I think the world is created equal. Even though people are born with different start lines, that doesn’t mean he or she should stay on the lines for ever. The important thing is to recognize it, to face it and to change it. However, among my peers I see many don’t think this way. They envy those born with fortune, whose parents are high-ranked officers or who live in wealthy countries. Apart from that, they feel desperate about their life. They find excuses rather than methods. As a result only can they have negative attitudes in their hearts. As years pass by, they accomplish nothing. Do you want to be one of them? I hope after reading this you don’t want to. The world’s rule is this: regardless of your start line, you are your own master, in other words you change your current status, and all these changes are up to you. If you lost the courage and mettle, you must bear the result about which it brings. Blaming others oftentimes is useless. Focus on your own life, stop being distracted by those you envy, for it is too, useless. Always compare you with your earlier self, not with someone else due to the different lines. Also this can build your confidence, when you see some improvement by your effort. In my view, the praise to the people living in shabby shanties who make themselves out of poverty in Africa should equal millionaires turning themselves into multi millionaires in the west as taking into account different lines they stood at the beginning. Blaming is prevailing among the new generation. They pay much attention to the wealthy people, blaming their money is not earned in good ways. Or they blame their parents who didn’t provide for them as much money as those wealthier parents did for their children . However, they never think about changing themselves. They never believe they can do better if they work harder, have positive attitudes or be thankful. As a result, as time flies, they improve little. I want to mention them that they paid attention to the wrong things. Instead, they should focus on themselves; compare them with themselves. Don’t feel frustrated when the improvement is not huge, for you should know you stand in different lines compared to others. Maybe to you that is a big leap or achievement. So you should be confident, for at least you have changed somewhat. And that is called success. I think you can understand this, maybe you just ignored this before. From numerous cases, we can see people who came to this world with nothing but achieved great things. Let me give you some examples. Politicians: Mao Zedong, George Washington, Napoleon Bonaparte, etc.; entrepreneurs: Jack Ma, Liu Chuanzhi, Steve Jobs, Mark Zarkerberg, etc.; scientists, Albert Einstein, Wright brothers, Thomas Edison, etc.; etc. Some would say: they are not Chinese, and nowadays’ China is different from ten years ago or 30 years ago. To them, I would response like this: well, China is at a special stage now, but it doesn’t matter you becoming more successful. There are always many who are able to achieve great things over tough periods. Why don’t you learn something from them? Stop making excuses as time flies relentlessly even when you are making them. 搜索复制

I have watched the first day of G 20 summit held in Hangzhou entirely. Over that day, we saw leaders drop out in Hangzhou airport; we saw them take photos together; we saw them have a banquet; we also saw them watch a show Here are some questions. Is it a routine? Do the leaders need watching a show? Or do they need to take photos together twice? G 20 summit is well expected by the people in the world, especially Chinese as we wondered how would China hold this summit. However, during the whole day, there was not a core achievement. Leaders in these countries don’t have to watch a Chinese show in China, neither do they need to take a photo or have a banquet in China. They arrived at Hangzhou on the opening day, some of them got to Hangzhou in the late morning. Apart from that, they are the head of their countries, so their time is limited. There is no need to waste it only for watching a show. In regard to this I think it is not necessary to spend one of the two days doing meaningless routine. Suggestions: firstly, all leaders should come to China the day before the opening. Secondly cancel all unnecessary events including shows and fireworks. Thirdly, start the meeting as quickly as possible. Fourthly, leaders should prepare their proposals beforehand in order to make deep discussion in the meeting. Fifthly, they should abandon different views and accomplish agreements or something that can better the world.搜索复制

How long can you memorize a foreign word when you learn a foreign language? I can memorize it in five minutes. However, I forget it in the next 10 minutes. When the next time I see it in an article or news, I can’t get the meaning of it so that I have to look up the dictionary again. Nowadays’ technology has gone beyond recognition but to memorize a foreign word we have to apply to primitive method which is to repeat memorizing it again and again. The more times you memorize a foreign word, the longer next time you repeat memorizing it. I think we all wish we could plant into our brain a chip that can store all the foreign words we need so that once we need them we just draw the data out, for example like using a computer or like the movie in which they are able to gain martial skill from the chips planted into their brains in time of needs. For the time being, we can’t see the silver lining. As a result of it, many people find memorizing words boring, for the repetitive process is dull. Is there a creative method for it? In my view, there are a few little easier ways, such as memorizing words from an interesting article or from a video that you like. Not only does it stimulate your brain, it can to some extent add your interest in memorizing them, although the next time you meet these words you might still not remember them. As a matter of fact, no one can have a flat sail when they want to learn a foreign language. Sometimes you may slog through memorizing words, feeling frustrated when you can’t remember them. You are on your mettle when it comes to this. To decide whether to keep on or to give up, you have the call. However, we should know frustration comes out from expectation. In regard to reducing frustration, we have to lower our expectations. If we make a goal to memorize 100 new words a day, for example, at the end of the day, you might very likely to feel frustrated. Rather than setting high goals, we need more perseverance when our task is to memorize new words. We can’t memorize 100 words a day but we can finish it by dividing them into small quantities and putting them into a few days, for example, memorize 10 words a day and keep doing so over 10 days. The last but not the least, you need using the words, if not, they will fade away like a morning dew evaporates. By using them, it deepens the impression in your brain. You can use them in many ways, either in reading, writing, speaking or listening. There are many other tips you can get for memorizing words, either from the internet or from your teachers. What we need is to put them into practice. After all, these tips don’t belong to you unless you use them. 搜索复制

Hey, wake up! What? Chinese celebrities are advertising page games in line with online games. That’s not a big deal. Really? Yeah, it depends on how you see them. Celebrity advertising games can date back to last decade. But I wasn’t aware of it until one celebrity jumped into my eyes. Fan Wei, whom I have never thought of advertising a page game, a comedian and actor, advertised a game which goes viral on Chinese network. To my surprise, when I searched for celebrity advertising, I amazingly find out many of those who have advertised games like that. Not less of them are in the front line of the entertainment circle. That reminds me the article I read yesterday on how junk food companies target children. This world is far cry from perfection. So I said Wake Up! Stay Aware, Stay Alert!搜索复制

I visited Meng Jiangnv temple on this vacation too. That reminded me the famous love tale about Meng Jiangnv. It is told that in Qin dynasty, there was a family named Meng. One day, the household sowed a gourd plant but it soon grew over the wall to a yard of another family named Jiang and had a gourd there. The gourd split in the middle when it was mature and a plump white baby was lying in it. They gave her a name- Meng Jiangnv. When she was a teenager, all the relatives and neighbors around 5 kilometers recognized her due to her smart and good personality and the ability to play musical instruments and write articles and poems. The old parents loved her like a pearl on their hands. Over that period, Emperor Qin desperately dispatched his soldiers to everywhere to search labor for building the Great Wall. Amid the labor was Wan Xiliang an intellectual. He fled from home and by happenstance jumped over a wall into Meng’s back garden while Meng Jiangnv was wandering there with her maid. Meng Jiangnv took a glance at the gourd plant where Wan was hiding in and found him there. She was worried and called the maid for help, and yet Wan got out from the plant and bowed to her front:” Miss, Miss, don’t worry, I am an refugee running away from being captured, please help me.” Meng Jiangnv peered at him from head to toe, finding that he was a handsome white-faced acknowledged young man. Then she reported that to her parents who met him later and permitted his hiding in their house. During the days he stayed in Meng’s house, Meng Jiangnv and Wan Xiliang fell in love with each other and got married finally. Along with the saying “ Weather is often unpredictable, so is the luck of human beings.” , the lovely couple broke up by an official who abruptly entered the house and cuffed Wan away within less than three days from the wedding. Meng Jiangnv’s heart was shattered, and yet who on earth could take this bad news for granted? Not only can she wait at home, for it had been a year since she last saw her husband, but she was so worried about him that she made a cloth for him and determined to find him by herself. Along the way, she mounted over lines of mountains and waded through strips of rivers, with cold bread and cold water as her food. She slept in a shabby temple for one night and was helped by some kind-hearted people, among whom an old woman who had almost saved Meng Jiangnv’s life is worth mentioning. One day, in a fatigue, with a cold and shivering body, Meng Jiangnv fainted. When she woke up from a warm bed, she realized that she was rescued by someone. Later, an old woman met her with a bowl of warm ginger soup in her hands. Meng was very appreciated and cried “ Many thanks to you, I’ll remember your kindness for ever. And yet my husband was captured to build the Great Wall, I have to continue looking for him once I feel a little better.” Despite the persuasion from the old woman to let her stay, Meng Jiangnv stepped on her journey of finding her husband soon later. Through countless struggles, Meng arrived at the Great Wall at last. However, when she asked the workers for helping her find her husband, they told her he was dead as a result of exhaustion and hunger. “Where is his corpse?” Her tears burst out. “Many have died, the overseer asked us of burying them beneath the Great Wall.” As soon as the voice faded, Meng Jiangnv cried badly, hands beating hard to the wall. Workers surround her were moved, their tears dropped. Suddenly, a cracking sound came out from the Great Wall, and a large chunk of the wall collapsed exposing a pile of human bones inside. “Which are my husband’s”, Meng Jiangnv thought. Soon a method which her mother taught her came to her mind. That is a loved one’s blood can seep into the beloved one’s bones. Then she bit her finger and let the blood spray on the bones. At last she recognized her husband’s bones and cried even more badly. At the moment Emperor Qin was patrolling past there. After hearing the cry and knowing the damage of the Great Wall, he got very angry and led his army to the foot of the mountain on which Meng was crying. However, when he met Meng Jiangnv, he was touched and attracted by her beauty. Instead, he wanted to marry her. How can Meng Jiangnv agree! She would rather be dead than marrying this tyrant. But when she thought about the revenge for her husband, she told Emperor Qin that if he can do three things for her, she would marry him. Qin was surprisingly glad and agreed. She said” the first is to make a gravestone and a tomb for my husband. The second is you wear mourning apparel, walk behind my husband’s coffin and cry with your officials in his funeral. The third is I need a walk in the sea.” Even though Qin didn’t want to do these in heart, he was too attracted by the beauty of Meng to reject the requests. But when he eventually finished those tasks, Meng Jiangnv jumped into the sea and never met Emperor Qin again.[Meng Jiangnv][from here you can see the opposite mountains on which the Great Wall stands]

In the afternoon of the day that we arrived in Xingcheng, we left for Qinhuangdao. It was raining heavily while we were on the high speed way. I kept the speed less than 100 kilometers per hour but always some bigger cars would run past me. They are more expensive than mine, so I think they rely on the better quality of their cars. However, it more seems that they rely their lives on the tires of the car. Why? If the tires slide or exploded, an accident must occur. With all the care and luck that God blessed, we got to Qinhuangdao in the late afternoon. We booked a hotel when we set out. So we went straight to there and unloaded our suitcase. The hotel is a normal room with a large bed, air conditioning, a kettle, a TV and a toilet. 150 RMB more or less is worthy for that. The next morning, we were too excited to wait. There is not so far from Qinhuangdao to Beidaihe. Actually Beidaihe is a district to which belongs Qinhuangdao. It only took us less than 30 minutes to get to the beach. As being well known throughout China, the zone near Beidaihe was well guarded. Policemen are everywhere, they guided our traffic. On the way, for my first time, I saw a fleet of sport cars which were driven by youngsters. They are less than 30, accompanied by pretty ladies sitting next to them in each of their car. Each car is worth more than millions of RMB. Drivers and pedestrians are stopped to see the scene and take photos. The bill of the parking is 20 Yuan. The closet for storing stuff costs 30 Yuan. That means with 50 Yuan or less, you can have fun in Beidaihe. I paid some money for lifebuoy because none of us can swim. The water is not too deep near the beach and with a lifebuoy I can float on the water in order not to get drowned. I teach my wife how to use the lifebuoy, although it is also my first time to use it. But my daughter, no matter how we tried, she would never be persuaded to paddle in the water. Instead she was fascinated by the sand. She played the sand with all her attention, that made us laugh. The environment in Beidaihe is fine, although it is not very clean, it is better than the beach so called golden beach in the same city. But the sea wave is bigger in golden beach. For the safe of lives, plastic lifebuoy is not allowed to use there. But in Beidaihe, it is all fine to use any kind of it. If there is some pity, not sitting on a yacht counts one. Within two days, the skin of my back, my arm and my shoulders is badly scorched by the sunshine. I can not stay there anymore, plus my sore neck began to hurt. We ended the trip earlier than we planned. Anyway, we have been to the beach and it is important. By the way, in the evening we visited the shopping street in the central city. It is not like the accustomed scene in our mind. There are not so many customers wandering on the street and many stores are closed in the early 8 P.M. I don’t know why. However, the next day when we visited a shopping street near Beidaihe, there were a lot of people, shopping and dining. Of course, we had some sea food there too, including some crabs, some mantis shrimps and some clams without any crawfish.

Finally, by the way “finally” is the word that I have saved in Doc. since Monday this week. Thanks to my procrastination, my neck and my 9-day trip. If I hadn’t had this trip, I would have written one or two blogs at least. What’s done has been done, for nothing can buy it back and nothing useful for regret. First of all, my procrastination has delayed my will to write something, although I have decided to make a report when I came back from my trip. Because of my unlucky neck, I have the very excuse to procrastinate. So on Monday, I was thinking about writing this blog the next day. And when Tuesday came, I was thinking about writing it the day after Tuesday. It goes like this so that until now, I haven’t written so much except one word “finally”. What did I do these days? I was re-attracted by the game Hearthstone because my wife was not in the same apartment with me. She went back to her hometown for a tribute to her past mother and for staying with her brother and her father, for they are not often at home. They have business in Shenzhen the very south city of China. Each year she can meet them for only two times, one is in spring festival and the other is in summer. Without her supervision, I am totally free, too free to fulfill my everyday life. In these days, I slept late, ate carelessly and stayed with the game for too long. If there were someone to blame, it would be me, not my wife. My procrastination in my inner mind came out by finding some unreliable excuses. Now, I am releasing my mountain giant to banish it away, hah. Then it comes to my neck. What is wrong with my neck? For driving all the way forth and back and without proper rest, the pillow became the last straw for my sore neck. It is so badly ill that I couldn’t move my neck a little and plus it is very hurt. I can’t lie down by myself, nor could I get up by myself. All these needed my wife’s help at that days. She bought for me a lot of medicine but they didn’t work. The last resort was to see a doctor. I took a NMR in the hospital. During that process, I could hardly lie on the machinery, and when it sent me to a large hollow metal ball, my ears heard some fitful noise coming from that. Fortunately, my bone was not injured and only the muscle surrounds my neck was strained. The doctor prescribed some exported medicine for me; by the way it is much too expensive including the NMR. And apart from that, I had to have some rest. That means I can’t normally do routines that I always do everyday like learning English. So I lay in bed for some days, and if possible I watched some English TV program such as Conan Show and stand-up comedy. I also got a massage using magnetic light which is a kind of medical apparatus. Good news is it is getting much better now, my neck can move forward and backward, right and left, although at some angle it still pains a little. The last one is about my trip. In fact, it didn’t take 9 days, only 5 days actually. I think you have already known the reason for that. I drove 700 kilometers more or less to the city of Qinhuangdao. There is one thing I want to mention along the way, and that is the G1 high speed way that the section from Jinzhou to Qinhuangdao is too crowed and its surface is not even except the lane on the far left. There are so many big trucks on this high speed way due to it is the only way by land to connect the northeast with the other part of China. Anyway, we safely arrived at our first stop Xingcheng in the evening of the first day. Our main purpose was seeing the sea face to face. So the beach in Xingcheng is the resort listing in our plan. The next day with light rain we rambled on the beach. It is for the first time to my wife to see the sea in summer because the last time that we saw the sea in Dalian was in winter. The sand on the beach is OK but on it litter is here and there. I picked up a steel stick with a sharp point buried in the sand. I can imagine the harm that is caused by this stick once someone stands on it with their bare foot. The one who tossed this stick must be criticized. To be continued……搜索复制

Tomorrow is the start of a successive-9-day leave within payment for me. Nine days’ leave which is so rare for me is the longest days that are available for me to have a trip, which is even longer than my wedding leave. In fact, during my wedding, I took two weeks’ leave, but only 7 days left for me to honeymoon and the other 7 days for the ritual. So as a normal citizen, where to get the most of these nine days is a question for me. I have to make it economical and fulfilling. How to do now? Like which movie to watch, where to have dinner or how to consume a weekend, it is hard when it comes to decide where to go for a trip as you have no clue before. Making that decision needs time, like you choose which T-shirt to buy, which clothes is your most favorite. It seems a waste of your time and energy to me. It really does. The only clue that my wife gave to me is that she wants to see the sea. That’s all. And as far as I know, the places which are the closest to me are option A--Dalian, and option B--Beidaihe. They are all 700 kilometers further from us. Which transportation can I use? Options are by car, train or bus? I prefer driving there to taking the other two. But the days are so hot these days. That is the only bad news; anyway it is better than a cold winter leave. Where to live and where to eat? I think as the trip gets on, the answers will be given to me. I don’t like travelling around. As it to me, it is like moving your body miles away to see the scenery which you can see the like in your place. You want to see a sea, you can see the lake, to me they are likely the same. You want to experience a different culture, you can see the photos or read books in which the culture is elaborately recorded. It is no use of wasting your life to see the real objects in eyes when they are available to get in photos or books. I do this for her. If not, I would spend these days staying inside my hot and wet apartment watching Olympics or learning more English. That is called vacation of my style. Ha-Ha, are you in this kind? What is your way to consume a holiday? I suppose many of you would have different opinions. That’s all for today’s blog. I will give a report on this vacation after or during it. Wish me good luck. Peace out.搜索复制

Something which I want to write them down was pondering in my mind these days. I have been reading Michael Murphy’s book <Powerful Attitude>, some of the thoughts are enlightened by this book. It is a book that is worth reading, which I recommend you reading it, when you have time. Below this is my thoughts, thank you for your reading. What you are doing now, what you will be in the future What you are doing now determines what you will be in the future. If you are doing crimes, you will be in the prison in the future; if you are playing video games, you will be a professional player or be nothing in the future. (Think about the odds; are you likely to be professional?) If you are idling around, you will be a common people in the end. If you are watching TV series day in and day out, you will be nothing as well. If you are reading books, you will be an acknowledged person at least. If you are working hard, your life will be going better in the future. If you are hanging around with friends, you will have some confidants in the future. If you are doing the same thing other people are doing, you will end a copy. Choose what you are doing now cautiously because it equals you are choosing what you are going to become. I don’t believe Steve Jobs idled around before he founded Apple, nor did Bill Gates addict to TV series, before he created Microsoft. You choose the same; you will end up in the same. Like John Mason said:” You were born an original; don’t die in a copy.” When you choose to do the same that others have chosen, you will end up in a copy. You are a miracle. You know why? In Michael Murphy’s book <Powerful Attitude>, he said:” you were conceived miraculously. That’s right. Your birth was a miracle. As I’ve shared with you, the chances of you being here is at least several million to one.” He is right; you are not born to be the same. Don’t you feel pity to end your life in the same when you are dead? Think about it; choose to be a unique individual not a copy. Being bad is not the way Don’t do the same when someone is accepting bribes. Don’t do the same when someone is bullying others. Don’t do the same when someone is acting against the world. A man being a criminal is like a women being a prostitute. Don’t make yourself low. We have enough people doing these in the world; do you want to be a part of them? Let alone prison and police are waiting for you, when you are alone, what would you appraise yourself in retrospect? A parasite? Or a pest? Don’t leave things in hindsight, if anything, try the right way of being a human. You can be a good man or woman; not least you are a miracle that doesn’t deserve to be bad. Do things above moral bottom line. Do be a unique person. Do be a good person. Do meaningful things which will decide your future. 搜索复制

A few days ago, I saw how my 3-year-old daughter tortured her toy. At first I showed her how the toy worked. Then I handed it to her. She held the toy and tried several times but it didn’t work in a correct way. With whining, she flings it to the floor with all her strength. I was shocked at the moment. How can a little girl do so in such a young age? But it is not finishing. She then turns aside and pushes the door hard letting it hit against the wall. After a few “bang bang” sounds, I shouted at her loudly and stopped her. She still cried. What I did was just embracing her and calming her down. She sit on my legs, one arm held my back, the other swept her tears. I told her:” Anger doesn’t make things right. It just doesn’t make any sense. Worse than that, your toy is broken now. I tell you what to do when next time you face the same problem. Just keep calm and use your brain. Sometimes it doesn’t work out for the first time. Then you have to try many times until you know how to use it. Don’t you feel regretful that your toy is broken now and you can’t play it any more?” She nodded strongly. I was surprised that she can understand what I said. But anyway that is not the point. The point is that it looks like anger is in us when we were born or at least before we were 3 years old according to the thing happening to my daughter. It has a strong power to destroy things. I don’t remember who said this:” count three, before you say.” Sometimes it works, especially when we are in anger. Just put your action in delay when you are angry. Let your brain work for a while before you say or do something at the moment. It will help. And what is more important is keeping in peace and cooling your brain at the most period of your life. Something trivial doesn’t deserve your anger, furthermore to distract your attention. Han Xin, a famous general as we know, crawled between the butcher’s legs when he was poor. We all know that story. But we need to re-read it again in English if possible. It lies in big principle. Anger is never a priority to apply to our lives. I love our national anthem, which sings like” getting up, the ones who don’t want to be slaves, we are in a critical time.” I think even at that time, their minds are clear, their heads are cool. If anything, anger is the last resort to use. Nevertheless, at the most time, please stay in peace. You would have a peaceful mind and a clear vision on everything. Anger is just like a dye that oftentimes changes the color of what the world really is. 搜索复制