Trip to ShandongProvince, China

Margareta Jonell

August 20 ∆September 4, 2009

It started out as a couple of missionary kids from theSwedish Baptist Union wanting to return to their roots in Qingdao, Gaomi andJiaozhou. As word got out, severalothers wanted to join in this pilgrimage. Alice Rinell-Hermansson (Lally) and Marianne Jansson Hagbarth were theinitial instigators! Then BertilStrutz and Barbro Strutz Kπrnbo decided to join in, as well as BarbroÕsdaughter Eva and her husband …rjan Renstr˘m. Word got to the US and I, Margareta Rinell Jonell, decidedthat I would join the group and then Carey Rinell Holmquist, son of my cousin,Doris Rinell Holmquist Brown, thought it sounded like something heÕd like todo! In the end we were 8travelers. And what a time we had!

I flew from Denver, via Los Angeles and Seoul, Korea.  Korean Air is a very fine airline withgood service. Flying into Qingdaowas quite amazing. The city isbeautiful from the air. Most ofthe old architecture with red roofs seems to have been carried over to some ofthe modern buildings ∆ lots of red tile. The city looks very large and spread out from the air ∆ and it is!

My luggage arrived in one piece! I found a taxi and the drive through crazy traffic tookabout an hour to the hotel. I wasthe first to arrive, so had a few hours to make myself at home in thehotel. The rest of the group fromSweden arrived around 5.30 PM.

We met at the Home Inn Hotel on Tai Ping Jiao 3 Lu, No. 2 inQingdao. It was a modest, rather inexpensivehotel where we were the only foreign guests. The arrangements had been made by Martha Dong, a friend ofMarianneÕs. After a long day oftravel, we met in the hotel restaurant for jiaozu and then turned in early.

Sunday, August 23

After a hotel breakfast Carey, Lally and I set off to go toChrist Church for the morning service. The place was packed, so we werenÕt able to get a seat inside.  Lally sat on her little stool andeventually an usher gave us small stools to sit on. There were many people standing or sitting outside.  The service consisted mostly of thesermon and a few hymns. We learnedlater that they had had 30 minutes of singing before the service officiallybegan.

Rev. Dong Yan Ling preached. I had met him in 1999. We met with him after theservice. He had been part of adelegation that had gone to Sweden a year or so ago. Bertil had also been at the service.

After the service we began our trek to the places that weresignificant to our family through old Qingdao. We saw the building behind the church where Bud and Dorisfirst met, as well as the Tsingtao American High School and elementaryschool. They are located on thesame hill as the church. Johnattended the elementary school and Lally attended TAS for two years.

We walked to see Faber Krankenhaus ∆ the birth hospital ofall us Rinell kids as well as most of the other missionary kids.  This is still a Qingdao hospital.  We naturally took some pictures ofÒourÓ window where we first saw the light of day!

Carey and I walked up to the old Baptist Church where Budbegan his Youth for Christ meetings when he was a Marine.  This is now a youth hostel ∆ Old ChurchYouth Hostel. The outside of thebuilding still has the large pillars and looks like a church.

We saw the old German style governorÕs building and alsoPark Pension where our family stayed when on trips to Tsingtao.  This building is located right on thewater front.

The four of us found a restaurant where we ate noodles.  Great food! Many others in the restaurant ate seafood and left piles ofshells on the tables. After lunchLally and Bertil headed back to the hotel and Carey and I continued ourwalk! It was a very hot and humidday, but we walked out on the pier with hundreds of Chinese tourists.  We were stopped many times by peoplewho wanted pictures taken with us. On the pier we bought a can of Tsingtao beer to prove that we had beenthere! We bought a ticket to goinside the pavilion to see some underwater creatures. That proved to be nothing to see ∆ but we did find somesouvenirs!

We continued walking along the beach and saw thousands ofpeople swimming and collecting shells and shell fish. Qingdao is a very popular tourist destination for theChinese, but we seemed to be two of very few westerners roaming the city.

In the evening Martha Dong came to take us to herchurch. Unable to get three taxiswe hopped on a city bus for 1 Yuan a piece (13 cents).  Her church is quite a long distancefrom our hotel, and a long walk at the other end of the bus line.  The church was packed.  The minister, another Rev. Dong, was avery dynamic young speaker and he really held the attention of his very youngcongregation. The singing wasfantastic. They had a 20 voicechoir of young people, dressed in white robes. Great voices!

After church we were hungry! Beside the church there was a Òhole in the wallÓ (orbasement!) restaurant. We wereshown a rather dingy room in the basement. We ordered a couple noodle bowls and some soup.  Not real tasty, but it satisfied ourhunger.

A taxi ride home and we were ready for a long nightÕs sleep!

Monday, August 24

This morning Lally and Marianne set off to spend the daywith the Gong family. Pastor Gonghad been killed in 1946 in Wangtai and his son, Dr. Gong, was going to talkabout his life after his fatherÕs death. Martin Jansson (MarianneÕs father) wrote a book about this incident andMarianne has wanted to learn the rest of the story of what happened to thefamily.

So, Carey and I set off (in the wrong direction!!) to findour familyÕs Iltis Huk house. Wewalked through a park by our hotel and saw many bridal couples posing forphotographs. We continued oursearch ∆ and finally found what we were sure was the correct property.  It just happens that it is within twoblocks of our hotel! But we had anice walk anyway!

The old house is not there ∆ and the whole block is now amilitary sanatorium. We walked thewhole property and could only imagine how great the house must have been forour family. In the corner of theproperty were some large rocks (not there during our time).  The property was beautifully landscapedwith shrubs, flowers and trees. Welater learned that several blocks had been torn down and new buildings built aspart of the military sanatorium. Because of the war I may only have been at Iltis Huk one time and I haveno memories of the place. Theamazing thing was that Òour houseÓ is located just two blocks from our hoteland it is just a couple of blocks from the beautiful beach.

Carey and I then took a cab to find a tourist bureau to seeif we could find out how to get to Qufu to see ConfusciusÕ temple.  The office was not very helpful becauseit wasnÕt really the right tourist bureau. We continued to the train station to see if we could findinformation about trains, but the lines were very long, so we gave up on thatthought.

We found an outdoor restaurant between the station and thebeach and ordered jiaozu! Althoughthe place didnÕt look very sanitary we enjoyed our lunch!  The second meal with jiaozu!  So far we think that the jiaozu we maketaste better than the ones we have eaten here!

We were in search of Chinese souvenirs ∆ and walked up anddown many streets and found nothing worth buying. Qingdao doesnÕt cater to foreign tourists.  There are many Chinese tourists in townfor the Tsingtao Beer festival and they seem to like to buy beads, cheapjewelry and sea shells dyed in many colors. Most of the things sold along the beach were gaudy in oureyes! Carey and I began thinkingabout a real tourist shop that would cater to westerners ∆ post cards, realChinese things, brocade, silk, damascene, books about China, etc. etc.

We sat at a bank where Carey needed to take out some money ∆however when he finally got up to the window they told him they could not helphim. So, we went down to anotherbank where he had no trouble getting his needs met! It was hot so we made a brief stop at McDonalds for achocolate shake and a Coke. Wewalked up to the Catholic Church but were not able to get in.  Outside the church were many weddingcouples having their pictures taken in very artificial poses.  The wedding dresses were mostly ivoryor rather dingy looking white and we found out that there are many weddingphoto shops that specialize in taking pictures of couples long before thewedding. The pictures are thenenlarged and displayed at the wedding.

We went home for a brief rest and then we met up with thegroup to eat dinner. Together withLally we went to see if the church was still standing about a block from theIltis Huk house. We found it ∆ andI think it was an emotional ÒfindÓ for Lally. She said, ÒI went to Sunday School here and even sold bricksto raise money for the church!Ó Ofcourse we took many pictures! Themain entrance to the church had been built in, but the side steps led to theold sanctuary. The floor of thesanctuary was slanted toward the front. Today the sanctuary is used as storage for the military sanatorium.  A young military man let us see theinside ∆ row upon row of metal shelves with sheets and other supplies.  As Lally told him that this wasoriginally a church, he seemed quite interested.

We ate dinner across the street from the beach.  It was an outdoor restaurant coveredonly by umbrellas. The host whohelped us order was Òon top ofÓ Lally ∆ closer than a glove fits on ahand!! In spite of his forwardness(to western standards) we ended up with an awesome meal of skewered barbecuedpork, barbecued shrimp on a scewer and a vegetable dish.  They also served delicious freshlybaked bread. The meal cost usabout 35 Yuan ($5) each, including 5 bottles of Tsingtao beer!  WeÕll have to go there again!

When we returned to the hotel, Mrs. Gong and her elderdaughter, Guan Qing Mei, were there. They had brought us a watermelon, peaches, apples, tomatoes, and grapesthe night before, which we had split up among us. Tonight they wanted to have us go to Huangdao to see Mrs.GongÕs brother, Gong Shou Dao, who also has a history in Wantai.  It was decided that the group may gothere on the day when I leave.

Tuesday, August 25

After our breakfast of pickles (about 8 different kinds),small boaboa, noodles, veggies and tea, we left for a full day of sightseeingin Qingdao with Rev. Dong of the Christ Church. He came with a 15 passenger bus and spent the whole day withus. A very generous gift to us.

First he took us to the old part of the city.  We went up to the sightseeing mountainwith the red domes. The views werespectacular! We hiked up to thetop of the dome and saw Qingdao in a 360 degree birdÕs eye view.  Qingdao never is very clear because ofthe ocean, but it was a good day to see the sights all the same

Then we went to the Catholic Church, where one of the churchleaders met us and told about the church. The inside of the church was veryornate and the paintings were done in very vivid colors.  We decided to sing a song ∆ How GreatThou Art, in Swedish ∆ and the acoustics were incredible.  The two crosses on the church towershad been removed during the Cultural Revolution, but replaced in 1983.  Outside the church we saw many bridalcouples having their pictures taken! Quite the fad.

Then off to see the PoetÕs Park ∆ Baihuayuan Garden.  This was the site of the international cemetery where Grandfather JA Rinell was buried, as well as a Strutz family baby, Erik Thong [Thoong] and some others that our families knew.  Lally remembered the funeral procession for Farfar entering by a wrought iron gate. We don't know the exact location of the grave, but feel good that the area is a lovely park. At one time the authorities wanted to build houses on the property, but the Chinese people did not want to live on an old graveyard.  Carey picked up some rocks (he gave one to me) and I picked a few leaves from a maple tree that I will press.

Then it was time for the Olympic Sailing arena.  It was basically a long pier, butlovely with all the flags and Olympic emblem decorating the area.  This is in the new part of Qingdao ∆this whole modern part of the city has been built in the last 20 years.  We strolled out on the pier to getbetter views of the Qingdao coastline.

Time for lunch! And what a lunch it was! Wehad a private room with a very formally set table. We must have enjoyed at least 25 different courses.  First they came in with a variety ofpickles, vegetables, beans, peanuts in a wonderful sauce, seaweed, octopus,sashimi on a beautiful platter etc. Then they brought a large piece of beef grilled with a deliciousmarinade ∆ to be eaten with a knife and fork. That was followed by several other varieties of dishes.  Rev. Dong kept on Ògambei-ingÓ us withQingdao beer, thanking us for coming, for our missionÕs part in the old days,for our interest in the Chinese church movement, etc. Very formal!

Rev. Dong Yan Liang is the vice president of the ShandongChristian Council and the President of the Qingdao Christian Council.   He is obviously a high-up leaderin the Three Self Church. Lasttime when I met him he always had a political person with him.  This time we spent the whole day withonly him. He is well known inQingdao ∆ which we observed on our next stop!

Rev. Dong asked if we would like to drive out toLaoshan. Of course we did!  This is the home of the DaoistTemple. The drive to Laoshan goesalong the coast where we could see fishing boats and fish nets laid out in theocean. It takes a little over anhour to drive there from Qingdao. Since being here 10 years ago, they had made some changes in the trafficallowed on the mountain. Rev. Dongspent some time talking with the parking authorities where all the buses wererequired to stop ∆ and before long our bus was headed up the mountain with aspecial pass in the window. Infact, when we approached the temple, the gates of the temple opened for us andwe drove right into the main temple area! Evidently, Dong knows one of the monks here.

The temple and surrounding area, nestled among trees on themountain side, felt very mysterious ∆ the humidity was high and it was hot ∆ itseemed like we could watch the moss grow! Of special importance are the 2100 year old trees on the templegrounds. Many large and smallbuildings were the homes of various gods. Many people lit incense and worshiped. We were surrounded by hundreds of tourists and a large groupof red-clad Canon camera representatives.

After the temple visit we continued to DongÕs childhood homevillage in the mountains. Thisdrive took us on a winding coastal road where we could see the rows and rows oftea bushes growing. A very prettysight which reminded me of Japan. Laoshan tea is considered to be the best in all of China.

We drove straight to DongÕs childhood church inNanbeiling. DongÕs father, adeacon in the church, met us there. Mr. Dong Sr. is very proud of his son being a pastor.  Their family has been Christians for6-7 generations. A Presbyterianmissionary, Hunter, came 138 years ago and began this church.  Many people in this village areChristians and the crime rate is very low. Rev. Dong said that people donÕt lock their doors because itis so safe in this village.

Then it was time to eat again! We stopped at the Jusco department store, in the restaurantarea, and sat in the Òshow windowÓ where people on the outside watched thisgroup of hungry westerners devour soup and jiaozu! Dong kept on ordering more jiaozu ∆ so that finally he hadto take some home in a plastic Òdoggy bagÓ.

Dong left those of us who had energy to shop at the Juscostore, while he returned to the hotel with those of us who preferred to go tothe hotel. Carey and I wentshopping. Carey was looking for abackpack and both of us thought that we might find some souvenirs.  The only thing we found were someTsingtao Beer festival t-shirts for Dave and Kevin. I also found 2 panda t-shirts for Maia and Alexandria.  Otherwise we were disappointed becausewe have seen nothing real Chinese that you would find in a tourist city likeBeijing. Carey and I definitelythink we could do a bang up business by developing tourist items that peoplewould want to have from Qingdao!!

Wednesday, August 26

Breakfasts are getting a wee bit boring!  I toasted some bread for a change andate a hard boiled egg, but will probably go back to my regular Chinese mealwith boaboa, pickles, noodles, and watermelon tomorrow!

We all decided that we wanted to go to a temple where thereare some stores hoping to find a souvenir or two! The temple was interesting. Many people were there to offer prayers with huge candlesand incense. One room was filledwith various gods for each of the twelve astrological signs.  One room was for fortune telling; oneroom was for individual prayers.

There were some stores. One thing I found was a yellow tiger or dog, very colorfullypainted, that was similar to a toy I had as a child. I bought it! Also I found a cloth stuffed tiger that was also like one of my oldtoys. One store sold paper cutsand I found a framed horse that I bought since I am born in the year of thehorse.

All of us then took two taxis to the Zhongshanli shoppingstreet ∆ but we ended up in two different places! Carey, Eva and I ended up at the Qingdao Arts and Crafts Co(where we were supposed to go!) ∆ and the others ended up north and east ofthere. After a few phone callsback and forth we found each other.

We had lunch in another hole in the wall!  We ate veggies and sweet sour pork andrice. We were all very satisfied ∆again for about 20 Yuan each. Wecertainly arenÕt spending money on food!

We separated to do our own shopping.  Carey and I went up and down, aisleupon aisle, of stores that sold pearls, jade, shells, beads, luggage, watchesetc. But there were hardly anyÒChineseÓ things ∆ although everything there was made in China.

I did make a few purchases with the help of CareyÕs expertbargaining power! I found a watchthat tells two times (good for when I travel); a red white and blue small scarf(that IÕve looked for for years!); 3 little brocade outfits for James andJessica FischerÕs 3 new babies; and then a black pearl necklace and earrings tomatch. I was happy with mypurchases.

Then the dark clouds opened up and it poured!  It took a long time for us to find ataxi, but finally, drenched, we were able to get home!  Humidity was 100% on this day!!!

One other thing we saw that caught my attention wasskateboards that bent in the middle and had one wheel on each half rather thantwo wheels. I filmed some boys whowere riding on them and asked them where you could buy them.  They showed me a stand where a womanwas selling them. The boys (mygrandkids, that is!) would love these!

We ate dinner at a nearby restaurant ∆ then went to thebeach to get some sand to take home! Qingdao sand! From ÒourÓbeach!

Two other ladies are joining our group so Lally sat andwaited for their arrival. They areMaria Ernestam and Lina Forss. Both are authors. Mariawants to write about Erik and Thora Thong [Thoong] because she is distantly related tothem. She writes fiction and wantsto incorporate their story in her new novel which may be called ÒPŒ andra sidansolenÓ (On the other side of the sun).

Tomorrow we anticipate an interesting day as we will bevisiting Gaomi and Jiaozhou, two of our mission stations.

Thursday, August 27

The big day of memories! We were picked up in a van, arranged by Martha, and off wewent! Our first stop was Gaomi, anhour and a half ride. The hardestpart was getting out of the Qingdao traffic. The highways are in good shape and not too busy.

At the Gaomi church we were met by Rev. Zhang and a cityrepresentative (a party representative). Rev. Zhang is in his 40Õs, who seems to have a lot on the ball.  We were first welcomed with water,fruits and peanuts. The fruits,peaches and plums, were as hard as rock! They told us about their church and all the programs they have.

Their old church is located right beside the new one, whichis in the process of being built. The new church costs 7 million Yuan ∆ and it is already paid for by themembers. They have 10,000members. The new sanctuary willseat 2500. Currently they havethree services ∆ 5.30 AM, 7 AM and 5 PM. The new church has a parking garage on the street level ∆ and thesanctuary is on the second floor.

The church is also building a new old folksÕ home for 50residents. We went to see thatsite as well. They had brought the99 year old Pastor Li in a wheel chair to meet us. He had worked with Martin Jansson ∆ so it was very touchingto see Marianne greet him. He isboth blind and deaf ∆ so I donÕt know if he had any idea what washappening. He gave noreaction. He is the only residentnow in the home and the church members take care of him because his family isnot able to do so. Ten years agowhen we were here he was still preaching every Sunday!

The new building surrounds the old Gaomi missionaryresidence where both the Janssons and the Thong [Thoong]s had lived.  This is where the Thong [Thoong]s lived whenThora got the word that her husband, Erik, had passed away.  He had been accidently shot and wasrecovering. But when he stood upto go back home, he had an embolism which killed him. Imagine the shock when Thora thought they were bringing himhome healthy, and finding out that he had passed away.  She was left with their two year oldson, Carl Erik. We were able towalk around in the old part of the building and saw their old rooms andveranda.

The church also has a Bible school with 24 students.  Most students come from the countryside, so they live in one part of the building and have classrooms in another.

We were then taken to the countryside to see an olddilapidated church, surrounded by tall overgrown weeds and somevegetables. The choir directorwoman who followed us said that she had come to school in this building.  This church was built by a Swedishpastor.

We were then taken to a restaurant for lunch.  At the table we found out that two ofthe men who had been with us were from the ÒpartyÓ from Jiaozhou!

The visit to Gaomi was over and we headed to Jiaozkou, avery different atmosphere!

We were immediately taken to the government building wherewe were met by Ms. Zheng Wen, the United Front Work Department.  She has only had this job for oneyear. She had a cute little 23year old interpreter, Eileen, who was new to the job. She was one of 4500 applicants for the job!  We were videotaped during our wholestay in Jiaozhou and one can wonder what they did with these tapes!!  On the screen in the official room theyhad put up a sign that read ÒWelcome Lally and Swedish friendsÓ!

Ms. Zheng told us all about the wonderful things that Jiaozkouhas done to become a modern international city. Lots of propaganda ∆ especially about freedom ofreligion. She said that there arefive major religions: Protestants, Catholics, Buddhists, Daoists andMuslims. There are approximately719,000 people in the Jiaozhou area, including 13 towns and 5 communities.  She stated that there is one Three Selfchurch and 29 preaching places. Jiaozhou is going to be an international city.

We were taken upstairs to see a display of future plans forthe city. There was one display ofold pictures of old Jiaozhou that were taken by our dad, Egron Rinell.  No credit was given!  They showed us a very impressive videoof the city plans.

This visit took a long time and we were anxious to see whatwe wanted to see ∆ the church and our property! We drove to the church and were welcomed by Pastor Wang andChung Yu Whau who had been a teacher at our Rui Hua school.  Later Chung became a doctor and was nowan elder in the church. The choirwas there ∆ dressed in their robes ∆ singing for us. They had set a table with tea and fruit.  Pastor Wang was a bit too jovial anddemonstrative! He really seems tohave to impress the party boys!

After a group picture outside the church we tried to getaway to see Oscar and HellenÕs old house! Carey and I scurried around to take pictures. We asked if we could see the inside ∆ and we were allowed togo in through what used to be the kitchen. Then we saw the old dining room and living room.  All other areas were blocked off!  Bertil, who had also lived in thehouse, and Lally felt right at home. It was great to get into the house. We took many pictures and I picked up some stones from theyard!

Pastor Wang evidently felt that he needed to give each of usa gift. So he gave each of us atwo volume book which we thought was Christian literature.  We only found out later that they werebooks on general health and hygiene!! Not very useful for us!

We made a stop at the north and south man-made lakes thatare being built and filled with water. Huge fountains will one day be spraying water up in the air.  The site was quite impressive and I canimagine that it will be a Jiaozhou sightseeing destination.  We were also told that there is abridge in the process of being built between Qingdao and Jiaozhou and anothercity west of Jiaozhou. On the wayhome we saw the beginnings of this bridge. A tunnel is also being built under the bay.  The bridge will make travel timebetween Qingdao and Jiaozhou 20 minutes! The old Jiaozhou is no more!

We were taken to a very nice restaurant for dinner ∆ notthat we were hungry since we had had a big lunch in Gaomi.  Ms. Zheng, who had not gone to thechurch with us, hosted this meal. Again we had about 30 courses, and I canÕt even begin to describe allthe food. Cold plates with nuts,pickles, raw vegetables, sea food, meat etc. Then many warm dishes such as whole fish, snails, pork,mushrooms, and jiaozu. Onespecialty in this region is sea slugs, often served in a soup.  Not my personal favorite!!  Ms. Zheng kept toasting us throughoutthe meal.

Lally was presented with a beautiful book with old picturesfrom Jiaozhou ∆ and all the pictures, with the exception of maybe five, werepictures from EgronÕs albums. Several years ago Lally had scanned in his pictures and made CDÕs andsent them to some people in Jiaozhou. These were now in a publication ∆ however, no credit was given to thephotographer!

The day in Jiaozhou was good, however we were always underthe leadership of the party folks. No church representatives were even invited to thedinner. This was our ÒofficialJiaozhou day!

We were tired and a little frustrated after our long day, sowe enjoyed taking it easy in the van on the way home.

Friday, August 28

At 9 AM we met with James Kuster, who is a ÒmissionaryÓ herein Qingdao. They are under CampusCrusade, but work under the umbrella of working with families and humanresources. James and Kari andtheir children met Meilynn and Dodo in Washington last month and thatÕs how we connectedwith them. James is veryinterested in the old China and had many questions for Lally who could tell himabout Qingdao and missions in the old days. Their three children attend an International School inQingdao. They have lived here for7 years.

At 11.30 AM Pastor DongÕs driver came to pick us up forlunch. More food!  We were taken to a very beautifulrestaurant. It was our group and 4Chinese men. Three of them werepastors who had made a trip to Sweden last year. They had three party people with them on that trip!  Rev. Gao was one of the pastors and heseemed very nice and sincere. Heloved Sweden and even Swedish food!!

Again we had a huge meal. We began with goose liver on toast ∆ not my personalfavorite and not very Chinesey! Thecourses kept coming ∆ two types of whole fish, several cooked and rawvegetables, cold sashimi, clams, snails, cooked peanuts, candied Òsvart r˘tterÓwith sesame seeds, chicken feet, raw green onions, soup, and fried rice at theend! Again Tsingtao beer and tea!

Then Pastor Gao drove us to town for shopping.  We ended up at the same place whereCarey and I had shopped the other day ∆ so we decided to go to the Shandon artcenter. It was a beautiful andexpensive state-run store! Marianne and Maria both bought Chinese silk dresses.  Carey shopped and I looked.  Lally and Marianne went back to thehotel. Maria, Lina, Carey and Ishopped along the main road up from the pier. I made a CD of my pictures to make sure I donÕt loseany! Evidently I didnÕt have mycamera on the right setting so I hope the pictures will turn out okay in myShutterfly album I plan on making.

In the evening the four of us went to the TsingtaoInternational Beer Festival. Itwas wild!! Lots of singing on manystages and snake dancers too! Maria bought 20 masks for a masquerade party sheÕs having thisfall. All for 120 Yuan.  She was thrilled!

We ate some baozu and a pitcher of beer ∆ that was oursupper!

In the Tsingtao beer pavilion we finally found some Tsingtaosouvenirs. I bought a shirt forJohn. Carey went gung-ho andbought some pitchers, t-shirts, a hat and some glasses.  We took a cab home -- tired after a lotof walking!

Saturday, August 29

Our hotel breakfasts are getting a little old!!!  Some of our group isnÕt feelinggreat. MarianneÕs cold seemsbetter, but Barbro and …rjan had upset stomachs and Barbro didnÕt join us forthe rest of the dayÕs activities.

Lally and Carey took Lina and Maria around to the old cityand to the park (graveyard) to see the sights that were important to ourmission history. Maria needed tosee the burial place of Erik Thong [Thoong] for the book she is writing.

The rest of us, or actually Marianne, Eva, …rjan, and I,went to the home of MarthaÕs parents for a full day of preparing jiaozu.  Mrs. Gong had already prepared thedough and the meat fillings. Ilearned the Ònew and fasterÓ way of putting jiaozu together with just a squeezeof the hands. I really like my oldway better and they turn out prettier!! I did learn how to roll each piece of dough individually with a smallrolling pin. You have to flatten the dough with your hand, then use the rollingpin to make it flatter ∆ with your left hand you keep turning the dough to makeit round. The middle needs to bethicker and the sides need to be thinner! I was able to do it, but my large rolling pin is faster, although not asauthentic!

While we were making the jaozu, the uncle ∆ Gong Shou Dao ∆was preparing many other dishes. He is an amazing cook and he prepared 8 other dishes, including a friedwhole fish, a goat meat and vegetable dish, two different kinds of leek withchicken and pork, and a potato dish with shrimp. Everything was very tasty.

The jiaozu ∆ and the other food ∆ were the best we have hadon this trip. It is amazing how much good food could come out of that smallkitchen. The mother, Mrs. Gong,kept on flling our plates with jiaozu until we were ready to pop!

The Gong family lives in a very nice and largeapartment. They had four rooms anda kitchen. The father, Guan FengGang, worked for the communist party and it was obvious that they take care oftheir own. He does a lot ofpainting and he showed off some of his work.

At the end of the meal they gave each of us gifts ∆ a framedpicture and a jade necklace. TheSwedes gave each of our hosts a gift as well.

After eating watermelons we came back home ∆ very full.  I began writing my journal, and thenRev. Dong came up with gifts for each of us. He gave us each a beautiful box of Laoshan tea, some Laoshanpears and grapes. The Chinese areso generous with their time, food and gifts.

Some of us had a bowl of egg drop soup and fruit in thedining room. Lina and Maria joinedus. They will be leaving for homeat 5.30 AM tomorrow. We said ourgood byes.

I need to explain the Gong family ∆ and write down theirnames and Òfamily treeÓ. Theirdaughter, who calls herself Martha, is Guan Qing Zhu. She is the one who has made all the arrangements for usthrough Marianne ∆ hotel and taxis for long trips.

Father = Guan Feng Gang (had worked for the government)

Mother = Gong Xiu Lan (her uncle was Pastor Gong who waskilled in Õ46)

Martha = Guan Qing Zhu (daughter)

Sister of Martha = Guan Qing Mei (she has a 20 year olddaughter)

Uncle = Gong Shuo Dao (MotherÕs brother)

The old grandfather of the Gongs was a pharmacist and wasquite well-to-do. He was one ofthe first Chinese Christians in our mission. He found some property for the mission to buy.  When we were in the home of Gong XiuLan she became very emotional when ÒfarmorÓ was brought up and said we couldnot talk about her. It was neverclear to us why we should not talk about her.

Pastor Gong Zing Johng was one of three children of the oldgrandfather, as was the father (or mother??) of Gong Xiu Lan.  Pastor Gong was killed in 1946 togetherwith 8 other people in Wangtai. Not all 9 were Christians, but several were. Wangtai was a very negative place for Christians at thattime. At his death he left threechildren ∆ a son who was just a few weeks old, a 2 year old son who became Dr.Gong, and another daughter who was about 7 years old at the fatherÕsdeath. The youngest child diedwithin a short time of his fatherÕs death.

Dr. Gong was blacklisted during the CulturalRevolution. He left a wife andchild and fled from Jiaozhou in order to protect his family.   He went to a place near Harbinwhere he remarried and had three daughters. He later returned to Jiaozhou where he has a medical clinictogether with two of his daughters.

Sunday, August 30

On Sunday morning at 8.30 AM Lally, Carey and I were met byJudy Xiu and her sister Annie, who is a doctor. They were going to take us to Jiaozhou to visit some of ourhouse church friends.

Judy Xiu has an interesting story. She became a Christian very recently.  She read some of Yin YingÕs books andbecame interested in the past history of missionaries in Jiaozhou.  Her grandmother had told her storiesabout our dad Egron and uncle Oscar. She has had phone and email contact with Yin Ying in San Francisco.  She is in her 30Õies.  In a very short time she has learnedvery much about people involved in the house church movement and had contactedmany of our old friends for us to meet.

Our first stop, after some searching, was at the home of theonly still living teacher from our Rui Hua school, Gao Wei Yi.  Dr. Gong also was there, as well as Mr.GaoÕs son and daughter-in-law. Mr.Gao belongs to the house church and this being Sunday they had just had aservice in this very room. We satin a large room and they served tea and fruit. Mr. Gao was very open about talking about the Three Selfchurch that Òserves two mastersÓ, the party and God. He has very definite views. He preached a little sermon to us about putting our faith inone God. Mr. Gao has cancer of theesophagus, but seemed to have energy while we were there.  He had taught music and chemistry inthe Rui Hua school. He sangfor us from a Christmas program he had led in 1945 ∆ singing each part anddirecting with his hands! He wasthankful for mother who had taught music and led a choir in the church.  I gave him a CD collection ofhymns. I hope he has a CD player!  He did speak some English.  After a prayer and a group photosession we left for Rui Hua School, No. 1 High School of Jiaozhou.  We were met by the Principal Mr.Liu. However, because we needed tosee the school with the others in our group who were coming later, we went tolunch first.

They took us to the same restaurant where the ÒpartyÓ hadtaken us before ∆ even the same room. Again we were given a huge meal ∆ sea slugs and all!  I gave my slug to Feng who appreciatedit more than me!

What was nice about the lunch was that, in addition to threeofficials from the school, we also had Fengs with us. Feng Tian Min (or as he was called before, Feng Yua Han) isthe oldest brother of the Feng family. Their father was a teacher at the school during our time in China.  Also Feng Yua Nan, my playmate, and hiswife were there. Elder FengÕsgrand-daughter and her husband, both who work for the city government, werealso there. They were probably intheir 20Õs.

Principal Liu was very animated ∆ and perhaps a littlefilled with beer ∆ kept on cheering us for various things ∆ thanking our familyand mission for contributions made, etc.

We went back to see the very impressive school.  We were taken to a conference room onthe third floor ∆ on the table set with bottled water and fruit ∆ was also aChinese and Swedish flag. We hadto wait for the other group (Marianne, Eva, Orjan, Bertil and Barbro) to come.

Some information about the No 1 High School of Jiaozhou:

Principal∆ Liu Wen Zheng

4000students

Thehighest three grades of high school

In1894 there were only 5 students

Movedto new campus in 2002

Propertyis 300 acres

340teachers and staff

Inkeeping with the old traditions of Rui Hua they have many famous graduates

Japaneseoccupation was the most difficult time

UnderPrincipal Wang, no Japanese language or culture was taught, nor Japanese

flagflown above the school

Schoolis known for its good teaching in Shandong

Good relations between school andS. Korea and the US

Have had exchange students andteachers to these countries

In the 100 year old tradition theywant to do better and better

Reminded us of the Rinells andothers who made education possible in China

Other information about education:

800,000students test for entrance to universities in Shandong

Only200 accepted each year

Manystudy in Australia because they canÕt get into university in China

Noschool fee for kindergarten through grade 6

9-12grade has a 1600 Yuan fee per year

AtNo. 1 High School the fee is 3900Yuan, plus cost for food, etc.

Costof university is 20-30,000 Yuan per year

Pollution, water and increasing population are the mainproblems for China. Development ishappening very quickly and that causes problems. Western China is not developing as quickly as Shandong.

After hearing about the school we were taken on a veryinteresting tour. First they tookus to the historical room where they had huge pictures of Dad (Egron), Farfar(JA Rinell) and Principal Wang. They had a large picture of our family (I was 5) and they gave credit toFarfar and Dad for starting Rui Hua school. Actually it was Farmor Hedvig who began the school!  There were also pictures of the oldschool. It was very interesting tosee this room. We continued on tosee some classrooms and the martial arts rooms. New students had been divided into groups and were learningto march in squadrons like soldiers. We continued walking through the campus and noted that they had someponds and beautiful trees and shrubs throughout the campus.

We were all very impressed by the school and very happy thatwe were able to see it. Dad wouldhave loved to see this place!!

We next headed to see Principal WangÕs grave.  Although he died in 1989 his studentshave recently inscribed a poem on the back of the stone in his memory.  We had asked Judy to buy some flowersto place on the grave. The wholegroup, including some of the school staff, went to the grave.  There were hundreds or thousands ofwhite identical tomb stones lined up in neat rows. We found Principal WangÕs grave. On the front was the inscription of his name and dates andeven a small picture of him. Infront of the stone was a wooden cross, the only cross we saw!  We looked at the engraving by hisstudents, in red writing. Wegathered around and sang, ÒHπrlig πrjordenÓ (Fairest Lord Jesus). Itwas a very special and heartfelt moment for all of us.

Earlier in the day the Fengs had asked us to go home withthem. I really wanted to accepttheir invitation because they lived right next to our property and I wasanxious to have a look at their place as well as maybe catch a peak into ourarea. But, for some reason theydecided it was too late to do this. I was very sad about that.

I gave Feng Yua Nan a three-part CD of Christian hymns.  I hope he has a CD player, too!  His wife and he still lead the singingin a couple of house churches each week. He seems to be such a nice person ∆ has a charming smile.  I just wish I could talk to him.

During the day Lally had the opportunity to talk to FengBrother #4 who lives in Jinan. Heis a doctor there. He was JohnÕsplaymate as a child.

We said our very sad goodbyes to the Fengs.  It was sort of like saying goodbye tothe past ∆ our past.

The FengÕs son-in-law drove a very fancy car and had Lallyin his car with the rest of the Fengs. They drove us to the edge of the city and then we had to say goodbyeagain!!

What a fantastic day Judy and Annie prepared for us.  We were so thankful for all that theydid to make our second day in Jiaozhou so special.

Monday, August 31

This morning Carey, Lally and I walked several long blocksto the Hai Tiang Hotel. We hadheard that they had some shops in that fancy hotel. Well, here we found some nice Chinesey things.  I ended up buying two dragon kites forthe Jonell and Yarrington families. They look very cool and I think the boys (and their dads) will be excitedabout them! They each came in alarge wooden box and now I have the task of packing them!  But they do fit in my suitcase.

We ate a Japanese lunch of udon soup and tempura in aJapanese restaurant in the hotel. It was a nice change from our Chinese fare.

After a few minutes at the hotel the three of us took a cabto go and see our young pastor friend Liu Bu Jun. He is now 27 and has been a pastor-in-training for 4years. He went to ShanghaiSeminary. He is the grandson ofYang Shu Min. Lui Bu Jun and hismother, Zhong Wei Jing, still live in the shack that we had visited 10 yearsago.

We brought some fruit for them. Their shack seemed to be in better shape than it wasbefore. Before the Olympics thegovernment helped people make their homes more attractive and as a result thisfamily now have a kitchen indoors instead of having to cook outside.  The two of them still live in limitedamount of space.

We had an interesting conversation.  Lui Bu Jun canÕt be ordained foranother 2 ∆ 3 years. He wascareful not to say anything against the government and the Three Self churchmovement. His mother was quiteoutspoken and said that she feels there are definitely problems in therecognized church and that the house church is not as free as it should be.  She also said that new people who cometo the church donÕt know anything about what early missionaries did forChina. It would have been veryinteresting to have talked with her without her pastor son in the room!  Of course she has to support the churchher son preaches in!

From their home we took a taxi with Lui Bu Jun to visit hisgrandmother, Yang Shu Min, in an old folksÕ home. She is now 82 and looks very old. She was sitting up in a chair beside her bed.  She was surprised to see us, and it tooka little time for her to recognize us ∆ or Lally! Then she understood. She was introduced to Carey, because Dodo and she had played together aslittle girls. She even sang ÒJesusloves meÓ in English. The staffstood around and watched. Shelives in a room with at least 10-12 beds. Most people were sleeping in their beds.

From there we took a taxi to drive past Farfar RinellÕshouse, on Guanhai Yilu #3. Thestreet was dug up around the house, but Carey and I found the house and climbedthe steep steps to the house. Wemet a daughter of Yang Li An ∆ the cook for the Jansson family.  Her name is Yang Guang Ying and shelives in the house. I just saidthat I was LallyÕs meimei ∆ and she was very excited! She wanted us to come back with Lally, but we couldnÕt rightthen.

Later in the evening, Yang Guang Ying and two of hersisters, Yang Guang Mei and______ came to the hotel and had dinner with ourwhole group. One other woman alsocame, but Lally didnÕt know her. Yang Guang Ying is a lay worker in the ChristChurch. She leads classes forpeople who want to be baptized as well as Bible classes in the Christchurch. Of course they camebearing gifts and fruit! We arewell fed and well gifted!

Tuesday, September 1

This morning James and Kari Kuster came to see Carey andme. We went to the park in orderto have more privacy from listening ears. They do most of their work through small groups preparing for marriageand using the book ÒThe Five Languages of LoveÓ. They generally speak through an interpreter.  They say that there are many jobsavailable for foreigners who want to teach English conversation.

It was a beautiful day and was probably the clearest day wehad experienced in Qingdao. We walked down by the beach and saw many bridalpairs being photographed. Thesephotographers also do picture taking of families, individuals, etc.Ñsort oflike Glamor Shots in the US.

We met up with the rest of the group at the hotel to driveto lunch. We were met by Ting ShouYi and his wife, Ji So Cun. He wasan English teacher before he retired. His wife and Ji So Zhong are sisters.  Their third sister died in December.  She was DodoÕs best friend whilegrowing up. The sisters livedwithin the inner wall in Jiaozhou and the family was quite wealthy.

The sister, Ji So Zhong, had been a teacher in the Bibleschool. They invited us to a hugejiaozu lunch with many side dishes! We were stuffed ∆ again!

After lunch we walked to their apartment.  It was located near the old folksÕ homewe had visited yesterday. Theylive three floors up and had a nice apartment. We were served Sprite, fruit and sun flower and watermelonseeds. People are sogenerous! Mr. Ting sang an operasong for us and a table grace.

We came back to the hotel and Carey and I decided that weneeded to go swimming in the Yellow Sea on Beach #3. It was really nice! The others in our group had all gone swimming every day, so they thoughtit was about time that we also swam! It was a very clear day in Qingdao! The water was warm ∆ the swim was awesome!

After a shower it was time to eat again!  The three of us decided to go to ourbarbecue place along the beach. Weate some of their delicious bread and a vegetable and tofu dish.  All was very tasty.

The owner, who had helped us order the first day we atethere, came and sat at our table, beside Lally. He kept asking Lally questions, and we really wished that hewould leave! He never did!  He almost sat on top of Lallythroughout the meal. He seemed tohave no understanding of what personal space is!

Wednesday, September 2

My computer wonÕt work today! The server was down yesterday and I may have pressed a wrongbutton! I used CareyÕs for a whileto check emails..

The rest of the group went to Huangdao and Wangtaitoday. Together with their guideand taxi driver they were able to find the property in Wangtai where one of ourmission churches was located. They had a wonderful day.

As for us, (Lally, Carey and me) we had another jiaozu lunchto go to!!! How many jiaozu havewe devoured on this trip? Thistime we went to the pier to meet a group of students from the old Rui Huaschool.

They were all sitting in the shade as we came to our meetingplace. We walked up the street toa jiaozu restaurant and they ordered a platter for each person ∆ many differentvarieties, all very tasty! Butwhat a ÒfeedÓ it was!

The people who were there had all gone to our missionschool. One couple was especiallynice. Her name was Helen Wang andher Chinese name is Wang Gin Wen, and husband David QuangÕs Chinese name isQuang Jing Yuan. They met atschool. She walked to school eachday and he rode his bicycle. Buthe often developed problems with his bike, so he had to walk her home!  Helen was good friends with theReinbrechts, American Lutheran missionaries in Jiaozhou.  Mazie Reinbrecht drove them in her caron their wedding day! Helen alsotaught in our primary school ∆ music and English. Her English was excellent. She enjoyed singing in motherÕs choir.  She sang soprano and David sangbass! They have a daughter in NewYork and one in Germany and two in Qingdao. One daughter came to the lunch, Quang Mien.  David had been the head of the Qingdaoelectric company.

Another man is Mr. Gao, son of Gao Sheng Han, who was aformer pastor in Gaomi. He had hiswife along who is from Shanghai. He was very quiet.

Hu Bao Shan is the son of Farfar and FarmorÕs cook.  He has always visited with Lally whensheÕs been here. He was the onewho arranged for our lunch today. He married an orphanage girl, but was actually interested in one of thebrideÕs maids. The couple got adivorced and he later married the brideÕs maid, who was Principal QiÕsdaughter. She passed away a fewyears ago. Hu Bao Shan is such anice man. I had met him 10 yearsago at church in Qingdao.

Jiang Zehn was the architectural city planner inQingdao. Lally gave him an oldJiaozhou map and he was very happy to receive it. He was very hard of hearing. Fu Juan, a woman who sat next to Lally, was also from theschool, however Lally did not have memories of her.

It was very nice to meet these old ÒstudentsÓ ∆ and specialbecause they all had memories of our family.

This morning Marianne brought us gifts from Martha.  We all got tea, but I also received abeautiful scroll from MarthaÕs father, Guan Geng Gang.  It will be treasured!  There is bamboo on it, a tree frog andlotus blossoms. Very nice!

When we got home from lunch I began my packing, but thenJudy and Annie showed up with two beautiful stools, much nicer than the onesweÕve seen on the streets. One wasa dark wood, the other a lighter wood. Both had a very beautifully woven seat. I had asked them where I could find a folding stool like wehave seen all over Qingdao. Theyare used by every shop owner and even as extra seating in churches.  The ones we had seen were old andworn. These were brand new andvery classy. Then Carey told me that James was coming with a stooltomorrow! He also knew that we hadbeen looking for one!

We all went to dinner at a beach restaurant.  The food was nothing special.  Judy came along so we had a good visitwith her. Lally and I needed tohurry back to the hotel because MarthaÕs mother and uncle wanted to stop byagain. They had tea forLally. The gifts never stop!  The Strutz group had been in Wangtaiduring the day, and the uncle, who was originally from there was veryinterested in their pictures they had taken with their digital camera.  We all had an interesting visit and itwas good that Judy was able to meet this part of the Gong family.

Thursday, Sept. 3

This morning I got up early to meet James at 7.45, but whenI knocked on CareyÕs door, James had already been here and had left.  He did bring a stool, however!  Since I had gotten the other one Ithought that Carey should keep this one! So now the three of us have a stool each!

At breakfast I said good bye to the Swedes in ourgroup.

After packing my suitcase and my extra duffel bag that I hadbrought along (just in case I needed more space) Lally, Carey and I walked downto the sea shore and sat under an umbrella to have a drink, enjoying the viewof Beach #3.

Yin Ying called Lally again today. He has been so excited about us doing this trip and hascalled Lally and Judy several times. When we were in Jiaozhou I had said that I was interested in coming tothe No. 1 High School to teach conversational English.  Yin Ying had even heard about thatcasual remark! Who knows what willhappen!!

Judy has made one trip to Europe, but when she asked for avisa to the US she was denied. Shemay need to be ÒinvitedÓ by someone. Being a new Christian she is on fire and excited about her faith.

I said goodbye to Lally and Carey. The taxi that we had arranged to pick me up drove me to theairport in about an hour. After Ichecked in and had gone through security I looked around in the stores.  This is where all the Chinese souvenirsare ∆ at a higher cost, of course! They even had post cards!

My trip home went without incident or delays.  I highly recommend Korean Airlines.

What a trip this was! Having 12 days to ÒdoÓ Qingdao and surrounding areas was justright. It gave us enough leisuretime as well as seeing the places and people that we had come to see.  Lally knows everybody!!  And they know her!  If it had not been for Lally wewouldnÕt have seen nearly as many people as we saw, nor would we have beentreated with such honor and extravagance. I think all of us were very satisfied with the trip ∆ and we all didpretty well in spite of a few hot and humid days.

What I found interesting ∆ and heartwarming ∆ was thatpeople in Qingdao and Jiaozhou remember the Rinells and other missionaries whoworked there for so many years.

Margareta Jonell

Metaor Beiby!!