Mid-December: It’s pickpocket season in Lanzhou. Sun Yue Rui shared this information one Tuesday, but I’d had a foretaste on Sunday when a man plucked the pack of tissues out of my coat pocket, using a giant sort of tweezer implement. I was buying some vegetables from a stall just outside my gate. Of course, I would never carry anything more valuable that Kleenex in my coat pocket. Sun Yue Rui and I were chatting as we walked along a major city street on our way to lunch. It was mid day, but late enough that the sidewalks were uncrowded. A moment later she said, "Watch those two guys." Ahead of us, two young men were walking too closely behind a woman. Suddenly, she whirled around and snapped at them. The boys made an about face and walked past me and Sun, sullen but unhurried. The common element in these incidents that amazes me is the complacency, the tacit acceptance. Passers-by don’t react. The vegetable seller outside my gate merely shrugged when my pocket was picked. Over lunch I asked Sun why petty theft is seasonal. She observed that without agricultural employment and with construction slowed down, there are a lot of unemployed men around. Coincidentally, the media reported this week on the rise in youth crime in China.

The office library is busy every week. There are casual borrowers and there are the "regulars," a few girls who read two or three books a week. One of them resolved to read all the Boxcar mysteries on the shelf – a considerable number. Now she’s moved on to other authors. It’s fortunate that we managed to stock the shelves so amply before the U.S. Postal Service changed its rate schedule. There was a report this week on National Public Radio about how the new rates (which eliminate the low cost M bag) have affected U.S. NGO’s and individuals who routinely provide books to programs overseas. At Lian Da we’re especially grateful to the people of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in New Paltz, who sent us several cartons after the rate change went into effect. We’re also grateful to a benefactor in Texas who sent a wide-ranging selection of magazines. ESPN is a popular pick, and The Knot, a bridal showcase, is getting a bit dog-eared. It has made the rounds of the girls’ dorms. One student flipped through an issue of Elle and gave me a doubtful look. "This is too difficult." "Oh, take it with you," I said. "It’s not homework. Just enjoy the pictures and read whatever you can. There won’t be an exam." She gave me another doubtful look, but she signed out the magazine.

Christmas has Lanzhou in thrall, as it does every December. The stores are decked with decorations and merchandise. The musak is worthy of any American mall, if that should ever be a musical standard of aspiration. We put up the Christmas tree in my office, and the students folded paper cranes to decorate it. Tian Tian is a neighborhood high school student, daughter of my colleague, who comes on Sundays to hang out and practice her English. We baked some thumbprint cookies, a holiday favorite of mine, and a batch of brownies, Tian Tian’s favorite. She likes the raw batter better than the actual brownies.

Tian Tian unwrapped my nativity figures.
T: "Here’s God."
S: "No, that’s Joseph, Jesus’ father."
T: "Here’s a sheep. So cute!"
T: "Here’s an angel."
T: "Here’s a BABY angel!"
S: "No, that’s Jesus."
T: "That’s Jesus? He’s just a little baby!"
S: "Yes, he’s a baby. Christmas is his birthday."