We got back from Xi'an this afternoon (Thursday).
Our trip to Xi'an began with some excitement, as we missed our flight
out of
Beijing. So we stayed the night in Beijing and went to the Hard
Rock Cafe.
We were so excited to have American food and margaritas!! Although,
wouldn't you know, most of us had an upset stomach the next day (and
from
the american food, not the Chinese food!). A live band from the
Philippines
played and we danced danced until past midnight. It was an awesome
band
playing awesome American dance music. The lead singer could really
belt it
out. No one was dancing at first, but my friend, Lynne, and I
could hardly
keep still, so we finally just went out on the dance floor and after
a few
songs the floor became packed. We had a lot of fun. After we
left the Hard
Rock Cafe, we took a taxi to Tiennenman Square. Our chinese hosts,
Mr. Wong
and Ms. Sun (heads of the international department at the high school
where we
are teaching), gave us a private "tour." We have some good video footage
of
Mr. Wong speaking about the history of China and its present system.
It was
really nice seeing it at night (by this time it was 1 a.m.).
The air was
cool and the lights were very pretty. There were very few people about
on
the street. We will return again on a day-trip to Beijing, but
from what I
understand it is very hot and crowded during the daytime. We
didn't get to
bed that night until about 2:30 a.m., so we had a very hard time getting
up
two and half hours later at 5 a.m. But we definitely did not
want to miss
our flight again!!
We arrived in Xi'an around 10 a.m. It is a beautiful city. I really
liked
it and would definitely recommend it to tourists. We visited
various sites,
such as a Buddhist temple, the remains of an emperor's summer palace
where his
favorite concubine lived, tombs of Han dynasty generals and emperor,
the
museum/site of the archeological discovery of the "eighth wonder of
the
world", the terra-cotta warriors which are more than 2000 years old.
This
was the most amazing thing: a Han dynasty emperor ordered the construction
of thousands of terra-cotta soldiers and horses and chariots to be
put into
his tomb when he died. He believed these would protect him in his
afterlife. Farmers digging a well discovered the first
of these in 1972.
Since then three pits have been uncovered containing more than two
thousand
figures. It is an amazing site. The figures that have been
recovered have
been restored, they were damaged and broken by tomb robbers, and are
standing in formation in these underground corridors, some of the roofs
have been removed in order for tourists to view them. Each soldier
is
unique. They continue to dig and uncover new figures and we saw
workers
doing exactly that. They are leaving some of them partially covered
so
that tourists can see how the site was originally found. We also
attended a
performance of traditional song and dance from the Tang dynasty (8th
century). The theatre was magnificent and the performance was
outstanding
with lavish costumes and sets.
Xi'an is usually very hot at this time of year, but we were lucky because
it was raining and cool all three days. Not only did it make
touring more
bearable, it also reduced the crowds immensely. Last night we walked
around
the downtown area and went to a shopping mall. The guards at
the mall were
not going to let us in because I was wearing slip-on sandals (my tennis
shoes had become drenched from walking in rain and puddles all day).
These
kind of sandals are considered house slippers here, are are too casual
to
wear into a high-class shopping center. After Mr. Wong argued
a bit with
them and finally asked to speak to the manager, they let us go in.
(You
just can't take me anywhere!!). Sun said there is a Chinese saying,
"You
don't blame those who are ignorant." So this is our big joke:
I claim
ignorance.
Karaoke is VERY popular here. We have been treated to karaoke
many times.
Mr. Wong and Sun have beautiful voices and sing to us in Chinese.
We are
also learning how the Chinese dance together. After dancing with
MR. Wong
once, he very politely told me (imagine Chinese accent), "You know,
in
China, when you dance with a man, you let the man lead." We got
a good
laugh at that subtle hint. The chinese videos that accompany
the karaoke
songs are very amusing and we enjoy making up words in English to the
Chinese songs according to the video. They also have some songs
in English,
but not usually by the original artist. So sometimes the singers
have
interesting pronunciations, or the captions on the screen are grossly
misspelled, i.e. "We are the Chimps" instead of "We are the Champs,"
"Humping Apound" (or ten or twenty pounds) instead of "Humping
Around."
Last night we watched a karaoke video of "Copacabana" (Barry
Manilow) and
the video showed a German Polka club in China. So you are listening
to a
bad seventies' latin rhythm and watching young Chinese people polka
with old
German folks. Too funny.
We made it back to Tianjin without missing our flight and we begin teaching
again tomorrow.
We have started a bathroom rating system. The bathrooms here are
referred
to in English as "WC" which stands for "water closet."
Whenever one of us
returns from a public restroom, we ask for a report. The worst
ratings,
1-2, are holes in the ground with no running water. You squat
over them and
hold your breath, for fear of fainting. I've only been to one this
bad, and
it was bad. There was urine and feces all over the ground around
the hole.
I really thought I was going to faint. The 3-4 ratings are ceramic
basins
laid into a tiled floor. You squat with your feet on either side
of the
basin. You still have to hold your breath because of the stench.
There is
never any toilet paper, so you must bring your own. And you cannot
put the
paper down the hole (the plumbing is not adequate), you put it in a
waste
basket beside the toilet (this is the case in even the nicest western-style
'9' rated bathrooms). The rating gets bumped up to a 5 or 6 if the
basin has
running water and can be flushed (reduces the stench). A 7 or
8 is usually
reserved for western-style toilets. a 9 MUST have toilet paper,
be clean
and stench-free, and have soap to wash your hands (these usually have
an
attendant on duty and are found in western-style hotels.) Sometimes
you
even have to pay to use a bathroom (even when it's only a 4 or 5 rating!).
Sorry if I thoroughly grossed some of you out . . . By the way, the
toilet
in our dorm room is a 9+. Almost like home.
Thanks to all those who have written me notes!! Chris forwarded
many to me,
and I really enjoyed reading them. To answer some questions, I am learning
the Mandarin dialect of Chinese, and I've only mastered maybe 5 phrases.
It
is very difficult. Yes, Mulan is a famous Chinese story.
It will be
interesting to see what the chinese think of the movie and its accuracy.
They do have a theatre here in the city that shows American films.
I don't
know if they get disney films, but I imagine they do. I'd love
to answer
other questions, keep sending them.
The temperatures here have not been too unbearable because we
are
able to return to our air conditioned "palace". But it is so
humid that you
sweat a lot. I take a towel and a water bottle to class with
me when I
teach. The classrooms are not air conditioned, but have 4 big
ceiling fans.
I'll go for now . . .
Sally