Dear Editor:
We work at the Taipei branch of Procova, the trade promotion office of the autonomous region of Valencia, Spain. In your articles on bats in the August issue of the Chinese-Spanish edition, you mentioned that bat designs often appear as auspicious symbols in Chinese paintings, handicrafts and traditional daily objects. We found this very interesting. Surprisingly enough, a bat features prominently in our regional coat of arms.
The story goes back to the time of King Jaime I. When he was preparing to recover Valencia from the Moors, a bat alighted on top of his tent. This was considered an omen of success, and the king ordered that a bat be added to his coat of arms. Later, when the army entered the city, they found that the streets and alleyways were filled with bats flittering wildly about, as though they were celebrating his victory. From then on, this little creature has been considered a symbol of good luck in Valencia. Even though some people say it was a swallow that landed on the king's tent at the time and not a bat, bats have become an auspicious symbol in our regional coat of arms--that much is incontrovertible. We are pleased that Valencia shares this symbol of good luck with China, and we are happy to have learned about it from our favorite magazine, Sinorama.
The Staff of Procova Taipei
Dear Editor:
Out of all your readers, I probably live the farthest north in the world. Try to look it up in an atlas, the town of TromsΦ in the northern part of Norway.
First, I would like to congratulate you for a steadily improving magazine, which now has a very high quality and standard.
I was in Taiwan for about five months in 1979-80 to study art and culture. I met a lot of people and traveled among other places to Penghu and Lanyu (Orchid Island) but stayed for the most part in Taipei. I made a lot of friends, but unfortunately I have lost contact with most of them. I would like to renew my connection with your beautiful islands, and hope to receive letters again from my friends. I am still an artist and doing fairly well. However, I long to travel again, and hope to be able to come to Taiwan, among other places, in the not too distant future.
Hans Ragnar Mathisen Norway
Dear Editor:
I am a student of classical Chinese literature and have enjoyed your series on international sinologists very much. I once wrote to some British and French sinologists with the assistance of your magazine.
If you could add the addresses of sinologists you write about at the end of the articles from now on, it would facilitate communication and cultural interchange between China and the West.
Yuan Wei-kuan United States
Editor's Reply: Thank you for your letter. It would be inappropriate for us to publish the addresses of people we interview. If readers wish, they can write to us and we will forward their letters to the person concerned, or they can contact the university or institution with which the sinologist is associated directly.
Dear Editor:
As soon as I saw the picture of Ali in the August issue (Taiwan edition), I took a liking to her. Maybe disabled children win more love and affection as a matter of course.
We have a handicapped child in our family, too. It seems I love him more and more the older he gets, and our family has become even closer.
It was easy for me to fall in love with Ali at first sight, especially since she is so cute. I wonder if she's ever seen a water buffalo, a Malaysian water buffalo grazing in the fields? Maybe you can give her this postcard.
I'd like to see more pictures of Ali in your magazine. The apple of her father's eye, she certainly has many lovable features. In learning to love Ali, can't we go on and learn to love other disabled children as well?
Hsu Mu-ling Malaysia
Editor's Reply: The photo essay "In Father's Eyes" in the August issue evoked a large response from our readers, of which this letter is one. Ali has Down's syndrome. Her congenital disability may be her misfortune, but she is surely fortunate to receive the love of her parents and family and the concern and affection of readers. Ali is growing up quite well, and we hope that our feature encouraged the parents of Down's children at home and abroad.