The palest ink is better than the best memory

After the last couple of weeks of creating lists, stroking things off the list, consolidating lists and then creating more lists, I thought the above Chinese proverb was appropriate for today's blog title.

I found a website that has popular Chinese proverbs, and the one in the title jumped out at me. Some of the proverbs were already familiar to me, like the one that says "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. " Some others really appealed to me, and a couple I just found funny (and confusing). Here's my top ten list....

After three days without reading, talk becomes flavorless.

A closed mind is like a closed book; just a block of wood

Crows everywhere are equally black.

Do not employ handsome servants.

Donkey's lips do not fit onto a horse's mouth.

A fall into a ditch makes you wiser.

A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials.

He who hurries can not walk with dignity.

Never do anything standing that you can do sitting, or anything sitting that you can do lying down.

Of all the thirty-six alternatives, running away is best.

You cannot prevent the birds of sorrow from flying over your head, but you can prevent them from building nests in your hair.

Okay, so my top ten list has 11 entries. Did you even notice? Visit http://www.chinese-symbols.com/ (you'll find a link to the proverbs on the left side of that page) and let me know which are your favourites. Also at that site you can find your English name written in Chinese. Here are the symbols for DoT and I.

DoT:







Me:







Neat, eh?

Well, that's it for today. Next up, our in-China itinerary. We should be getting it any day now. We'll let you know what it looks like as soon as we know.