This is a view of my city (island) from GuLangYu (the island off my island). It is lovely and I wish you could come and see it too. Yes, you. All of you people who read my blog.


















Laura is here visiting me! She is going to Thailand for her conference in a week and a half, but for now we have been exploring and taking in all the tropical beauty. She has missed foliage living in the dry and barren north. I'm glad she enjoys my city so much. If I can't nurture her with homemade food, at least she will be nurtured by our plants.























This is one of my good friends Phil. He has been around for years and is the best to ask when I have Chinese questions. He speaks English really well and can fix anything electronic (he works at Dell). He is thinking about going to the wild north west for a new life/adventure...in which case, we will all miss him around here.


















We found this amazing doorway.























Here we are, enjoying the foliage. GuLangYu is like a vacation by itself. It's 20 minutes from my home and a boatride away. Coffee, friends, old trees, old houses with Dutch influence, food, flowers, docks, touristy stores, art schools, pianos, no cars, aquariums, amazing sunsets, piano museums...GLY has it all. Everytime I go, I end up in places I have never seen before, which is a little weird since it's a small island and I've been there tons of times.