Today we began the day with breakfast at the hotel. We met Maggie at 8:30am and proceeded across the city to visit the #1 middle school in the province, according to test scores, Middle School #89. The school reminded me of the schools I visited in Cairo 8 years ago. Lots of industrial, vanilla buildings. Lots of white subway tile. Large class sizes (50-56) and many students with smiles on their faces as they learn and watch the crazy Americans. We met with the principal, other school leaders and a delegation of students. It was great to visit with the students. What sweet hearts. One piece I was very impressed with was their sister school exchanges. They have sister school relationships with high schools in Germany, Australia, Japan, Great Britain and Argentina. Makes me ask, Who could we be conducting exchanges with? Makes me want to become a sister school with PuJi High School. They do this to raise the prestige and attractiveness of their school to potential families. It is very competitive to get accepted into this school. Next we were treated to an amazing lunch by our hosts from Middle school 89. When we walked into the private dining room, I thought I had just walked into the movie Oceans 11... The new one. Absolutely beautiful room with the largest dining room table I had ever seen. Truly unbelievable. Once seated they began bringing the plates of food, one at a time. They kept coming and coming until we saw the final dish, number 25... Yes, 25 dishes of food. Unbelievable. There were many flavors, some good, some sweet, some HOT and few that were just plain ugly. I couldn't bring myself to try the chicken feet or the lamb-blood soup, yes lambs blood. But I tried everything else. Most were so good . I had never had uncooked peanuts, but put them in soy sauce and they are delicious. They were almost juicy. Amazing. There were many toasts that I raised my Coke and gladly participated. After rolling ourselves out of the restaurant, we saddled up for the magnet Arts school. We saw drama and music classes, as well as some wonderful choir, band and acting demonstrations. They were awesome. New instruments and sounds. Beautiful Operatic singing. And amazing "dance" classes. The students were welcoming and instructors a little gruff. It made for a great visit. We really got to see a real art school with all of its worts. Pretty stinking cool. :) The visit got over early, so we were free to sit in the van for an hour or walk around the neighborhood. So we walked. We saw everything from turtles for sale on the sidewalk to a Tea mall. Yes over 30 stores, right next too each other that sold different types of tea. We got to walk in real neighborhoods that continue to reveal a country working hard get away from it's 3rd world past and leap into it's 1st world future. This leap is large and only happens one block at a time. The poverty we beheld was not depressing. Interestingly enough it seems to be dripping with hope and optimism. People seem happy. They are working, talking, smoking, walking, driving and generally working together as a whole organism. It is a site to behold..the dirt, dust, peeling paint and smell is combated with numberless brooms, mops and scrub brushes. We observed more than 1/2 of the shop owners cleaning their products, entry way or sidewalks as we walked. It was impressive. This gives you a sense of the pride and rise of a country eager to be a real power in the world. These people are moving this place forward, even if it is one block at a time. Alright, enough pondering....let's eat! Eating has become a bit of a chore. Not because the food is not good, in fact it great. The chore is the amount of food we are expected to consume EVERY meal. We do not want to disrespect our host(s)...so we eat. And eat...and eat and..well you get it. So we ate again...This time at a famous opera house in Shi'an. The Topenan Opera House and Restaurant. We had Hot Pot, which was great because we could just eat a little. Our Chinese program Director joined us for dinner. He did not fail to deliver the traditional three toasts. My Coke and I obliged. He toasted our delegation. He toasted our delegation leader. The 3rd toast went something this, " I am 41 years old, and just found out this afternoon after 20 years of trying, my wife and are having our 1st child!". We erupted in cheers! He sat down with a look of happy exhaustion. It was a wonderful moment. Well back to dinner...Still stuffed from lunch, we grazed for about two hours before the show began. We had fairly low expectations for the Opera. The area surrounding the Opera House was pretty depressed and left us wanting. We translated this to mean the show would be average at best. What we saw was nothing short of amazing. The set, the costumes and the music was Broadway quality. But the best part of the whole thing was the amazing dancers. The grace, fluidity and expertise was breathtaking...and I do not say that lightly. This was a world class show. We kept looking at each other, mouths gaping in surprise over what our eyes were witnessing. It was awesome! Just another highlight in a long line. Another great day. Well, we travel to our schools tomorrow. Principal Xin Ma (Ma Principal) picks me up at 8:30 sharp and we drive the 3 hours to his school. Looking forward to seeing him, his school and his wonderful students. Should be a ball! Shi Shi!