Emmeline, for the trip from Auntie Bekah’s city back to Chengdu, the city where the airport is, we rode in a sleeper car. That kind of car has beds instead of seats and tables. We got on the train at about 8 o’clock at night, just as it was getting dark. Each section in the sleeper car has 6 beds, 3 on each side, like bookshelves. Only instead of books, there are sleeping people. They turned out the lights at about 10 o’clock and the train hummed and bumped along the tracks until everyone was asleep.

Now it’s about 7 in the morning and I’m looking out the window at the farms and mountains as they go by. It’s a very misty morning, so I can barely see the rows of crops and the farmers walking with their baskets on their backs. Auntie Bekah is still asleep, so I’m waiting for her to wake up to go to the dining car and have some coffee and breakfast.

For EMM

Green tea has been on the table for nearly every meal I’ve had in Liupanshui. Emmeline, people here don’t drink muh coffee at all, but they drink a lot of tea.

We had dinner with two of the teachers Bekah worked with. They picked out their favorite dishes, and ones that were the most typical of that region, for Bekah’s farewell dinner.

For EMM

I have been in need of a haircut for a few weeks, and Mel suggested I wait to get it cut in China. One of Bekah’s best student friends took us to the place where he gets his hair cut and helped explain to the barber what I was hoping for. It worked and I walked out slightly less scruffy than I walked in. Thanks, Leo.

How does my Chinese haircut look, Emmeline?

For EMM

• -Watermelon on a stick
• -Cowboy hats
• -iPhones everywhere.
• -Street sweeping trucks in Liupanshui play “It’s A Small World After All,” sounding like ice cream trucks.

For EMM, Ideas, Travel

Emmeline! We walked through a big market, a little like the farmers’ market in Sioux Falls, and look at all the things they were selling!

For EMM