Proud and Pretty Dogs?

During summer vacation, I was dog-sitting my neighbour's dog Mocha. He was a small white dog with a little canine peeking out from his mouth. When we took him home, he darted inside like a white flash. He ran around the room once, then twice, and began exploring every corner of the house, under chairs, tables, behind the curtains, everywhere. Without stopping, he pranced over to where I was sitting and bounded onto my lap with his tongue hanging out. I tossed a tennis ball and in a second, he was attacking it. He slowly stopped playing and slowly became to calm down. He toddled over to his bed, and then curled up. Suddenly, he jolted back up when we got up to prepare for bed. He got all excited all over again, thinking we were going to take him outside. He scurried into the hallway then back and circled us a few times, panting all the way. It was late at night and we needed to sleep, so we were forced to sit calmly for 15 minutes and finally, Mocha was on his bed and fast asleep.

Two weeks later, we returned him to his owners, for we were leaving for China. I thought that I would be living without lovely dogs for a while.

I was staying at my grandma's (my mother's mother, 外婆) house and I knew that my grandma lived in a tall building and she had no dog. I only saw a few dogs last time when I went to China. When I stepped into China this time, I was shocked. The streets had become filled with dogs, much more than I had remembered. Is having a dog becoming the new fad or in vogue? Seems like every family owned a dog or two and they were seen everywhere on the streets.

One day, while taking a stroll, I encountered a small elegant Pekingese. The hair looked puffy and soft, bouncing in waves and drifting in the wind. His fur was artfully brushed – behind its head, through its back, and around his tail, a tuff of fur. His hair was clipped up into a sprout that stuck from his head. His mouth was slightly open and the tiniest hint of his pink tongue showed. His stubby legs made him waddle on the sidewalk and his ears flopped with each step. I turned to my sister and pointed out that the dog was very adorable. Somehow, the owner overheard what I had said and for a split second, her face broke into a smile. She pretended that she didn’t hear and tried to mask her face, but the look of satisfaction showed. Even the dog’s gait increased and he held his head higher, gloating as he left.

On the way back, there was a Bishon Frise. She was an adorable animal with a fluffy coat. Her arched tail swept back and forth across her back and her fur covered her ears. Her whole head was designed into a fluffy ball. Her paws were placed gently in front of each other not rushing, but keeping a steady pace. Her head was high, and when she saw me looking at her, she walked a bit faster and taller. She looked at me with contempt and scorn. She wasn’t like Mocha, who often sniffed and searched the grass; instead, the Bishon Frise just strutted away.

When visiting one of my cousins, her family took me to a small town named Bailu Township. There, one of my aunt’s friends brought a brown Chow Chow. Her fur was trimmed neatly so that it was fluffy and soft. Her tail was also styled into a puffy arc of fur. She had a big head and a scrunched mouth with a small button nose. We started talking about his dog and it ended up on the topic of price. He laughed and said, “This dog is worth 3 000 元 ! And don’t forget the registration fee!”

Is it important or “cool” to own a popular or expensive dog?

A few days later, I felt strange, even though there are a lot of dogs, I haven’t petted a single one. Everyone knows I’m crazy about dogs, usually, if there were this much dogs, I’d be petting them by now. Now being around them, I feel nervous.

When looking around at the dogs, I suddenly noticed that none of them were wearing leashes. Even the menacing dogs like the German Shepherds weren’t on leashes. Since China is a bit crowded, it’s hard to find the owner of each dog. But some dogs don’t even have owners! Some are just waddling around, sniffing garbage, weaving around legs, and lingering around a certain place as if looking for something – or someone.

My grandpa told me about a dog encounter he had one day. There was a big dog taking a walk and suddenly, lunged himself at a passing woman. His force was so strong, and he was so quick, the woman fell over. Then, the dog came charging at my grandpa, but after seeing the woman, he was more prepared and didn’t fall over. That was when the owner came. My grandpa started telling him that he shouldn’t have let his dog walk unleashed. If it had jumped on a child, it could’ve resulted in an injury. As an apology he paid the woman $200 and bowed to my grandpa. After he finished this story, every time I passed a big dog, I braced myself just in case he was going to pounce on me.

When I visited another one of my cousins, we were walking to a restaurant when a big black Doberman made a beeline towards us. My aunt is scared of dog and began to increase her walking speed. But he continued to keep pace with us. She started to exclaim how she was afraid of dogs, but the owner just glanced her way and said:

“The dog doesn’t bite”

My aunt is scared of dogs whether they bite or not, so that didn’t make any difference. She politely asked if they could take the dog away. It was following us and occasionally barked. It’s owner called his name once, but seeing how the dog didn’t react, went back to his picnic. The dog was blocking our way, and we had to sidestep him. His gaze lingered on us for a few more seconds, then lost interest and left.

I was at my grandma’s (my father's mother, 奶奶) house when on the stairs, there was a dog blocking the way. It took up most of the space as I squeezed past it. It felt like time froze. He was standing tensely with his ears up and eyes following. It didn’t move. His fur pricked up and his legs stiffened as if he was ready to jump. The specie looked familiar and one of my Canadian neighbors had a dog, Meisha, who is similar to him. She was very friendly and gentle. Then, as I looked at the dog on the stairs, my stomach clenched. What made him scarier than Meisha?

The next morning, I stepped into dung. It wasn’t in the grass or anything; it was in the middle of the sidewalk. A few meters later, I nearly did again. Looking across the sidewalk, there were a lot of droppings, small brown and black balls. Every few minutes, I see more and more droppings on the ground. But then I looked around at the dog owners and none of them were holding poop sacs. Their hands held nothing at all!

One morning, my grandma’s housekeeper told me about a woman in their neighbourhood who feeds the stray cats everyday. At first I didn’t believe her. Who has the time and strength to give them food every morning and night? But then I saw her. I went down to take out the trash and I saw her placing a big bucket of food on the side of the building. It was pretty early in the morning and in the night; I saw her putting out another bucket while taking in the one from the morning. By the size of the bucket, and the amount of stray cats that I see, she makes enough food for all of them.

My dog stories have been finished. Now I’m in Canada and I couldn’t wait to see my ugly friend Mocha.

Remembering: China • Chengdu • HuangTianBa Part 1 - China

On the other side of the Earth, there is a place where my family always visits - HuangTianBa, Chengdu, China. This summer, we went to China and my grandpa FanGeng Kong (孔凡庚, Standing Committee of National People's Congress of Sichuan Province, People's Republic of China, Founder and Council member of China Institute of Non-Destructive Testing) gave me an essay title and topic: “Remembering: China • Chengdu • HuangTianBa” (怀念中国•成都•黄田坝). Even though I had many scattered memories, it will be an interesting, tough challenge for me.

China (中国)

3 years ago, my family visited China and we took a train from Chengdu to Beijing on the way back to Canada. At first, the landscape was flat. We passed many farmers who owned acres of land. All I could see was fields and fields of crops. Every two minutes, we would pass a farm. Day faded into dusk as the flat surface of the plains turned into mountains, jutting out from the ground, towering above us. Soon, we began tunneling. One tunnel followed another. The time to get through the tunnels took longer and longer, from seconds to minutes and even longer. Hours passed and dawn came. The mountains all disappeared and were replaced by an endless prairie. After about 32 hours, we finally reached the capital city, Beijing.

In Beijing, beside the famous Forbidden City (故宫) and the Great Wall of China (长城), the place that struck me the most was the Temple of Heaven (天坛). It was used for the Emperor to pray to heaven and perform special rituals in the Ming and Qing dynasties. The Circular Mound (圜丘), one of the altars and was used to pray for favorable weather, is 532m in perimeter and 5.2m tall. It is 450 ft in diameter which represents a multiple of 5 and 9, numbers commonly used by emperors as a symbol of authority. The Circular mound is decorated with lavishly carved dragons. The altar has 3 layers with terraces, each with nine slates. The bottom layer has 180 slates, the middle has 108 slates and the top has 72 slates. In all, that is 360 slates, which is a circle and represents the circumference of heaven. On the top terrace, one round tile, the Heaven Heart Stone, is slightly taller than the rest and sits in the center while nine other tiles surround it. Then, another circle of tiles, this time, with eighteen tiles encompasses it and so on until the ninth circle with 9×9 tiles. In all, that is 3402 tiles. Each terrace has four entrances and the number of steps in each entrance is also nine. Since it strongly emphasizes the number nine so much, I call it the “Alter of the Great Nine” for myself.

In Chengdu, a subway was being constructed when some workers found several odd objects in the ground like a rectangular prism made out of jade and several elephant tusks. After much research and investigation, it was determined that the objects were from 1000 BC. Before we went to Beijing 3 years ago, we visited a grand, modern museum called Jinsha Site Museum (金沙遗址, translation: Gold Sand). The museum was built over the ruins. These primitive people mostly made all their gold into foil, spending hours on the precious metal, purifying it as much as they could and engraving mesmerizing designs. Some archeologist found gold foil, crumpled into a ball. With much care they unraveled it, revealing a large sun in the middle of the circular sheet of gold and several birds flying around it. Surprisingly, even after thousands of years, the piece of foil was in excellent condition, signifying that the gold was very pure.

I had a dream to see the Terra Cotta Warriors since the first time I read it in a school text book. It made me extremely disappointed that we had to cancel our trip to see them three years ago, due to a tight schedule. This summer, we specifically planned 2 days in Xi’an (西安), where the Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses (秦始皇兵马俑) site is located. The Terra Cotta Army is a tomb for Emperor Qinshi Huang (秦始皇, 259 BC – 210 BC) and the soldiers were meant to protect him in the afterlife. The warriors were made and placed with painstaking care. They were in proper military order and each one of the warriors was life-size and the stomachs were hollow to help balance the statue. Each warriors face is distinguishable from another and had human counterparts. The statues were painted in vivid colors which have now faded due to oxidization and the warriors had been equipped with real weapons which were stolen by peasants in a rebellion. The carriage buried for the royal family was artistically designed. It was equipped with everything, from a bed for long journeys and benches. The umbrella that was attached to the carriage, giving the driver some relief had many contraptions and every detail was thought through.

Contrasting to the ancient world, when I stepped into the Beijing Capital International Airport this summer, I was awed. It had a high ceiling with orange bars and polished spotless white tiles. There were shops at every corner selling souvenirs, books, clothes, food, anything you could think of. There were people everywhere, rushing to their terminals, their voices echoing around the cavernous room. The airport had 3 terminals. The first was built in 1980, the second was added in 1999 and the third, in 2008. The only way to reach each terminal gates was by a mini subway.




Remembering: China • Chengdu • HuangTianBa     Part 1 China
Remembering: China • Chengdu • HuangTianBa     Part 2 Chengdu
Remembering: China • Chengdu • HuangTianBa     Part 3 HuangTianBa

青春无悔 - Kong FanGeng (孔繁庚)

青春无悔

孔繁庚

中航工业成都飞机工业（集团）有限责任公司

我是一个平凡的普通人，不是“官二代”更非“富二代”。父亲只是一个为人打工的穷 店员。我在航空工业企业工作长达46 年，行政不到科级，在共青团和工会里也就只当过小 组长而已。但命运坎坷，起起落落，从一个侧面折射出中国五十年代知识份子的一段人生轨 迹。回首往事，倒也充实有趣。 

满腔热忱 投身航空（1952 年——1965 年）

1952 年，我刚从清华大学物理系本科毕业，恰逢我国国民经济恢复时期，百业待举。 抗美援朝烽火连天，尽管中国人民志愿军英勇奋战，但因无制空权，常遭美帝飞机重创。我 国党政高层在痛定思痛中，毅然决定尽管基础工业还尚处于十分薄弱的条件下，也得想方设 法上马航空工业，其困难之大可想而知。 

建国初期，周总理于百忙中就曾于1950—1952 年间先后三次主持会议研究处理航空工 业的筹建、发展方针、原则和3—5 年规划的制订与落实，以及争取苏联援助等重大问题， 尽全国之力援建航空工业。 

1951 年4 月17 日，航空工业管理局宣靠成立。并从国民党以及日伪手中接收的烂摊子 里面挑选了稍具规模的六个工厂（即哈尔滨的120 厂与122 厂；沈阳的112 厂与410 厂；南 昌的320 厂与株洲的331 厂）作为起步，从修理走向制造。 

我当时就是在航空工业急需用人之际由国家统一分配到沈阳112 厂的，结合所学物理专 业而从事无损检测工作，具体就是利用声、光、电、磁等物理方法来检验航空零部件的内部 和外表有无超过容许标准的缺陷以保证产品质量。鉴于这项工作在航空工业里十分重要，技 术也很前沿和尖端，因此在我1952 年9 月到岗工作后不久，就在10 月从苏联派来一名专家 ——秋宫诺夫，这也是当时我国航空工业系统内仅有的一位外国无损检测专家，而我作为固 定向苏联专家学习人员，任务十分光荣艰巨，要求时刻紧跟专家，尽快掌握技术解决生产问 题，在“一五”期间，遵照党中央发出“向苏联学习”的号召，对于苏联专家的每项建议都 是有书面记录和检查的。跟随专家三年多的时间里，我的确也学到不少国外先进技术和真实 本领，也曾将前苏联的NO.370 等共7 本磁粉与渗透检验说明书全部翻译完毕并出版，自己 也能独立处理日常业务和问题。那时我深深地感到伟大的斯大林和苏联政府无私的国际援助。1956 年，我是在整个航空工业系统里首批晋升的工程师，同时参与筹建了沈阳市和辽 宁省的无损检测学会。 

在航空工业从无到有，白手起家的日子，当时最困难的一是技术，当然包括掌握理论和 实践的人；二是材料和基本生产设备。根据1951 年中苏双方签订的《中苏航空工业技术协 定》，苏联一是要派遣专家300 余名（仅112 厂最多时就高达44 名），二是开来一列40 节车 厢带有小型机床和工具，并满载零部件的修理列车，就在车上修理飞机和发动机。1951 年， 当朝鲜战场最为吃紧而奇缺副油箱时，就曾几乎征用了整个沈阳市内为锅壶补漏换底的白铁 工人，利用镀锌铁皮甚至黑铁皮来代替铝板，于3 个月内就赶制出3027 个副油箱，为了防 止漏油也只好在铆接处焊锡，居然也能应急使用。 

1956 年6 月，我国首台涡轮喷气发动机“涡喷5”在沈阳410 厂仿制成功，同年7 月， 装备它的国产首台喷气式飞机“歼5”也在沈阳112 厂仿制成功。在此基础上，徐舜寿、叶 正大、黄志千、顾诵芬、程不时等人开始自行设计我国首台喷气式歼击教练机“歼教1”型， 当时原则是参考米格式飞机，但不生搬硬套，而是有所创新，例如就不沿袭苏联传统的机头 进气布置，而选用美英式的两侧进气方式，将机头留作安装雷达天线部位。该机于1958 年 2 试制首飞成功。 

1958 年10 月，我国第二个歼击机制造厂——成都132 厂也开始破土动工建厂。实践证 明，我国航空工业“先修理，后仿制，再自行设计制造”的建设方针是正确的。这样，即使 苏联于1960 年7 月单方撕毁中苏协议并单方决定全部撤走在华专家的做法也未能减缓我国 航空工业的前进步伐。 建国初期，为了稳定政局而在全国范围内发起“镇反”、“肃反”、“三反、”“五反”、“反 右”、“反右倾”和“四清”等一连串政治运动，本也实属必要，但将绝大多数人民内部矛盾 毫无限制地上纲上线，过份夸大为敌我矛盾的作法却造成了全国经济衰退，人心惶惶，波及 面广，我家也难幸免，我的姐夫——蒋雯键，只因曾大解放前当过县级公办银行行长，就被 戴上“贪污份子”帽子抄家劳改，我的姐姐——孔繁德也只是为了姐夫冤案鸣不平而被扣上 “右派份子”帽子。一时全家六口生活极其困难，也靠我每月汇给的30 元活钱勉强湖口度 日。当然，这种扩大化的做法以后也终被一一纠正，姐夫在平反后还按离休干部落实政策， 姐姐在摘帽后也加入了共产党，政治上、经济上虽大有改善，但身心上所受创伤却是永远也 不会磨灭的。

十年动乱跌入低谷（1966 年-1976 年） 

1966 年，“文化大革命”开始在中国大地上，群魔乱舞，一些自封的“造反派”以破四 旧为名到外打砸抢，造成工业停滞，农田荒芜，商铺凋零，这就是“十年浩劫”。当时我也 被罗列了八大“罪状”后被打成“反动学术权威”，关进“牛棚”监督劳改。其实这些所谓 “罪状”多属荒唐可笑，强词夺理，例如在一次学习会上，我曾提问：“既然总路线是‘鼓 足干劲，力争上游，多快好省地建设社会主义’，但对于航空工业则是反复强调质量第一， 而其它行业的质量问题也确实都很重要，所以为什么总路线的提法不按“好快多省”而是“多 快好省”的排列顺序？”这本是学习会上的正常提问，但结果却被扣上企图篡改总路线的罪 名。 

全国各地在这段时期，不仅各级党政部门太多被“造反派”压权把持，而对企业更为严 重，使技术、质量管理非常混乱，因此，132 厂能于 1969 年使歼 7 机通过鉴定并试飞成功 真是十分不容易。随后，在屠基达院士的指领下再不断地将其改进、改型、扩充和延伸，使 132 厂终于源源不断地成批生产出我国主用的歼7 型系列军机。 

出于事物的两面性，我在这十年动乱的日子里，虽然暂时脱离技术专业队伍，但却前所 未有过的整天和基层工人在一起，从事体力劳动实践，也只有这时才能深深地体会到“光凭 想象而不实干”确实不可能创造出世界来的。任何轻视劳动的观点也都是错误的。这些都有 助于我日后长期地与基层群众建立起热诚、稳定而融洽的关系。 

到1976 年粉碎“四人帮”后，“文化大革命”这场闹剧也就草草收场。刘少奇平反，邓 小平复出。濒临崩溃的国民经济开始复苏。 

改革开放焕发青春（1977—1998 年） 

1976 年，“四人帮”倒台后，我也被宣告无罪释放，仍旧继续从事技术工作。 

1977 年曾用射线法解决飞机座舱盖骨架锈蚀程度的关键问题，并领队带上仪器深入到 海、空军部队检查飞机和排故，研制了涡流导电仪剔出混在铝型材中的过烧次品，还研制了 区分晶粒度等级的专用超声波探头来消除某批铝梁质量隐患。 

1978 年我被中国无损检测学会选为首届理事，后兼任第一至第四届射线专业委员会主 任。1979 年，我被调往成都132 厂，同时被四川无损检测学会推为会长，1980 年就联合云 南省和贵州省召开了首届西南无损检测学术交流会，并议定以后每两年一次由云、贵、川三 省轮流主持开会。 

1981 年我被航空工业部首批晋升为高级工程师，1988 年再次晋升为教授级高级工程师。 曾主持研制50 千伏软X 射线机和300 千伏金陶管X 射线实时检测系统，主编航空标准《中 粒中速型工业 X 射线胶片验收规范》。已出版的著作有：主编的《射线检测Ⅱ级教材》、译 自德国的《射线检测》、译自美国的《金属陶瓷X 射线管的过去、现在和将来》。曾赴美国、 荷兰、巴西、印度出席第11 届至第14 届世界无损检测会议，宣读《国内外的射线检测》与 《工业CT 在中国的应用和发展》等论文并随即被刊载入该届会议论文集内向全世界发行。 还曾任第七届亚太地区无损检测学术报告会议执行主席。

1992 年荣获“航空航天部有突出贡献专家”称号。后被聘任为重庆大学顾问教授、四 川省东西方文化交流促进会会长。 

从1984 年被选兼任第六届四川省人大代表以来，还被连任第七届和第八届四川省人大 常委一直到1998 年，为适应国民经济建设发展需要，并结合人民生活热点和反腐倡廉要求， 曾在四川省人民代表大会上和省人大常委会上先后提出或领衔提出过100 余条建议、意见和 批评，大多已被采纳实现。例如：《在成都市建立国际邮件互换局》经国家邮政总局和海关 总署联合批准并已建成和营运，从而加速了成都市和四川省的国际交往，也加大了对外开放 力度；又如曾在四川省人代会上带头质询过省高级人民法院关于《夹江县假冒成都市彩虹电 器名牌产品案》引起中央和省市电视广播与报刊等传媒广泛报道和揭露，一方面大张旗鼓打 假，一方面也抨击了地方保护主义；还曾根据到地方视察工作中所见所闻，而在四川省委、 省人大和省政府联合召开评议四川省人民检察附工作的大会上，以《不受监督的权力必然导 致腐败》为题，具体揭露了渠县某检察长为谋求私利竟对简阳县某公司经理（后因涉嫌诈骗 3000 余万元而被捕查办）非法封官发证、发放检察官服装，并进而两次擅自借给其一支手 枪和十发子弹，对这样胡作非为的检察长当即由四川省人大常委会组成专案组查处，其它还 曾向成都市政府呼吁过关心退休职工生活困难而经批复同意从1998 年起对在成都市的国有 企业退休职工普遍增加了大约人均100 元的养老金，这既体现了党和政府的关怀，也有助于 社会稳定。总之，作为一名专职科技人员，在这长达15 年来的参政议中，由于能力和水平 均很有限，因此为人民办成一点点事情，也确实体会到必须克服许多困难，但同时也对能够 不断获得人民的认可而感到由衷的欣慰。 

回报社会 退而不休（1999 年—2010 年） 

1998 年10 月，当我于第八届四川省人大常委会任期刚满时，也就从成都132 厂正式退 休。由于15 年来一直以人民代表身份参政议政，早已习惯于密切关注人民生活与政府作为， 也认识到自己应在力所能及范围内感恩回报社会．因此．身虽退心未退。 

2000 年 7 月，作为四川省东西方文化交流促进会会长，我曾与四川省人民政府对 外友好协会联合邀请了美国政府顾问韦恩博士来蓉，为省内部分大型企业的董事长和总经理 共约30 余人举办了为期三天题为《公司成长及赢利的管理技巧》的经济管理讲座，效果不 错。看来借鉴西方在经济方面的先进经验用来改善中国的企业管理还是十分有用。 

2001 年，沈阳 112 厂建立五十周年，我作为 132 厂唯一代表应邀前往参加。有意思的 是厂庆会场竟仍在30 多年前我被挂牌揪斗的体育场内举行。坐在主席台上的我不禁感慨万 千，真是人生风雨变幻无常．昨日还是阶下囚，今朝竞成座上客。 

建国以来，一般大型国有企业都普遍超越本身职能权限大办社会，自进入市场经济轨道 以后，政府出于节省地方财政开支考虑，也一拖再拖地延缓接管步伐。为此，我于 2006— 2009 年间曾以《从严依法治国，企业不办社会》为题多次上书中共四川省委和省人大常委 会敦促省市政府加快接管步伐，经过反复磋商后方才从132 厂陆续将成飞中学、成飞小学、 公路桥梁、水电气供应以及社会治安与综合治理等政府职能一一交还给政府。这样理顺关系 以后才为132 厂集中全力专心从事科研生产、狠抓国防建设搭建了大展宏图的平台。

今天，随着“枭龙”、“歼8”、“歼10”、“飞豹”、“小鹰”、“海鸥”等一系列飞机不断亮 相，中国航空工业已经从无到有、从小到大地发展成拥有能自行设计制造门类齐全、性能卓 越的多种飞机的世界航空大国，在不远的将来，我们还会能自行设计制造出150 座以上的大 客机，也一定会进入世界航空强国之林。 

最后，谨祝西南地区第十一届无损检测学术年会成功举办 

作者简介： 

孔凡庚高工是我国无损检测的老前辈，曾任中国无损检测学会常务理事、第１～４届中国无损检测学 会射线专委会主任。他自清华大学毕业以后在航空企业长期从事无损检测工作，尤其在射线检测技术领域 造诣很深，编写了中国无损检测学会第一版“射线检测”教材。支持和指导我国丹东射线仪器基地建设， 为射线检测仪器生产作出了重大贡献。1981 年5 月他在南昌航空大学主持了为期45 天的“全国首次射线 检测II 级（中级）人员培训和资格鉴定班”，开创了我国无损检测人员培训和认证的先河。孔凡庚高工曾 任四川省人大常委多年。