A Visitor from China---Shen Hao Chu

My brother Ray who is a professor of psychology and lives in West Boylston,Ma. recently had a visitor from China at his house. Ray is our family's world traveler and has been to China four times. (By comparison, I have been to California once!) His visitor's first name was "Hao Chu",but in China they put the last name first. Ray and HaoChu simplified things by calling him "Jack" the three weeks of his visit.
Jack graduated from Zhejiang University in 1996. This large university is located in the city of Hangzhou which is on the Southeast Coast of China. (If you look it up on Google, you will see what a beautiful area it is!) Jack works for a company by the name of Haining Xinhua and is in the publishing business.
Ray planned Jack's visit very well. He showed him all parts of Worcester: rich, middle class, and poor. He showed him our industrial past and our biotech present. Interspersed were a number of "minitrips" which he told me about and I will summarize as best I can here. It seems to me in retrospect that Ray's purpose was to show Jack as much of a picture of this area as he could.
Ray and Jack went to Boston and walked the historic Freedom Trail. They visited the State House and then had lunch at the fabulous Black Rose Restaurant. On the way home they stopped at Walden's Pond and explored the 10'by 10' replica of Henry David Thoreau's cabin where he wrote his famous "Walden" in Concord, Massachusetts (1848?) Later, they made a return visit to Concord, Ma. and visited the famous Concord Bridge and also stopped at Lexington, Ma. where the American Revolution began. On another of their "mini-trips", Ray and Jack traveled to Cambridge, Massacusetts to visit America's famous college: Harvard University.
(I think this pretty much covers historic Massachusetts although I told Jack that when he comes again a trip to this area is not complete without knowing how people lived in the 1830's and that I would be their guide for that. That would be Old Sturbridge Village in Sturbridge, Massachusetts.) Their next place to visit was New York City which is 180 miles away from Worcester and about a four hour drive. Ray doesn't mind driving anywhere. In New York they stayed overnight in a moderately priced hotel and NOT the YMCA!(as Ray did with me!) That was a break for Jack.) In New York they visited Chinatown. They went to the Stock Exchange on Wall Street but the public is not allowed in since the tragedy of 9/11. They visited the historic Trinity Church. They also visited Ground Zero where the Trade Center stood. Then it was on to Times Square, the Staten Island Ferry (which is FREE) and the Statue of Liberty. They also visited the Natural History Museum and took in the musical "Finian's Rainbow". On the way home they stopped to see President Ulysses S.Grant's Tomb along the highway. This is one of the most elaborate of all the Presidential burial tombs. Whew!.............What a trip! That is the way Ray is. Be prepared to see EVERYTHING! I have no idea what kind of professor he is, but he is one helluva tour guide!! When I went with him once on the Freedom Trail in Boston some years ago, he showed me where the Brinks robbery had taken place. How many tours show you that. (That is probably on Google too.) We enjoyed your visit, Jack.