October 16-18, 2014
I was pleased to be invited to help the Xi'an YMCA celebrate its 100th anniversary. Most of the YMCAs in China have already passed that milestone; since Xi'an is the westernmost city in China with a functioning YMCA, presumably it is the youngest. I sat next to a man from Hong Kong at one of the dinners and he said they had begun in 1905.
General secretary Tian Quande, Lynn, Anne, and Buddy
The program was well run; we stayed at a five-star hotel, part of the Sofitel chain, which consisted of a large campus of several very large buildings, featuring Chinese-style architecture. The building in which our rooms were housed was so big, the walk from my room to the breakfast dining room was at least a block long.
We arrived on a Thursday, which began with a dinner and welcome. There were representatives of YMCAs from a wide area of Asia, including Korea, Japan, and Hawaii. The Hawaiian delegation included one man who is 92 years old; he kept up well with everyone on the sightseeing day. There were delegates from mainland YMCAs of course, (there are ten cities in China that resumed functioning after the Cultural Revolution; I am sure there were more than that before 1949,) and Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macao.
I was there because of my involvement with Virginia Baptist Mission Board in enlisting volunteers for YMCA projects they had requested. We did this over three summers, 2002, 2004, and 2005, involving about 25 college students and young adults.
In 2006, I introduced Buddy Burgess, a minister at First Baptist Church, Richmond, to them for a basketball program he had a vision for conducting in China. This began in 2006 and continued at least three more summers through 3011, involving at least 31 volunteers, most of whom were professional basketball coaches.
Visiting an architectural relics park
Friday was a day for sightseeing. There were two choices: of course, the terra-cotta soldiers museum was one, but many people had already been there (I have been there many times, beginning in 1988 when there was only one building opened, not long after it had been turned into a public viewing site.) The second venue was a park that housed old, even ancient, architectural relics that had been collected from a wide area of China, and then reassembled in Xi'an. The buildings were huge stone structures that looked as if they had been in place for hundreds of years, but in fact, the park was only a few years old.
We found the tour very interesting; we were amazed to see how these huge stone structures had been gathered and assembled into a coherent pattern and organized into a tour of ancient Chinese culture and structure.
The entrance to the architectural park gives a glimpse of the huge structures that were moved here from all over China
One special feature was a kind of folk opera for which they had organized a live demonstration. This opera was far from the typical Peking Opera style. The stage held about 20 old men (I did see one woman who seemed to have a special role) with varying types of Chinese traditional musical instruments, string, brass, and percussion. The music was played with enthusiasm and animation, if not harmony. The lead musician was even more animated than the others; they also sang along with the music, gesturing and echoing the words. They did not wear costumes, but simply the normal work-type clothes of daily life. The longer the song went on, the more animated and active they became. We were sorry when the performance came to an end.
The official celebration
Friday evening was the real event. We had a program during which many people made speeches of congratulations, beginning with the general secretary of the Xi'an YMCA, Tian Quande. Then, we had speech after speech, all in Chinese; the speeches ran so long they had to be carried over to the dinner, which had to begin on time. So, while we ate, the speeches continued, after which there was some entertainment. Two women in Chinese opera costume performed for us, and then a dance/drum troupe. All were quite well done.
It was quite a celebration and I was glad to be a part. Congratulations to the Xi'an YMCA for their 100 years of service to the community.
More photos from the Xi'an YMCA 100th anniversary celebration
This is the theme and logo that appeared on programs, large displays around the complex, and here, as background screen for the official program.
It was a good time to meet old friends. Mr. Tian was a YMCA staffer who always did airport duty and served as driver and guide for trips to sites such as the Nestorian pagoda, and once helped with an exchange of volunteers between another city and Xi'an.
During the official banquet, we had some entertainment, here provided by two performers from a Peking Opera group.
You may think this is before the beginning of the meal or maybe at the end, but it is in the middle of the official banquet. These YMCA representatives from all over China and Asia are greeting and toasting one another, leaving the tables of food empty. Eventually the food gets eaten, but in Chinese culture, properly greeting and toasting are more important
Taking a selfie is a quick way to commemorate a shared experience. My friend, Mr. Ma, from Shanghai YMCA was also attending the ceremony
This architecture park was made up of architectural relics from all over China and then assembled into a walk down an ancient Chinese complex
Buddy and Anne are touring a room in the park featuring stone posts with funny heads. Maybe they were identification markers or border decorations, but they are fun to look at
I don't know exactly the purpose of making such funny faces but maybe the Tang Dynasty Chinese had a good sense of humor
Here is a small lion sculpture used as an accent; Chinese landscape layout pays attention to small details. I just liked this small lion
Another Chinese landscape decoration, building a courtyard around a tree
One display room included a case of thee antique puppets. Traveling puppet troupes were great entertainment in the decades before television and Internet
Symmetry is a characteristic of Chinese architecture. How many doors can you see receding into the distance?
I also like the interestingly shaped doorways often found in Chinese parks and like to have my photo taken in them
Most of the time we had the park to ourselves, but in the afternoon, hundreds of school children arrived for a field trip. They were active and joyous and curious about the foreigners. We heard lots of 'hello's spoken with broad smiles as we encountered the groups