Listening to a Flute in Yellow Crane Pavilion

A poem forwarded today by a friend from the poetry program. He did not forward it to me particularly -- I'm not even sure he knows I'm going to China. But it strikes the right note.

Listening to a Flute in Yellow Crane Pavilion

I came here as a wanderer
thinking of home,
remembering my faraway Ch'ang-an.
And then, from deep in Yellow Crane Pavilion,
I heard a beautiful bamboo flute
play "Falling Plum Blossoms."
It was late summer in a city by the river.

--Li Po

Chinese Souvenirs of Our Dear Leader

Talked to Matt yesterday. He said if I was going to bring him something back from China, he would like anything from North Korea. I told him I would do my best, though it may have me diverted to Guatanamo as I tried to re-enter the country.

Blog Created

Whether I'll actually have the opportunity to update it while I'm in China -- we'll see. At least, I plan to keep a journal and I could always update it retroactively.

None of the blog templates seemed very Chinese. But perhaps that's better. Don't want to seem too orientalist. Still, I should be able to come up with something a little more in the spirit. Perhaps Mao's little red book?

(The complete text?) You can get it on Amazon by the way: Quotations From Chairman Mao Tse-Tung by Mao Tse-Tung