Okay, back to Qufu… and our field-trip to the birthplace of Confucius. It’s really kind of sad, but all the mansions and tributes to him weren’t built until about two hundred years after his death. He didn’t get to enjoy any of the comforts of it all. Well, not exactly comforts as we would see them; we commented that it look pretty cold and bleak. But I guess for the time, around 500 BC, it would have been palatial. But like I said, he was already dead when they built it. He probably actually lived in a mud hut.
The Confucius Forrest (cemetery) was really peaceful and lovely. We’re so glad that it was a nice day. The forecast predicted a drop in temperatures for the day after we visited Qufu. Oh yes, Qufu is pronounced Chu-fu. It’s not how you’d think.
After visiting the family mansion, we had a really nice Chinese meal at the only four star hotel in town.
We were served around fifteen courses. It was all quite good. We’ve gotten pretty adept at chopsticks as well.
There was some nice entertainment to go along with the meal. The blond gal straight across from me teaches Spanish. The man on her left teaches Korean, and the lady on her right teaches Russian. The Golds, our neighbors, are on my left. They’re a really nice couple. The girl at the end of the table with dark hair is from Spain, and teaches Spanish, of course. We run with a nice group, and have fun with them all.
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