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.

Sun 11-18-07 Summer Palace

Imperial Summer Palace

The afternoon was spent at the Imperial Summer Palace. I would love to see this in the summer! The Imperial Lions guard the palace. If the lion is male, he has the world under his paw. If the lion is female, there is a cub on his back under her paw.

The Summer Palace was destroyed and rebuilt several times since the original construction in the 1400’s. It was most famous where Empress Cixi imprisoned the Emperor Guanxu and ran the country herself. The place was absolutely huge, with a giant lake in the middle and beautiful buildings on the hills. We jostled down the Long Corridor, under roof, and again were under attack from street vendors. At one point the police came, and the vendors ran away fast. Solomon said that he couldn't really say anything because it could result in a physical attack on him personally. I looked for the marble boat, but I think we didn't go far enough.

Solomon said that the stones in the gardens are very important. There must be a place on them that looks like a maiden; there must be holes; there must be permeable matter. I could not find the maiden. Can you?

Even on this cold November day there were many people. I would love to see the Summer Palace in the summer, but I imagine that the crowds would be huge.

The dragon is the symbol of the Emperor. The Phoenix is the symbol of the Empress.

Another huge stone was at the exit. It is called the Blue Iris Stone. I didn't find the maiden here, either.

I was fascinated with the stone patterns in the walkway.

As we left the Summer Pavillion, these greeters with their smiles waved good-bye.
We were again on our way down the road in our bus. Our restaurant for the evening meal had a little greeter that I thought could have been from an American cartoon. Most restaurants had bamboo in some form and many had an aquarium.
We had the Peking Duck meal here and most thought it was very good. The duck meat was seasoned and cooked and sliced very thin. The meat was put into a rice wrap and then vegetables and herbs put on top along with sauces.The center dish was mustard greens and was seen at almost every meal in China. They were very mild and good, however I suspect that everything had MSG, a flavor enhancer, because after the third day, I developed a rash and had to stop eating for a while. Thank goodness for hydrocortisone cream and benedryl that Phyllis, our mother-leader had brought!



Even though we were jet-lagged and extremely tired, we voted to attend the performance of Kung Fu which is seen only in the Red Theater in Beijing. It was a marvelous performance about a boy who goes to a monastry and becomes the master of the martial arts and the monastry. I had been warned not to buy DVD's, but took the risk and it is phenomenal. I am glad I have it, because during the performance, I would blink and couldn't get my eyes open. This was a busy day for 33 jet-lagged people! Now we were on our way back to He Ping Li Hotel to get some shut-eye!