Spiritual Enlightenment by Taoist Chinese

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Wizards in China Blog Part IV: Chengdu, Sichuan Province

If Shanghai was history and culture, and Beijing was pomp and ceremony, then Chengdu was emotion. It was in Sichuan Province near the capital of Chengdu, where the earthquake devastated cities and towns last spring. We had a chance to visit some of the affected areas and meet with some the people who had their lives completely changed by the events of May 8th, 2008. Chengdu and Sichuan Province are renown for other historical and cultural features in this part of the world. Also, Randy Foye and his lovely fiancé, Christine joined us for the remaining days of our trip. Of course, Randy is one of our newest Wizards. Just based upon the little time spent with him and Christine in China, it is easy to conclude that we are fortunate to have them in the Wizards family. They threw themselves into the activities, and they were always enthusiastic in participating in all the events. Basically, they fit into the group seamlessly, and added enormously to the good cheer that surrounded our delegation.

Our trip commemorates the visit of the Washington Bullets 30 years ago to China. This important event was only possible because of the establishment of full diplomatic relations between China and the US a few months earlier. The Sichuan Province is the home of Deng Xiao Ping, the Chinese Premier who opened talks with the US which lead to diplomatic relations. Deng Xiao Ping was a proud native son of Chengdu and the Sichuan Province and his birthplace is a proud footnote of history and feature to the people of the area. He was known as a pragmatic leader who differed with the ideologues of the Communist Party. It was Deng Xiao Ping who initiated the reforms that led to China’s re-engagement with the West and are responsible for the new China that we experienced these past ten days.

Sichuan Province is also known for its spicy cuisine. In truth, there really is no true national Chinese food. Rather, Chinese cuisine is made up of myriad of regional cuisines, like Italian cooking, that use local ingredients, contributions from ethnic groups and their cooking in the region, and traditional recipes. A word of advice to the adventuresome foodie who wishes to sample the hottest of Sichuan cooking, the dry dishes that feature meats, poultry, or fish that are mixed in spices or peppers do not really represent the heat of Sichuan cooking. Watch out, trust me, for the so-called wet dishes with the apparently less threatening ingredients like tofu, bean curd, or noodles, that simmer in a broth of red or brown liquids. They are the ones that will blow the top of your head off.

Sichuan Province is the home of Taoism, an ancient Chinese spiritual philosophy that seeks balance and harmony with the physical world. In the foothills of Sichuan Province is the temple that has been the epicenter of the development of Taoism for thousands of years. The temple is open to visitors and it is one of the most beautiful, lush areas in all of China. After a very spicy lunch, we decided to visit the Temple. When our bus stopped on the grounds of the Temple we were led by the Pied Piper of all China, Gheorghe Muresan. Big Gheorghe draws a lot of attention wherever he goes due to his great stature, but he was absolutely the rock star of our group no matter where we went in China. Folks of the highest station to the regular guy on the street wanted to meet him, or take a picture with him, often times without his knowledge or agreement. In fact, I don’t know how he deals with the constant crush of people who flock to him incessantly, yet the “Big Fellow” has a heart of gold, and a warm pleasant temperament that permits him to deal with the situation with incredible grace. Here at the Temple, it was no different, even the Taoist monks left their prayer to flock to Gheorghe as well as the everyday visitor. It was a highlight of our trip to watch Gheorghe with a crowd of people trailing in his wake as he led them to spiritual enlightenment to the gates of the Taoism Temple; all the while he was smiling, touching the people in that particular way that is “Big Gheorghe”. It was is easy to see that Gheorghe has found the “chi“ that leads to harmony and balance.

The last and most enduring memory of Sichuan Province was our visit to the new Youai Primary & Middle school to meet with students displaced by the earthquake last spring. In certain areas the devastation was complete as whole sections of a town or village had collapsed due to the force of the quake. With millions of people homeless and displaced, there is an atmosphere of desperation in the area. In Duijiangyan City, there is an oasis for young students who were displaced as a result of the tragic events. A new school with dormitories built to house the students during the school week so they could resume their studies and then return to their parents on the weekends. The comfort of the school during the week improves their situation as most return to parents struggling to rebuild lives after the destruction of their homes and businesses.

Fortunately, many of the youngsters escaped the quake without physical injury. They were able to participate in our basketball clinic learning basic basketball skills; passing, shooting, dribbling and team play. The more adept had the opportunity to challenge Randy and Gheorghe to shooting games on their new rubberized outdoor basketball court. Randy showed the range and accuracy of a NBA guard in his demonstrations and during the shooting games with the kids. Big Gheorghe got his legs under him during this clinic and hit some shots. Until that time, the “Big Fellow” was zero for China in mid-range jump-shooting. While the kids were impressed with Randy’s obvious NBA skills, they howled with delight when Big Gheorghe started to knock down shot after shot.

After working with the healthy youngsters, it was now the turn of the injured and disabled youngster to try their hand at basketball skill development. Some of these children were confined to wheelchairs, or used crutches and prosthesis to move as a result of devastating injuries suffered during the collapse of school buildings. Many had lost limbs as a result of the quake. There was particularly poignant story of an eleven year young girl who when trapped for days under rubble was forced to cut-off her own leg to crawl to safety when she heard rescue workers digging in her area. When she rolled on to the court to make a shot, tears flowed from everyone as her face lit up with a smile after Gheorghe lifted her up to make a shot. For certain, we had an impact here with our visit, and hopefully we made a small difference in the lives of these courageous young people.

On to Guanzhou.