July 5 – Biking on the Wall, Terra Cotta Wonders, and the Faux Farm

This morning we discovered that the formidable city wall of Xi’an actually has a road on top of it (this is hard to see from the ground) and you can stroll along it…or rent bicycles! (which we did) Eliza and I took off with Benjamin, whose parents were worried that they couldn’t keep up with him. We originally thought we could do the entire city wall in the 35 minutes we had…but when we learned it was 9 miles, we gave up (these were 1-speed bikes with deflated tires and we rode on cobblestones). It was great to exercise for a bit – and the children had a great time.
We then went to a factory to learn about how terra cotta soldiers (and now, their replicas) were made. The factory actually had huge brick ovens that were walled over for 6 days to bake the terra cotta – we saw the contents of one for which the wall had just been broken. Still can’t figure out why a nice oven door wouldn’t do, but maybe that’s part of the mystique. The children got to make their own soldier using a mold and fresh clay…but Eliza’s fell apart when the mold opened up and all of them were promptly squished, given that we couldn’t hang out by the oven for 6 days. We were quite amused by the opportunity that one had to send the factory a series of photographs of one’s head, from which a mold could be made – yes, there’s even a terra cotta President Obama:



Obligatory shopping was next, seduced by ‘5 star western toilets’ (I got Eliza one of those black ancient instrument blow-ey things that we heard in a concert yesterday and that I could tell that she’d been coveting…and we got a few things to give as gifts.). Following a delicious Xi’an lunch that included traditional noodles, sweet potatoes, and chicken, we were off to the Terra Cotta soldiers museum. We learned about the history of the emperor who created the terra cotta army to guard him after death, as well as the farmers who happened upon the buried soldiers when digging the well. One of these farmers, Mr. Yang, is now 80 years old and works part time at the museum (as ‘honorary Vice President’) we were able to meet him and have him sign a book about the archeological site (which alleviated my need to take constant pictures) ¬for a mere 150 yuan (23 bucks). We were able to enter 3 of the ‘pits’ where the pieces are still being excavated. The size (life-size!) and scale of the site was amazing, though it was dampened (literally) by the steaminess – there can’t be air conditioning around the pieces because they must remain the temperature of the earth around them. Pretty sticky.




We then piled back on the bus for an hour and twenty minute drive to the countryside, where we were scheduled to stay in farmhouses. Eliza has been harboring visions of milking cows, feeding chickens, and picking corn…which couldn’t be farther from the truth. Here’s my understanding. In the 1990s, the farmers living in this region began to create and sell folk art, called ‘peasant prints’ (we have several at home that I picked up in Guangzhou in 1999). This brought great wealth and fortune to the communities who sold them, who were then able to upgrade their homes to include more space. Shortly thereafter there was an introduction of the concept of creating ‘country retreats’ for foreigners and urban-dwelling Chinese who’d like a breath of fresh air after working in the cities. These farmers adapted their homes to become ‘certified hosts’ – sort of like our ‘bed-and-breakfast’ concept. Thus, our tour bus of 34ish people…plus one group of ‘People to People’ student ambassadors (I think) are staying in this village of about 130 people, distributed across about 30 homes. The homes typically are occupied by older adults who no longer actively farm (although they own a seed-planting business, using machinery). Many of them care for grandchildren visiting during the summer break.

We are staying with Mr. and Mrs. Qu, who couldn’t be kinder or more welcoming. We are here with another single mother, Mary, and her daughter Hannah, which works out great. The house has a living room, dining room, and bedroom on the first floor and a detached kitchen (to keep the house cool). We stay upstairs, where there are 2 bedrooms and a bathroom with western toilet and rather primitive shower (attached to a solar tank on roof) – i.e., it’s a Chinese mansion by typical ‘country’ standards. But it’s clean and comfortable and it’s clear that the people in this community fully embrace the notion of helping outsiders to appreciate life in the country. Mrs. Qu taught the girls to make dumplings (again, we were impressive with our knowledge of how to do it…and to pronounce jiaotze). Eliza and I were also able to translate fairly well, as communication is a challenge. We ate a delicious dinner (way too much food) and then gathered in the town square at 8:30 for folkdancing (again, Eliza and I knew all of the popular songs!). The girls danced…I did not – instead I talked with a lovely 15 year old girl with impeccable English who had all sorts of questions about how we lived in the United States…and Eliza played. It was a bit jarring when they switched from Chinese music to the ‘hokey pokey’, the Electric Slide, and the Macarana…but that really got the Americans going (again, not me). We then showered (interesting experience…only a washcloth to towel off in) and then slept – in a room with air conditioning and no winged insects at all..though the beds are very simple – I my pillow contains buckwheat husks (or something like that). Not much sleep for me…but that at least creates another blog entry for you to read!

July 4 – No Fireworks For Us…Independence Day in Xi’an

Xi’an is an ancient ‘small’ city (only 8M people) built within an enormous and intact city wall, one side of which is flanked further by a river. It contains ancient bell and drum towers, neighborhoods of minority groups (formed when people from Persia travelled along the Silk Road, helped to fight for the emperor, and then rewarded with the privilege of marrying Chinese women and settling in Xi’an). These minorities still practice Islam and eat no pork. Today was a whirlwind of art – first to an art museum to learn about calligraphy, traditional painting, and folk art (followed by the children being taught calligraphy). Eliza was the only one who knew how to hold a brush and paint characters (thanks to Chinese Culture Camp) and so she was invited to help the teacher. We then had a delicious lunch at one of the oldest hotels in Xi’an (where the Clinton family dined in the 90s)..then off to the Muslim neighborhood where we toured an ancient home replete with courtyards, female sleeping quarters, male sleeping quarters, and even an ‘introspection room’ where children were sent if they were naughty, to think of their bad actions – for 3 days! We heard a beautiful concert by 4 girls playing traditional instruments (2 wind, 2 string), then went to see a shadow puppet show about the monkey king. The children were told of how shadow puppets were formed (out of donkey skin) and how watching shadow puppet stories was like ‘TV’ for the emperor and his family.







Tonight all of the families except us are attending a traditional musical show, with 18 courses of dumplings served. We were surprised at the hotel by Lincoln (Zhao Fengjhou), one of the Finance Ministry officials who came to Indianapolis in 2004 and became our good friends. Lincoln is truly one of the nicest men we have ever met – he reminds me of Chen Zhe, from graduate school. He drove us in his car to a shopping square near the ancient bell tower to an incredible dumpling area, where we chatted (his English is excellent, despite his protestations to the contrary). He gave us beautiful gifts of calligraphy and paper cuts and basically treated us as if we were princesses. He delivered us back to the hotel, told us what an honor it was to see us (to which we pathetically tried to out-honor his honoring), and then he insisted on escorting us to our elevator car. Worst (best?) of all, we called my friend Qing (Zhang Qing) on his cellphone (it’s so good to hear her!) and she will be meeting us in Chengdu at our hotel (which I knew) …but will be joined by David, Scott, and Chenhui - - 3 other friends from 2004 – who are flying into Chengdu to see us as well. My pathetic stash of Indiana State Museum stationery is dwindling, and I fear we are the object of some ‘face-gaining’ competition…not to mention that we look like celebrities to the rest of our tour group. Eliza is being a trooper about all of this (despite the fact that she couldn’t swim when all the rest of her friends went to the pool). If the Chengdu entourage indeed assembles, I’m going to see if I can squeeze her into the Evans family for a day so that she can see the pandas…and I’ll hang out with Qing, etc. If they ever come back to the United States we will need to deploy Dylan in a plane to fetch them from New York (or wherever) and fly them back to the Conrad Hotel for caviar and champagne …or something.

July 3 – A Peek at Ordinary Life

Today is our last day in Beijing and we began it with a rickshaw ride through the Hutong area. Hutong is a traditional Mongolian word that means ‘deep well’ though now the word has evolved to be synonymous with alley. The deep wells were at the center of each Hutong, both for the water they provided for drinking, bathing, and washing (today, pipes are used, tapped into city water), and 400ish years ago – for their ability to keep fires under control. Hutong are neighborhoods that have remained largely unchanged for hundreds of years, with traditional homes built behind gated walls with courtyards. The number of posts on each gate represented the hierarchical position of the family (the emperor has 12 posts…middle-generals had about 4, and common people have 0 or 1 – meaning that when arranging marriages in historical times, one needed to stay ‘within one’s posts’. Only 25 Hutong have been preserved by the Beijing government at this time, and they are very valuable historically and financially (a large home within a Hutong could fetch $1 billion yuan…though people rarely sell or move, as by law a family can keep its residence for 75 years before moving/selling it to the government. We visited three homes --- one that had also served as a ‘model home’ during the Olympics. Our hostess was a 59 year old woman whose 92-year-old father owned their home (prior to that it had been owned by the uncle of the last emperor). It was a beautiful home, with pomegranate trees in the courtyard and several separate rooms – including the ‘happy room’ (private bathroom) – most people living in the Hutong must use public toilets, which is why younger generations tend not to live in them. We then entered a second home in which the children were taught about the art of kitemaking…and then they were able to make their own kites.




The third home was owned by a family of kung fu masters – the eldest son teaches martial arts in Houston and has appeared in several commercials (his dad showed us his picture on a water bottle). Half of our group (about 15) ate lunch at two tables in the family dining room, which we agreed was one of the most delicious meals we’ve eaten since arriving. There were tons of fresh vegetables, which had just been purchased at market stalls set up within the Hutong. It was a treat to get a glimpse of what everyday life is like, at least for some Beijing families. We see many many older people in the neighborhoods, some taking care of grandchildren, and others just chatting and playing mahjong. Compared to the last time we were in China, there are many very plump people – which is not healthy, but at least suggests that there is plenty of food.

The day was sweltering, so next we went to the government Pearl market…which was brilliantly organized. We started with a demonstration of how freshwater pearls were harvested from an oyster (and we each got to keep a pearl as a gift). The children were then whisked away to make beaded necklaces so that adults could shop. Ordinarily I hate such things, but the public restrooms were clean, ‘western’ (i.e., no squatting over terrifying holes in the floor), and the buildings were cool and very clean – with comfortable chairs, cool drinks, and smiling women everywhere. Though I am decidedly not a shopper, even I fell into gift-purchasing mode – so grateful to be cool, clean, and not needing to go to the bathroom. It was a terrific way to make it through the hottest part of the day.



Did I say hottest part of the day? That actually came next – when we were deposited at the Temple of Heaven to fly the earlier-before-crafted kites. The Temple of Heaven devolves into a Tower of Hell when the temperature is over 100 degrees and one’s water bottle tastes as if it had recently been heated in a microwave. The children gamely trotted about for several nanoseconds with their kites (which flew easily in the little heat thermals that bubbled up from the scalding courtyards). Older adults – seemingly oblivious to the heat – danced to popular music in a lovely park and played cards and mahjong along the long corridors of the temple – very fun to see. Sort of like a Knights of Columbus or Senior Center plunked down in the middle of an ancient historical monument – it’s clearly a popular hangout for retired folks. We learned that women in China can retire at (get ready) 45-50 years of old…and that men retire between 50 and 55, leaving a bunch of years (in this economy) for mahjong, dancing, and cards.




Dinner seemed to occur about 3 hours after lunch – no one was very hungry and the children were decidedly cranky. Though I had no intention of eating I just can’t resist tasting…everything looks so good. And when you ‘taste’ a chopstick or two full of each of 8-9 dishes….suddenly you feel like a not-so-happy Buddha in need of a nap. My general culinary caution has succeeded in weaning me off of the Tums, though poor Eliza rides the bus after every dinner. I hope it’s not bad to give her an adult dose of pink pepto-bismaley medicine, but it works like a charm.
This evening we experienced the largest train station in Asia…on the Saturday following the outset of the summer vacation break (which begins July 1). This translates to throngs of people taking trains out of Beijing, and another subway-like crowd experience, though this time with all of our luggage in tow and a cranky, overtired daughter. Our sleeper car (where I’m writing this now) is tiny, but cozy and clean. Although a pajama party is erupting around us – since all of the families traveling with us are in adjacent cars – I’m disregarding Richard’s voice in my head to let Eliza stay up, and making this child go to bed! We arrive at Xi’an at 8:30 tomorrow morning.

July 2 – The Forbidden City…and a Night on the Town with Wei

Tiananmen Square at 9 AM is buzzing with throngs of people – truly resembling the ‘largest public square’ that it has been built in any of the world’s cities. There is absolutely no mention of the student demonstrations of 1989 and we were actually instructed not to speak of them, except when alone on our bus. We felt like we were on the scene of a movie set, as the landmarks around the square are so iconic. We didn’t join the very long line to view Chairman Mao’s body, but instead went directly to the Forbidden City, which flanks Tiananmen Square. Chairman Mao’s huge face wears a benign smile as he views the entire scene from the wall around the Forbidden City.

The Forbidden City truly has been a movie set (we must remember to watch The Last Emperor again on Netflix). But no movie has done it justice. The palace contains 1000 rooms, most of which are in the process of being restored. The detailed roof tiles, many sporting intricately carved animals that represent the ‘worth’ of the individual residing underneath them, were stunning. Visually appealing though all of this was, our pleasure was dimmed slightly by the sweltering heat and the crowds of street vendors eager to tackle a tour bus full of Americans – clearly in need of paper fans, colorful umbrellas, and sun hats, given the saturation of our clothes and hair. The gardens were full of ancient trees, flowers, rock formations, and pathways leading to pagodas…and thankfully, our cushy air-conditioned bus.

Lunch was traditional Beijing fried noodles made of wheat, vegetables, and fruit, which gave us a nice burst of energy that permitted us to tackle the Bird Cage and Water Cube in the Olympic Village despite the fact that the temperature had ratcheted up a few notches to ‘beyond-sweltering.’ Again, I’m going to resort to the picture-being-worth-a-thousand-words strategy.

In the evening, everyone in our group except for us went to view a Chinese Acrobat show…we met Wei Hao – the best Chinese teacher in the world…and ‘mei-mei’ to Sally and I. Wei is teaching English in Beijing and it was such a pleasure to spend time with her. Best of all, she released us from ‘tour-mode’ and we became ‘Beiging-ren’ (Beijingers) for the night. We started by stuffing ourselves (quite literally) into subway cars and heading back to Tiananmen Square to watch the nightly ceremony of the lowering of the flag. This ritual occurs every morning at dawn and every evening at sunset, with the time shifting ever so slightly each day as the earth revolves around the sun. Wei said we were so lucky, as yesterday’s rain had eradicated the smog, cooled the evening air, and provided us with a beautiful and rare-for-July blue sky dappled with cirrus clouds (see Eliza’s picture, below).




Quite a crowd gathers each time this ceremony occurs and Wei told us that it’s a ‘must-do’ whenever Chinese citizens visit the capital – it’s quite patriotic and Wei feels very proud of her country when she is there. We waited for about 45 minutes in our prime spot near the flagpole – during which I shot a particularly good photo of a little boy on his dad’s shoulders:



The ceremony begins with a squadron of soldiers marching in synchrony from the Forbidden City, across the street (where traffic is stopped) and up to the flagpole. Wei indicated that she thought all of the soldiers were incredibly handsome (I agree, but in a ‘son’ sort of way…guess that’s age)! The chief officer twists the flag into this beautiful shape that’s hard to describe, and then is joined by the remainder of the soldiers as they march again in synchrony back to the Forbidden City – singing a traditional marching song. It was a beautiful ceremony, with the sun setting and the people singing and waving flags. Several people asked to take a picture with Eliza and I (okay, just me) – which suggests that westerners typically don’t attend this ceremony. We’re so glad we did! We then had a lovely dinner of noodles and a broth with very smooth tofu in it, that Wei said is quite traditional in Beijing – and very healthy (a good antidote to heavy Peking duck). It was a perfect night and we’re so glad that we got to see Wei!

Apres Great Wall

Following the Great(est) Wall, there was the obligatory stop at the cloisonné factory. We learned about how copper pots and plates are fused together and painted with beautiful colors, then sealed in gold leaf. The government store prices were tempting, but I dread the thought of hauling stuff around for 14 days – so we abstained.

After a quick rest (which meant a dip in the pool for Eliza and email-checking for me) we were off to dine on Peking duck. Now Eliza has a bit of a thing for ducks, which is bordering on an obsession. She cringed at the big ovens (which were reported to cook 1000 ducks per day – this is one of the oldest duck recipes in the city and the founder was the chef for the emperor (i.e., the last emperor). She claimed that the happy-looking duck standing outside of the restaurant…and here, next to Eliza – had ears, which made it a freak. The restaurant was very fancy and we were treated to a delicious dinner…and I am sorry to report that Eliza relished every bit of duck that passed her lips (except for the duck jelly, which looked kind of gross). Benjamin, one of the children in our group turned 11 today, so our lovely dinner ended with a magnificent birthday cake covered in fruit and whipped cream. It was lit with what looked like a torch, which then proceeded to unfold into a ring of lit birthday candles shaped as the petals of a flower, which also played the birthday song – they’d sell like hotcakes in the US, but I’ve never seen anything like it (which probably means they’re not allowed, for some reason).