Tuesday, June 30, 2009
What I Don't Miss (Yangtze)
For a news and blog junkie, I have been astoundingly disconnected. Oddly, there are two bits of news that have electrified China: the Washington Metro accident, and Michael Jackson's death. But I accidentally caught a glimpse of the TV in the bar...
White Trash (Chongqing)
We have been staying in very flashy hotels. The one here in Chongqing is especially nicely appointed, with a bathroom to die for, with marble tub with jacuzzi, marble floor, and a double-sized separate shower. But you cant take some people anywhere.
The Fine Print
And in a dusty corner of the museum of the terra-cotta warriors, rhetoric of a sort I expected to see far more:
Eyebrows (Xi'an)
This may be one of the more intriguingly ridiculous museum notes I've ever seen: a helpful poster of the different eyebrow fashions during the Ming dynasty.
Paradise (Yangtze)
Daddy, won’t you take me, back to Muhlenberg County
Down by the green river, where Paradise lay?
Well, I’m sorry, my son, but you’re too late in asking
Mr. Peabody’s coal train has hauled it away.
-John Prine
The Yangtze is full of coal barges – loaded going upstream, empty on the return. The Three Gorges Dam was projected to produce 15 % of China’s energy requirements; present estimate is 1%, not because the hydroelectric generation has fallen below projections, but because demand has so exploded. So there will be more dams built, further upstream near Tibet, where the population, if not the ecological, effects will be lesser.
In the meantime, the mountains keep filling the coal barges.
Terra-cotta Warriors (Xi'an)
They are, of course, amazing. We were all entranced.
We were there at the same time as the farmer who discovered them while digging a well back in the 70s, who apparently now signs books full time. (I didn't see the "no photographs sign" and was roundly reprimanded by an appalled British lady.)
More unusually, we were also there at the same time as a team of archeologists.
According to our guide, they are deliberately not digging up some of the sites because they don't yet have the technology to preserve the paint and other materials on the terra-cotta, and they're safer underground.
But the archeologists revealed the secret of where he warriors REALLY come from:
We were there at the same time as the farmer who discovered them while digging a well back in the 70s, who apparently now signs books full time. (I didn't see the "no photographs sign" and was roundly reprimanded by an appalled British lady.)
More unusually, we were also there at the same time as a team of archeologists.
According to our guide, they are deliberately not digging up some of the sites because they don't yet have the technology to preserve the paint and other materials on the terra-cotta, and they're safer underground.
But the archeologists revealed the secret of where he warriors REALLY come from:
Muslim Quarter (Xi’an)
It wasn’t on our original schedule, but after reading Lonely Planet, I asked that we shift things around to permit a trip to the Muslim quarter. Muslims are the third largest religious group in China, and as the end of the Silk Road,
Xi’an is a major center, with many descendants of Arab traders. We were able to spend a few hours in the street market of the Muslim Quarter,
and also to visit the Great Mosque at the time of early evening prayer, listening to the iman call the faithful to prayer from what looked like a pagoda, in Arabic with a Chinese lilt.
Tom was sufficiently entranced that he ditched the group and stayed in the Quarter for dinner.
Xi’an is a major center, with many descendants of Arab traders. We were able to spend a few hours in the street market of the Muslim Quarter,
and also to visit the Great Mosque at the time of early evening prayer, listening to the iman call the faithful to prayer from what looked like a pagoda, in Arabic with a Chinese lilt.
Tom was sufficiently entranced that he ditched the group and stayed in the Quarter for dinner.
Children's Village
Another unscheduled stop – we were supposed to go to the Museum of Science and Technology – but we have one of those at home. So Gloria was able to arrange a visit to the provincial Children’s Village, a bit over an hour from Xi’an.
The children, who range from 3 to 17 – just like our group – are mostly not orphans, but the children of prisoners.
They live in one-story dorms, eight to a brightly painted room,
with the older kids segregated by sex and the older girls’ dorm festooned with pop star posters.
The younger children performed a little dance for us
– so, with the impression that they probably were made to feel like performing seals for visitors, we reciprocated
Tom garnered a fan club by using the universal communication tool of a notebook and dinosaur sketches.
The girls posed with our girls
and compared notes on pop stars, and the boys played with the five balls we brought as a gift for the kids
We ended, of course, leaving chunks of cash as donations – and Aaron kicked in an extra $50 from his savings. I don’t know how much of it will reach the children, or even the Children’s Village. But they have so little, and we have so much.
The children, who range from 3 to 17 – just like our group – are mostly not orphans, but the children of prisoners.
They live in one-story dorms, eight to a brightly painted room,
with the older kids segregated by sex and the older girls’ dorm festooned with pop star posters.
The younger children performed a little dance for us
– so, with the impression that they probably were made to feel like performing seals for visitors, we reciprocated
Tom garnered a fan club by using the universal communication tool of a notebook and dinosaur sketches.
The girls posed with our girls
and compared notes on pop stars, and the boys played with the five balls we brought as a gift for the kids
We ended, of course, leaving chunks of cash as donations – and Aaron kicked in an extra $50 from his savings. I don’t know how much of it will reach the children, or even the Children’s Village. But they have so little, and we have so much.
Big Goose Pagoda (Xi'an)
This Buddhist pagoda, from AD 642,
is wonderful. Full of statues
and paintings of the life of the Buddha
and an amazing, tranquil garden full of birds,
it feels like a holy place rather than a palace or museum like the sites in Beijing. It is once again a practicing monastery; the monks returned after the Cultural Revolution.
Here’s the monk who founded it, Xuan Zang, who also inspired the classic novel of the Monkey King, Journey To the West, which I’ve been reading on the Kindle, and which has proven vaguely reminiscent of our present adventure ”Monkeys are born naughty ad they could not keep quiet for a single moment until they had work themselves out moving thing around.”
is wonderful. Full of statues
and paintings of the life of the Buddha
and an amazing, tranquil garden full of birds,
it feels like a holy place rather than a palace or museum like the sites in Beijing. It is once again a practicing monastery; the monks returned after the Cultural Revolution.
Here’s the monk who founded it, Xuan Zang, who also inspired the classic novel of the Monkey King, Journey To the West, which I’ve been reading on the Kindle, and which has proven vaguely reminiscent of our present adventure ”Monkeys are born naughty ad they could not keep quiet for a single moment until they had work themselves out moving thing around.”
We're Baaack
We're off the river and in the amazing, huge city of Chongqing.
We sailed in at midnight last night, and left the boat this morning. After a full day to touring, now I have a nice fat broadband pipe until 8:30 tomorrow morning. Let the blogging recommence.
We sailed in at midnight last night, and left the boat this morning. After a full day to touring, now I have a nice fat broadband pipe until 8:30 tomorrow morning. Let the blogging recommence.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
A Note for the Blog About Videos
Aaron has been a demon with the Flip. He'd much prefer, however, to get these videos home and properly edited — and, of course, to post them in their proper uncompressed form. So you are seeing the raw footage...
A note from your friendly human web proxy, instead of loading a pile of videos here I've provided a widget showing selected videos on my YouTube channel on the right sidebar here. You can go look at them here or head on over to http://www.youtube.com/user/spottybones to see them all.
A note from your friendly human web proxy, instead of loading a pile of videos here I've provided a widget showing selected videos on my YouTube channel on the right sidebar here. You can go look at them here or head on over to http://www.youtube.com/user/spottybones to see them all.
Xi'an
Leaving in a few minutes, but I can't leave without giving you a taste of our time here:
The Big Goose Pagoda is both an amazing ancient site
and, since the loosening of religious restrictions, once again a practicing monastery
Xi'an was the end of the Silk Road, and still has an amazing Muslim Quarter
and Great Mosque (no pictures, because I ran out of camera juice).
The terracotta warriors -- astounding, of course.
A Tang Dynasty performance, quite perfect for we touristy folks.
Plus lots of noodles!
The Big Goose Pagoda is both an amazing ancient site
and, since the loosening of religious restrictions, once again a practicing monastery
Xi'an was the end of the Silk Road, and still has an amazing Muslim Quarter
and Great Mosque (no pictures, because I ran out of camera juice).
The terracotta warriors -- astounding, of course.
A Tang Dynasty performance, quite perfect for we touristy folks.
Plus lots of noodles!
Blog Hiatus
We're off to the river portion of the trip, so no Internet access for the next four days. I've left Scott with a humongous backlog, though!
Here's your intrepid blogger at work:
Here's your intrepid blogger at work:
The Bus [Beijing]
We definitely travel in style, in a full-sized air conditioned bus.
Our Beijing driver was Mr. Lee, who Gloria assured us is excellent at navigating the crazy, mostly inexperienced Beijing drivers, who do not give anyone, especially pedestrians, the right of way, regardless of such niceties as traffic lights or sidewalks.
Plus the kids have fun.
Our Beijing driver was Mr. Lee, who Gloria assured us is excellent at navigating the crazy, mostly inexperienced Beijing drivers, who do not give anyone, especially pedestrians, the right of way, regardless of such niceties as traffic lights or sidewalks.
Plus the kids have fun.
Trees [Bejing 6/21]
They are magnificent, and revered. This is a 500-plus year old glory described as nine dragons twining, quite possibly in the Forbidden City
and some lovely willows in the Summer Palace.
Plus they're great for staying cool when it's over 100 degrees out.
and some lovely willows in the Summer Palace.
Plus they're great for staying cool when it's over 100 degrees out.
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