Xiamen Reunion

This page is under construction. `抱歉，当前内容正在建设中！` In 1985, Michael studied Mandarin on at Xiamen University. In 2011, he joined the faculty, teaching English to International Economics and Trade sophomores. This page is mainly about the "good old days" and about a reunion I had in 2005. Back in 1985, the city of Xiamen had about a million people; the 2010 census reported a population of 3.5 million. While this is far smaller than any of the other Chinese cities we've lived in (click here for info), it is still huge by American standards (the state of South Carolina has only 4.5 mil and Ohio has about 11.5 mil).	When Michael studied Mandarin at Xiamen University from 1985-87, he never dreamed that he would one day serve on the faculty of this prestigious university, but it's great to be "home"!
Above, you see the Xiamen University campus in 1986 and in 2002. The Zhangzhou campus is on the other side of the hill across the water (in the photo on the right).
This 1987 photo presents the teachers, administrators, classmates and friends Michael knew at Xiamen University (1985-87). The next picture shows a closer view of Mr. Chen (our administrator), Michael and teacher Mrs. Xu.
February 2005 Reunion Four classmates went back to Xiamen for a reunion in 2005: (from the right) Barb flew in from Beijing; Margaret flew from New Zealand; Vivian came with me from Xi'an; and Shannon flew from Canada (her husband Gideon is on the far left). We received a warm welcome by a senior representative of our old department (next to Gideon), as well as by Mr. Chen and Mrs. Xu (see above). One of the highlights of our reunion was a banquet on our last evening together. Several of our former Chinese teachers and administrators were among the 19 in attendance! The left-hand photo was taken in 2005 as we toured campus; Michael is standing with Mr. Chen in front of our old community refrigerator, which is still in use at the college! (right) Vivian, Andrew and Michael enjoy a spring-like day on Gulangyu island; you can see the university's tallest building in the background.
Here are a few photos from the reunion. First, the four of us were standing in front of our old dorm building. At the banquet, many people showed great interest in all of the photo albums being passed around. The group also sang and presented gifts to our former teachers and administrators.
These two photos are from our February 2002 visit. Next to Vivian are Mrs. Gao and Mrs. Xu, and Mrs. Yao is in the other photo with Michael and Andrew. These wonderful ladies taught Michael to speak Mandarin from 1985-87! Boy, did they have patience! Yao Laoshi came out of retirement to teach us, and was the only one of these three who spoke any English. I'm glad we got to see her in 2002, for she passed away the following year (at age 83). Her coworkers told us that her final days were spent singing hymns and telling people about Jesus.	Another 2002 photo. Michael’s teachers (Gao and Xu) stand in front of his 1986 dorm. It never looked this good back then! After a personal tour of the campus, we also got to see Mrs. Xu's album of photos that had been sent over the years by Michael’s classmates. (Many of these classmates still work in China.)
	If you studied Chinese at Xiamen University in the 1980's, please write to me. Several classmates could not come in Feb. 2005, but there is talk of another get together sometime in the future. Write and I can keep you updated if plans develop. (My email address is on the home page.)
For more info about Xiamen & Fujian, these sites were created by our colleagues, Bill & Sue Brown: http://www.amoymagic.mts.cn (within China) http://www.amoymagic.com (outside China)

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