China Part 2

China Part 2

After I got home I made a 1 ½ minute cartoon movie about my resistance to go to China. You can see it at http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/7442923/

Wednesday Oct 13, 2010
While much of the additional information for the places we visited is from the website for the Travel China Guide Tour company, Dianne and I went with China Plus Tours due to it’s small group size limits. You can find out more about China Plus at http://www.ChinaPlusTours.com toll free: 888-868-8811

Our first tour today is a boat ride on the Lijiang River from Zhujiang Wharf to Yangshuo County in Guang Xi Provence. I thought it would be a 3 to 3.5 hour cruise, but it turned out to be 4.5 hours. While the scenery was beautiful, it was just too long for me. Lunch was served on board and at our last port I learned how the merchants can fleece the tourists, even after bargaining. Dianne found a stall that had some carved wood shutters (see photo), that she had been looking for. Plus she found a vase, figurines, jewelry, etc.


Dianne bargains hard. He started out at something like 3400 Yaun ($503 US) she got it down to 1600 Yuan (about $260).After she paid, he said he had more things she might like upstairs, and while upstairs his wife would wrap our purchases.

You guessed it, not everything she paid for was put in the bag and Dianne had more items she purchased from upstairs. Dianne got so much stuff I went to another stall and bought a suitcase to put it in so we could get it all home. The suitcase was $38, but I negotiated it down to $25. Obviously I am not as good at bargaining as Dianne. Anyway, we now have three suitcases for the rest of the trip.

We drove back on the bus to Guilin and visited the Guilin Tea Science and Research Institute. It is the key tea institute of Guangxi founded in 1965. The whole plantation contains about 40 hectares, and owns 250 different tea plants. We learned how the same bush can provide 4 types of tea; white, green, oolong, and black depending on which leaves are harvested. We participated in a tea ceremony and tasted all 4 types. Dianne and I have prepared tea all wrong our whole life. We then went to the gift shop and purchased a tea strainer. Remember how the factories work: Show you how it’s made and then ask you to buy. You can read more about this plantation at http://www.guilintea.com/cby/help.asp?action=about

Thursday Oct 14
Plane travel was relatively easy throughout China except right now. I always carry a single blade pocket knife to cut boxes, open packages & envelopes, cut fruit, and whatever. I know what you’re thinking: NO, I did not have it on me or in my carry-on case. I packed in my suitcase that got checked in. Well, I was called back behind the scenes because they saw the knife in the suitcase and wanted to confiscate it. It didn’t matter that it was in the baggage that was checked in for the cargo hold. They didn’t want me to have that knife anywhere in China. I negotiated with 5 employees before giving up. I guess they want to be sure that no one in China is armed in any way except for police and soldiers. Remember, this is a communist country.

We flew to Jason's home town of Xi An, pronounced "she an." I still cannot figure out how these English letters make those different sounds. Xian is the center of Chinese history due to 11 dynasties being in this area for more than 3000 years: From Zhou to the Han, Jin, Tang, and Qing dynasties including the ancient city wall and the terracotta warriors.

The population of the city is about 3.5 million with another 4.5 million in the surrounding area. It is too small to be its own governing area, but it is the capital of its province. We started our tour with a visit to the small Wild Goose pagoda and park.

We then went to the Shaanxi Museum. Read about the museum at http://www.chinamuseums.com/sx_history.htm

Friday October 15, 2010
In Xi’an our hotel was the Golden Flower:
http://www.shangri-la.com/en/property/xian/goldenflower It was the first joint venture hotel built in China and was exclusive to foreigners. It was done by the Shangra La hotel company in 1983.

1. Our first stop today was a visit to a jade factory with the typical demonstration of what it takes to go from a rock to amazing jewelry and sculptures. In Chinese, jade is pronounced as 'Yu', and most words related to moral include this word such as 'Unpolished jade never shines,' indicating that one cannot be a useful person if he is not educated. Jade also implied honor and conviction. Many girls in ancient times were also named with jade to reflect the love of their parents. One of the Four Beauties in Chinese history, Yang Yuhuan, the beloved concubine of Emperor Xuanzong in the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907), was their representative. Yang is her surname and her given name Yuhuan means simply 'jade ring'. You can read more about jade from Xi’an here: http://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/arts/jade.htm. All of the pagodas, temples, and factories have gift shops. I don't know if you can call a 6-12,000 facility a "shop." Perhaps gift warehouse would be more appropriate. We then went to the warehouse sized showroom with sales clerks and bought some jade.

2. Our next stop was the large Wild Goose pagoda.http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/shaanxi/xian/bigwildgoose.htm All the temples and pagodas have appropriate sized gift shops instead of the warehouse sized shops like the factories. After all they were built hundreds of years ago. Anyway, at the Wild Goose Pagoda this was only about 2000 square feet so you could call it a gift shop instead of a warehouse, and I purchased a jade "chop" there. This is what people would use to stamp their name.

If you miss a gift shop anywhere in China at a tourist stop, there are plenty of street vendors selling items like postcards, umbrella hats, and steamed corn to books and fake Rolex watches. I know they were fake because they called them “Lolex” watches. The typical sales pitch goes like this: “Post cawds, one dolla. You want? One dolla, one dolla. Here! One dolla, one dolla. Look, one dolla.”

3. Our third stop of the day was the Xian Shaanxi History Museum tracing the history of China from the stone age through the Zhou (pronounced as "Joe") starting around 2100 BC - 771 BC and the Qin Dynasty 770 - 207 BC, and Han dynasty (pronounced “Hun”) 206 BC - 220 AD. I thought it was amazing they could be so precise with dates 4000 years ago, but that's how strong their recorded language was. To learn more about this museum go to http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/shaanxi/xian/provincial_museum/

4. Our next stop was the ancient city wall. It is one of the few city walls still standing and continues to be protected and repaired. You can rent a bike and peddle around the top of the wall in about an hour. When Zhu Yuanzhang, the first Emperor of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), captured Huizhou, a hermit named Zhu Sheng admonished him that he should 'built high walls, store abundant food supplies and take time to be an Emperor,' so that he could fortify the city and unify the other states. After the establishment of the Ming dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang followed his advice and began to enlarge the wall built initially during the old Tang dynasty (618 -907), creating the modern Xian City Wall. It's the most complete city wall that has survived in China, as well being one of the largest ancient military defensive systems in the world. Read more at http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/shaanxi/xian/citywall.htm

5. Our final event of the day was a spectacular dinner and colorful show. The Tang Dynasty is regarded as the most progressive and prosperous era in the days of Imperial China and its music and dance symbolize the glory and splendor of Chinese civilization. Read more at http://www.chinaspringtour.com/guide/item.jsp?id=579

I think I forgot to mention the daily big breakfast each of the hotels provided; then a huge lunch at a free standing or factory restaurant; and the large dinner portions served on a lazy Susan. We never finished all the food that was prepared for our group. I thought I’d gain 5 pounds before I got home, but it turns out I got back home at the same weight as I when I left.

Saturday, October 16
Big day - Today we visited the Terra Cotta Warriors built by the first emperor of China, Qin Shihuang around 1400 AD. It took about 38 years to build this tomb using 700 - 800,000 slaves. And there were more slaves used to connect the various parts of the Great Wall. In addition to connecting the various city walls to create the Great Wall he standardized the language to small seal characters; standardized the legal codes, and the currency. The man knew how to get things done. Other than all the people he enslaved, burning the books of the past history (except for those on agriculture or superstition); burying alive 460 Confucius scholars; he was a rather progressive and results oriented Emperor.

After Qin Shihuang died and his dynasty was overthrown, the following ruler of the area broke into the tomb and did his best to break and burn as much as he could. So nothing was recorded in the Chinese historical books about the tomb or the location.

The warriors and horses were discovered by accident. On March 29, 1974, five farmers were digging a water well when they broke into a hole and ended up pulling out a terra cotta head. Within one month the news spread to the top level of the communist government and the area became protected by the State Cultural Relics Administration. This was a cover story in a 1978 issue of National Geographic. Two of the farmers are still living and one of them signs books at the Museum to earn his living. To learn more about this amazing site visit http://www.terracottawarriorexhibit.com

We flew out that evening from Xian to Beijing, the capital of China and arrived at 7 pm.

Beijing has a population of 18 million, which is about half the population of the entire state of California and larger than the population of Hartington, Nebraska and Sioux City, Iowa combined. Actually that’s about 4 times larger than the state’s population of Nebraska and Iowa combined. Anyway, it’s a big place and we stay here for 4 days.

Sunday, October 17
Countdown: Only three more days before I get to go home.
Our first stop today is Tiamanmen Square. It’s a rather large area that could hold 1 million people before Mao Tse-Tung’s (or Mao Zedong ) mausoleum was built in the 1970s. The square has several building in it and on one end is the Forbidden City. The crowds here were overwhelming with a 6 hour wait in line to see Mr. Mao lying in state. He was much like Emperor Qin, only he didn’t kill the intellectuals, just “re-educated” them in prisons or on farms.

Jason’s grandfather got to live on a farm for 15 years, in a horse stall with the donkeys, for his re-education. Jason’s mom, who was a doctor before the cultural revolution, got to wear a dunce hat and occasionally stand in the square to get berated by soldiers and workers. A notice was posted on their door that they had family members who were counter revolutionaries. Jason was only 7 years old at the time. Needless to say, Mao was not popular with people who had an education.
The weather in Beijing is colder than in the south were we started in Shanghai. The Royal Palace, which is now called The Forbidden City, was built over 14 years starting in 1406 AD and is twice the size of Tiamanmen Square. The buildings are all wood and burnt down about 5 times from lightening strikes. The last time it was rebuilt was about 200 years ago and it was remodeled about 3 ½ years ago just before the Olympic games. The last Emperor lasted from 1907 to 1911, and when the royal family lived there the family had about 200 people. That probably did not include the 100-150 concubines. The total population of the Forbidden City was about 2000 people, which did include the servants. Although there were more than a few concubines for the Emperors over the 500 year time span, each Emperor only had two wives.

Later that day we saw the ordinary side of Beijing. Many of the small streets have names like Xiuan Hutong. Hutong is a Mongolian word that mean “where people live.” Mongolia conquered China around 1300, but only had Beijing as the capital for 100 years. The Mongolians were then conquered by the Ming Dynasty who established the Royal Palace (Forbidden City). In one of the Hutong’s we got to visit a private home.

The home we visited had three rooms on one side, a courtyard in the center, and a kitchen and one room on the other side. Each room was about 10’x10’. Oh, there was NO bathroom; they had to use the public bathroom and shower about 150 feet down the street. That must make it fun in the winter if you have an upset stomach. And I forgot to mention that sewage is a problem in Beijing. I already told you the Chinese cannot drink their own tap water.

Monday, October 18, 2010
Only two more days until we go home - Yipee
We started the tour a half hour earlier today (8:30) to get a head start on the Monday morning traffic. With 4.5 million cars and 10 million bikes, and 1000 cars per month being added to the streets, the traffic is worse than the Ventura Freeway at rush hour. And remember, street lights and traffic lanes are merely suggestions.

When we arrived at the cloisonné factory I was startled to learn how many steps were involved in making this beautiful stuff. It’s a 7 step process and most of it is done by hand. It starts with copper wire on an object like a plate or vase; an eye dropper is used to drip paint into the copper separated areas; it dries in the air for a couple of hours; it then gets fired in a special kiln; then more color, more firing, polishing, etc. The prices ranged from 80 yuan ($12) to 1,200,000 yuan ($177,000). Again, everything is negotiable and Dianne bought stuff. Find out more at http://www.china-cloisonne.com/aboutus/index.asp

This factory, like many others we visited, is owned by the government. It was built on land previously used by farmers who are compensated for giving up the land. They are also given the choice of becoming a worker in the factory or finding other work in the city.

Monday continued:
Next stop; the Great Wall of China Since most of our group are in their 70s and 80s it was decided that we would not walk all 5,500 miles of the wall. Besides, many parts of it are missing since the construction began 500 years before Christ was born. So we voted to go to the most famous and most visited part of the wall near Beijing; the Ba Da Ling portion.

I found parts of the wall to be very steep to walk up, just like walking up the steep hills and mountains that it was built along. Tourists from all over the world, but mostly Chinese were walking everywhere and taking photos. I took photos of couples so they could both be in the picture, and they would take photos of me.

It would have been nice if I had a photo of me and Dianne together on the wall, but Dianne walked in the opposite direction when she got up to the wall. I had to take a bathroom break before going up there, and Dianne didn’t wait for me. The guide suggested we turn left when we walk up to the wall because it will be less crowded, so Dianne went to the right. I didn’t see her again until I got back to the ticket area. Anyway, everyone was really great about taking photos for other people. And when you get high enough on the wall the views are spectacular. After all, you are on the top of a mountain. To read about this part of the great wall go to http://www.travelchinaguide.com/china_great_wall/scene/beijing/badaling.htm. To read general information about the Great Wall from Wikipedia click on this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Wall_of_China

We really lucked out too because just as we were getting back on the tour bus it started to rain. If we were up on the wall we would not have been able to see much at all nor take any photos. I purchased a collapsible walking stick from a vendor for $7.50 (50 Yuan)

Our last stop on this day was the Temple of Heaven. It was the only round temple we saw. Kind of looked like the Capitol Records building, only older. It is a Taoist temple where the people would go to pray for a good harvest. To read about this temple go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_of_Heaven


Tuesday, October 19
Countdown, last day before I get to go home.
Today we headed out to the Summer Palace. This is where the Emperor would go after a winter in the Forbidden Palace. It had a man made pond that looked like the size of Lake Erie. We rode from one end to the other on a boat shaped like a dragon. To see a photo and learn more about the Summer Palace go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summer_Palace

On the lake there is a Marble Boat. Of course it can’t float, but it looks pretty cool.

Dianne purchased a funny set of glasses with an attached nose and mustache that expands out to the sides when you blow on the mouthpiece.

Next on the agenda for the day was a visit to the New City Pearl Factory.

Like many of the other factories, this is where we had lunch; got the demonstration, and allowed to buy the product. News: Pearls can come in different colors depending on the minerals in the water that the clams are living in. This way they can manufacture real black pearls. There are fresh water and salt water pearls. The photo of the open fresh water clam is about 5-6 years old and has 34 pearls it was working on. Dianne purchased pearl necklaces and a great face cream made from ground pearls.

We got back to the hotel by 3:30 and walked about 20 minutes to the 100 year old Beijing Hotel. It had artifacts in glass cases in the lobby and was a beautiful Raffels run hotel. Even the fragrance in the lobby was beautiful. We found out they use a smell machine to produce the aroma in the lobby.

Now it is time to pack up for the trip back to Los Angeles. We leave from the hotel Wednesday morning at 6:30 for our 10 am flight back home. After a layover and transfer in Hong Kong it will be about 18 hours of travel and we arrive in L.A. at 2:45 PM. The Resistant Traveler will be so glad to get home.
Rennie