CHINA: Day 9

Friday May 25, 2012

This morning started off with us hopping on a bus and heading out to the countryside.  We had about a two hour drive out to this small, poor, village outside of the city.  We were going to a place called “The Special Commune.”  We didn’t actually know what it was until we got there.  When we arrived, we were a little early so we wandered around outside until someone showed up.

We were pretty fascinated by what we saw while we were wandering around.  There was a big, rundown, hotel-like building surrounded by an orchard, a farm, some smaller buildings, and an old playground.  It was all pretty ghetto looking, but kind of cool at the same time.  They also had some dogs there that we were pretty excited about.  One dog looked like some sort of husky-mix and I absolutely fell in love with him.  He was sooooo dirty and tied up and eating disgusting looking food and his fur was patchy and matted and gross.  He didn’t look like he got too much love and attention.  So I gave him some.  He seemed to enjoy that quite a lot.  I really wanted to just take him home with me and take care of him.    He was such a beautiful dog, but by the time I was done petting him, my hands were black.  I was very grateful for my wet wipes right about then.

After about 15 minutes a man named Brian and his wife and baby showed up.  They were the creators/owners of the Special Commune, so they toured us around and told us about what they were doing.  The Special Commune is a home/retreat/activity place for adults with special needs.  In their hotel building they have rooms for people with special needs (and their families if they have them) to stay in.  Besides housing and caring for these people, they also give them responsibilities and keep them busy.  They have a couple of theaters where they put on shows, a café where they have mostly food that they grow themselves, a gift shop where they can work and sell their own creations, and an art gallery where they can display their talents.  I wish I could remember all of the details, but it really was a cool program that they had set up.  The people that come to/work at the special commune don’t have to be residents there, but they have that option if they want it.  The idea is that then people from the community will come and hang out at the special commune and enjoy their shows in the theaters or eat in the café.  The whole thing was still in its beginning stages, but we were quite impressed by the idea that he had going and I think it could really take off.  After our tour, we helped them set up their gift shop/art studio and some of us bought crafts from some of the residents there.  Brian is desperately looking for people to come and help them out with this huge undertaking that they have put on themselves.  It could still use a lot of work and definitely some more people to do that work.  They assured us that if any of us needed a break from school or the states, they would be more than happy to house and feed us if we came and worked for them.  Kind of tempting in all honesty.  Brian gave us the address to their website, but it doesn’t really work.  But here is a blog that I found that explains a little more clearly what I have been trying to say….if you are interested http://vivianesview.wordpress.com/2012/01/18/volunteering-with-intellectually-challenged-youth-in-china/ and here is a link to a site that I found with a bunch of pictures of the Special Commune in full swing http://www.flickr.com/photos/specialcommune/page10/.  I know as a group we became very interested in this program, and I am sure we will be talking about and raising money and awareness for it at SVU this upcoming year.  Such an awesome place!

Special Commune (Sorry it's blurry)

After the Special Commune, we went back to the Pearl Market. (Again?? Yes, again. We love to shop).  It was our last day in Beijing and people had some last minute shopping that they wanted to get done here.  We had some more fun with the crazy Chinese salesladies (Especially watching Branden buying jeans. Probably you had to be there. Too funny.) and all got some great deals on a bunch more stuff we probably didn’t need. 

After shopping, we went back to the hostel, took a little break, and then met back in the lobby.  Joe and Sharlet were going to take us to the tree that David O. Mackay dedicated to sharing the gospel in China.  We rode a couple subway stops to a beautiful park next to the Forbidden City.  The park was huge and full of beautiful landscaping and little Chinese gazebos.  And TONS of trees.  Obviously, this wasn’t Utah, and finding a tree that had been dedicated by a Latter-Day Saint prophet (though he wasn’t a prophet at the time) was not going to be very easy in a country like China.  Sharlet told us that when it happened, it was a very quiet thing with just President Mackay and a couple other elders.  As such, we couldn’t ask anyone where it was because no one would know anything about it.  It also wasn’t going to be marked with a plaque that would have said something pretty close to “This tree was dedicated to the fact that there is a God and he is more powerful than the Chinese government, and someday that will be made apparent to them.”  Okay, it wouldn’t have used those words, but that’s kind of what we are saying here.  So, the only way we could find the tree was from a picture on Sharlet’s phone that she had found on some LDS website.  We found the area of the park that it looked like the picture had been taken in, but there was really no way for us to know the exact tree that had been dedicated.  After we had looked for a while, Sharlet gathered us together and told us that it wasn’t about finding the exact tree.  That wasn’t really the most important thing.  What was important was that we were standing there very close to where that spiritual experience had happened and, even more so, that it had happened at all.  We didn’t have to touch the exact tree that had been dedicated to know that a prophet of God had been there and had said a dedicatory prayer that that country would one day receive the gospel just like the rest of the world.  And while it’s slow and quiet and small right now, it is happening.  Even with all of the restrictions placed on the church in China, it is still growing little by little.  We still have a long ways to go in China, but we are not completely shut out of this country.  Sorry Chinese government, but God is in fact more powerful and will get His way in His time.  (Don’t tell them I said that or I could probably be thrown in jail!!)

For dinner, we got some take-out from Pizza Hut and all gathered into Joe and Sharlet’s room and ate pizza and talked about the amazing week that we had had in Beijing.  Then we packed all of our new purchases and dirty clothes into our suitcases to get ready to head to Shanghai in the morning. 

Beijing was smoggy and smelly and crowded and pretty ghetto in some places, but absolutely amazing.  I have already learned so much about this culture that is so different than ours and I am completely fascinated by it.  I’m excited to move to a different city, but I am going to miss our dirty, but friendly, little alley with its food, shops, and naked little kids running up and down it.