Xi'an City Wall and Downtown

On our way to the Xi'an City Wall, we were treated to a look at the downtown. After 1980, it became illegal to have more than one child. If a second child comes to the family, taxes increase and they can even lose their home and job! Now, however, the government sees that there are not enough girls for the young men to marry, so if the first child is a girl, they may have a second child. Also, if both the husband and wife come from a one child family, they can have 2 children.

The Xi'an City Wall will always be one of my favorite memories. It is the best preserved city wall in the world. It is wide and smooth and provides a look at the old city and the new city. Those two views are drastically different!

We had a lecture on Feng Shui and we could see the way homes and businesses use that design to keep energy flowing throughout the buildings.Very old carts,bells, and towers were out for visitors to see. Even the wastecans were decorative... with dragons, of course.

The steps to the wall, however, were very steep. Many places had no provision for those in wheelchairs, etc. Again, we were aware of the haze that covered the city. Susan said that the farmers burned off their fields, and coal fired stoves are used in many of the houses and apartments.

Xi'an, Wild Goose Pagoda

XI'AN

We were up early, 5:30 am, packed, ate a good breakfast and ready to leave for the airport at 6:30 am to fly on the Chinese airline to our next city, Xi'an. (see on)We were met by Susan and our new red bus. Susan looked very young, but was 25 years old. She had a bright personality and bubbled with enthusiasm.

Xi'an was the starting point of the "silk road", and was the largest and wealthiest city in the world. It was the capital of China and home for 13 emperors before the capital was moved to Beijing. There is evidence of human beings 1,000,000 years ago. Hunting, fishing, agriculture, pottery evidence go back 6000 years ago.

The city was very clean. Women with straw brooms were continuously working to get rid of the dust. Susan said that dust storms often came to Xi'an. The streets were watered down every day to keep the dust down. The air, however, was another matter. There was a haze everywhere as we looked out the airplane window and again in the bus.

Our first stop in Xi'an was the Wild Goose Pagoda. It was built in 648 AD because the esteemed Buddha master, Xuan Zang, had seen a flock of geese flying over a temple. One of the geese fell to the ground. Instead of eating the goose, the monks buried it. He honored that day by building the Wild Goose Pagoda. Xuan Zang had traveled to India where he studied for 14 years and brought back bundles of scriptures. The Pagoda was protection for these scriptures and home for 300 monks who studied with him.With elaborate carvings over each doorway, the Pagoda rises seven stories and 200 feet into the air. It is now leaning one meter to the west and has been emptied of its contents. Buddha's Hall was decorated with white jade. Buddhas were on the walls, and the ceilings were decorated with gold Buddhas. In an addition to the temple, dating to only 50 years ago, was a three-wall carved decoration in many colors of jade telling the story of Buddha's birth, travels to India, and his enlightenment. I was glad we had listened to the information about jade before this visit. I could appreciate the carvings so much more.

The outside grounds around the Pagoda were quite beautiful with carved white marble steps, and walls. Also the statues, the trees and grounds provided a very spiritual environment.

Back at the bus, we were visited again by the street vendors. We had learned by this time how to handle them by saying "no" several times, and then begin to walk away. That way we got their lowest price.

Lunch was next, and we found out why the people of Xi'an were called "the dumpling eaters."

Pearls and Jade, good bye to beijing

Jade, Pearls, and a Good Bye to Beijing
We visited two other factories in Beijing. They each had short informative talks about the jewelry in a small room. Then we were escorted into large showrooms, always first to the most expensive jewelry. The sellers were persistent but did not make the visitor uncomfortable. We never lacked for help or information. In these showrooms, the buyer could use Chinese money (yuan) or US money or credit cards.
This lady shows how pearls are placed into an oyster for developing. They were developed in the lake at the Summer Palace. None of the pearls in this showroom have paint on them. They were all fresh water pearls. This oyster had 16 pearls in it. In the showroom, they had several colors of natural pearls: gray, green, pink, yellow and white. The gray, pink, and green were among the most expensive.

At the Jade factory, we learned that there are several colors of jade also: dark green to light green, yellow, white, and other color variations. The light green and white are the most rare, and of course, most expensive. The hardness of the jade was compared to diamonds, with diamonds at a 10, and the hardest jade (jadeite) at a 7. The information about the pearls and the jade made us appreciate many of the things we saw later. When we saw the white jade Buddha or the walls of carved white jade, or sculptures, we knew that we were seeing the most expensive and rare form of jade. We understood that the dragon having a pearl in his mouth was part of the Chinese culture of both the past and the present. This picture is of a Disneyland near Beijing that was never finished, but is for sale. Anyone interested?

We packed Monday night for our flight on a Chinese airline, wondering about this interior flight.

The old and the new was again prominent as we left Beijing the next morning.

On Tuesday, November 20, 2008, we left our pretty blue tour bus.
Up at 5:30, Tuesday morning, we rode the bus to the airport, and as we boarded the plane Debby counted 32 of our group, one person less than the total of 33! We found that Ann was being detained for accidentally having a Swiss army knife in her carry on. We thanked Soloman for rescuing her, and were reassured that he was to be with us throughout our trip. This is Soloman.

11/19/07 Cloisonne' Factory, Ming Tombs, Tea

CLOISONNE'

After our cold windy visit to the Great Wall, our visit to an inside factory of Cloisonne' was welcome. I had seen and heard of Cloisonne', but had no idea that it begins with a copper item, a vase or jewelry or knick knack. Then strips of copper are applied with a glue. The resulting space is then filled with layers of enamel in beautiful colors. Some of the workers looked very young. This girl looked 10 or 12, but then, the ladies here all look young, I think. There was another small girl who was doing very tiny items like toys, Christmas decorations, or beads for a necklace. The girl at the left and the lady below are applying the copper strips to outline the flowers and decorations.

This gentleman is cutting strips of copper to be applied to larger pieces, large vases for example. These strips were at least 1/4 inch wide. The strips on smaller pieces were very narrow, some just like copper wire. The girls below are applying the layers of enamel to fill in the outlines of the flowers.

The Ming Tombs

Our next stop was at the Ming Tombs. I had been trying very hard to assimilate all the history that our guide, Solomon, had been telling us. He kept giving us little quizes, and seemed pleased that we couldn't remember. By the time we arrived at the Ming Tombs, however, I really didn't care about the 13 emperors buried there, and the one who was not buried there. I was just tired, and disappointed that we couldn't get into the tombs because they were being repaired. I took these pictures of the policemen for Brian, the policeman in our family. They were guarding the tombs and the museum. You can see here a huge kimono made of beautiful silks. In the next picture, a group of us are emerging from the courtyard around the tombs. We encountered here the "thresholds" which were about a 12"-15" high. The thresholds were at every outside door, placed there to keep out the ghosts! I understand that Chinese ghosts or skeletons cannot bend at the knees, so they cannot get in the door with the threshold there to step over! Men are to step over a threshold with their left foot. Women step over with their right foot.. because women are always "right!"

Chinese TeaWe visited a tea shop in the late afternoon. It was interesting, but it was warm in there. We tasted several different kinds of tea. They had a process of pouring and re-pouring the tea. None of it was very strong at all. We were in a small room. We were tired, and the warm (not hot) tea was comforting. We took a group picture. We went to our restaurant for the evening meal. Almost every restaurant had an aquarium, flower arrangements, and lots of bright colors.

Then we were on our way back to our hotel with the wonderful silk comforters. We needed to pack and be ready to fly to Xi'an (see on) in the morning. We didn't know how amazing our visit in Xi'an would be!

Mon. 11/19-08 The Great Wall

Our visit to the Great Wall took us several miles out of Beijing. On the way there, we saw more of the countryside. I asked about the innumerable lines around the mountains. Solomon said that was the tree planting effort. Mountain after mountain had the ridges and lines. What a labor intensive plan that was!

The Great Wall was built between 476 B.C. and the 14th century. The first emperor to unify China in the third century B.C. was Qin Shi Huangdi (221-206 BB.C.) He had 300,000 workers working for 10 years to protect China from outside attack. It was originally several walls protecting different cities. Then these walls were joined. The Great Wall is more than 6,000 kilometers long. There are watchtowers at intervals along the wall. I have read that today hikers use them as shelters, and even hostels. The wall is crumbling in many places, but has been rebuilt in other places. Our visit was to one of the places that has been restored.

This was our first glimpse of the Great Wall and one of the watchtowers through the bus window. The Great Wall is also the largest cemetery, because many workers died and were buried under or within the wall. There are many legends about the building of the wall. One of them tells of how Meng Jiangnu's bitter weeping made a section of the Great Wall collapse. Meng Jiangnu's husband Fan Qiliang was caught by federal officials three days after their wedding and sent to build the Great Wall. Meng Jiangnu heard nothing from him after his departure. She cried every day and sewed warm clothes to take to him, and she set out to look for him. Unfortunately, by the time she reached the great wall, she discovered that her husband had already died and was buried within the wall. Hearing the bad news, she cried her heart out. Her howl and her tears caused the collapse of a part of the Great Wall. This legend has been spread widely through textbooks, folk songs and traditional operas. It is well-known in China. For the story in greater detail see this website. http://www.travelchinaguide.com/china_great_wall/culture/mengjiangnu.htm >

Several other stories are at this website>http://www.travelchinaguide.com/china_great_wall/culture/

Here we are, beginning our journey. As we began, we had no idea of how steep and laborious the journey would be. There are different levels of the walk. They have created flat landings for resting, thank goodness. The steps were almost like a ladder in places, and the height of the steps varied, so I found myself almost stumbling because I had not raised my foot far enough. The next step might be more shallow and that was a surprise, because we were following the next person so closely.

We were relieved and excited to arrive at the watch tower. It was very crowded there, because many people like us had decided to rest there and wondered how the journey down was going to be. We explored the tower and enjoyed many phenomenal views.

I climbed up to the top of the watch tower. It was again very steep, and after the climb up the hill, my knees were shaky. But I am glad I did!

After our exploration and rest, our knees had lost their shakiness, until we began the descent! Going back down was very difficult, too, with the varying heights of the steps--one high and one thinner. Both were difficult and ellicited cries of surprise from me. We appreciated the smooth walkways and rest stops toward the bottom. We were hungry and tired and cold. We bought some snacks and joined the group back on the bus. This was a morning none of us will ever forget.