Hi there, I’m Diana Chen! I was born in Shanghai, China. In 2001, I came to America on my vacation and met my husband Chris. Chris and I have twins, a boy and a girl. Since my twins were born, I started teaching them Chinese. Now teaching Chinese has become my new found passion. Because of my cultural background and my career experience, I would like to share my knowledge, ideas, opinions and stories with you, inclusive of tips of learning Chinese, Chinese recipes, cultures…
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During our “ascent” to the highest point of the section, we stopped at one of the watch towers to catch our breath,..well, umm, to take some pictures. Here you can see 2 rectangular blocks at the top of the structure. If you take a look at the first picture, you will notice there are 5 rectangular blocks on each side of the watch tower. This ought to give you a sense of scale how big the structure is.
I hardly had a chance to post anything when we were in China because we were either too busy sight-seeing with Heather and Michael, visiting families and friends, or sampling the delicious Chinese food that I had always dreamed about before going home. Fortunately, Chris took some photos along the way. So I will be posting a series of highlights from the trip in the following weeks. The first one in the series was taken on a cloudy and rainy day at the Badaling section of the Great Wall-the same one where President Obama visited recently.
We told Heather about how guards in the past lit torches on the watch tower to alert the next one in quick and successive fashion when enemies were near. She was totally fascinated by it. Before getting to the Great Wall, my parents worried about whether the kids could handle the steep slope on some of the sections. But it turned out those worries were totally unnecessary. Heather and Michael climbed with great enthusiasm and energy, leading the pack and constantly waving at us to urge us catch up. The rainy weather, misty clouds, and occasional chilly wind did not dampen their spirit at all.
We had a great time up there.
November 25, 2009 - 4:50 pm - Magnificent!
It’s been a while since I post something after we went to China and back. So here are some recent pictures of Heather, Michael and me. Four of us took a walk in our new neighborhood on a beautiful afternoon when fall’s glorious color was still on display. God really knows what he is doing when he created the color pallet of the world. We love our new place. Its surrounding is so park like.
November 25, 2009 - 4:56 pm - Gorgeous pictures! Love the colors! This year we have been spoiled by nice weather...
After a 14 hours flight, Heather, Michael and I arrived at Pudong International Airport at 8:10 pm local time on Friday, June 28, 2009.
The flight was not smooth because thunderstorm made the plane’s departure delayed twice. After the plane flew across the city of Beijing, the pilot told us that there was another thunderstorm and he had to change the route to Shanghai.
After the plane stopped at the gate, all passengers were ordered to sit on the seat and wait for a check of the temperature by the Chinese authority. It was another 40 minutes wait on the plane. Everybody was nervous because nobody wanted to be quarantined for 7 days. When the epidemic prevention workers got on the plane, flash lights were everywhere. People wanted to keep the memory of the time and workers’ interesting clothing. Finally, all of us gave the prevention workers a warm clap as they left the plane without finding any doubtful patient.
When we walked out the last gate, we felt that we walked on the red carpet. My parents and strangers gave the warmest welcome to us. At this moment, going home brought a feeling of sweet to us. Heather and Michael were held in the arms by the grandparents. It was two years and 3 months since my parents visited us last time.
On the way home, Heather’s sneeze made the driver very nervous. He wore a respirator as soon as he could. This little action reminded me there was a 7 days self quarantine waiting for us.
My mother already cooked dinner. We were very hungry and devoured all dinner.
Now we are working hard to change the jet-lagged. Heather woke up at 4:00 pm in the morning when I just got into bed. After tossing about in bed for a hour, I got up and grabbed my camera to take some pictures through my window. It is my hometown – Shanghai.
Chris and I did a photo shoot for a senior student, John, last Friday. John is an awesome baseball player on varsity of Sterling Heights high school. We incorporated baseball as an element in some of the shots and it was great working with John. Check out the video montage that Chris put together.
John CapoBianco
by Diana
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