This week's picture

This picture is of one of the local Hui men. The area where we live is the "autonomous region" for the Hui ethnic minority group. The Hui, descendants of Persian traders on the Silk Road, are ethnically Muslim. Many of the students we teach are also Hui. Usually the younger people don't wear the traditional dress, but when walking around our town, one can see many older men wearing the traditional hats and women wearing the traditional head scarves.

Two weeks in one

Last week was so super busy that I forgot to post the photo of the week! This week I'm trying to make up for it by doubling up. Enjoy!

Below is a photo of a very common sight in China: split pants. Here often children don't wear diapers. They wear split pants that are conveniently open in the middle for easy access. The parents begin training the babies when they are very little to "respond" to the mother whistling. It's a pretty fascinating idea.



Below are two photos of the mountains we can see from our apartment. This is one of our favorite things about where we live. The first photo is an unusually vibrant sunset. The second was taken the morning after a thunderstorm in September. We got rain, but the higher elevations got snow.

Kitty Pictures for this week!

Below are two photos that our Japanese friend took. She is also a teacher at our school and lives in our building. She shares our love of cats and took these awesome pictures of just one of the many stray cats on campus. Thanks, Yuri!

Surprised cat!

Happy cat!

This week's photo

This photo was also taken during our trip to Hohhot. It's from a Tibetan Buddhist temple. These are the "prayer flags." Tibetan Buddhism and temples can be found in many places in China.

Photo of the Week: September 21, 2010

This is a photo we took during our visit to Hohhot, Inner Mongolia. We just had to laugh at this sign...and the people in the picture.

This week's pictures--Sept. 15

Some weeks I can't choose only one picture...

Below is one of the guards at TianAnMen square.

Below is a Chinese tourist at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing.
Smoking is very common for Chinese men.

Introducing, The Picture of the Week!

Last year we were inconsistent with updating our blog, so this year we are beginning our new series, The Picture of the Week. This is the first installment...

We bought a new camera this summer, and Annie has had a great time exploring it's features and being creative. The picture below is from the Nature Center in Annie's hometown. It's a wonderful place full of walking trails and wildlife.



The picture below is from St. Francis of Assisi Cathedral in Santa Fe, near Brian's hometown. The artwork and expression caught Annie's eye.