Chengdu in November

The weather in Chengdu in November should be around 15 or 16 degrees during the day. That means Celsius of course. I hope to be able to complete the survey of one large museum collection and also spend time with at least one other collection. The museum collection was partially surveyed last year but not completed. The wonderful thing about Chengdu aside from the mild climate and great food is that there is always more art to see. As everyone knows, Blogger isn't accessible in China. I will be using the alternate Blog site for occasional updates on activities: http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Jeff-on-the-Road/page-1.html

Back to the Regular Old Blog

Now that I have arrived in Hong Kong I can resume the regular Google blog for occasional news updates. The China Travel Blog will be put on hold until the next trip.

Back to China

Today is a travel day. I am heading to Chengdu via Hong Kong to spend time at the Sichuan University. Unfortunately Cathay did not bump me up to Business Class for this leg of the trip. That's O.K., sometimes it is more comfortable in coach sitting in the exit row aisle seat. I've noticed in the last few months that Cathay has downgraded the food in Business Class. I don't know if that was just for that flight or whether it is a new trend to save money.

The Sichuan University has invited me to come and teach on he subject of iconography in Tibetan art. It is not an easy subject and even more difficult to try and teach. Up until now there have been no systems, course curriculum or publications that teach a systematic and intelligible method of learning Tibetan iconography. I have spent many years thinking about a system and worked through many course models. Some failed miserably and others had moderate success. Through trial and error I believe I now have a model that will work - it just has to be proven in the field - a classroom with interested students. The graduate students at Sichuan University will be the test case.

Taiwan Bound

I am off to China again, but this time I'm heading for Taiwan to check out the Himalayan and Tibetan collections at the Palace Museum in Taipai, Taiwan. There are many collections of Tibetan art in Taiwan both private and museum. Hopefully I will see as many as possible in the short amount of time that this trip allows.

Hong Kong Airport and the Dragon Air Lounge

After a 16 hour flight I have finally arrived in Hong Kong. As a general, and usually strict rule, I do not fly on Saturdays or Sundays. For this trip however I am dependent upon the schedules of others and not as free to choose my own flying days. Also, being Asia Week (month) in New York makes it even more complicated. Therefore, for those reasons, I flew on the Cathay Pacific Sunday morning baby run. I only have myself to blame.

While in Chengdu I plan to use both Travel Blogs depending on which one works bets. It is possible that this Google blog will work in Chengdu as the hotel is primarily for foreigners. In the mean time I have been trying to access the alternate Travel Blog but without any success. It could be that it is temporarily down for some nightly maintenance. http://www.travelblog.org/ or http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Yungdrung/. The internet at the HK airport is extremely slow today. More later.....