Farewell to Altay a last glimpse of Altay from its new south district

Altay, my birthplace in the far northwestern China

Altay, my birthplace ! A very emotional moment for me while painting this view on the bank of Korang River in the summer looking directly into its ancient rocky walls of Altay Mountain and its cool and crystal clear rushing stream of the river. While painting this view , I attracted a quite a crowd of curious people, and all of a sudden I heard a whisper among them, " Is not that you, Weiming?!!" I spotted Xiaogang , my childhood friend and my next door neighbour whom I have not seen for 40 years!!!!!.

A quick oil sketch of Dandan

A quick oil sketch of Dandan, a local Muslim teenager girl from Altay , who won the first price, from national wide speech competition hosted by Shanghai TV Station two years ago.. Our family friendship with 4 generations of her family stretched as far back as the moment I was born. Her great grandmother, a kind hearted local Muslim woman, a total stranger at the time to us, took me home to nurse me a few weeks after I was born, with the fresh milk from her two cows during the notorious famine that had swept across China at the time. Abridging the huge cultural and ethnical difference is our mutual love and respect that have never faded away across time and space. I did this quick oil sketch of Dandan who could only have an hour to spare before heading back to the boarding school where waiting for her is the daily crushing load of school work and harsh and punishing disciplines facing most high school students across China.

On Kelong River in the north valley of Altay

In the birch wood on Kelong River in Altay

Family friends threw a big outdoor feast party right in the birch wood on Kelong River exactly where I was dispatched to receive the so called reeducation from peasant towards the end of Cultural Revolution in late 70s in China.