A Tour Update From CHINA

(6/14/00)

Things couldn't be going better. Everyone is having a

great time and there have been no discipline problems.

All our luggage arrived with us. We did not play a

concert AT the Great Wall, we played ON the Great

wall.  The Jazz Ensemble closed with IN THE MOOD and many

Chinese folks responded to our call to dance with the Americans. 

You just haven't lived until you have danced on the Great Wall of China! 

We ran into a New Trier graduate from 1982 at our "On

the Wall" concert. 

Last night the Blue Grass Band went across the street

to play an unannounced concert in the park. Within

minutes more than 500 people had gathered around to 

watch. Some of our students also were there. We were all

quite safe because the people find us fun to look at. We are

rather deep into China already  and we are told by our

local guides that we are the first Western Faces that most

of these people have ever seen live.

As part of our day today we met a 93-year-old woman who has lived in a

cave home for 70 years. Our concert in Luoyang was

packed with over 1,000 people. The mayor and many

dignitaries attended and the group played perfectly.

After our last number the mayor, etc. presented us with

beautiful flowers.

Everyone is healthy and the weather has been perfect.

The hottest it has been is about 85 degrees. We have

tried to post pictures on the web, but it seems to

take too long to upload. We will

keep trying. We have sent out about 30 e-mails and

have received quite a few. (Due to the extremely slow

Internet access, it has been hard to connect and

retrieve messages.)

There is no way to know when we will be able to pick

up or send e-mail since we are so busy.

This update has to be brief. Thanks for reading.

J Warrick