China in January, 2010!
China - Wind Goodfriend
Dec 11, 2009
I'm very excited to announce that in January of 2010, I'll be taking my third trip through BVU's Jterm program. This time, I'll be leading 12 students on a tour of China. Along with me, Dr. Matt Packer (professor of English) will be there, as well as Clint (my husband). I've pasted a photo here of the Great Wall that I found through Google images - just one of the many beautiful sites to which I'm looking forward.
Come back to visit the blog then - we leave January 4th!
Headed over the big puddle...
China - Melissa Huntley
Jan 1, 2010
Hello everyone,
I am Melissa Huntley, a senior Philosophy/Religion and Psychology major. This is my third J-term trip overseas, and I am more excited than ever! I am going to visit the great country of China! I have always been interested in the Far East, particularly China because of its history. Although the Great Wall is going to be amazing, I am most excited to see the Shaolin Temple; we even get to see the monks give a demonstration!
Stay tuned for another set of stories of the US girl seemingly wandering around another country. (Don't for get about PotD! Picture of the Day)
Zai-jian,
Melissa
China: Day 1
Wind Goodfriend
Jan 5, 2010
We've arrived safely in China! Not much to report so far as we've only been here a few hours. The flights went pretty smoothly. We had two layovers, both with tight connections. The second layover was scheduled to be 45 minutes, but then our plane was 30 minutes late, so we were all worried about missing the flight to Beijing - but fortunately the United Airlines staff were very accomodating and helped us get to our gate in time. We took a bus from our gate to the baggage claim, and I saw this sign above one of the windows:
I find the English translation pretty hilarious, but I did understand the meaning of the sign.
We've met our guide, whose fake name is "Jessica," and she'll be going along with us for the entire journey. This will make for excellent continuity and I think the entire group will feel safe in her capable hands. She told us that she's excited to lead our group because typically her groups are over twice her age!
After settling into the hotel (Clint and I actually have a small suite!), most of the group went across the street for some dinner. The staff didn't speak English, so we just pointed to what looked good on the menu (there were pictures). There were no prices on the menus, but each person's dinner ended up costing between $2.00-$5.00. Good deal! As usual I like to at least try one new food a day on international trips, so today it was sauteed lilies. They weren't bad - kind of tasted like lettuce.
Now I'm going to try to get a good night's rest so that I'm ready for our tour of the city tomorrow!
I'm a tiger! Rawr!
Melissa Huntley
Jan 6, 2010
Peking Opera Hotel
Nihao!
This morning we toured Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City (don’t let the name fool you, it’s not a real city). It was very cold and our guide said that never before has she seen the square covered in snow because they usually remove it as quickly as possible.
Tiananmen Square is the largest square in the world and it was really cool to be able to compare it to the Red Square in Moscow. Tiananmen Square is the largest in the world and it was very sparsely decorated. The south side of the square is a museum dedicated to Chairman Mao that faces the Tiananmen with Mao’s gigantic portrait on the side. There was also an obelisk-style monument in the middle of the square dedicated to the People’s Heroes.
The Tiananmen gate actually leads to the Forbidden City, which is the largest imperial palace in the world as well (a nice match for the largest square). The palace consists of the inner and outer quarters. Inner quarters housed the emperor and his family and the outer quarters consisted of where the emperor worked and met his subjects and officers. There were three large gates of the outer area leading into the inner area, which also had three gates (to keep balance within and without the household).
After lunch, we took a quick rickshaw tour of the Hutong area of Beijing (the ancient alleyways where common families live). Ian and I had the best driver of the whole group, he took a picture of us and made zigzags on the path (go 00003!). We visited a family that lived in the Hutong district. The house led to a courtyard that had 9 adjoining rooms for three families. They also had a very old cat that had no teeth.
To end the night, we went to an amazing performance of the Beijing Tiandi Acrobats. The performers were amazing and all of the acts very unique. I couldn’t help but think of the potential for a ninja army as I watched them fly through the air and balance bowls while tumbling.
Great Wall and Peking Opera tomorrow!!
PotD
Although our rickshaw driver took a very good picture of Ian and me, today’s pick is of what I have dubbed The Emperor’s Throne. This lovely four star establishment was found around a corner in the Forbidden City. The last star was added by a satisfied customer.
China: Day 3
Wind Goodfriend
Jan 7, 2010
Today was a great, exhausting day. But first I have to tell you something I forgot to mention last night. On our way to dinner, half of our group got stuck in the elevator up to the restaurant! The capacity of the elevator was 7 people, but we had 11 inside. This makes two years in a row I've gotten stuck on elevators during Jterm trips. Fortunately we got the doors to open and we climbed out after about 10 minutes.
We had four stops in our adventure today. First was a jade carving factory and shop, which offered beautiful things, but they were all very expensive. Then we moved on to our main event of the day: The Great Wall! This was a truly amazing experience. The sheer size of the Wall lends itself to a feeling of great majesty. Thinking about the effort it took to create such a construction made me feel quite spellbound by the entire experience. Here's a photo I took:
The next stop was the Ming Tombs. This is where 13 of the 16 Emperors in the Ming Dynasty are buried. Three are missing for the following reasons: The first emperor died before the area of tombs was created. The second emperor died without anyone knowing where his body was, because he was hiding from the third emperor who wanted to kill him. So, the first person buried here was the third emperor. Finally, the seventh emperor is also missing because he was only emperor for four years, while the sixth emperor went to war. When the sixth emperor got back, he kicked the seventh out, and thus the seventh wasn't allowed to be buried in the tomb area with everyone else.
The tombs are guarded by a series of marble statues of men and animals. There are four of each animal - two sitting and two standing. The story is that during the day, two of each pair are on guard and two are resting. Then at night, they switch when no one is looking. Here's a photo of Clint and me standing next to one of the lion statues:
Our final stop for today's tour was the Olympic buildings (the most famous of which is the Bird's Nest). These were kind of cool, but just buildings so not very exciting for me personally. This evening we saw a performance of the Peking Opera. This is a very stylized performance, with singing, dancing, bad acting, and martial arts demonstrations. Definitely the best part of this was the martial choreography. Our seats were fine, but there were tables at the front of the theatre where you could sit if you bought a bottle of local wine. That sounded like a good deal to me, so Clint and I had great seats.
Final picture for today was on the way out of the theatre. The actors have an area set up where you can meet them and see them put their makeup on for the show. On one of their stations we saw this book, which I'm pretty sure is not an official Charles Schultz production:
Now I'm off to bed - check back tomorrow!
The 4th Dimension huh?
Melissa Huntley
Jan 8, 2010
Today was very cold, but we braved it anyway to go see the Temple of Heaven, the largest temple in the world. The structure itself is not the largest, but the ground that it covers is immense, and it is right in the middle of Beijing! Rather surreal, but also a nice dynamic. In ancient times, the temple was used by the emperor on the winter solstice to ask for a good harvest and year from the gods. Now, it is used as a park, particularly for the retired community. They go and have a place to hang with their friends and play poker, dance, and play hackeysack better than anyone in our entire group.
In the park, we got a lesson with Tai Chi Master Chen. Tai Chi is a form of martial arts that focuses on proper movement through forms, therefore it is done very slowly and smoothly so as not to hide any problems with speed. As a martial artist, this was definitely a highlight of the trip for me. She went through a 24 move form, and taught us about ¼ of the movements, and even showed us how the movement was applied to fighting. It was very cool and I would have stayed the whole day if not for the weather and the group.
The final event for the day was the Summer Palace, which is the largest imperial garden in the world (Beijing has a lot of large stuff). The garden is not the normal garden that comes to mind, in fact, it is more like the English wild garden with trees and an emphasis on landscape rather than flowers. The Summer Palace borders a man-made lake that can be paddled on in warmer temperatures and has many pagodas and temples of its own. I was actually most interested in a pagoda structure on the horizon that existed before the palace. It had at least six tiers and the architects decided to pull it into the look of the garden and emphasize it.
It was a wonderful last day in Beijing. Tomorrow we fly out to Zhengzhou (Jung-jo).
PotD
Today’s picture is one of Professor Goodfriend and Master Chen doing what’s called “Push Hands.” Push Hands is a drill in Tai Chi designed to practice reading balance, energy, and apply the movements of the forms to other situations.
China: Day 4.5
Wind Goodfriend
Jan 8, 2010
One more entry for the fourth day of our trip. This evening we had dinner with our friends, Yang and her husband (whose name is also Yang). They took us to a local popular restaurant with a cooking style called "hotpot." This is kind of like fondue, but the choices of what to cook in the broth were very interesting.
First, she told us that most hotpot restaurants put opium in the cooking broth! It's not illegal here, and apparently it's good for business - repeat customers! She said that she checked to make sure there was no opium in our broth. Next, she asked us what to order for the food, and we told her to order whatever she likes and we'd try everything.
So, each side of the hotpot has broth - one spicy side, one not spicy. We cooked a wide variety of things, such as potato, sweet potato, turnip, leafy greens, mushrooms, beef, sheep, and so on. However, the most interesting foods will count as my "new food of the day" for the next two days. First, we tried duck intestine. As you might expect, this was stringy and pretty tough. Even better, we tried "blood." This is duck blood, mixed with some kind of coagulant so that it appears in large cubes. I took a picture before we chucked it into the broth (see below). Definitely not what I would order again, but I'm glad I tried it! We played Mah Jongg with them for a couple of hours in the apartment, and now it's off to bed for a few hours' sleep before our flight tomorrow morning.
Here's a photo of the blood:
China: Day 5
Jan 9, 2010
This morning we got up early (6:00 a.m., which for me is really early) to catch our flight to Zhengzhou, our second major location of the trip. The flight went very smoothly, mostly because of our guide Jessica (recall that she's with us for the entire trip). Upon arrival we drove through the city to our lunch stop. The city is similar in size to Beijing (just a bit smaller), but the look is less modern. Basically, Beijing had a lot of glitz and neon everywhere, whereas Zhengzhou seems more authentic. Lunch was fine, but I stuck to familiar things like orange chicken today (making up for my food adventures last night).
After lunch, we spent the afternoon in the Provential museum of culture and history. The museum was specifically about the Henan province (the state or region of China where we're presently staying). Here's a photo of the outside of the building, which our guide told us was constructed to look like an old Chinese observatory:
To me it looked like an Egyptian pyramid, or at least like the Luxor hotel/casino in Las Vegas, but it was quite interesting on the inside. The exhibit which I enjoyed the most was old "oracle bones." Apparently in ancient China, fortune-tellers used these. They found large, flat bones and either burned them or drilled holes in them. When the bones would crack, the fortune-tellers would interpret the cracks to know the future. While I was intrigued with the mystical aspect of these artifacts, I was also really amazed at the carvings on them. Basically, you can see tiny carvings of the earliest version of Chinese characters on the stones. It's amazing that people so long ago were so advanced.
The main lobby of the museum had a nice exhibit of a man holding off two elephants (which used to populate the area). While the group was looking at it, a group of school children saw us and got excited. They all wanted to get their pictures taken with the funny foreigners! So here's a shot from my camera of all of us:
Tonight it's dinner at a local restaurant, then tomorrow I'm extremely excited to visit the famous Shaolin Temple - where Kung Fu was created!
China: Day 6
Wind Goodfriend
Jan 10, 2010
Today was pretty much totally awesome. In the morning, we drove about an hour to the Shaolin Temple, which is the location many of us have been looking forward to the most out of the entire trip. This was the place where Buddhist monks invented Kung Fu. While various incarnations of the temple have been destroyed and burned over the years, the current temple is a reconstruction on the original location. It was in a beautiful spot, nestled in the mountains. Here's the welcoming gate:
The first stop was an indoor stage where Kung Fu students gave us an amazing demonstration. They showed open hand forms, group forms, and a variety of weapons. My favorite weapon to see was the chain whip, which is the most difficult weapon to use. We weren't allowed to take photos during the show, but here's one I snapped afterward. You can see some of the students in their orange uniforms, and the master standing behind in yellow robes:
After the show, we walked through the temple grounds. There are many different buildings (dorms for the monks, kitchens, prayer areas, and training grounds for Kung Fu). Here's a shot I took of a couple of the buildings:
We bought some souvenirs and the Kenpo students got several pictures of us wearing our Kenpo uniforms. Clint and Melissa also ran a form. We wanted more time, but we were already running late for the rest of the tour. So, the next stop was a little down the mountain path, to the tombs of the Shaolin monks. The tombs housed ashes of the burned bodies, inside tall pagodas. Depending on how important of a monk you were (based on your number of Kung Fu students or number of books written), you got more levels on your pagoda tomb. Here's a photo of the pagodas:
All in all, it was a beautiful and amazing experience. After the Shaolin area we had a two hour bus ride to our new city, Luoyang. We'll be here for the next two days. Tonight we're taking the students to a local hotpot restaurant so that they can try something new. Probably we'll stay away from things like duck blood, though!
China: Day 7
Wind Goodfriend
Jan 11, 2010
Today we are in Luoyang, and we got to sleep in just a bit due to a shorter tour. At 10:00 we boarded the bus and drove about 40 minutes to the famous Longmen Grottos. The grottos were started around the year 490 and are caves in which monks created carvings of Buddhas throughout the side of a mountain. Throughout the entire site there used to be 100,000 Buddhas. Unfortunately, most of them were either (1) destroyed naturally by weather, (2) stolen to be sold, or (3) destroyed by local villagers. In ancient times, whenever the river would flood, the villagers believed it was because of the Buddhas, so they'd come over to smash them up. However, the area is still breathtaking, with many of the Buddhas intact.
Here's a distance shot of one of the areas - it stretches a lot more than this, but this is what I could get in my camera:
Apparently the monks lived in the caves while they were working on each one. Here's a shot of some of the smaller Buddhas - these are about an inch and a half tall, filling up one of the cave walls:
We also hiked up 100 stairs to see the largest Buddha. Just to give you an idea of its size, the ears alone are two meters tall:
It was quite beautiful - I can only imagine how amazing it would have been when all 100,000 statues were in tact, and the colorful painting was still visible.
After the Grottos, we had lunch and stopped by a store where we got a lesson on how to cut paper to make various images (similar to how we used to make paper snowflakes in school). The afternoon also included a stop in a local "cave dwelling." This wasn't a natural cave - it's basically a dug-out large hole with dug-out rooms inside. A family lived there from 200 years ago until just last year, when the last family member died. The guide told us that several farming families used to live in homes like this because it was cheaper to construct than anything else (I guess all you need is a really good shovel).
Now we've got a few hours to rest before dinner tonight, which is in a revolving restaurant on the top of another hotel. Should be fun! Tomorrow morning, we catch an early train to our next city, Xi'an.
- Wind
Is it moving or are we moving?
Melissa Huntley
Jan 11, 2010
Last day in Luoyang, but I won't miss it all that much because the pollution here is pretty bad. According to official sources, an entire day of breathing Luoyang air is the equivalent of smoking 1-3 packs of cigarettes. I'm sure glad the air is not filled with nicotine either, because my lungs could not handle more than a few days here. I also find it very sad that the people here never get to experience a blue sky...seems rather hopeless to me.
The first item on the agenda was to visit the Longmen Grottos. These were caves carved out by Buddhist followers on the banks of the Yi River. Each cave is adorned with Buddhas and all together the entire grotto has over 100,000 images of Buddha carved into them. The largest one is over 60 feet tall and the smallest ones are around a few centimeters. These came about at the same time as the first prospering era of the Shaolin Temple because the emperor was a follower of Buddha and supported actions that supported Buddhism.
After the grottos, we were able to sit down in a paper cutting shop and try our hand at cutting paper into a design. We didn't know what the design was going to be when we started, so some of the images turned out kind of funky (it was a butterfly). The antennae for mine ended up really weird, but I spent a lot of time on the wings, and it turned out really lovely. It is now safe in the haven of one of my books.
The last stop for the day was in a cave dwelling where many early Chinese commoners had their homes. Basically, a large hole was dug into the ground to create a courtyard instead of building walls upward. An interesting version of basically the same old thing. The houses are (supposedly) warm in winter and very cool in the summer. Also, in this area, the houses were made of loess. The only other place to find this soil is in the Gobi Desert (which unfortunately we will not be visiting this trip) and Iowa!
For dinner, we went to a different hotel for a buffet...that revolved! I'd never been in a revolving restaurant before and it was definitely unsettling to not be able to find my table when I'd go to get food. The food was very yummy as well, so it was a really cool experience.
Melissa
PotD
Today's picture is Jess and I in our sneaky Slytherin scarves standing in front of a Buddha with a likeness of Emperor Wu, the only female emperor in Chinese history. She had great ambitions and would stop at nothing to keep the power of the country, including poisoning her own family.
We're a bunch of rabbits with two pandas!
Melissa Huntley
Jan 12, 2010
Xi'an (pronounced Shi-an)
Today did not have a lot of action going on. This morning we got on a train from Luoyang to Xi'an (about a 6 hour trip). While on the train, there was a very cute guy sitting across the aisle from me, but I was too shy to try to say anything. I just enjoyed the ride and played euchre with my seatmates. I really love trains and I wish we could have had more trains and less flights.
When we got to Xi'an, we met our guide Chris and rode to the hotel, which was very nice. The garden here is amazing! There are two peacocks that are free to move around the garden (you'll see them later) as well as some ducks and chickadees. The entire hotel is gorgeous in its set up, however it is rather chintzy and geared towards Western tourists (Tourism is Xi'an's largest industry). I could mainly tell by the sizes in the shop; they were very large and not Chinese-sized at all. I am willing to forgive Xi'an though, because we stopped by Baskin Robbins for dessert!
PotD
Today's picture is of the beautiful bird in the garden. The Peaking has not yet made an entrance, but there are rumors that he will grace his subjects with his presence.
China: Day 9
Wind Goodfriend
Jan 13, 2010
Today was a long, great day on the China trip. First, I woke early in the morning and walked out onto our room's balcony to see these two gentlemen waiting to greet me:
After hotel breakfast, the group took an hour bus ride to Hu village, which is primarily populated by wheat farmers. We were greeted by several villagers who showed us a couple of different kinds of dances and they played several instruments. One dance we got to see was the dragon dance; here's a photo:
The main person who seemed to be the leader of the village was Mr. Zheng. He was our host, giving us a tour of the village. We saw the local temple, where a Buddhist nun showed us how to burn incense and pray. We also were invited into a local ancient home, made from clay walls. Unforunately there are only a few of these ancient homes left in the village, and we were told that next year they'll all be torn down and replaced with brick homes. Mr. Zheng also took us a bit out of town to show us the "richest" farm house (they have their own cows, pigs, and chickens!). The "rich" farm house was next to a pretty large orchard of kiwi trees, and we were told that when the fruit is in season, everyone from the village can come out and get as many kiwis to eat as they want.
Here's a photo of a typical street in Hu village:
Mr. Zheng then took us to his home, which was quite large (three stories high), mostly because of his workshop. He is the local famous painter. Apparently several years ago, the Chinese government paid for professional painters to come to the village and teach Mr. Zheng to paint with local materials (such as ash or lime) as a way to bring in extra income to the area (and I can tell you it worked, if all visitors buy as much as our group did!). So, Mr. Zheng painted something for us to see the process. He explained that he's been honored by visiting the University of Minnesota to teach people there his style. Clint and I bought a painting of the Great Wall; here's a photo of us with the painting and Mr. Zheng:
After seeing the workshop, the villagers made us a great lunch (my new food of the day: lotus root). Then we boarded the bus and went back to Xi'an. In the afternoon, we were given free time to shop in the Muslim district of town, which has a large street market. Clint bought a quilted Chinese shirt, and I bought an antique Mah Jongg set (the tiles are made from bamboo and bone). After a couple of hours of shopping, we walked to the "best dumpling restaurant in China." This was a fun experience; we were given about 15 different types of steamed dumplings to try. Some of them were in the shape of the filling (for example, the dumplings with chicken filling were shaped like little chickens). It was pretty tasty, and the best two were the fried rice dumpling and the walnut dumpling. Yum!
Now it's a free evening - I think I'm going to try to get some ice cream and teach some people how to play Mah Jongg!
China: Day 10
Wind Goodfriend
Jan 14, 2010
Today we got to see one of China's treasures: the terra cotta warriors. The first emperor of China was named Qin Shi Huang - he is the first person to unify China as one country. At the time, it was customary to bury someone with whatever he or she might need in the afterlife. So, the legend is that in Qin's tomb there are all sorts of wonders, such as a model of the entire country, a golden chariot, two rivers of mercury, etc. Everyone pretty much thought that this story was just a myth (like King Arthur) until 1974, when a farmer named Yang was digging into the earth to create a well. While digging, he found the head of a terra cotta warrior. The government then discovered a total of 6000 terra cotta warriors and horses, bronze weapons and chariots, and so on.
They have excavated only one small part of the tomb now, because they're afraid that we don't have the technology to excavate without ruining some of the pieces. For example, the warriors were originally painted with a dozen bright colors, but the paint was immediately oxidized to create only the dark clay color which now remains.
Here's a photo of the first "pit" which they are about half way done excavating:
They look small in this photo, but each warrior is about 6.5 feet tall. Our guide mentioned that this size is very large - much larger than an average Chinese person now. So, there are two stories from archeologists to explain this. The first possibility is that the clay warriors were made larger-than-life so they would be giant bodyguards for the emperor in the afterlife. The second possibility is that the emperor's guard really was this size, because he only chose the largest people to serve in his army.
We learned a lot about the making of the warriors and how to appreciate the details. For example, while the bodies are made from molds, each head is carved individually to show the face and hair. Every single face is individual, carved to represent an actual person from the emperor's time (about 2000 years ago, by the way). The hair tells you what kind of person the warrior was - his position in the army. Two buns in the hair meant a general; a bun on the right side meant infantry, and a bun on the left side meant archer. Archers needed to have their hair buns on the left side of their head so that the hair wouldn't get in the way when they were reaching behind for arrows.
Out of all 6000 figures unearthed so far, only a single warrior has been completely in tact. Here's a photo of that warrior, known as the kneeling archer:
All in all, it was amazing to see this display of honoring the dead. Our guide actually mentioned that the tombs were so prevalent in the area that it's causing problems for the current day -- for example, Xi'an is trying to build a subway. But, every time they are digging the path and they hit a tomb, they have to call in archeologists and change the path for the train. In modern China, people aren't allowed to be buried - everyone has to be cremated because they are short on land. I think this is a better system anyway - wasting land to bury people when we could use it for farms seems silly.
Tomorrow, we've got a very early flight in the morning to Guilin, and then we have an entire day free to do whatever we want. Clint and I plan to get massages, because Guilin is famous for them!
Terra Cotta Chess Riskopoly
Melissa Huntley
Jan 14, 2010
Today we saw China's 2nd greatest treasure-the Terra Cotta Warriors! Build in the Qin (pronounced Chin) Dynasty, the Terra Cotta Warriors were said to guard the emperor in the after life. They were discovered in 1974 by a farmer digging a well and have grown in popularity by leaps and bounds. Today's post will be dedicated to the trivia on the warriors that I have collected:
- Each warrior has a different face. Most likely the artisans used actual family members in the army to style the warrior's faces.
- The warriors were not originally the clay-like color that we see. Most of them were very realistically colored, but the color oxides away completely in about 5 minutes.
- Generals have a Minnie Mouse-style bow haircut.
- Foot-Generals have a single bun in the middle of their head.
- Soldiers have a single bun on the right side of their head.
- Archers have a single bun on the left side of their head. This makes it easy to reach the quiver of arrows on the back.
- Archers are also the only type of warrior that is kneeling.
- One archer was found to have a bun on the right side of his head. Archeologists believe him to be left-handed. He was also standing; reason unknown.
- The horses of the army were very small and looked like pony-sized donkeys.
- Because of this, none of the saddled horses had stirrups because they were already so low to the ground.
- It is believed that China instigated the Silk Road to get stronger, larger horses.
- Artisans of the warriors were buried alive in the tomb at the command of the Qin emperor.
- There are three types of armor for the warriors. Stone for the generals, bronze for those who could afford it and leather for those who couldn't. Many had no armor at all.
- One of the weapons found in the tomb is still very sharp and usable. This is because it is plated in chrome. It is a mystery of how it was plated because electricity is needed for chrome-plating and previously, the Qin dynasty was not believed to have such technology.
- All of the warriors are very tall, ranging from 6'-6'7". Either the emperor only allowed the tallest of men in his army, or they are exaggerated.
- Only one warrior was left in a single piece. A kneeling archer.
- Each warrior took about a week to make.
- The largest warrior is around 600 lbs.
- In 2007, a German man dressed like a warrior jumped the railing and stood still among them for a full five minutes until the guards were able to drag him out and ship him back home.
So...there's a lot of information there. It was a really cool day and they only have about 1/5 of it done. They expect it to take around 50 more years to finish.
Well, this is our last day in Xi'an. Tomorrow in the early early early early morning, we fly to Guilin...it's supposed to be warm!...er.
PotD
Today's picture is of the vanguard-the non-armored youth of the army that is basically cannon fodder. They were not expected to come back alive. Despite popular belief, they were not lead by a brute-ish commander.
Good ol' fashioned Chinese food...like Subway and Pizza Hut!
Melissa Huntley
Jan 13, 2010
Xi'an Garden Hotel
Today started with a drive to a village south of the city. The village was small but very crowded in a tiny place and was supported mainly by agricultural means. All the buildings in the area were going to be replaced with new ones relatively soon and there was a kiwi orchard north of the area. When we arrived, we were greeted with some traditional Chinese village dances, including a dragon and a dragon boat. I had never seen a dragon boat dance before, so it was definitely interesting.
Although we were shown around the entire village, the highlight of the trip was meeting an artist that was a farmer's son. He had enjoyed painting since he was young but then was sidetracked by school. He returned to his village during the Cultural Revolution and since his father was an officer in the party, an artist escaped to his village to avoid the revolution. It was then that he learned technique from the artist and began creating on his own. Now he regularly travels to the Twin Cities to share his artwork with the United States. He made us lunch and even painted a picture for us before we looked at his gallery.
After the village, we went to the Confucius Temple...which is basically a fancy way to say university in the ancient times. Although this particular temple is not currently a university, it is a museum that houses stone tablets that have been found in Xi'an. These tablets hold ancient Chinese writing that even our guide couldn't read. They were everything from dictionaries to stories to emperor's trying to get in the pants of their daughter-in-laws. Definitely a cool place to visit...I think BV should redecorate.
Tomorrow is the 2nd greatest treasure of China...Terra Cotta Warriors!
PotD
Today's picture is of the cutest little temple guardian in the world. As we were approaching, he barked very threateningly at us and paced in front of the door many times.
We cannot give it to him...it's impossible!
Melissa Huntley
Jan 15, 2010
Not a lot happened today. We got up way too early to catch a flight from Xi'an to Guilin (gway-lin). Only about a two hour flight and some things were left, but nothing too big. Guilin is wonderfully warm and very enjoyable. It is kind of rainy, but the rain clouds and fog just added to the atmosphere.
We had the entire day free in Guilin so most of the group went to get massages (they're famous here). It was cheap and really enjoyable and we walked around the pedestrian market afterward. I got a new carry-on luggage that will hold all of my breakables and some old Chinese coins.
Lunch was KFC and dinner was an amazing little restaurant by our hotel.Still looking for a few things in the markets and hopefully there is a nice tailor shop in Shanghai.
PotD
Today's picture is actually from the Shaolin Temple. The four BV Kenpo Club students posed as four animal styles of Kung Fu. Guess the animals! Answers below the picture.
From Top to Bottom:Shane-Monkey, Jess-Crane, Thomas-Viper, Me-Tiger.
We wouldn't just tell you, we would bake it in a pie and watch you eat it
Melissa Huntley
Jan 16, 2010
First full day in Guilin! Yesterday was nice but it's good to have something to do. Today, we went on a long boat cruise (around 4 hours) on the Li River. Technically it's called the Lijiang River, but since 'jiang' means river in Chinese, I found that horribly redundant. The Li River is a sacred river in China, as most major rivers are, but the spectacular cruise wasn't centered around the river. The focus was the wonderful limestone mountains that are completely unique in Guilin. They are very pointy and covered in foliage and the scenery from the river is just breathtaking.
The cruise wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. It was rather relaxing to sit back and watch the mountains go by or check the banks for animals (lots of ducks, some cows, and a puppy or two). The only not really relaxing part was when a peddler rowed up to the boat and tried to open my window. I held it shut and he banged on the glass so I banged back and shot him a dirty look until he left. It's a shame really...he did have a pretty rock to sell.
After the cruise, the group split up. My half went back to the hotel where a few of us journeyed around the city to find a bookstore. Once we found one (located in a basement-like place) it was very interesting to walk around and see what there was to see. It was a nice atmosphere, and the kid's section was full of kids reading books and being excited about it! I bought something really cool, so be sure and ask me if you see me! Also, be sure to ask how to say it in Chinese!
Tomorrow is the Dragon's Back Terraces.
PotD
We had the sweetest boat on the river...I hope no one could tell we were tourists!
China: Day 12
Wind Goodfriend
Jan 17, 2010
Today's adventures in China were breathtaking (in spite of my powerful head cold). First, we took the bus for two hours up to the mountains. After another 20 minutes on a smaller bus (because the mountain roads are narrow), we arrived at our location. I fought off my strong motion sickness and focused on the beautiful scenery. Our destination was the Longji Rice Terraces, also known as the Dragonback Terraces. The mountain people here have created thousands of acres of rice fields, terraced out over the mountains. The terraces are now about 700 years old. The views were very beautiful, and we hiked up to the very top of the mountain to get the best scenes. Here's one of the many photographs I took:
There are several small villages throughout the fields, with people of different Chinese minority ethnicities. The people we saw today are known for the appearance of their women. They have extremely long hair (it's even in the Guiness book of world records), which they apparently wash with leftover rice water. They also wear heavy silver earrings which stretch out their earlobes. According to our guide, the longer the hair and earlobes, the more beautiful the woman.
After a morning of wonderful views, we took the bus back toward town. We found out that there's a nature preserve for tigers and bears near Guilin, so we asked the guide if we could visit it. At first she said no, but she then made some calls and we were allowed in. It was amazing! Apparently the area is known for breeding species which are endangered, so we saw tigers, lions, a few ostriches, some deer, and lots of bears (I did wonder if the ostriches and deer were just lunch, though). I took dozens of pictures, so I've posted a couple of my favorites here.
Here's a tiger who just finished a little bath, and he was very interested in our party:
And here's a young male lion, hangin' out with his lady friends:
It was all beautiful. Now I'm headed to bed for some deep sleep, I hope. Tomorrow we get up early for the flight to our final large destination, Shanghai.
China: Day 13
Wind Goodfriend
Jan 18, 2010
Not much to report today from the China trip. In the morning we took a flight to Shanghai, which is the most populated city in the country. The biggest architectural difference between Shanghai and Beijing is that Beijing covers more land area and has shorter buildings; this is because Beijing is on a fault line for earthquakes.
Our only tour stop was on the way from the airport to the hotel - we stopped at the Jade Buddha Temple. It's called this because of a fairly large (1.5 meters) Jade Buddha that was a gift from Burma around 1880. The temple wasn't very big, and we weren't allowed to take photos of the actual Jade Buddha, but here's a photo of the outside of the main building:
Now we're relaxing in the hotel for a couple of hours before dinner. I've got an extreme head cold, so I'm missing three of my 5 senses right now (hearing, smell, and taste). I'm going to try a long soak in a hot tub to see if that helps my sinuses. Hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow!
That is the shiniest suit I've ever seen
Melissa Huntley
Jan 19, 2010
Still in Shanghai. We actually left the city for our first tour of the day which was in another city by the name of Suzhou (still shaky on the pronunciation). Suzhou is the place to be I guess because they specialize in high test scores, impressive cultural skills, and beautiful hidden gardens. The exam scores for high schools and universities honor the top three scores int he country, and the top one is always from Suzhou. There is also a famous embroidery method where stitches on one side of the frame make a separate, but visibly different picture than the other side, or "back side" of the frame (eg two tigers on one side, two dragons on the other). Only 8 artisans in the world know how to do that.
We spent the morning in a famous garden hidden between the many blank houses of the city. We had a class on calligraphy...something that is not one of my strong suits at all. I was happy however, that I could remember a few characters from my earlier classes, though they still looked like a 2nd grader's try. However, the teacher gave the class some free pieces, so it was all good.
This evening we went to a garden in Shanghai that a very rich man build for his parents. So rich in fact, that he was able to put suspicious "dragon-like creatures" on the walls and the emperor couldn't say anything. The garden was stunning and I really wish it wouldn't have been raining so we could enjoy more of it, but so is life. After that we were set free in the marketplace where I finished the remainder of my shopping. I now have 200 rmb to spend however I wish...and I'm eyeing a teaset in the shop downstairs. If the owner drops the price to 45, then I'm all over it.
Also, won my first game of Mahjong tonight. I'm really sad that tomorrow is our last full day in China, therefore my last blog post of this corner of the world.
PotD
Today's photo is of the garden hidden inside a "small village" of 6 million people. It was very peaceful and quiet, and I plan on putting one in my back yard...you know...of my dorm building.
You and you and mostly me and you!
Melissa Huntley
Jan 20, 2010
Today's title quote is from Dr. Horrible's Singalong Blog. If you have not seen it...do so. Three 13-15 minutes videos on YouTube...it's worth it.
Today was only half planned. This morning we went to the Shanghai museum and were given free reign of the building for an hour. I looked at the bronze, sculpture, calligraphy, painting, and furniture exhibit. As you can tell by the types of things on show, it is a historical museum. I was impressed by the bronze exhibit and enjoyed it more than the one in Zhengzhou. There were quite a few interesting pieces and once again it was surreal walking through items that are older than my country. The calligraphy was my favorite. The differences in the writing styles are really interesting to see, from flowing unreadable script to neat small more block-like letters. Either way, it looked a lot better than my poor attempts a day ago.
After the museum, we walked to a hundred-year-old bridge that held the skyline of Shanghai. It was really odd because Shanghai is very aware of being modern and appearing modern. The most historic building was actually the most modern-looking, and the tallest building is over 100 stories. My 15th-floor hotel room doesn't seem so impressive now. Also, we totally saw an old school scuba diver climbing up from the scary polluted river.
Once we were set free, I headed back to Chinatown to spend the rest of my money! It pays to be frugal! After that, spent the rest of the afternoon playing Mahjong in the hotel's lobby. Dinner at a dumpling restaurant then McDonald's. I feel it was a nice ending to my last full day in China.
Melissa
PotD
Today's picture is of a seal in one of the exhibit's of the museum. I'm not entirely sure how old it is...just how awesome it is!
Okay, doesn't look so cool yet does it...just wait until you see what it makes!
China: Day 15 (Last day!)
Wind Goodfriend
Jan 20, 2010
Today's our last full day in China. We had a half-day tour this morning. First, we went to a history musuem and saw little bits of everything we've seen earlier on the trip - such as pottery, coins, statues, paintings, and so on. It was sort of a nice wrap-up. Next we visited the French concession, an area of town that looks straight out of Europe. Basically this was an area created after the war for the French embassy and French people to live, and it is very modern with little cafes and shops. Our final stop was "the Bund," which is pretty much just a spot with a 100 year old bridge on which you can see the Shanghai skyline. Here's my last photo of China, taken from there:
Final thoughts on China? It wasn't as beautiful as India, and the food wasn't as good as what I had on the Russia/Czech trip. But certainly the rich history of this nation can't be beat, and I love the people we met. Everyone was friendly, excited to see us, and accomodating. As usual, while I loved the experience, I am looking forward to being home. We leave tomorrow morning.
I kind of wish for a Joss Whedon ending
Melissa Huntley
Jan 20, 2010
Well, it's time for the wrap-up.
I feel that China was a great experience, but beyond basic international gains, I have learned a lot about myself. My comfort in a community other than my own, not to mention one so different has definitely increase from my initial visit to India and brief ones in Russia and the Czech Republic. Although I know very little of the language, I have learned to read Chinese body language and sign language and even pictionary-style language.
The experience that I've had on this trip has meshed well with the knowledge that I've gained in the classes that I've had over China. Getting the layout of the history in the classroom and seeing that layout unfold before me as I interact with cities, buildings, palaces, and gardens thousands of years old really puts my view of the world and the development of China as a country in perspective. This is one of the ancient civilizations, and definitely one who's culture prevails today. Anything in this country that is as old as the United States is considered young and barely a part of the country's history.
As someone who has traveled to three different continents I feel that I have gained a lot of global knowledge. Recursively, the greatest duty as a "world citizen" now is for me to gain more worldly knowledge. Although I can compare China to India to Russia to the United States, those are only a fraction of the places and people on the planet and it would be foolish to think I can gain a worldly understanding by such a small viewpoint. I think that a global view can be accomplished, but that's going to take quite a few more trips. Ones that I'm sure I will enjoy to the fullest.
Thank you to everyone who has followed my travelling blog again. I hope you are entertained and feel some sort of urge to visit the places that I've seen. Next year looks like it may be Mediterranean or Japan.
Zai Jian!
Mi Fung
PotT (Trip)
After much consideration, I figured there should be a picture of me on the blog...and what's more Chinese than the Great Wall? I'll tell you what: Nothing.
