10/25: ARRIVAL in HONG KONG and GUANZHOU
Person of the day: Master He, who masterminded the entire wonderful event, managed to come to Hong Kong airport to meet us, and more importantly, drove to the border to pick up Dr. Shinnick and his mother who arrived later around midnight.

10/26: FIRST FULL DAY on the Luofu Mountain

Major Activities: Visit to Chongxu Temple, Master Ge Hong cultivation site, furnace for cultivating external Dan, washing pool, & rest rock etc.

Sounds of the day: Vigorous gastrointestinal response to our practice as we sat on a plateau high above the Chongxu Temple, on the rock where Master He had practiced long ago.

Amazing story of the day: In many centuries, not a single tree leaf has ever landed on the temple roof. Not one. During the Cultural Revolutionaries of the '60s and '70s, the monks boarded the temple doors and departed, hoping it might escape destruction by the rampaging youths. Once the revolution was over the monks returned. They found that during that time, no one had entered. There was not even one cobweb!

Discovery of the day: No jet lag after a long journey thru a 12-hour time change.

Artistic gift of the day: WISH qigong practice pads from early WISH days, symbolically arranged qigong images in a double-sided, lined cotton circle of yellow, white and black. Lucky those persons who got one and took it home.

Surprise of the day: When a whole chicken is served, the honor of eating the head (quite dead, eyes closed) is given to the oldest person at the table. Older WISH members didn't respond eagerly to this custom. Ditto with fish heads.

Lesson of the Day: Master He advised us that when walking in the mountains (or any other beauty spot probably), we should keep one-third of our mind on the beauty outside, one-third on our Lower Dantien and one-third on our breathing (taking in qi via skin pores when inhaling; sending it to LD on exhaling). While in nature, keep our mind concurrently on these three areas of focus. At all times, as far as possible 24/7, keep our mind on the L.D. He does.

10/27: Second Day on Luofu Mountain

Major Activities: Intensive meditation the entire morning; then visit to the new and colorful Huanglong temple; and gathering qi and meditation at "Daodemen" area of the Huanglong mainstream ,whose water flow was then very low because of drought

Sounds of the day: The WISH qigong practice music played daily at 6 am for outdoor practice in the courtyard.

Snack of the day: Master He bought everyone a serving of cold Doufu Flower at Huanglong aTemple, made of the spring water in the mountain, one of the best snacks in the area.

Lesson of the Day: According to Master He, three superior Gods in Daoist religion (Shan Qin), honored in most Daoism temples, was drawn by Lao Zi at once, therefore, it might represent the three sides, or three aspects, of nature or human life?

Person of the day: Dr. Phil Shinnick for guts to go with Master He for the first Chinese foot-massage. He enjoyed it so much that master He invited everyone to try it the next day.

10/28: Third Day on Luofu Mountain (September 15th of Lunar calendar)
Major Activities: Intensive meditation in the morning; visit to Jiutian temple, celebrated by lighting a column of firecrackers in Master He's honor. We watched the traditional Daoist morning ceremony and talked with Daoist monks.

Temple observation: The Daoist ceremony at the Jiutian temple showed some similarities to religious practices of a Western Christian liturgical church ¨C with chanting, music, prayer and prayer books, candles, standing, kneeling and moving about, and it took the better part of an hour. The special black/yellow clothing worn by the monks, depicting the taiji symbol and the eight yin/yang trigrams, was definitely Daoist

Philosophy lesson: Master He explained the difference between philosophical and religions Daoism, he of the former and the monks of the latter.

Event of the day: Members of WISH group donated more than 12,000 yuan to Jiutian Temple in total (more than US $1,500).

Temple shopper of the day: Kathy, who purchased wall hangings

Mountain trek of the day: By cable car and foot, we reached the top of Luofu mountain and felt the peace and calm of the pinnacle. Master He taught us how to see "Qi" in the air by following the direction of sunshine with the background of nature. Many participants were able to see the natural essential in the middle air for the first time.

Snack of the day: On the way back from the peak of Luofu Mountain, we had a tea break on the mountainside place set with plastic chairs and tables. We drank wild mountain tea, ate bolded peanuts and other local snacksĦ­ and Master He paid the entire bill.

Experience of the day: Our first Chinese foot-massage by Beijing-trained massage therapists in a nearby town (US $4.00 for a 70 minutes massage).

Person of the Day: Master He again, who performed the seeding ceremony or energy-boosting for all 50+ retreat participants, including the few students who arrived in the evening from Hong Kong.

Evening snack: delicious little cakes from the Hong Kong bakery of a WISH member.

Unexpected discipline: After the midnight seeding ceremony, Master He recommended that we remain in practice for the rest of the night, without sleep. (At 4 am, Kathy Chan closed her tape recorder and in a small, tired voice said, "OK everyone, go to bed.").

10/29: Fourth Day on Luofu Mountain

Major Activities: intensive meditation the entire morning; free time activities in the afternoon, followed by party and another optional foot-massage in the evening.

Person of the day: Kellogg Wong, who played homonym solo, performed action in doubles and sang songs beautifully at the party, -- and won us North Americans a lot of honor!

Event of the day: Celebration party with WISH Hong Kong group: Kathy organized the disco; WISH Hong Kong sang songs; others sang, told stories/jokes and danced.

10/30: Bus ride toward Guilin
Humor of the day: "Half a hour Howard," on our bus ride to Huozhou, we repeatedly asked how long until lunch? Our tour guide Howard answered "half an hour." After 4 or 5 such "half a hours" or "half a Howards," we finally figured out the humor of our delightful Tour Guide.

Person of the day: Richard and his toilet paper rolls generously offered to all thanks to the inspiration of his wise wife. Richard came to the TP rescue many times on many days.

Event of the day: In our encounter with 'squat' toilets, Susan dropped her camera and Katherine her sunglasses. Both were retrieved. At the end of our visit, Katherine learned that she'd been using the squats backward.

Snack of the day: The many different sorts of Chinese snacks/candied fruit /nuts sold at highway pit stops and shared up and down the seats during long hours on the bus.

10/31: Tour of Scenic Guilin

Beautiful sight of the day: Magnificent scenery of the Lijiang (Li River), down which the boat moved slowly in the low water level. We also saw Elephant Rock and visited a cultural center of Chinese painting and calligraphy.

Lecture of the day: In a superbly-crafted lecture, Professor X outlined the three major phases in the history of Chinese painting: firstly portraying people (to show vitality); secondly scenery (mood), and lastly animals and birds (true-to-life). After a brief description of a student's discipline in mastering the paper, brush and ink of traditional Chinese painting, the professor's 25-year old student demonstrated his great skill by completing a beautiful black/white painting of bamboo in about 5 minutes. Afterwards, Julia tried too.

Shopper of the day: Alkmini, who contributed 10,000 yuan to the art gallery for two special paintings; with Richard, Phil and Tim joining her for additional purchases.

Person of the Day: Tim Rowe, who bravely went up to the stage in a public show that night, to perform with local dancers and singers twice and fall on the stage thrice.

11/1: More Tour of scenic Guilin, and Bus ride to Liuzhou

Sight of the day: Reed Flute Mountain Cave and the 400 year-old banyan tree.

Event of the day: Visit to the Pearl factory and purchase of fresh pearls

Shopper of the day: Alkmini again, who brought 20,000 yuan of various pearls, valued at more than 40,000 yuan in suggested price! This made our group look extremely wealthy to the factory and tour guide.

Person of the day: Shirley, our local tour guide, with her jokes and stories filled our tour with joy, knowledge and fun. After receiving our tips and gift pen ¨C a pen with US dollar design, she claimed that she would use the pen draw a lot of US dollars to spendĦ­

11/2. First Day in LiuZhou

Pinnacle of the trip: Meeting our WISH counterparts ¨C Liuzhou Taiji Five-element Qigong anti-cancer group in magical Dalongtan Park of Liuzhou. This day of our arrival was their 10th anniversary.

Event of the day: Both Chinese and English versions of Taiji Five-Element Qigong tapes played simultaneously as we meditated together beside the lake nestled among mountains. The director of security was initially scared, and later expressed respect for the group after he figured out what was going onĦ­.

Memorable meal: Lunch at the Chinese Nationalities Restaurant in the park, the "best meal yet," said Amos. Local girls sing songs and demonstrated (to selected men healers and Alkmini) how they would offer the guest a drink by holding his ears and noseĦ­

Person of the Day: Ms. Liao Yun, who over ten years helped more than 700 people to learn Taiji Five-Element qigong to defeat cancer and other incurable conditions, in Liuzhou city, even without an office.

Red fun: In a Liuzhou restaurant we were welcomed into a 5th floor dining room, set with the traditional round tables, each laden with fruit and nuts. At the far end of the room a stage was draped with red cloth. Above it hung posters with big red/white Chinese characters proclaiming the significance of this day for WISH. Maybe did this room long ago hold meetings of Chinese Nationalists, Communists and their Cultural Revolutionaries over the years? It was Very Red, very Chinese. Wonderful!

Speeches of the day: We listened to well-rehearsed testimonials lasting four hours, in translation, of course. Liuzhou WISH members do indeed practice qigong more faithfully that North Americans. With their many powerful stories of healing after advanced cancers, WISH has gained a high healing reputation in Liuzhou.

11/3. The second day in Liuzhou

Memory of the day: Group picture with Liuzhou qigong anti-cancer group at Dalongtan Park, before the group qigong practice together.

Event of the day: Party at the Chinese restaurant, we sing, play and disco dance together with the Liuzhou group. Some singing is accompanied by the Chinese two-stringed instrument, the ehr-hu.

Surprise of the day: Everyone in our group made some donation to the Liuzhou group, including the two Chinese tour guides. A total 13,000+ yuan was presented to Ms. Liao Yun and her group at the evening party.

Person of the day: Kathy Chan, who quickly mobilized the WISH-Canada board to approve a donation of Cdn $2,000 (13,500 yuan) to the Liuzhou qigong anti-cancer group, and hosted the party as the bilingual MC (even though master He fired her in a few minutes).

Historical change: About a century ago the Imperialist British writer Rudyard Kipling wrote "East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet." With our Liuzhou WISH counterparts and friends, we rejoiced to experience that this is no longer true.

11/4. Bus ride to QINGXIN HOT SPRINGS.

Event of the day: the hot spring spa and another professional Chinese medicine massage!

Snack of the day: On a break from bus ride, Kevin treated everyone with a frozen red or green bean 'popsicle' or a frozen soymilk ice-cream cone. Many consider this the best ice-cream in China (or their only ice-cream in China?).

Sight of the day: Every day showed us the beautiful Chinese scenery of country, village and city, much for the eyes and mind to absorb, but far too much to even try to list here.

11/5. Bus ride to Guanzhou City:

Event of the day: Visit to a beautiful and unusual hospital: Clifford Hospital on Clifford Estate, which offers client assessment and treatment under three medical approaches working cooperatively: (a) western medicine, (b) Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) which includes qigong, acupuncture, diet, and (c) alternative therapies (Tibetan therapy, painting, music, comedy movies, lectures, physio- and heat therapy). Beauty everywhere outside and in. Advanced cancer patients return home much improved after hospital treatment averaging 1-4 months. Non-Chinese patients are welcome. Daily room rate is less than in a hotel.

Discovery of the day: Most amazing hospital room is the Tibetan therapy room with its red and yellow walls, vibrating powerfully.

Person of the day: Master He again for inviting all of us into his narrow three-stores home in Clifford Estate, where we saw photos of his US-based daughter. And for driving John and Mim quickly back to the hotel so Caya could rest. Was that really Master He we saw being given a police traffic ticket?

11/6. Bus ride border crossing to Hong Kong

Memory of the day: While most Americans now bussed to Hong Kong, preparing to fly home, most Canadians got up at 5:00am, traveled north together for an additional week's visit to Shaoxing, Shanghai, Beijing and lastly Hong Kong.

Event of the day: Meeting with the WISH-AP group at their office in middle of Hong Kong island, a very expensive spot.

Clever innovation: the low, tipped practice chairs in the Hong Kong WISH office.

Person of the day: Floyd for his courage and persistence to walk cross the border to Hong Kong with injured legs.

11/7. LAST DAY OF THE RETREAT and fly home to the U.S.

Event of the day: When Howard tried to refund $10 for yesterday's dinner fee to the group, everyone agreed with Tim's suggestion, to donate the money to WISH, a total of US $130.

Person of the day: Again, Floyd for his courage and determination to return to the US with the group at the expense of US $3,600 (the only available first-class seat)

Shopper of the day: Again, Alkmini, who was seen busily shopping at the Hong Kong International Airport.