Tuesday our big expedition was to the Great Wall. But, along the way was an unannounced stop at a jade factory and store. We think it was state owned and are 99.5% sure the tour company gets a kickback but how do you go capitalist without such maneuvers. We found some really cool jade balls within balls but the price was not to our liking. Enter, Josh at his finest. He ended up dealing for 10 and got a great discount. When we got to the bus he proceeded to proclaim its virtues and passed around a sample. By the time all was said and done we barely got to keep enough for ourselves and sold the rest with a couple of folks out in the cold. We didn’t make a profit but started a whole new spirit of community- power in numbers.
The Great Wall is, in a word, “awesome”. Just as amazing as everyone said it was. Gary made it far enough to earn a certificate for “climbing the wall” and Josh and I made it to “the top”. Words cannot describe the magnitude and incredibleness of this place and, of course, we were only experiencing a tiny piece of it. To think it goes for thousands more miles is just mind boggling. I got up there saying, this one is for you Kodi who would have scampered up like it was a playground. (Can you tell I miss him?)
On the way back we got the rare treat of driving through the Olympic Village under construction. We saw the bird nest stadium where the opening ceremonies will be, the swimming pavilion, track and field and other venues including the housing for the athletes. They have built huge luxury apartment buildings to house the athletes and have sold these to local folks who will move out during the Olympics (or maybe not move in until afterwards- it wasn’t clear) and then live in them afterwards.
In the afternoon we got a tour of the hutongs which are narrow alleyways with houses arranged around courtyards. I think it was the Manchurians who built these. They are tearing many of these down and forcing folks into high rises but are going to keep some as cultural icons. In order to do this they are putting a fresh face on the remaining ones in preparation for the Olympic Games. Everything happening in Beijing now is related to the Olympics and putting on a good face for the world. We got a guided walking tour then a rickshaw ride then a visit into one of the residences. The owner is a retired librarian from Beijing National Library- just can’t get away from them can I? The residences were owned by folks for hundreds of years then taken from them by Mao. Now 99% are owned by the government but some folks got to get theirs back from the government like this woman. It is a 16 room complex and we only saw about 5 of them. During Mao’s time the population of Beijing went from 100,000 to 9 million so hutong residences saw 5-11 people occupying each room with each person getting about 2 square meters of personal space. When the residences were returned to owners the “guests” were paid about 1 million rmb to relocate. There are no toilet or shower facilities within the residences but there is running hot and cold water. There are communal toilets on every block and showers are taken outside with hot water.
In the evening a group of us went walking and exploring. Around our hotel was pretty barren but we kept at it and finally hit a main area- found kettle corn, a supermarket, a KFC, 2 pizza huts although one only looked like one and didn’t say Pizza Hut but had Arabic writing on the sign which means they probably don’t serve pork and one Mr. Pizza.
Wednesday dawned very cold and very wet and did not improve. Luckily our only stop was the Temple of Heaven where the Emperor went twice a year to pray for and then thank “god” for a good harvest. Another amazing complex and architectural feat. The Temple itself is 38 meters high and 30 meters in diameter with no nails or concrete used. It is supported by 12 columns representing the months of the year.
We then flew to Xi’An where we had a very good dinner and then relaxed for the day ahead. In trying some of the Chinese candy Josh bought at the market, Teresa did break a crown but since Gary is traveling with a temporary crown, he just happened to have adhesive so all is well for now but it looks like a visit to a real dentist is imminent upon return. Could have been a whole lot worse!
Teresa’s camera also seems to not want to accept any batteries at all so we are now dependent on Alisha’s. The last pictures Teresa took were able to be transferred off but they may be the last ones loaded unless we fool with getting them off Alisha’s.
Thursday was completely socked in with fog and light drizzle but undaunted we went to see the terracotta warriors. I keep using the words amazing and incredible and awesome but there is no other way to describe them. When you walk in that first pit and see them all lined up it is just indescribable. The lengths they went to in order to guard this emperor in the afterlife just renders me speechless and that is no easy feat.
Josh continues to enjoy his bargaining skills and bought 2 suits today. I keep talking in Chinese and unfortunately get understood so they come back in rapid fire Chinese that I have no idea what it means but we do make a good team.
We went to a Tang Dynasty song and dance show which was incredibly beautiful both visually and musically. This was followed by a dumpling dinner consisting of 18 dumplings followed by hot pot soup. I was given special 14 vegetarian dumplings sharing 4 vegetarian ones with the meat eaters. Probably the best meal we have had on the tour so far- appetizers were most authentic and overall just superb.
While the rest of the tour went back to the hotel, Josh and another young man (32) on the trip took off to explore the nightlife of Xi’an. They are armed with the hotel address in Chinese so we are hoping for the best.
Internet access is also painfully slow at this hotel so I may not be able to upload pictures.
We leave tomorrow night for Guilin where the weather should be greatly improved and much warmer.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment