The smiling professor stands in front of a unique planter at the front of the school. I don't know if these are peonies, but perhaps they are. The peonies, for which Luoyang is world famous, will begin to bloom in April. April 15-25 will see the Luoyang Peony Festival, with tourists coming from all over to see these flowers. The peony originated in the city of Luoyang.

We promised you a better view of the exit and entrance sign on the new gym. These were some of the first characters we learned in China, because we saw them on the freeway on ramps. The first character indicates going out, the second one means going forward, and the third means an opening. The three characters together tell us this is the door for going in and out. The sign at the bottom is an alternate set of characters for entrance, which also means an opening for going into a place. We are not sure if there is a difference between the two "entrance" characters, as we see them used interchangably.

Did we mention that everyone rides bicycles? (We promise not to say that anymore) To the left of this sign, you can see a gate leading into the bicycle parking area. We had never seen a parking lot devoted to bicycles before coming to China.

There are a couple of these staircases on the athletic field. We don't know what they are used for, but Deanna thought it would make a cool picture...so here you are. We've seen people sitting on them, but don't think that is their primary purpose, since the steps don't have solid tops. We'll let you know when we find out the real answer.

Although its winter in Luoyang, there are some plants that are beginning to grow. After all, we did just celebrate Spring Festival! Notice the carefully cultivated shrubs in the background.You will see beds like this all over campus, with the shrubs pruned and the soil tilled...ready and waiting for spring. Also notice our loess soil. This soil comes from the Yellow River (Huang He), and has been deposited in Luoyang over many thousands of years.

Here's the view of the front gate across Xi Yuan Road. This is where we cross over most of the time when we want to go to the Dazhang Supermarket. The traffic was pretty light on this day, but has since picked up considerably with the start of the new semester. We now have to be MUCH more careful in crossing the street.

Copyright 2004, Dr. Lee Williams

Last Modified: 11 February 2004

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