free from desire, you realize the mystery.
Caught in desire, you see only the manifestations.
Yet mystery and manifestations arise from the same source.
This source is called darkness.
Darkness within darkness.
The gateway to all understanding.