The following is based on my observations from our trip though I am aware that we really only saw snippets of the country, since, for the most part, we were in tourist areas seeing the sights and staying in hotels that cater to guests from all over the world. The main purpose of this trip was to take Anna back to her homeland China to visit for an introductory tour, the centerpiece of which was visiting her orphanage and finding place.
Compared to what we saw in 1988, then 1995, and to a lesser extent, in 1999, on our adoption trip when the focus was really on Anna and the adoption process, China is a whole new place on the surface.
There are shopping malls with designer stores inside, many paved roads including highways complete with traffic congestion due to the fact that car/truck/taxi traffic appears to have replaced a lot of bicycle/cart traffic. I'm not sure that this is really progress, but that could be a debate in itself. Over here, we're trying to put bicycles back on the roads and improve public transportation, having suffered the consequences of traffic congestion and resulting pollution. Frankly, I would love to have a bicycle cart to go back and forth into and out of town. Maybe I can adapt my bike.
Also, we found that the bathrooms in China are now mostly outfitted with sinks, soap, and hand dryers or paper towels (as well as western style toilets though the squat type hold some advantages). We did not see one single open vat of water for people to use to wash their hands. This aspect was an example of the positive progress that's been made. Of course, adjacent to the Bird's Nest Olympic Stadium in Beijing, we did see some folks on a lake in a rowboat refilling water bottles with the lake water, but, hopefully, that's an isolated incident. Attempts were made on the part of some of the fellow employees there to try to conceal what the refillers were doing.
One might have the initial impression that the Chinese people are more well off than before, but the behind the scenes' views belay that impression, because it doesn't appear that the standard of living, in passing storefronts, alleys, seeing people on the streets and along the roadsides and in the fields working, has changed very much. We drove by multitudes of open storefronts which looked dilapidated on the inside and out, with few people about, not seeing a lot of action. Farmers were working by hand in the fields as were the laborers on the roads. (Gail and I would have liked to see a rice plant, but didn't have that chance on this trip). Other than lots of cranes in areas where large high-rises are going up, I didn't see any equipment larger than a bulldozer. Bamboo scaffolding continues to be the apparent norm. To add to the above, there are lots of young people in the retail business but it doesn't look like they have enough to do. The showrooms that we felt like our guides were required to take us to seemed large and full of merchandise as well as more than enough uniformed young women whose job it clearly was to push the wares, but it was evident they weren't doing a booming business as we were often the only customers along with other tourists present. The lights would go on and the retailers would emerge from unseen parts of the stores when we arrived. This appeared to be true of the restaurants also. We found ourselves suspecting that there is a whole kickback scheme going on in order to assure money be spread around: "If your group of tourists will buy from us, we'll take care of you/your agency" type of understanding and arrangement. The problem is that it also eroded our trust. As our trip progressed, this feeling grew for me. This all helps us to understand why the kickbacks might be the norm but still leaves us to wonder if regular people in China are making enough money to live on.
While we're on the subject of shopping, I need to mention something hilarious here. There were a few items that we were on the lookout for when we were in China that proved elusive, namely little "giftie" (as Betts would have called them...) items for Anna's friends. Lo and behold, when we were in Target in Annapolis in mid-August after we had arrived home, what did we find? The very sort of gifts that we thought we would find in China! Each for $1 and "Made in China"! The find included fabric covered Chinese food take-out boxes, bracelets with beads the color of jade interspersed with flat discs that resemble Chinese coins, and some pens in the shape of dragons.
What we consistently learned about the government workers, however, is that they're the ones who make money and it's their relatives who are the heads of business organizations. They might be sitting more or less in the lap of luxury, but it's not due to their own work efforts as much as what family you happened to be born into. It's very difficult, if not impossible, to get into government work in China otherwise. Certainly a key difference between our country and China is that it is definitely possible for someone in the US who is motivated, to do well, but that kind of opportunity doesn't seem to be afforded to everyone in China. It's no wonder that kickbacks are resorted to. It goes without saying that our systems of government are based on an entirely different set of values.
Then there's a need here to mention the one family/one child policy that was brought up by our various guides on more than one occasion. There seem to be all sorts of ways that people get around the kernel of the rule which is that each family can only have one child. One child, that is, that is supported by the government. For an additional child, there is a steep fine though I didn't learn the details of that. On the other hand, if there's a divorce, an additional child is OKd (though I wonder if that's true equally for women and men...). Also, the minority groups (of which there are 56) are allowed to have more than one child. (We were made aware of the minority groups as a result of the shows we attended with the various customs and costumes being featured). So there are rules and then there are rules. The topic of abortion did not come up, nor did the preference of gender though, interestingly, several of our male guides referred to the fact that women have more power in China now since there are less women to go around. As a result, some men go to live with the women's parents. A pretty dramatic shift culturally.
The food was fine. Most of our meals were hot, just cooked. The rice and noodles always had the right consistency, as one would imagine, and included a mixture of vegetables and meat - mostly chicken or beef. I especially loved the Sichuan food because of the spiciness, especially the eggplant. Anna chose a variety of foods for each meal, always having noodles at breakfast, I noticed. Of course, we avoided fresh vegetables and ice and stuck to bottled water only. (The hotels provide several bottles of water each day for their guests and there was a written reminder in each hotel to only drink bottled water).
Culturally, it's heartening that longstanding traditions, such as the stylized forms of painting - brush and inside bottles, for example - as well as the dances in native costumes - continue to stay alive. I wonder how much the traditions flourish because they contribute positively financially to the economic base due to tourism. Is this what drives the Chinese to continue in the same traditions, I wonder? The artists do not appear to veer from the styles or themes. To add to this, we couldn't help but notice that many of the younger performers of music and dance had such flat expressions on their faces. Several of the artists learned their skills from their fathers in the manner of apprenticeship. The music makers who seemed the happiest looked to be the older citizens who were singing (in Beijing) or playing their instruments (in Guilin) for the joy of it, but we didn't see such joy or enthusiasm on the part of the musicians at the Tang Dynasty music prelude or on the faces of the dancers who came out after the show in Guilin for pictures. Do the artists find that the stylization of the arts is restrictive or not? Do they yearn to use the styles in a different manner? Maybe we were just "on the beaten path" for tourists and didn't see the art behind the scenes. We saw some contemporary art in Hong Kong that was certainly compelling. Anna reminds me that Chinese artists learn by copying art versus learning methods to create art. She makes a point that is really significant and would be interesting to learn more about.
In summary, it is my hope - and one that I know is shared by Richard, James, and Ross - that Anna embraces her Chinese cultural heritage as well as the American ideals we hold dear in her quest to learn about herself and her passions as a Chinese American - or is it American Chinese (?). That's why we made this journey, and it was incredible.
Several days after our arrival home, Anna spent a quiet afternoon working on a lovely painting of a little Chinese girl holding a basket with fish in it that she says (and I concur) looks like her, amidst a scene that includes mountains in the distance, boats on the water, a rooster in the foreground, reeds alongside, and other details. This appears to me to be Anna's first summary of our journey. I wonder what she thinks.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Wednesday August 4 Beijing to home
Richard, Anna, and I get up early to pack, have breakfast, take the subway and taxi to Jiaoguomenwai to find the diplomatic compound within which the offices of Half the Sky Foundation are located. No longer a diplomatic compound, we learn, but rather offices for local businesses. The staff are very welcoming, taking us on a tour of the space where we see numerous boxes of items ready to be delivered to two orphanage sites such as computers donated by Hewlett Packard, sand and play structure, etc. One of the offices is a special needs office. Anna gives a packet of a small sample of her cards to them and they give her a "Somebody Loves Me" doll and a t-shirt. The doll was designed as a fundraiser for the children who were victims in the 2008 earthquake in Sichuan. We are grateful that they were so welcoming and that we now have a picture in mind when we think of the heart and mind of the work of Half the Sky Foundation in Beijing. Back to the subway we go followed by a quick taxi ride back to the hotel to complete our packing, meet up with our group, check out of the hotel, meet Sunny in the lobby, climb onto the bus. Mr. Han drives us to the airport. Thank yous and goodbyes are said.
At the airport, Gail, Anna, and I wander around a bit and run into our friends, Mary and Jack Hall, who were in the next cabin on the Yangtze River Cruise, at the Pizza Hut in the Beijing Airport terminal. Anna runs up to Mary and gives her a big hug. They've been in Beijing in the recent days, and said that they've been thinking about us, wanting to hear more about Anna's adoption story, since they found themselves witnessing adoptive families receiving their adoptive babies here in Beijing. While we wait for our pizza which will take 17 minutes to be ready, we are told, we sit down with Mary and Jack and relate our adoption tale briefly. An arrival and departure board nearby tells us that our flight is boarding so we dash off, abruptly ending our fun visit with Mary and Jack with whom we hope to keep in touch. (They're from Portland, Oregon, and know The Old Scotch Church. She teaches several children of the pastor there.)
Here we are, aboard the plane to take us back home, having said "Goodbye" to China for now. This was Anna's first journey back to her homeland since we adopted her 11 plus years ago.
On the plane, I complete the book that Gail lent me several weeks ago on this trip, entitled Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See, published in 2005. It is fiction based on author's research about the Yao people and traditions in China, including the secret language of "nu shu" amongst women in days gone past. I really enjoyed the book.
We arrive in Newark safely, go through customs, and make our way to the train station to climb aboard a train headed to BWI train station where Ross (D) and John Morton meet us to pick our group up. Ross brings us home to our house while John transports the Vertiz family and Gail home. We're home safely and soundly. It's then that I notice that I'm tired! Was a wonderful and fulfilling trip.
I can't complete our travel journal without noting that Andy, too, had a vacation (- an expensive one at that!) since he was boarded at Greater Annapolis Vet kennel where he's been boarded before. The staff there know him well, always greeting him so warmly when we take Andy for boarding or just a visit, so we were reassured that he would get ample attention since our trip was an unusually long one for us and him. Andy would also have respite from the heat. We were relieved that our dear and now old dog Andy was in such good hands and are happy to have him home safely again.
At the airport, Gail, Anna, and I wander around a bit and run into our friends, Mary and Jack Hall, who were in the next cabin on the Yangtze River Cruise, at the Pizza Hut in the Beijing Airport terminal. Anna runs up to Mary and gives her a big hug. They've been in Beijing in the recent days, and said that they've been thinking about us, wanting to hear more about Anna's adoption story, since they found themselves witnessing adoptive families receiving their adoptive babies here in Beijing. While we wait for our pizza which will take 17 minutes to be ready, we are told, we sit down with Mary and Jack and relate our adoption tale briefly. An arrival and departure board nearby tells us that our flight is boarding so we dash off, abruptly ending our fun visit with Mary and Jack with whom we hope to keep in touch. (They're from Portland, Oregon, and know The Old Scotch Church. She teaches several children of the pastor there.)
Here we are, aboard the plane to take us back home, having said "Goodbye" to China for now. This was Anna's first journey back to her homeland since we adopted her 11 plus years ago.
On the plane, I complete the book that Gail lent me several weeks ago on this trip, entitled Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See, published in 2005. It is fiction based on author's research about the Yao people and traditions in China, including the secret language of "nu shu" amongst women in days gone past. I really enjoyed the book.
We arrive in Newark safely, go through customs, and make our way to the train station to climb aboard a train headed to BWI train station where Ross (D) and John Morton meet us to pick our group up. Ross brings us home to our house while John transports the Vertiz family and Gail home. We're home safely and soundly. It's then that I notice that I'm tired! Was a wonderful and fulfilling trip.
I can't complete our travel journal without noting that Andy, too, had a vacation (- an expensive one at that!) since he was boarded at Greater Annapolis Vet kennel where he's been boarded before. The staff there know him well, always greeting him so warmly when we take Andy for boarding or just a visit, so we were reassured that he would get ample attention since our trip was an unusually long one for us and him. Andy would also have respite from the heat. We were relieved that our dear and now old dog Andy was in such good hands and are happy to have him home safely again.
Tuesday August 3 Beijing
Today, after breakfast, we head by bus to the hutong district in Beijing where we take a rickshaw tour of the neighborhood after a brief introduction by our guide for this portion of the trip named Grace. She is a young, single woman who moved to Beijing with 11 of her friends from another part of China - can't remember which - after completing university 2 summers ago. They all thought it would be easy to get jobs, but it has not been so and only 3 of the 12 young women remain here now. Hutong means "water well" in Mongolian, but now refers to the narrow streets in this part of Beijing first settled when the Mongolians came here in the Yuan Dynasty. Rebuilt in 1420 in the Ming Dynasty and prominent in way of life through the Ming and Qing Dynasties. This is the biggest hutong area in Beijing and the one with the Drum and Bell Towers. Because people didn't have clocks, the bell would be rung at dawn and the drum would signal dusk in the evening. These towers are at opposite ends of a small square in this district along what is referred to as the "dragon line" in which the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square are on the same imaginary line in keeping with feng shui. This is considered for good luck and friendship, Grace describes. Some of the gates (- like large doors) to courtyards remain in this hutong neighborhood; they were like faces in old Beijing in that the number of beams above the large, gated doors reflected the wealth of a family. Typically, an arranged marriage would be between 2 persons with an equal number of beams. However, if a boy was from a family of 4 beams and a girl from a family with only 2, she could only be one of his concubines. (The whole concubine culture sounds horrendous, but certainly weighs heavily in Chinese history). The only person to have 12 beams over the gate would be the emperor. Grace told us the Chinese folktale of the butterfly lovers, one that we've heard several times by guides during this trip so it must be popular. The guides have each told us that it is the Romeo and Juliet story of China. Stone figures of a lion couple traditionally stand outside of the entrance of homes. If there is a carving of a drum under the lion's paw, that symbolizes that an official resides there. If there is a carving of a book under the lion's paw, that means that a scholar lives there. Homes in the hutong district would be divided into 3 areas, the front yard being the living area, the middle yard being for the parents and boys while the backyard would be reserved for girls in the family. Thresholds at the gate were considered to cast off evil spirits or ghosts. Was considered important to step over the threshold without disturbing it. When the last emperor was young, his aunt allowed for the thresholds to be cut so that he could ride his bike around unencumbered, and, sure enough, Grace explains, he became the last emperor. Grace also described the tradition of footbinding: Legend has it that this custom was started by an emperor in the Tang Dynasty who was intrigued with a concubine who could dance like a fox with her small feet in his hand, but I'm not sure I heard Grace clearly. Sounds bizarre. At any rate, the custom was outlawed by Dr. Sun Yatsen in 1911 though it continued for longer until finally stopped in 1949. Grace says there are still some very elderly women alive in their 90s whose feet were bound when they were young.
We climb into rickshaws (- the ones that are tricycles, not carried... Thankfully, that kind of servitude is not employed anymore) to take a tour of the hutong neighborhood. The streets are very narrow with small alleys off of them. The roofs are the traditional old tile atop the one story homes. The general area looks very dilapidated and the people mostly older though there are some children sitting along the street too outside of doorways several of whom are drawing pictures in workbooks. Some of them - mostly men - are gathered in places along the way. Anna and I are sharing a rickshaw and pass the camera back and forth between us. We catch a photo of a cart full of green vegetables. We see a young woman who I suppose is a new mother because of a babe that appears to be a newborn swaddled in her arms and it looks like she is carrying a booklet of some sort. Up the street, after an imposing looking humvee with guards inside drives by, we spot two women in long, white medical coats - one with a stethoscope hung around her neck and the other with a surgical cap on her head so we must be near a community medical facility perhaps? When we left the area where the rickshaws were lined up with many of the drivers asleep in theirs, we were about the only ones taking a tour this way, but when we come back to our starting point, it appears that there are lots of tourists being driven around in them.
We then walk a little ways away and down a small alley and into Mr. and Mrs. Shen's home (- am not sure that I got their name correctly...) where we are to enjoy a homemade lunch "with a local family". We are invited to look at their myna bird who is in a large bird cage hanging in their courtyard. Mr. Shen is not home, and Mrs. Shen is cutting up vegetables to prepare our lunch. The rooms in their home each open to the small courtyard but, except for the middle room which adjoins the dining area, not to one another, so one has to go outside, it appears, to go from one room to another. The room farthest back appears to be their bedroom with a double sized bed in it that takes up most of the space. It is open to the courtyard, and I don't see a French doors there though there must be some sort of a sliding door perhaps? To shield them from the elements, I would imagine. The middle room is about the same size as the bedroom and looks like it can be used for multiple purposes, probably like a family or living room. There is a large open ginger jar with water and several koi fish swimming around in it there. A small net rests on one rim of the large bowl, and it looks like a small hose goes into the water from the back of the bowl, too. Her pet crickets are noisily making a racket in their small 2 level cricket cage; they are fed strips of carrots. We are invited to sit down at their round table with stools around it, and then served lunch. Mrs. Shen does not join us as she is preparing dish after dish and bringing it to the table for us to eat. It's all delicious, but we're disappointed that she's not joining us though she does sit down after we've finished in order to visit. Grace interprets for us. Mrs. Shen tells us that she and her husband have been married for 30 years and have one son who married last year. She points to a photo on the wall of her and her husband all dressed up in Chinese traditional attire, describing that the photo was taken at her son's wedding. When she and her husband were married, typically, there were no wedding celebrations. We give Mrs. Shen a packet of Anna's notecards with her art work on the fronts as a thank you gift and take a photo of Mrs. Shen and Anna together. During our lunch, Mrs. Shen's brother-in-law has arrived to assist us in making some kites after lunch. We are invited to sit around a small table that has been pulled out for us and he proceeds to take out some white paper squares and strips of dried bamboo for the crosspieces of our kites. He then takes out some color markers for each of us to make a design on our kite which is fun before we each tape a paper tail to one corner of our kites. We also give him a packet of Anna's notecards and take a photo of him with Anna. As we are leaving the Shens' courtyard, another set of tourists has come into the courtyard. I hope she doesn't have to prepare another lunch! This has been a lovely opportunity and a bit of a welcome departure from the typical tour. I sure hope that these folks as well as the rickshaw drivers are doing a booming business and making good money off of all the tourists, including us!
Note: Our travel agency, Lotus Travel, has made all of our arrangements including this visit to the Shens' hone. Also, along our travels, they have provided a variety of gifts, via the guides, for Anna and Becky to welcome them back to their homeland.
Back on the bus, we head for our final tour of the trip, that of visiting the Summer Palace. The grounds are beautiful and meander around the large Kumming Lake. Gail pointed out that this is more of what she expected the Forbidden City to look like. We take a water taxi over to the other side of the lake to continue the tour. One of the hallmarks here is the Marble Boat that the Empress Dowager Cixi had built in 1888 with money that was supposed to go to developing a modern navy. The Marble Boat is immobile and it looks like it's fallen into bad repair compared to the grounds and other structures. Maybe the Chinese officials have decided not to sink anymore money into it. The Empress Dowager Cixi was really worse than Cruella da Ville, from everything I can gather. Sunny describes that she only cared about power, pleasure, and luxury. Her living quarters at the Summer Palace were entitled the Hall of Happiness and Longevity. 3 bronze figures sit outside next to that building: A crane symbolizing harmony, a deer symbolizing fortune, and a vase symbolizing peace. We walk down the Longest Corridor with a series of a multitude of paintings that depict Chinese stories. On our way out, predictably, there are souvenir shops and hawkers all about. One kiosk is selling all variety of items including a t-shirt we've seen a bunch of times now with a likeness of our President Obama on the front in a Mao get-up including cap that reads "Obamao". Interestingly, Sunny thinks this reflects that Chinese people can make fun of other people's presidents but not their own.
One final stop is at a park where we fly kites that Anna and Becky have been given by Lotus Travel in an empty concrete stadium in the round. Not much wind but enough to put the kites in the air for a bit.
Back at the hotel, Richard, Anna, Gail, and I decide to make an excursion to Silk Street to look for the one thing Anne had hoped to find that she has not seen at all, that of round silk pillow covers that used to be sold practically everywhere. This will give us a chance to see what the subway system is like if we visit Half the Sky tomorrow morning and to see another part of Beijing. The subway system is clean and fairly easy to use, but the cars are packed with people. We have to make one change to get to our stop. At one place, Richard is assisted in getting into a subway car by someone giving him a big push from behind! We emerge from our stop into a shopping area but can't find what we're looking for so we cross the street to go into a huge building which has a sign that reads "Silk Market". Once inside, the whole thing overwhelms me, but Richard, Gail, and Anna find and make the selections. We exit the building and go around to the side to a little coffee shop to have supper at a table outside. Richard and Gail order beef and chicken curry while Anne and Anna opt for cokes and to share a piece of chocolate cake. Yes, nutrition at its best. There are several older women on the street collecting cans and selling socks, one of whom has a child with her. Anna wants to be sure that I give my can to one of them though I apparently give it to another woman than Anna had intended, alas. This looks like an area that is more metropolitan with a mixture of Chinese and foreigners walking along the streets, lots of traffic, and large, modern buildings all around. Once done, we reverse the process in terms of taking the subway back to near our hotel and walking the rest of the way. This was the way we spent our final evening in China on this trip!
We climb into rickshaws (- the ones that are tricycles, not carried... Thankfully, that kind of servitude is not employed anymore) to take a tour of the hutong neighborhood. The streets are very narrow with small alleys off of them. The roofs are the traditional old tile atop the one story homes. The general area looks very dilapidated and the people mostly older though there are some children sitting along the street too outside of doorways several of whom are drawing pictures in workbooks. Some of them - mostly men - are gathered in places along the way. Anna and I are sharing a rickshaw and pass the camera back and forth between us. We catch a photo of a cart full of green vegetables. We see a young woman who I suppose is a new mother because of a babe that appears to be a newborn swaddled in her arms and it looks like she is carrying a booklet of some sort. Up the street, after an imposing looking humvee with guards inside drives by, we spot two women in long, white medical coats - one with a stethoscope hung around her neck and the other with a surgical cap on her head so we must be near a community medical facility perhaps? When we left the area where the rickshaws were lined up with many of the drivers asleep in theirs, we were about the only ones taking a tour this way, but when we come back to our starting point, it appears that there are lots of tourists being driven around in them.
We then walk a little ways away and down a small alley and into Mr. and Mrs. Shen's home (- am not sure that I got their name correctly...) where we are to enjoy a homemade lunch "with a local family". We are invited to look at their myna bird who is in a large bird cage hanging in their courtyard. Mr. Shen is not home, and Mrs. Shen is cutting up vegetables to prepare our lunch. The rooms in their home each open to the small courtyard but, except for the middle room which adjoins the dining area, not to one another, so one has to go outside, it appears, to go from one room to another. The room farthest back appears to be their bedroom with a double sized bed in it that takes up most of the space. It is open to the courtyard, and I don't see a French doors there though there must be some sort of a sliding door perhaps? To shield them from the elements, I would imagine. The middle room is about the same size as the bedroom and looks like it can be used for multiple purposes, probably like a family or living room. There is a large open ginger jar with water and several koi fish swimming around in it there. A small net rests on one rim of the large bowl, and it looks like a small hose goes into the water from the back of the bowl, too. Her pet crickets are noisily making a racket in their small 2 level cricket cage; they are fed strips of carrots. We are invited to sit down at their round table with stools around it, and then served lunch. Mrs. Shen does not join us as she is preparing dish after dish and bringing it to the table for us to eat. It's all delicious, but we're disappointed that she's not joining us though she does sit down after we've finished in order to visit. Grace interprets for us. Mrs. Shen tells us that she and her husband have been married for 30 years and have one son who married last year. She points to a photo on the wall of her and her husband all dressed up in Chinese traditional attire, describing that the photo was taken at her son's wedding. When she and her husband were married, typically, there were no wedding celebrations. We give Mrs. Shen a packet of Anna's notecards with her art work on the fronts as a thank you gift and take a photo of Mrs. Shen and Anna together. During our lunch, Mrs. Shen's brother-in-law has arrived to assist us in making some kites after lunch. We are invited to sit around a small table that has been pulled out for us and he proceeds to take out some white paper squares and strips of dried bamboo for the crosspieces of our kites. He then takes out some color markers for each of us to make a design on our kite which is fun before we each tape a paper tail to one corner of our kites. We also give him a packet of Anna's notecards and take a photo of him with Anna. As we are leaving the Shens' courtyard, another set of tourists has come into the courtyard. I hope she doesn't have to prepare another lunch! This has been a lovely opportunity and a bit of a welcome departure from the typical tour. I sure hope that these folks as well as the rickshaw drivers are doing a booming business and making good money off of all the tourists, including us!
Note: Our travel agency, Lotus Travel, has made all of our arrangements including this visit to the Shens' hone. Also, along our travels, they have provided a variety of gifts, via the guides, for Anna and Becky to welcome them back to their homeland.
Back on the bus, we head for our final tour of the trip, that of visiting the Summer Palace. The grounds are beautiful and meander around the large Kumming Lake. Gail pointed out that this is more of what she expected the Forbidden City to look like. We take a water taxi over to the other side of the lake to continue the tour. One of the hallmarks here is the Marble Boat that the Empress Dowager Cixi had built in 1888 with money that was supposed to go to developing a modern navy. The Marble Boat is immobile and it looks like it's fallen into bad repair compared to the grounds and other structures. Maybe the Chinese officials have decided not to sink anymore money into it. The Empress Dowager Cixi was really worse than Cruella da Ville, from everything I can gather. Sunny describes that she only cared about power, pleasure, and luxury. Her living quarters at the Summer Palace were entitled the Hall of Happiness and Longevity. 3 bronze figures sit outside next to that building: A crane symbolizing harmony, a deer symbolizing fortune, and a vase symbolizing peace. We walk down the Longest Corridor with a series of a multitude of paintings that depict Chinese stories. On our way out, predictably, there are souvenir shops and hawkers all about. One kiosk is selling all variety of items including a t-shirt we've seen a bunch of times now with a likeness of our President Obama on the front in a Mao get-up including cap that reads "Obamao". Interestingly, Sunny thinks this reflects that Chinese people can make fun of other people's presidents but not their own.
One final stop is at a park where we fly kites that Anna and Becky have been given by Lotus Travel in an empty concrete stadium in the round. Not much wind but enough to put the kites in the air for a bit.
Back at the hotel, Richard, Anna, Gail, and I decide to make an excursion to Silk Street to look for the one thing Anne had hoped to find that she has not seen at all, that of round silk pillow covers that used to be sold practically everywhere. This will give us a chance to see what the subway system is like if we visit Half the Sky tomorrow morning and to see another part of Beijing. The subway system is clean and fairly easy to use, but the cars are packed with people. We have to make one change to get to our stop. At one place, Richard is assisted in getting into a subway car by someone giving him a big push from behind! We emerge from our stop into a shopping area but can't find what we're looking for so we cross the street to go into a huge building which has a sign that reads "Silk Market". Once inside, the whole thing overwhelms me, but Richard, Gail, and Anna find and make the selections. We exit the building and go around to the side to a little coffee shop to have supper at a table outside. Richard and Gail order beef and chicken curry while Anne and Anna opt for cokes and to share a piece of chocolate cake. Yes, nutrition at its best. There are several older women on the street collecting cans and selling socks, one of whom has a child with her. Anna wants to be sure that I give my can to one of them though I apparently give it to another woman than Anna had intended, alas. This looks like an area that is more metropolitan with a mixture of Chinese and foreigners walking along the streets, lots of traffic, and large, modern buildings all around. Once done, we reverse the process in terms of taking the subway back to near our hotel and walking the rest of the way. This was the way we spent our final evening in China on this trip!
Monday August 2 Beijing
After breakfast, we climb aboard the bus to head to the Olympic Village complex of the Beijing Olympics 2008. This stop was not on the itinerary but, after all, I find that I'm glad that this was included. It covers an area quite a bit larger than I had imagined, but a lot of it isn't in use just now though the "water cube" will be open to the public beginning next year some time, Sunny says. Four buildings next to one another have been designed to look like a dragon from afar which is pretty impressive. The Olympic music from the 2008 event is being played for everyone to hear. An amusement park is planned for the area also. Farmers were moved out of the area to make way for this whole complex. (Note to myself: If Annapolis ever tries to vie for hosting the Olympic Games, be sure to get Historic Annapolis Foundation involved and begin to protest right away since an Olympic Village would obliterate the town). During the Oympics, Beijing was pretty deserted because some driving restrictions were imposed and the government paid some people to stay away. We don't go inside the Bird's Nest stadium since it would cost 40yuan per person to do so, but we walk around. The Olympic Village's location is in keeping with feng shui so there is a manmade river next to the stadium. As we approach a small bridge to look more closely at the lotus flowers and plants in the river, we notice a small rowboat on the water with an older woman rowing while a young man is clearly refilling empty plastic water bottles with water from the river. About 10 persons in pink shirts that look like a uniform are on and around the bridge standing around. One young man tries several times to stand directly in front of me, but I move to his side at the railing of the bridge each time to watch the refilling of the bottles while Richard pulls out his movie camera to record the refilling. Don't really know what their intention was with refilling the water bottles, but the young man's attempts to shield me from the sight are enough to raise our suspicions that someone will try to resell this water to an unsuspecting person. Ugh. We have new reason to be cautious about checking to make sure that the water we buy is from a vendor and has is properly capped.
Also while in the area, a group of children with the adults with them ask to have their photo taken with our group. We learn that they are from Hebei, the province that is adjacent to the municipality of Beijing.
Next stop, the Great Wall, a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site, about an hour and a half away, the later part of the trip on two lane roads. In a word, great. The photos will do a better job of telling about this visit than my words can. My notes here should include a few comments though. We enter the Great Wall at the Mutianyu entrance where we take the cable car up to some flights of steps up to the path of the Great Wall. Of course, there are an ample number of hawkers en route up to the cable car so we can expect to find our "I climbed the Great Wall" T-shirts pretty easily on the way down. When we were last here with James and Ross, we came in at a different entrance, and I think we saw the Ming tombs afterwards. The steps are uneven and there are no railings in some places so we step carefully. The views of the mountains in the distance are gorgeous. At one point, Anna looks over the wall near a Coca Cola kiosk and sees a donkey! We figure that the donkey likely assists with the carrying of Coca Colas to the Great Wall. This is a far cry from the beginnings of the Great Wall back in 220 BC by the first emperor Qin Shi Huang. (Additional note: The Qin Dynasty is credited with the development of Chinese currency, written language, and measurements). The Mongolians took over thereafter and moved the capital to Beijing. Conflict between those in the north and the south continued through the ages so construction of the wall continued for about 200 years. 2 million soldiers at a time continued to work on building the wall during the Ming Dynasty, some of them losing their lives in the treacherous process. The Great Wall can be seen from space, thanks to those builders. Some think that the Great Wall is in the shape of a dragon.
After obliging the hawkers and our impulses to buy (- always wondering "if we will see this again"...), we head to the bus which next takes us to the Flying Acrobats' performance at the Chaoyang Theatre which is nothing short of phenomenal in terms of the performances, choreography, lighting, scenery, costumes, music. I pulled out my IPad during the intermssion which was a big hit with the young children around me.
Out to dinner afterwards in a local restaurant followed by being bused back to the hotel for the night.
Also while in the area, a group of children with the adults with them ask to have their photo taken with our group. We learn that they are from Hebei, the province that is adjacent to the municipality of Beijing.
Next stop, the Great Wall, a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site, about an hour and a half away, the later part of the trip on two lane roads. In a word, great. The photos will do a better job of telling about this visit than my words can. My notes here should include a few comments though. We enter the Great Wall at the Mutianyu entrance where we take the cable car up to some flights of steps up to the path of the Great Wall. Of course, there are an ample number of hawkers en route up to the cable car so we can expect to find our "I climbed the Great Wall" T-shirts pretty easily on the way down. When we were last here with James and Ross, we came in at a different entrance, and I think we saw the Ming tombs afterwards. The steps are uneven and there are no railings in some places so we step carefully. The views of the mountains in the distance are gorgeous. At one point, Anna looks over the wall near a Coca Cola kiosk and sees a donkey! We figure that the donkey likely assists with the carrying of Coca Colas to the Great Wall. This is a far cry from the beginnings of the Great Wall back in 220 BC by the first emperor Qin Shi Huang. (Additional note: The Qin Dynasty is credited with the development of Chinese currency, written language, and measurements). The Mongolians took over thereafter and moved the capital to Beijing. Conflict between those in the north and the south continued through the ages so construction of the wall continued for about 200 years. 2 million soldiers at a time continued to work on building the wall during the Ming Dynasty, some of them losing their lives in the treacherous process. The Great Wall can be seen from space, thanks to those builders. Some think that the Great Wall is in the shape of a dragon.
After obliging the hawkers and our impulses to buy (- always wondering "if we will see this again"...), we head to the bus which next takes us to the Flying Acrobats' performance at the Chaoyang Theatre which is nothing short of phenomenal in terms of the performances, choreography, lighting, scenery, costumes, music. I pulled out my IPad during the intermssion which was a big hit with the young children around me.
Out to dinner afterwards in a local restaurant followed by being bused back to the hotel for the night.
Sunday August 1 Beijing
Well, we've clearly been spoiled in these fancy hotels because the one we're in now seems a bit worn and we notice. We're a bit surprised since this is a Japanese Airlines hotel. Once again, we've been told that there is "free Internet" but that does not appear to be the case at all. I mistakenly thought that we would have the most capability of being wired here of all the places we've been in China. It is possible but at a very high price. The breakfast buffet is satisfactory though the selection is a bit less than in our previous hotels. Probably a good way to ease back into a typical breakfast at home! (Addendum: In spite of the literature to the contrary, we are, in fact, not charged for the internet so the word that we got when we checked in that the Internet is free was correct after all).
Sunny, our guide, and our bus driver, Mr. Han, take us to the Forbidden City for a tour by Sunny that begins at the north gate and ends at the south gate where we emerge at the edge of Tiananmen Square. Sunny tells us that the Forbidden City is also referred to as the purple Forbidden City, because the color purple refers to the North Star and symbolizes Heaven. The Emperor would be seen as the son of heaven. The official word is that the Forbidden City has 999 and a half rooms, 9 being a lucky number, but there are actually 8074 rooms. Lucky numbers seem to figure into lots of beliefs in China and thus into their buildings such as there being 81 golden nails in the Emperor's Gate for 9x9, of course. The Forbidden City has been home to a total of 24 emperors in the Ming and Qing Dynasties: 14 in the Ming; 10 in the Qing. The Forbidden City was built in 1420 by about a million laborers. The foundation is 15 layers thick of stone to prevent anyone from tunneling in. The last emperor, Puyi, wrote a book entitled From Emperor to Citizen (- would underline that since it's a book title but don't know how to do that on this machine...) describing how he became successfully reformed from being an emperor to that of a common citizen, Sunny tells us. (We have that book at home. Richard read it after our last trip here in 1995. Blatant propaganda, Richard adds.) The last emperor died in Beijing in 1965 at the age of 57 of kidney cancer. Early on he had been a prisoner first in Russia and then in China before being "reeducated". He married a nurse. They had no children but he raised a nephew who is now a famous calligrapher.
In keeping with feng shui, a mountain should be behind a home with water in front of it so there is a manmade hill behind the Forbidden City with a manmade river in front of it. We first go through a garden area in which trees that are tagged red are 400 years old and those tagged green are just 200 years old. The rocks in the garden are from Taihu Lake, 1000km away; having rocks hauled to the palace from that distance would show the power of the emperor. That is the last garden we see in the Forbidden City. Sunny explains that the rest of the area was kept sparse in terms of any type of vegetation in order to maintain an aura of seriousness and protect the emperor from those who might ambush him using vegetation for cover. Trees that were present were brought down in 1530 due to such an attempt. The open areas of the Forbidden City now look neglected due to lots of grass growing up between the slabs of stone. On the flip side, the Forbidden City buildings sure have great paint jobs! Sunny explains that renovations were undertaken in 1990 including painting in preparation for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, using 18 carat gold paint. The colors of red, blue, green are vibrant and so characteristic of colors used on buildings throughout China. Another characteristic feature outside buildings is the use of the lions - female on one side with one paw on a baby lion and male on the other with his paw on a globe of the world. Finally, the animals on the corners of the roofs in China ward off evil spirits and also show the importance of the building, also keeping the tiles from sliding off, Sunny explains. The emperor's throne looks more like a sofa; it's apparently a Chinese sofa. There are 4 Chinese characters above the throne that read "Justice" on one side and "Benevolence" on the other. The 2 carved dragons on the ceiling were believed to be able to discern an imposter from the real emperor and come down if an imposter ever tried to seat himself on the throne. Reportedly, this never happened.
The names of the various offices sound very imposing but, for the life of me, I can't recall the purposes of each. Besides, my guidebook gives me different information than Sunny, too, so I'll just jot down the names of the buildings and you can decide what sorts of activities might have occurred there: Hall of Mental Cultivation, Hall of Supreme Harmony, Hall of Middle Harmony, and Hall of Preserving Harmony, the latter of which was where imperial exams were given.
Put it this way: Even if I was an empress, I wouldn't want to live here. Too much upkeep, too austere, and too many crowds. I would, however, like to hire the painters they use.
We emerge from the tunnel that goes under the road from the Forbidden City to Tiananmen Square with the Gate of Heavenly Peace, with a giant portrait of Mao hung in the center, at our back. It was one of the gates to the Forbidden City in earlier times. In Chinese characters on the left, it says "Long Live the People's Republic of China" and to the right, it says "Long Live the Unity of the Peoples of the World". in front of us lies the huge, open square with the Great Hall of the People where elections are held every 5 years by the National People's Congress to our right, the National Museum (that Sunny tells us is "closed" today) to our left, and the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall where Mao's body is entombed, in front of us at the other end of the square. In about the center of the square stands the Monument to the People's Heroes. The big star on the national flag of China stands for Communism while the four small stars stand for soldiers, farmers, technicians, and children. Sunny explains that farmers used to make up 60 or 70% of the population while only 30 to 40% do now due to the fact that more younger folks are attending universities than used to be the case. He tells us too that two other squares in the world that are comparatively large are Red Square and Trafalgar Square. We ask him whether he has seen photos of the mall area near the Capital in Washington, DC, but he has not. Interesting. Sadly, no kites are allowed on Tiananmen Square anymore. We walk out into the center of the square to get a sense of what it's like compared to the families packing the square with lots of kites in the air in 1995 when we were here with James and Ross and the Knoizens and the rest of our group: Family groups are milling about or enjoying picnics, but it is not at all crowded. A Chinese mother and her daughter approach Gail to ask to have a photo taken together. (Will be a sweet photo). We also remember that, in 1995, guards seemed to be present in many places and were armed, but on this visit, we haven't seen as many and the ones we do see, in Tiananmen Square, for example, appear to be very young - maybe 15 or 16yo? - and are not armed.
We board the bus again to go to our next destination, that of the Temple of Heaven where we walk through a beautiful park and end up watching a group of mostly older singles and couples ballroom dancing to music from an amplifier. In another part of the park, we hear some singing and move closer to listen to older retirees singing songs from a Chinese songbook. The songs sound like military music. Sunny explains that retirees gather frequently to dance or sing. He relates that one of the songs is about the cypress tree, another about a man in prison during the Cultural Revolution who later became a teacher - Sunny describes this as a. "tragic" situation, and others are army songs. He says that younger people in China cannot relate to the retirees' music. Men retire from the government at 60yo while women retire at 50yo; both men and women receive pensions. Other workers retire at 55yo (men) and 45yo (women) with a smaller pension while farmers receive no pension at all. Medical insurance covers everyone for about 90% of their needs. The summer holiday period is 2 months long while the winter holiday period is 2 months long also.
Something about Sunny: Like other tour guides, he has chosen his own English name for himself to use for work.
One family/one child policy comments: This topic is a recurring one. Difficult to get a handle on it actually, but sounds to me like those who are wealthier than others can have more children is they can afford to. There are rules and there are other rules. In the case of divorce, can have another child. Also, those who are in minority groups may have more than one child.
Back to the Temple of Heaven: Used for animal sacrifices during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Thresholds were raised. The higher the stature of the person in the residence, the higher the threshold. The central entrance up the steps to the Temple of Heaven was reserved for God while the east entrance was for the Emperor, considered to be the son of Heaven, and the west entrance for family members and high ranking officials.
Back on the bus we go to go back to the hotel. Richard, Gail, Anna, and I walk to a Chinese restaurant - all Chinese characters, pictures on the menu, the second business in to the left from the mint building - for an enjoyable time figuring out what to order with the assistance of my IPad and Anna correcting my attempts to speak Chinese. Anna's pronunciation, I must say, sounds pretty fine, and the waitresses understand Anna when she tries to correct me! I'm getting more comfortable in trying out what I've learned since it doesn't appear that anyone feels offended by my ill attempts. The waitresses are intrigued with my IPad. They bring us "porridge" on the house (which we don't like too much but politely have) and the dishes that we order. We have ordered a bit too much food (since we couldn't figure out how much to order), but it's all delicious and the bill comes to about $20US. During our meal, a mother and daughter who is about 7yo arrive and sit down at the next table. Feeling a bit more confident in my language efforts and being enticed by Anna, I say "Ta shi Piao liang" for "She is pretty", and the young girl replies in perfect English, "Thank you". We laugh all the way back to the hotel. Another fine day.
Sunny, our guide, and our bus driver, Mr. Han, take us to the Forbidden City for a tour by Sunny that begins at the north gate and ends at the south gate where we emerge at the edge of Tiananmen Square. Sunny tells us that the Forbidden City is also referred to as the purple Forbidden City, because the color purple refers to the North Star and symbolizes Heaven. The Emperor would be seen as the son of heaven. The official word is that the Forbidden City has 999 and a half rooms, 9 being a lucky number, but there are actually 8074 rooms. Lucky numbers seem to figure into lots of beliefs in China and thus into their buildings such as there being 81 golden nails in the Emperor's Gate for 9x9, of course. The Forbidden City has been home to a total of 24 emperors in the Ming and Qing Dynasties: 14 in the Ming; 10 in the Qing. The Forbidden City was built in 1420 by about a million laborers. The foundation is 15 layers thick of stone to prevent anyone from tunneling in. The last emperor, Puyi, wrote a book entitled From Emperor to Citizen (- would underline that since it's a book title but don't know how to do that on this machine...) describing how he became successfully reformed from being an emperor to that of a common citizen, Sunny tells us. (We have that book at home. Richard read it after our last trip here in 1995. Blatant propaganda, Richard adds.) The last emperor died in Beijing in 1965 at the age of 57 of kidney cancer. Early on he had been a prisoner first in Russia and then in China before being "reeducated". He married a nurse. They had no children but he raised a nephew who is now a famous calligrapher.
In keeping with feng shui, a mountain should be behind a home with water in front of it so there is a manmade hill behind the Forbidden City with a manmade river in front of it. We first go through a garden area in which trees that are tagged red are 400 years old and those tagged green are just 200 years old. The rocks in the garden are from Taihu Lake, 1000km away; having rocks hauled to the palace from that distance would show the power of the emperor. That is the last garden we see in the Forbidden City. Sunny explains that the rest of the area was kept sparse in terms of any type of vegetation in order to maintain an aura of seriousness and protect the emperor from those who might ambush him using vegetation for cover. Trees that were present were brought down in 1530 due to such an attempt. The open areas of the Forbidden City now look neglected due to lots of grass growing up between the slabs of stone. On the flip side, the Forbidden City buildings sure have great paint jobs! Sunny explains that renovations were undertaken in 1990 including painting in preparation for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, using 18 carat gold paint. The colors of red, blue, green are vibrant and so characteristic of colors used on buildings throughout China. Another characteristic feature outside buildings is the use of the lions - female on one side with one paw on a baby lion and male on the other with his paw on a globe of the world. Finally, the animals on the corners of the roofs in China ward off evil spirits and also show the importance of the building, also keeping the tiles from sliding off, Sunny explains. The emperor's throne looks more like a sofa; it's apparently a Chinese sofa. There are 4 Chinese characters above the throne that read "Justice" on one side and "Benevolence" on the other. The 2 carved dragons on the ceiling were believed to be able to discern an imposter from the real emperor and come down if an imposter ever tried to seat himself on the throne. Reportedly, this never happened.
The names of the various offices sound very imposing but, for the life of me, I can't recall the purposes of each. Besides, my guidebook gives me different information than Sunny, too, so I'll just jot down the names of the buildings and you can decide what sorts of activities might have occurred there: Hall of Mental Cultivation, Hall of Supreme Harmony, Hall of Middle Harmony, and Hall of Preserving Harmony, the latter of which was where imperial exams were given.
Put it this way: Even if I was an empress, I wouldn't want to live here. Too much upkeep, too austere, and too many crowds. I would, however, like to hire the painters they use.
We emerge from the tunnel that goes under the road from the Forbidden City to Tiananmen Square with the Gate of Heavenly Peace, with a giant portrait of Mao hung in the center, at our back. It was one of the gates to the Forbidden City in earlier times. In Chinese characters on the left, it says "Long Live the People's Republic of China" and to the right, it says "Long Live the Unity of the Peoples of the World". in front of us lies the huge, open square with the Great Hall of the People where elections are held every 5 years by the National People's Congress to our right, the National Museum (that Sunny tells us is "closed" today) to our left, and the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall where Mao's body is entombed, in front of us at the other end of the square. In about the center of the square stands the Monument to the People's Heroes. The big star on the national flag of China stands for Communism while the four small stars stand for soldiers, farmers, technicians, and children. Sunny explains that farmers used to make up 60 or 70% of the population while only 30 to 40% do now due to the fact that more younger folks are attending universities than used to be the case. He tells us too that two other squares in the world that are comparatively large are Red Square and Trafalgar Square. We ask him whether he has seen photos of the mall area near the Capital in Washington, DC, but he has not. Interesting. Sadly, no kites are allowed on Tiananmen Square anymore. We walk out into the center of the square to get a sense of what it's like compared to the families packing the square with lots of kites in the air in 1995 when we were here with James and Ross and the Knoizens and the rest of our group: Family groups are milling about or enjoying picnics, but it is not at all crowded. A Chinese mother and her daughter approach Gail to ask to have a photo taken together. (Will be a sweet photo). We also remember that, in 1995, guards seemed to be present in many places and were armed, but on this visit, we haven't seen as many and the ones we do see, in Tiananmen Square, for example, appear to be very young - maybe 15 or 16yo? - and are not armed.
We board the bus again to go to our next destination, that of the Temple of Heaven where we walk through a beautiful park and end up watching a group of mostly older singles and couples ballroom dancing to music from an amplifier. In another part of the park, we hear some singing and move closer to listen to older retirees singing songs from a Chinese songbook. The songs sound like military music. Sunny explains that retirees gather frequently to dance or sing. He relates that one of the songs is about the cypress tree, another about a man in prison during the Cultural Revolution who later became a teacher - Sunny describes this as a. "tragic" situation, and others are army songs. He says that younger people in China cannot relate to the retirees' music. Men retire from the government at 60yo while women retire at 50yo; both men and women receive pensions. Other workers retire at 55yo (men) and 45yo (women) with a smaller pension while farmers receive no pension at all. Medical insurance covers everyone for about 90% of their needs. The summer holiday period is 2 months long while the winter holiday period is 2 months long also.
Something about Sunny: Like other tour guides, he has chosen his own English name for himself to use for work.
One family/one child policy comments: This topic is a recurring one. Difficult to get a handle on it actually, but sounds to me like those who are wealthier than others can have more children is they can afford to. There are rules and there are other rules. In the case of divorce, can have another child. Also, those who are in minority groups may have more than one child.
Back to the Temple of Heaven: Used for animal sacrifices during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Thresholds were raised. The higher the stature of the person in the residence, the higher the threshold. The central entrance up the steps to the Temple of Heaven was reserved for God while the east entrance was for the Emperor, considered to be the son of Heaven, and the west entrance for family members and high ranking officials.
Back on the bus we go to go back to the hotel. Richard, Gail, Anna, and I walk to a Chinese restaurant - all Chinese characters, pictures on the menu, the second business in to the left from the mint building - for an enjoyable time figuring out what to order with the assistance of my IPad and Anna correcting my attempts to speak Chinese. Anna's pronunciation, I must say, sounds pretty fine, and the waitresses understand Anna when she tries to correct me! I'm getting more comfortable in trying out what I've learned since it doesn't appear that anyone feels offended by my ill attempts. The waitresses are intrigued with my IPad. They bring us "porridge" on the house (which we don't like too much but politely have) and the dishes that we order. We have ordered a bit too much food (since we couldn't figure out how much to order), but it's all delicious and the bill comes to about $20US. During our meal, a mother and daughter who is about 7yo arrive and sit down at the next table. Feeling a bit more confident in my language efforts and being enticed by Anna, I say "Ta shi Piao liang" for "She is pretty", and the young girl replies in perfect English, "Thank you". We laugh all the way back to the hotel. Another fine day.
Saturday July 31 Xian to Beijing
Packing for the last part of our journey in Beijing and the breakfast buffet herald the day. Then we're off by bus to the south gate of the old city wall in Xian in order to ride bikes around it, but we are first ushered to a room where a man gives us a short talk about feng shui, followed by an "invitation" to see some jade after telling us how "lucky" we are to be here today since they're only open about 6 days a month. (Really?). I notice from the corner of my eye that our guide has been ushered up a different stairway while we are taken up a set of stairs to a small showroom where we are shown jade pieces. I'm feeling irritated that this "opportunity" has been thrust upon us again when it has not been mentioned and we did not indicate interest in this. We were very clear about our intention to ride bikes on the city wall this morning. At any rate, we exit as expeditiously and politely as we can without buying a thing. We make our way up to the area where we rent bikes to ride around the city wall. The bikes look pretty worn, but we hope they're in decent enough shape to set off and get around. Probably goes without saying but there are no helmets. The city wall was constructed during the Ming Dynasty in 1370. The old part of the city is within the rectangle shaped perimeter of the wall. The perimeter is 14km while the height of the wall is 12 meters. There is a moat around the whole perimeter. It is oppressively hot but we are instantly delighted that we inserted this into our itinerary here. Beyond the starting point of our bike trip, it appears that we have the path ahead practically to ourselves. The width of the wall is about 20 feet, but that's a guess since we didn't measure it. We stop to take some photos along the way of the old part of the city inside the wall with special attention to the old rooflines as well as some photos of the juxtaposition of the wall in relation to the new high-rises outside of it. We also stop so that Richard can fix the chain of my bike which popped off as I rode through a pothole and adjust the seat on Gail's bike to make it a comfortable height. We stop briefly to watch a drumming group practice with two lines of soldiers costumed in attire from a previous century lined up perpendicularly to them while standing at attention. We move on with the wall ahead of us still to ourselves. No matter the heat, this is fun and a nice diversion from the typical tour. We ride through a series of large, nylon, inflated figures of tigers (- this is the "Year of the Tiger") and lotus flowers and other things and then we notice a large area inside the wall that appears to be rubble where whatever was there was demolished. Old homes? We make it back to our starting point after about an hour and a half, tired, hot, sweaty, but happy to have done this. We agree that this has clearly been a highlight of our time in Xian.
Later, we're even happier that we spent the morning riding bikes on the city wall after we arrive at the airport to fly to Beijing only to learn that the flight is delayed. A few more delays make for a late arrival in Beijing - about 9pm, but our guide "Sunny" is there to greet us along with our bus driver Mr. Han who transports us to the Nikko New Century Hotel where we will stay while we're in Beijing. We're tired and hungry so we head to the restaurant in the hotel to get something light to eat. Our waitress is from Yangzhou! Small world it is.
Later, we're even happier that we spent the morning riding bikes on the city wall after we arrive at the airport to fly to Beijing only to learn that the flight is delayed. A few more delays make for a late arrival in Beijing - about 9pm, but our guide "Sunny" is there to greet us along with our bus driver Mr. Han who transports us to the Nikko New Century Hotel where we will stay while we're in Beijing. We're tired and hungry so we head to the restaurant in the hotel to get something light to eat. Our waitress is from Yangzhou! Small world it is.
Friday July 30 Xian
By now a routine and savoring the luxury of it, we enjoy another breakfast buffet in the hotel before setting off in the mini bus with our guide Sean and bus driver Mr. Lee (or is it Mr. Li?). We are off first to the factory where reproductions of the terra cotta warriors are made in an authentic manner, compared to ones people can buy off the street, so we're told. (We're all getting more and more suspect of the quality of products, given the information we get and the manner in which we receive it. It seems that everywhere we land - "I give you best price". We were each interested in picking up some things for mementos and gifts but the lack of trust has erased that desire, so these "opportunities" are nothing but an uncomfortable ordeal). This time, however, we are pleasantly surprised to learn about what the process of the reproduction entails followed, in the next area, by watching the process of the polishing of lacquerware, putting designs on lacqueware, and painting the pieces. It is explained that the carvings that overlay the lacquerware begin as uncut flat pieces of jade over which a free hand pattern on a piece of paper is placed and the design is transferred onto the jade after which the design is cut by a very fine saw that resembles a bow. Then it is glued atop the lacquerware after which it is painted. The designs are so intricate. Most of the pieces are folding screens. We then choose a few items to buy which we actually want and about which there is no haggling, thank goodness.
On to the Terra Cotta Warriors' Museum where, in spite of the oppressive heat, we are captivated by the whole exhibit, considered by some to be the eighth wonder of the world. The written descriptions don't do justice to the magnitude of the entire spectacle. Qin Shi Huang (- his actual name was Ying Zheng, born in 259 BC), became the first emperor of China at age 13 years old in 247 BC. He is credited with unifying China, came up with the ideas of the Great Wall and the tomb for himself for his anticipated afterlife. It took a total of 38 years for 700,000 workers to build it, making the life-sized and larger than life-sized figures of sitting and standing archers, warriors/infantrymen, officers, generals, horses, cavalry, charioteers, and others such as members of the honor guard. The tomb was placed in this location presumably because it was considered to be advantageous to be between a mountain (Qin Ling Mountain Range there) and a river, one of the tributaries of the Yellow River. Excavation and research and reconstruction in the area have been in progress since the initial discovery of the tomb was made by a local farmer digging for a well in 1974. Apparently, the secret of the tomb had been maintained secondary to the workers building it being buried alive at it's completion. There remain areas that have not been excavated yet, including the remains of the emperor, his family members, and his slaves. Upon excavation, the paint on the figures disappears within a week or so due to oxidation? Some of the parts of the tombs were destroyed by invading forces not long after completion, it is believed, while other areas were plundered by local farmers in the years after the discovery of the tomb was made: Our guide told us that they removed the heads of the figures to sell. First, we visit Pit #1 containing the figures of the infantry with weapons in fighting formation facing east to protect the emperor behind them, then Pit #3, the smallest of the pits, which housed all of the 7 generals that were discovered as well as the honor guard - probably the headquarters of the generals and officers. Pit #2 is the final pit we visit and is in the shape of an "L", housing 4 different kinds of soldiers within including archers and charioteers that carried soldiers and weapons. A remarkable sight, the whole thing. And, by the way, a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site.
Xian was the capital for 6 dynasties including the Shang, Western Zhou, Qin - the first feudal empire, Han during which the silk road first started to go west from Xian, Sui, and Tang (1300 years ago) considered to be the golden age of the feudal kingdom before it's fall in 907 AD. The main commodities of the silk road included gunpowder, papermaking, silk, carpet, and printing. Xian is the capital of the Shaanxi province. (Shanxi province is adjacent to Shaanxi province. There are different ways to spell the names of these provinces in Pinyin since they have different tones, but the tones are not on any keys on the keyboard...). Before China became the Republic of China, our guide Sean tells us, Xian used to be a poor area, but is now thriving due to the following industries: airplane, textiles, electronics, scientific research including a center for satellites.
Based on what we've seen, Xian has exploded in growth compared to what we saw in 1995. When we visited the Terra Cotta Warrior exhibit in 1995, the access to it was a 2 lane road and the parking lot was unpaved. Now, there is a highway that goes there and the parking lots are enormous and paved. Additionally, there are a number of modern, high-rise buildings in Xian that have occluded the small streets with open storefronts in older buildings with typically Chinese rooflines. There is also a great amount of traffic congestion of cars, taxis, buses with many less bicycles. Our guide ascertains that development in China has occurred at a very fast pace, there is more money in China now than there ever used to be, and that government workers make the most money. A bit of a conversation ensued here about the government being made up of about 5% of the people and the reality of the lack of ease in becoming a government worker since there seem to be family connections from generation to generation. Our guide tells us that females hold more power now than years ago since there are more men now than women. This is the second guide that we have who has moved to his wife's hometown. He also affirms that the one family/one child rule is in effect in China. If rich, can have more. There seem to be slightly different understandings of that rule, depending on who one talks to... One of our guides who is in her early 50's has 5 siblings while the others thave no siblings. On the whole, it looks like girls and boys are both equally treasured now just by what we see in passing on the part of parents/grandparents.
We have lunch at the Qin Jin Tang Restaurant followed by a lesson from a chef in how to make jiao zi - Chinese pot stickers (which Anna has learned from Mrs. Haas prior to this so this is a bit of a review).
En route to the art museum, the passing views include small groups of men sitting in circles on small children sized chairs, an open front fish market with a variety of seafood placed on ice, and birds in cages hanging on tree branches in several places near small groups of people visiting with one another.
Next stop: Tang Dynasty Art Museum. Nice tour through farmers' paintings from 1950s followed by art work from 1960/70s that was used for propaganda during the Cultural Revolution, and then folk art of the 1980s. We also see art from the Han, Qin, Tang, and Qing Dynasties. While the girls are being instructed in a bit of calligraphy "wo ai ni" for "I love you", I learn from one of the art museum staff that there are four types of art in China: farmer (not learned in school but passed down from generation to generation), Chinese traditional (learned in school), modern, and oil.
We go back to the hotel to quickly get ready to go to a dinner theater and arrive at the theater later than our guide had wanted us to but, in fact, it looks like we are there in more than enough time to have a 4 course dinner before the show begins. The theater is not at all full and some of the other audience members seem to be westerners, so I surmise that this is a tourist attraction. The instrumental music is lovely and includes some musical instruments that are not used often anymore but I'm not sure which ones they are. The instruments in the ensemble include flute, erhu, what looks like a mandolin, and what looks like a zither, and what looks sort of like a banjo. (Remind me to check them out in our book at home about Chinese musical instruments). The show is made up of different kinds of dances including cloth dances. Some dances employ more ballet, some more gymnastic abilities, but the choreography doesn't look like it's from the Tang Dynasty era. The costumes are very glitzy and appear new but we also wonder if the styles are really authentic to the period of the Tang Dynasty. Hmmm... Nevertheless, it's been an enjoyable evening.
General note: We are left to wonder at more times than not what the guides are required to take us to no matter what - in particular, regarding the pressure to shop/buy - and if there are any sort of kickbacks involved... Also, the factors of time have seemed to shift inexplicably in Xian. We are told that it will take a certain amount of time to get somewhere, for example, when that is quite inaccurate. Traffic congestion explains part of this discrepancy but not all of it. I'm not sure that our guide understands a lot of English which also might be part of the problem in terms of our communication and understanding of one another.
On to the Terra Cotta Warriors' Museum where, in spite of the oppressive heat, we are captivated by the whole exhibit, considered by some to be the eighth wonder of the world. The written descriptions don't do justice to the magnitude of the entire spectacle. Qin Shi Huang (- his actual name was Ying Zheng, born in 259 BC), became the first emperor of China at age 13 years old in 247 BC. He is credited with unifying China, came up with the ideas of the Great Wall and the tomb for himself for his anticipated afterlife. It took a total of 38 years for 700,000 workers to build it, making the life-sized and larger than life-sized figures of sitting and standing archers, warriors/infantrymen, officers, generals, horses, cavalry, charioteers, and others such as members of the honor guard. The tomb was placed in this location presumably because it was considered to be advantageous to be between a mountain (Qin Ling Mountain Range there) and a river, one of the tributaries of the Yellow River. Excavation and research and reconstruction in the area have been in progress since the initial discovery of the tomb was made by a local farmer digging for a well in 1974. Apparently, the secret of the tomb had been maintained secondary to the workers building it being buried alive at it's completion. There remain areas that have not been excavated yet, including the remains of the emperor, his family members, and his slaves. Upon excavation, the paint on the figures disappears within a week or so due to oxidation? Some of the parts of the tombs were destroyed by invading forces not long after completion, it is believed, while other areas were plundered by local farmers in the years after the discovery of the tomb was made: Our guide told us that they removed the heads of the figures to sell. First, we visit Pit #1 containing the figures of the infantry with weapons in fighting formation facing east to protect the emperor behind them, then Pit #3, the smallest of the pits, which housed all of the 7 generals that were discovered as well as the honor guard - probably the headquarters of the generals and officers. Pit #2 is the final pit we visit and is in the shape of an "L", housing 4 different kinds of soldiers within including archers and charioteers that carried soldiers and weapons. A remarkable sight, the whole thing. And, by the way, a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site.
Xian was the capital for 6 dynasties including the Shang, Western Zhou, Qin - the first feudal empire, Han during which the silk road first started to go west from Xian, Sui, and Tang (1300 years ago) considered to be the golden age of the feudal kingdom before it's fall in 907 AD. The main commodities of the silk road included gunpowder, papermaking, silk, carpet, and printing. Xian is the capital of the Shaanxi province. (Shanxi province is adjacent to Shaanxi province. There are different ways to spell the names of these provinces in Pinyin since they have different tones, but the tones are not on any keys on the keyboard...). Before China became the Republic of China, our guide Sean tells us, Xian used to be a poor area, but is now thriving due to the following industries: airplane, textiles, electronics, scientific research including a center for satellites.
Based on what we've seen, Xian has exploded in growth compared to what we saw in 1995. When we visited the Terra Cotta Warrior exhibit in 1995, the access to it was a 2 lane road and the parking lot was unpaved. Now, there is a highway that goes there and the parking lots are enormous and paved. Additionally, there are a number of modern, high-rise buildings in Xian that have occluded the small streets with open storefronts in older buildings with typically Chinese rooflines. There is also a great amount of traffic congestion of cars, taxis, buses with many less bicycles. Our guide ascertains that development in China has occurred at a very fast pace, there is more money in China now than there ever used to be, and that government workers make the most money. A bit of a conversation ensued here about the government being made up of about 5% of the people and the reality of the lack of ease in becoming a government worker since there seem to be family connections from generation to generation. Our guide tells us that females hold more power now than years ago since there are more men now than women. This is the second guide that we have who has moved to his wife's hometown. He also affirms that the one family/one child rule is in effect in China. If rich, can have more. There seem to be slightly different understandings of that rule, depending on who one talks to... One of our guides who is in her early 50's has 5 siblings while the others thave no siblings. On the whole, it looks like girls and boys are both equally treasured now just by what we see in passing on the part of parents/grandparents.
We have lunch at the Qin Jin Tang Restaurant followed by a lesson from a chef in how to make jiao zi - Chinese pot stickers (which Anna has learned from Mrs. Haas prior to this so this is a bit of a review).
En route to the art museum, the passing views include small groups of men sitting in circles on small children sized chairs, an open front fish market with a variety of seafood placed on ice, and birds in cages hanging on tree branches in several places near small groups of people visiting with one another.
Next stop: Tang Dynasty Art Museum. Nice tour through farmers' paintings from 1950s followed by art work from 1960/70s that was used for propaganda during the Cultural Revolution, and then folk art of the 1980s. We also see art from the Han, Qin, Tang, and Qing Dynasties. While the girls are being instructed in a bit of calligraphy "wo ai ni" for "I love you", I learn from one of the art museum staff that there are four types of art in China: farmer (not learned in school but passed down from generation to generation), Chinese traditional (learned in school), modern, and oil.
We go back to the hotel to quickly get ready to go to a dinner theater and arrive at the theater later than our guide had wanted us to but, in fact, it looks like we are there in more than enough time to have a 4 course dinner before the show begins. The theater is not at all full and some of the other audience members seem to be westerners, so I surmise that this is a tourist attraction. The instrumental music is lovely and includes some musical instruments that are not used often anymore but I'm not sure which ones they are. The instruments in the ensemble include flute, erhu, what looks like a mandolin, and what looks like a zither, and what looks sort of like a banjo. (Remind me to check them out in our book at home about Chinese musical instruments). The show is made up of different kinds of dances including cloth dances. Some dances employ more ballet, some more gymnastic abilities, but the choreography doesn't look like it's from the Tang Dynasty era. The costumes are very glitzy and appear new but we also wonder if the styles are really authentic to the period of the Tang Dynasty. Hmmm... Nevertheless, it's been an enjoyable evening.
General note: We are left to wonder at more times than not what the guides are required to take us to no matter what - in particular, regarding the pressure to shop/buy - and if there are any sort of kickbacks involved... Also, the factors of time have seemed to shift inexplicably in Xian. We are told that it will take a certain amount of time to get somewhere, for example, when that is quite inaccurate. Traffic congestion explains part of this discrepancy but not all of it. I'm not sure that our guide understands a lot of English which also might be part of the problem in terms of our communication and understanding of one another.
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