China/Hong Kong II: Hospitality

(Note: I have just returned from a three week visit to China and Hong Kong and will reflect on some of my experiences and impressions in a series of blogs of which this is No. 2.)

Almost all of the world’s great religions call upon their followers to “practice hospitality”. I have tried to follow that important injunction. However, on the trip from which Jane I just returned the tables were turned: We were the objects of others’ hospitality, and at a level beyond my wildest imagination. I am still reeling in overwhelm.

It all started simply enough. One Sunday morning after I taught a class at my church I announced that I would be gone for a few weeks as I was headed to China. A gentleman by name of Elwein came up to me and asked if I needed assistance with air travel. I explained that that was not required as the organization for which I was doing this trip had already purchased my round trip ticket. However, in response to some impulse that I am not sure I know from whence it came I added, “But if my wife I make it through 60 years of marriage next year and our health permits, we would like to celebrate with a visit China, and if you could help us out with a few frequent flyer miles so that we could move from the back of plane to the Economy Plus that would surely be appreciated.”

This almost casual remark yielded a marvelous gift. Leon and Sarah booked us First Class to Beijing with return from Hong Kong. On top of that they provided accommodations at the top JW Marriott’s in each of those cities. And more: they got us our visas, facilitated access to the Executive Lounges, and picked up all meal costs in Beijing.

When we arrived in Beijing Leon casually announced that we were there to celebrate our 60th. Immediately the check-in person slipped next door, spoke with the manger and returned with the announcement: “To help you celebrate, we are upgrading you to a corner suite with an extra sitting room, 2 baths and office space.” We had barely arrived in that glorious space when the manager and a butler arrived with a magnum of champaigne, two flutes and an assortment of sweets beautifully arranged on a bed of rose petals. And (believe it or not) this process was repeated some 10 days later when we checked into the Marriott in Hong Kong.

Of course, it didn’t stop there. There was a Peking Duck Dinner at the premier Peking Duck restaurant in Beijing (complete with a certificate showing the registered numbers of the two ducks we had eaten certifying that they were indeed of the genuine highest quality available anywhere in the country.) When our host took us for dinner in the home of the top Ophthalmologist of Chinas, we tagged along as guests. We were greeted with a beautiful personal gift of a tea set, served a 20 dish meal, and fêted not only with Qingdao beer but also with a very good moa tai.

All of our travel and accommodations within China were given us by a marvelous friend by the name of Laurie Li Xiao Hung and her husband Wang Qing. I first met Laurie when she was my country guide on the first of 4 tours I led in China. Our relationship went beyond the professional. When she visited the Sates I was blessed to baptize her into the Christian faith.

Laurie is a very smart and effective businesswoman. When she was about two years of age she literally lived in a pigsty when her father as an intellectual was sent to the countryside by Mao Tze Tung for “reeducation” during the Cultural Revolution. Now 50 years later she has utilized her amazing organizing, marketing, and service skills so that she now owns two apartments and two offices. One of those apartments she made available just for Jane and me for our stay in Xian. This was not just a place to sleep: She equipped it with a well stocked bar, new silk bed coverings, specially arranged computer and phone access, and (get this) she moved a piano into the apartment and had it specially tuned so that Jane could play the piano while we were visiting. Of course, she hosted us everywhere we went. We couldn’t even pay for a cup of tea.

It keeps going: Because Laurie is in the travel business she arranged for one of the very top Tour Guides in all of China to give us a personalized tour of the Tierra Cotta Warriors with reserved VIP parking space included. When we went to visit the Shaan Xi Provincial Museum Ping our Guide was really such an expert that I commented upon it. Lauri’s reply, “Of course, she is the best. You must know that when Bill Gates and Warren Buffet were in China she was appointed their official guide!”

Laurie and her husband Qing (whose government official boss had loaned us the car for our visit) took us everywhere, served us in special restaurants (including the one where our menu was a succession of 8 different kinds of specially prepared mushrooms), entertained us at a Tang Dynasty Cultural show and helped us meet a University professor who had taught our son years ago when he studied in China.

It was Laurie who gave us the tickets to Guilin and who paid for Peter, our guide, who took us down the Li River. It was Laurie who had her colleague in that city host us for a gorgeous dinner and sent us on our way with gifts. (See my upcoming blog, Religion in China, for Laurie took us to a very special worship service with her family)

In spite of my protests that I wanted to be the host, the Parent Effectiveness Training licensee in Shenzhen feted us at plush Seaside Sheraton Hotel which at lunch featured a gorgeously decorated 60th Wedding anniversary cake, all documented by the official photographer whom she employed to record our little celebration. The host by the name of Coco hired a private car to ease our exit from China and entry into Hong Kong where this amazing hospitality just kept going. Private transportation everywhere on a Mercedes driven by former student Kim Lin Chu who hosted us with meals at places like the Peninsula and Repulse Bay hotels. This happened after another couple of former students met us virtually upon our arrival at our hotel to give us a relaxing message, provide us with a generous wad of “walking around” money, gave us a cell phone and an assortment of other gifts. Other alumni and friends just kept feting us - at their home, at The American Club, the Yau Chuen Club et sim. It all came to a grand finale when some 150 alumni threw a massive 60th wedding anniversary celebration formal dinner with much multi-media, flowing wine, humongous wedding cake, free flowing wine, gifts, excellent emcee, thanksgiving prayers, dedicatory books, the naming of Kieschnick Garden etc.etc.

Then First Class travel home and now the memories to last beyond a lifetime.