The end of the passage leads to a small back yard. Green vinescrawl on the wall， adding a wild aspect to it. A shallow pond lies in the center， and you can seetwo fat toads comingand going there. Davidhas put some small fishin the pond as well. Weare surprised that hisbig cat has not eatenthem as snacks. Thatcat is very beautiful，but has a strange name，“Stinking Socks”。 It has many friends that often come to visit byjumping from the walls and roofs of nearby houses. In the mating seasonof February and August， Stinking Socks’ parties with his friendsbreak the quietness. The members of the Yang family， old and young，seem unconcerned with the cats’ carnival， regarding this as just a partof nature. Thanks to good sound insulation， they just let the cats go on，the family’s simple dreams undisturbed.
Even the birds chirping in the morning and insects calling are enjoyable.
It’s said there is also a weasel visiting the yard every once ina while. Our hospitable hosts even built a nest for it at the corner ofthe yard and put some food there irregularly. These are small creaturesrarely seen now in the city， so the Yang family consider them as nature’skindness and care for them even more. There are three trees inthe yard， one is a date （jujube） tree and two are pear trees， which bearlots of fruit each year. Our hosts share them with their colleagues inthe office. However， recently the date tree has died. Luckily the twopear trees still bear fruit and provide a lovely scene in the yard. Davidlikes to change rubbish into fertilizer for flowers. Perhaps he is promotinghis concept of a green environment.
The yard is small， but it’s big enough for the couple and theirfriends to chat and enjoy the cool. At the corner of the yard is a spiralstaircase， which you can climb to the rooftop deck. Some chairs andone big umbrella make a simple summerhouse. Sitting here， with thebreeze blowing gently across your face， you feel very relaxed. Lookingaround， you can see the old houses and courtyards that are most134 typical of the old city. That’s because this region is the Shichahai CulturalReserve laid out by the Beijing Municipal Government. Thereare no buildings higher than two stories here， except for the Bell andDrum Towers not far away.
The neighbor next door raises pigeons in his yard. It’s dusk andthe pigeons are back in their coop. They fly back there cooing. What alively scene！ You can imagine what a sight in the early morning whena huge group of pigeons takes off. Pigeon keepers in Beijing like tohang whistles on pigeons’ necks， so that when there are flocks of pigeonsin the blue sky， one can hear a sweet whistling sound throughoutthe sky. This is the most characteristically in Beijing. Sitting onthe platform of the Yang family’s roof， one can enjoy this scene everyday. It’s said that the owner of the pigeons has a good relationship withDavid. If Stinking Socks ever attacked the neighbor’s pigeons， such agood relationship might deteriorate. It seems that the Yang family also has a good method of educating cats.
While we were discussing the “peaceful coexistence” between catand pigeon， David climbs to the platform. A middle-aged strong-lookingman of six feet， with graying beard and attractive smile， appearsin front of us. This was the first impression the Canadian gave to us.
He told us that this platform was the best place to watch holiday fireworks.
On National Day， they watch the rocketing fireworks let off onTian’anmen Square and those set off by people during the Spring Festival.
After a seven-year ban on fireworks， the ban was finally lifted onthe Spring Festival in 2007. Beijing residents set off fireworks as muchas they could from the eve of the Chinese New Year to the fifteenthday of the first month. Firecrackers could be heard all night long， andthe night sky was brightened and the air permeated with smoke. Onegets the sense of a battle for the alley. Of course， it is a war of happiness.
The lifting of the ban on holiday fireworks has been a controversialissue among the Beijingers. There are two different opinionsamong the Yang family. Yang Zhi thinks the ban shouldn’t have beenlifted， while David disagrees. But he doesn’t set some off himself， butclimbs to the deck to watch， putting a pillow over his head as a shield.
Their younger son， 17 -year-old Yang Yi’an is certainly a supporter.
Even without a holiday， he likes experiment at his home， mixing blackpowder himself. Usually Chinese parents intervene in this kind of dangerousactivity， but Yang Yi’an’s parents are quite democratic and arenot afraid that their son may blow up the yard. His father， who likes towatch the fun， once discovered how his son’s experimentation mightgo wrong. One of Yi’an’s explosives blow up and hit David’s stomach.
Luckily neither he nor his son’s face got hurt. Speaking of this thing，Yang Zhi is still irritated， at the same time laughing at the event.
A Long Trip Around the WorldDavid’s cooking skills are really excellent， especially his roastchicken breasts， which were quickly appropriated and consumed. Twoof his colleagues who had dropped in his family， and we all highly136 praise his cooking skills and feel that if he hadn’t opened an informationcompany but a restaurant， he wouldn’t have to worry about earninga living. He works outside at his career and cooks at home — aCanadian edition of the Chinese concept of the new good man.
After dinner， we begin chatting aimlessly in the living room.
When night falls， David takes us to the small yard. He has lit severalpieces of wood and has a small “campfire party”。 David tends the firewhile recounting his experiences. Yang Zhi adds some supplementsnow and then， and his two colleagues chip in， making impromptucomic gestures and remarks. Gradually， the story of how a Canadiantraveled such a long distance to China becomes clearer and clearer.