George Laidlaw is a novelist and President of the Ottawa Independent Writers.
Canada is the second largest country in the world and China is fast becoming the most powerful (United States aside). Perhaps China has a legitimate claim to Canada or some part of Canada.
Chinese history goes back thousands of years. For the most part, few in the 'Western' world know much about Chinese history. But Chinese history is worth knowing.
Before Christopher Columbus stumbled on America in his attempt to sail to the Orient in 1492, another remarkable sailor, Admiral Zheng He, in one of his seven great voyages is thought to have landed on Cape Breton in 1420. Interesting. But that is only part of the remarkable history of this Chinese sailor.
The huge Chinese sailing ships (that we have come to call Junks) were about eight times bigger (the size of a small modern aircraft carrier) than any ship in the European world at the time. Read the mystery of The Jade Penny & The Chinese Admiral Vol. 9 of the Great Adventures of the Incredible Smalls by George Laidlaw, www.georgelaidlaw.ca under (Young Adult Books).
George Laidlaw sent his novel to the Chinese Embassy in Ottawa and was invited to meet the Chinese ambassador who enjoyed the book and appreciated a Canadian perspective about a famous and great Chinese historical personality.
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Almost daily at the top of the news we are told that the Arctic ice is melting and before long the North West passage will be ice free.
This environmental phenomenon might have at least one positive result. In 1845 John Franklin's expedition to the Arctic to find the North West passage failed when his two ships, the Erebus and the Terror, were fatally locked in ice and crushed.
To this day the ships remain lost. Only the bodies of many of the crews have been found in their desperate attempt to haul their long boats to safety. The Arctic cold, the winter darkness, and the ice, defeated their efforts to save themselves. All died.
An interesting footnote to history relates to a rule in the British Admiralty. A ship cannot be 'retired' or be 'delisted' until its last location can be found.
Since the Terror and the Erebus are still in the depths of Arctic water and yet undiscovered after 163 years, they are still on the Admiralty's list of 'active' ships. Perhaps 'open' water will allow researchers to find a bit of history that helped open up the Canadian Arctic.
To learn about this bit of Canadian history please read The Arctic Howler, by George Laidlaw, Vol. 28 in the series The Large Adventures of the Incredible Smalls www.georgelaidlaw.ca (under Young Adult books).
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