Daily life for the average person here seems very rushed, kind of like it is for working people in the US (they call it USA or America) but there is a little more imperativeness to it. We have people begging in the US but here you wonder if some of these people will make it through the winter. We have homeless shelters and food banks. Here I don't know of anything like that, it's more of a fend for yourself attitude. This attitude is aggressive but without the confrontative nature we Americans add to it.

I find the people of Tibet very interesting. We have visited two cities, one with a mixed ethnicity and one mostly if not all Tibetan. The people of the rural city (Tagong) lead harsh lives by out standards. They use coal or wood for heat in there homes without venting the fumes to the outside. They only heat one or two rooms and the rest of the house is pretty much at the outside temperature. These are a tough and hearty people who don't complain and just take on their live mostly cheerfully.

My view of the world changes daily. Last nite we had Chengdu native did a puppet show and a shadow show for us. This is becoming a lost art due to the internet and televison. Seeing how people here in Chengdu have entertained themselves for centuries if not thousands of years brings me closer to these people. We had some Tibetan youth (14-16) in attendance also for this show. Afterwords they went forward and sang and danced for us. It was truly amazing to see the open and friendy way they showed how they entertain each other as they live their nomadic lives.