(Written by a junior high school student in Beijing)

          When you read here that my mother and I visited Inner Mongolia this past summer, it may make you think that we went to a strange and mysterious place with fierce warriors riding over grasslands and deserts.  Perhaps you expect that we slept in a yurt - a kind of tent made of animal hides suspended on poles.

          In thinking of the Mongols, you may remember that the Great Wall failed to keep them out, and that they captured China back in the 13th century.  You may have read about Kublai Khan who established himself in Beijing as the first emperor of the Yuan dynasty back then.

          It's part of history that Mongolia was divided into two parts:  the Mongolian People's Republic with 1 1/2 million people dominated pretty much by Russia, and Inner Mongolia, a "self-governing" region of China.

          Inner Mongolia is also part of our personal history for myi mother lived there from the time she was born until she finished medical school.  Then then moved to Beijing, China's capital city, where we live most of the year with millions of other people.  We accepted the invitation to get out of the city during the summer as the temperatures are very pleasant in Inner Mongolia.  Winters there are very, very cold with freezing temperatures like Siberia.

          Her friend lives in Hohhot, the capital city of that region, with a population of 700,000 that grows to over a million if the small towns around it are added.  It takes 11 hours by train from Beijing to Hohhot and we got a brief glimpse of some of the towers of the Great Wall on the way.  I've heard that's the only structure one can see on earth from outer space, but I find that hard to believe.

          Hohhot is just a little north of the Gobi Desert and thee is enough rain for the famous grasslands there.  It's also an area well known for horse racing, polo, and stunt riding.  During our two-week vacation we couldn't resist riding on camels as well as horses.

          The camels were all tied together because they were all part of the same family, and the owner didn't want them separated.  My mom and I are riding on the right.  We didn't know the other people.  In the background, you can see a bit of the Gobi Desert.

          Look at the color that sky and the white clouds.  My mom is in the middle, her friend is at the right, and I'm on the left.  I'm told that riding white horses is good luck.

          We ate out a lot and liked the Mongolian hot pots in which you could cook just about anything you wanted.  The roasted lamb and kebabs were good, too.  So much food was served that you couldn't eat it all.  I got a chance to try "cream tea" made of camel's milk with salt or sugar and found that I liked it.  Some people find it revolting.

         One of our best days was spent at the Dinosaur Fossil Park.  Why it's called a park I'll never know for it was a modern two-story building with a Fossil Preparation Laboratory where the fossils were cleaned, a Skeleton Mounting Laboratory, and an Exhibition Hall in which dinosaur skeletons that had been found in Inner Mongolia were exhibited.  They were from the Cretaceous period.  I'm told that was from 144 to 65 million years ago.   

          This a Gobisaurus; the largest and most complete one that has been found anywhere in the world.  We also saw a Gallimimus that was 4 meters long and a Psittacosaurus that was 1.3 meters in length.

          The shelving containing fossils of dinosaurs went on and on.  Though they seem to be in disorder, the scientists knew each one of them.  They could tell you exactly where they fit into various skeletons.  All of them are invaluable.  Through study of them, much more is being learned about our geographic history.

          It was hard to return to Beijing for the start of another year in junior high school after such an exciting vacation, but I know that mom and I will find other spots to visit in the years to come.

(Written by Hugh Ao in Beijing)

          A father bought a motorbike five years ago and considers it to be old now - just like its owner feels about himself - but he has never considered trading it in for a new one.  He has the money to buy one, but he's sentimental about how the old bike helped bring him closer to his son.

          When our story begins, the son was a senior one student and the school was so far from his home that it took three hours of hard cycling to get there.  When classes were over, he had to make the long return trip, so he was always tired.  Some days he had to ride through rain and mud.  On windy days, he rode his bicycle through dust storms.  The trips back and forth were almost more than he could bear.

          Though his father was the village head in a poor hamlet and his mother was a worker in a clothes factory, they never seemed to have enough money.  It was hard for them to earn enough for daily expenses and so the boy never asked his parents for help.

          It was a great surprise, therefore, when his father spent a whole month's salary to buy a secondhand motorbike from one of his friends in order to drive the boy to school.

          In the days that passed, life became much easier for the boy.  He was driven to school and when classes were over, he never had to wait for his father; he would always be there - waiting near the school gate.

          The boy's friends would say, "You are so lucky!", and when he heard those words he'd smile and say "My father is the best."  Knowing how much his father loved him, he'd find tears slipping lightly and quietly from his eyes.

          It was raining very hard one of the days, but the father was there for him in the same place - as he'd thought that if he sought shelter to avoid standing in the rain, his son might not be able to find him.  The wind was so strong while he stood there waiting for his son that his raincoat was almost blown away.  His wet hair pressed tightly against his forehead.  The rain beating down had the sound of cobblestones being pelted on him and the bike.

          The boy ran over to him feeling warmth and happiness.  As always, he could feel tears of gratitude beginning.  The father opened his mouth in an attempt to tell the boy something, but he couldn't hear because the noise of the wind was in his ears.

          On their way home, the father stopped five times to adjust the raincoat over the boy who then huddled behind him pressing his face againist his father's back tightly.

          Each time the father shouted as they rode on, "Are you okay?"

          "What?"  It was impossible to hear anything.

          "Why don't you tell me the interesting things that happened in school like you usually do?"

          The boy didn't know what to say, as the noise of the rain and the bike were so over-whelming.  The father went on, "Let me tell you a little joke."

          He continued to talk, but the boy couldn't make out what he was saying.  When the talking stopped, the boy laughed as expected.  It was clear to him that if he didn't laugh, he'd start to cry again, as he was so pleased that he was being taken care of.

          When they finally got home, the father looked like a drenched chicken, but the boy was hardly touched; only the legs of his pants were wet where the raincoat hadn't covered him.

          As time passed, things changed when the boy went to a university, but he thought frequently of those happy day when his father had helped him so much.  Though he knew that his father was getting older, he was pleased with the thought that he still lived happily with his best friend - his wife - and the bike had been kept because it was part of a bond between him and his son.  

          After finishing the university, the son had his own family and became a father, too.  He's looking forward to having experiences with his son like those he had with his father.  They might not be riding on a motorbike together, but through all of them he hopes he'll be passing on what it feels like to have the love of a father.  

(Written by a friend in Shanghai)

          Mr. Huang is a funny old man in our office who will retire next year, and we will miss the interesting stories he tells us about his experiences.  Last week he went on a business trip to Helongjiang province and came back on Monday bringing us all little packets of millet as presents.  During lunch, he told us a story about his first experiences with cell phones.  They're not unusual - we all use them nowadays - but Mr. Huang had thought they'd be of no use to him and hadn't bought one - didn't even know how to use one.

          Before he went on the trip, his supervisor asked him for his cell phone number so she could keep in touch with him easily.  As he didn't have one, he debated about what to do, but finally announced that he would buy one as soon as possible. 

          After work that day, he went to a big shop with his wife, purchased one, and spent practically all night studying the instructions of how to use it.

          The next day, he started his business trip with his new cell phone.  On the first two days, everything went smoothly, and Mr. Huang was very happy.  The third day, however, he had a big problem that he hadn't expected.  He found that there was no money on his pre-paid SIM card, and therefore he couldn't call anyone.  The instructions said that he was to dial "Recharge Call", but when he did that, he was requested to enter his cell phone number, and that caused great difficulty, as he couldn't remember what it was.

          He went to the post office and made a long distance call to his wife to ask her for the cell phone number.  She instructed him about recharging, but he still couldn't do it so for four days his cell phone stayed quietly in his baggage.

          Since returning, Mr. Huang has learned how to recharge money on his SIM card and can send messages, but the day before yesterday, I discovered a very interesting thing about him.  He takes his cell phone with him every day but never turns it on.^_^

          If someone wants to have periodic conversations with him by cell phone during the day, it's necessary to dial either his office or his home number to tell him to turn it on.  He's just no attuned to what he calls "these new-fangled things".