General News
29 November, 2024
Red Cross meeting and Christmas lunch
On Friday, November 22, Gilgandra’s Red Cross branch held their final meeting for 2024 followed by a wonderful Christmas lunch at the Gilgandra Services Club.
By Gilgandra Red Cross
President Hilda Newstead took the chair of the meeting. She welcomed all members with discussions on the upcoming Christmas raffle. Once again, Gilgandra Red Cross will provide Christmas gifts to those in hospital, and secretary Deirdre Duncan has organised hospital emergency supply kits.
Members joined their partners, and visitors Marion and John McKenzie, who travelled from Eumungerie, for a very enjoyable and great camaraderie-filled luncheon. The tables were decorated for a very special Christmas lunch, followed by entertainment by two wonderful speakers: Rod and Christine Howchin. On their recent 14-day trip to China, they travelled to Guangzhou, Beijing, Inner Mongolia-Baotou, and Xian (previously the capital of China). The two had many great experiences during their trip and made lovely memories of some beautiful people they met. Ron and Christine gave a fabulous presentation, with many questions and laughter from everyone present at the luncheon. President Hilda Newstead presented the couple with a gift of appreciation from the branch. A wonderful time was enjoyed by all.
The China Trip – as described by the Howchins
Rod and Christine arrived in Guangzhou and met their host-friend, who lived in Australia for some time, but returned to China, and travelled by metro to the Sheraton Hotel. According to the pair, there were metro staff everywhere - cleaning and giving directions. There is a glass screen at the edge of the train platform. It’s impossible to fall onto the rail lines. To get on the platform, you must go through an x-ray machine. The train pulls into the exact spot, and doors open for 20 seconds to get in and out. Trains run every two-to-three minutes.
Most mornings Ron and Christine had a traditional breakfast featuring Cantonese style dumplings, chook feet, tripe, and durian rolls. They flew to Beijing and stayed at the Beijing Friendship Hotel, which looks like a palace. It was originally built to house foreigners, historically mostly Russians. Rod and Christine drove to The Great Wall of China. The wall is 20,000 kilometres long. Several walls were built from as early as the seventh century BC, with selective stretches later joined. Apart from defence, other purposes of The Great Wall have included border and pest control.
Of notice to the Howchins was that there were mostly electric cars in the cities and all taxis electric. There are green number plates for electric cars and blue plates for fuel. Everybody is employed - there is no government employment schemes – if you don’t work, you don’t get money. However, there are many government-run services such as electricity, water, and telecommunications, which employs a lot of people. The retirement age in China is 60; with an annual pension of approx. $24,000 AUD. You can have a million dollars in the bank and still receive a pension - it's not means tested.
Everyone in China has their own QR code - even buskers in the street. Cash is still taken but they may not have change. In Beijing, fuel motor bikes are banned (electric bikes only - very quiet also very hard to hear coming). Seems to be no road rules - bikes are driven on roads and footpaths.
The couple told a little anecdote from their time in Baotou (Inner Mongolia): at the hotel in the evening there was no corkscrew for the wine bottle. They rang reception (who didn’t speak English). So, Rod went down to the service desk, was told "he will send up his partner". The ‘partner’ turned out to be a robot, which came to the room with the corkscrew. You then pressed a button to open the door to collect the corkscrew, press a button to close it and robot said something and turned back to go into the lift.
You can also smoke anywhere in Inner Mongolia, including inside hotel rooms. In Xian, the couple had a very interesting trip with lots of sightseeing accompanied by their host for the duration of the holiday, on a bus to the museum, which is spread over acres of land. A bus drive from one section to the next – it was a big day (15,000 plus steps). Then it was onto visit Muslim Markets - line of food stalls; Muslim women did not wear head scarves.
