ChinaBun is back, as a sponsor

[ChinaBun]

Hi everyone! I'm not really new, but have been on a long break. According to my records here, the last time I posted was in 2009. I have come here off and on since then to look at bunny photos, but haven't posted. Oh, maybe I should start at the beginning to make more sense.

I'm an American who has taught at universities in China for the last 18 years. I've lived in five cities: Changsha, Hangzhou, Zhuhai, Xi'an and I've been in Nanning for the last eight years. Nanning is the capitol of Guangxi Province, and is located in southern China, about four hours from the border with Vietnam. In the summers I come home to Arkansas and spend a lot of time with my mother. She has three cats. I've asked her to get a rabbit, but she's happy with her cats.

I had a pet rabbit when I lived in Xi'an. That's when I became a member of this forum. BTW, Xi'an is famous for the Terracotta Warriors. I lived there five years, and for 2 1/2 of those years I had a lovely white bunny named Qingqing. That's pronounced "cheeng cheeng". She's named after Qinghai Province in western China. If you look at a map of the provinces in China, you may notice that Qinghai Province looks a little like a rabbit. Qinghai Lake is the eye. My students pointed that out to me once, and when I got my pet I named her Qingqing. If I ever have another rabbit, I'll name it Haihai. I loved my Qingqing, as did some of my students who would come over to see her, but she got sick and died. My students and I tried for weeks to find a rabbit-savvy vet, but failed. IIRC we tried five vets. The last one gave it a good try, but she ended up dying the same day that I had decided, based on advice from you on the forum, that it was time to let her cross the rainbow. My students and I buried her in a box by some trees and shrubs at the side of the school's soccer field and track.

I wasn't ready to get a new rabbit right after Qingqing died, and a year later I moved to another city. I now have an apartment that I feel is too small for a bunny. I feel this way based on how it was the two times I rabbit-sat for a Canadian teacher who had a bunny. I just didn't think the rabbit had enough room to move around, and I didn't have a good place to keep him. It was OK for a few days, but not for keeping a rabbit full time. I certainly think about getting a rabbit, but I always talk myself out of it because of the small size of my apartment. I don't think it's fair for the bunbun.

I've joined Rabbits Online as a sponsor. That means that I have permission to post commercial notices. Even though my day job is teaching English as a Second Language in China, I am dabbling with different ways of making money online. One thing I'm doing is designing t-shirts for sale on Amazon.com. Over the nine or so months that I've been doing this, I've decided to focus on several niches, including rabbits, reading, fountain pens, Church of Christ, and bassoons. I am now able to upload 100 designs to Amazon, and after I sell about 50 more shirts I will be able to upload up to 500 shirts. A few months ago I came to this site to see if I could advertise, but it seemed like it was too expensive for me. Either something has changed, or I was careless when I looked then, but when I came back here a week ago to check on advertising I discovered that I could become a sponsor for a monthly fee and would be able to share my information in the vendors area. I was pleased to see this and immediately signed up to be a sponsor.

It's time for me to wind up this long post (and congratulations to those who made it this far!) so I will say hello to everyone, and invite you to visit my thread in the Vendor Display Area.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

We were in China during the olympics and took a side trip to Xian to see the terracotta warriors--well worth it too!

 

[ChinaBun]

Another Nancy! And one who has been to Xi'an ("shee ahn")! I was also in China during the Olympics in 2008. At that time I was going home in the winter and staying in China during the summer. I changed my pattern several years ago, after my dad died and I wanted to spend more time with Mom. Not that she needs much help. She can walk faster than I can and she's 81. I, on the other hand, have enjoyed chocolate and ice cream in excess, unlike my mother. Back to the topic, China was really crazy at that time! They had had a bad year until then. That winter was very cold in many parts, breaking records in the south and central parts, I'm sure. I was in the north, Xi'an, so it wasn't very noticeable. There also was a terrible earthquake in Sichuan Province, killing IIRC 80,000 people. China really needed a good Games. I was traveling in that area just before the Games, but stayed away from Beijing. I'm not big on crowds, you see. I did go to see a friend/former student who lived in Tianjin, two hours from Beijing. I took a train from a place about eight north of it, and had to go through metal detectors at the train station, a first for me.

 

[Happi Bun]

Welcome back to the forums! :wave:

Regarding your apartment being too small for a rabbit: It depends entirely on the rabbit's personality and age. My 9 year old is the laziest most inactive bunny ever. He was always a lazy bunny (it's just his personality). When his bond mate passed away from cancer, he was bonded with a 3 year old to help with his depression (he picked her). I thought "sweet, she will help him be more active!" but little did I know she is almost as lazy as him! She does run around from time to time though. I live in a decent sized condo. They have a big room where they can run around all day, but they use less than half. They are usually either sleeping or eating, haha.

 

[ChinaBun]

Welcome back to the forums! :wave:

Regarding your apartment being too small for a rabbit: It depends entirely on the rabbit's personality and age. My 9 year old is the laziest most inactive bunny ever. He was always a lazy bunny (it's just his personality). When his bond mate passed away from cancer, he was bonded with a 3 year old to help with his depression (he picked her). I thought "sweet, she will help him be more active!" but little did I know she is almost as lazy as him! She does run around from time to time though. I live in a decent sized condo. They have a big room where they can run around all day, but they use less than half. They are usually either sleeping or eating, haha.

Thanks for the welcome and the great story! It was a sweet yet funny tail :rollseyes with a good ending. Thanks for sharing it.