Confucian Temple

The Confucian temple in Tianjin was built in 1436. Unfortunately, it was closed because of damage to the structures inside. I was able to look inside, where workers were busy making repairs.

Mumps

I spent Thanksgiving day at a rural school investigating an outbreak of mumps. The school has set up a classroom in a house near the school to teach the students who are excluded from school with the mumps. In the first picture, 7 fifth grade children with mumps are seated around a table doing math. The second picture is of their classroom at school. You can see many empty desks. The boy in the front on the right has recovered from the mumps and returned to school. Interestingly, the empty desks are all clustered around him!

Survey

On Monday we visited another rural clinic in an effort to improve reporting from the rural doctors. 60% of the population is rural, and very little communicable disease is reported from the rural areas. We developed a questionnaire to determine the perceived barriers to reporting. There are 3 parts to the questionnaire. One for the village clinic doctor, one for the township hospital leader (where disease reporting into the computer system from the rural areas is supposed to occur), and the final part for the village leader. In the picture the CDC worker is administering the questionnaire to the village leader (seated on the bed).

Olympic Stadium

We visited Olympic Stadium on Saturday. Tianjin is the venue for soccer for the 2008 Olympics.

American Barracks

As I was returning from my favorite weekend coffee retreat, I noticed a sign on the wall at the side of the road. Apparently, these are the post-World War I US army barracks in Tianjin. Pretty nice buildings!

Tianjin, Dirty City?

Some people have asked me if Tianjin is a dirty city. I guess that depends on your definition of dirty. There is a lot of dirt. Everywhere. There is an amazing amount of construction (and destruction) everywhere you look.

If you share my definition of dirty, which is garbage lying around everywhere, then Tianjin is one of the cleanest cities I have ever seen. Everyday there are thousands of workers on every street (at least it seems that way to me) sweeping the dirt to the side and picking up the garbage. These workers are even on the major highways, sweeping.

Tianjin has made it a priority to become greener. They are planting trees and shrubs everywhere. There are little gardens along most roads. I get the feeling that they think there is nothing they can do to stop the pollution, so the best thing they can do to improve their air quality is to plant trees. Another area of beauty in the city is the riverwalk. The Haihe River runs through Tianjin. Look at the pictures I have posted to see the improvement in the riverwalk from one side of a bridge, where the riverwalk is finished, compared to the other side, where they have some work left to do. Notice also all the construction cranes in the photo.

Field Studies

Wednesday and Thursday we spent out in the field investigating an unusual finding in dairy farmers which was identified on a routine survey. They have a cooperative type dairy located away from the village. Each family has 3-8 cows. They herd them to the milking barn then walk them back after the milking is completed. Unfortunately, the best time to find the farmers was at milking time. The best way to talk to them was to walk with them either on the way to the milking barn or on the way back (see picture-the girl on the left in the red coat is walking with the farmer and administering the questionnaire). The first evening we were at the dairy by 5 PM (milking time). It was cold and windy and dark by 5:30. Luckily, I had a flashlight with me, so I would hold it while others spoke to the farmers. Another problem we faced (besides the adverse weather conditions) was the dogs. Dogs in China are not vaccinated against rabies. China is second in the world (behind India), for human rabies cases, so I was told. Any time a dog barked at us we began a rapid retreat.

A few thoughts about this experience. First, many farmers were reluctant to give us their name. They didn't trust that we weren't from the government. I thought it quite sad that they fear their government and are not confident in their rights. Second, the health of the rural farmer appeared quite good. Very few physical complaints. We asked questions regarding their health for the past year, and had very few negative responses. Third, I don't believe there are any dentists in rural China. Very poor dentition.

Well, after 2 days of wandering through rural dairies, dodging dogs, cowpies, and the occasional stray poultry, we decided to return to Tianjin. This was truly an experience no one should be without.