Here we are in Xi'An, a city of 6 million people, and somehow the air is much cleaner and the streets are much cleaner than Lhasa. Xi'an is the ancient capital of China- there were 13 emperors who made it their home.
And we are getting the inside scoop, because this is where Fangshuo and his family live. A lot of you probably remember meeting Fangshuo- he was the second boy that my family hosted for a high school semester (the first was Wan Wei, who stayed with us about 7 years ago). He is still in school, and studying his little buns off for the college entrance exams, upon which his whole life is staked (it appears). So we havent' gotten to see him much, but his family has opened their arms to us and acted as our personal guides for the city. Yesterday they arranged the daughter of a friend to take us around the city and translate for us- she is in her final year of studying English in college. Fangshuo's dad, Mr. Xi, drove the 3 of us around the city, paid for all of the entrance fees for the museums and sites, and bought us snacks along the way. Then we met him and his wife for dinner at a three story restaurant that specializes in dumplings. Wait until you see the pictures. Possibly the best meal in China we've had, although the peking duck we had in beijing is right up there. And we got to have that (the duck and all its trappings) the night before too. Oh so wondeful to have such wonderful food (ask us about the noodle houses some day- but not so close to a meal). They brought out the dumplings fresh and steaming from the pot- and you eat them right away. They just serve about 10 at a time, and you scarf them up. Don't dare dip them in the sauce- it masks the flavor. We had walnut ones, seafood, pork and corn, sweet, spicey, smooth, orange ones, clear ones, green ones, ones shaped like lotus flour pods... amazing. and the finale was a huge beautiful soup or "hot" pot with fire underneath- it was a dumpling soup. They serve the soup, and then you count how many dumplings you get in your bowl. Each number has a different significance- Eric got 4, which means his pockets will be lined with money all four season of the year. I got one, which means this year will bring much success to my career. Good news all around.
We had fun trying to communicate with Fangshuo's parents- practicing the tiny bit of Chinese we are picking up, and then doing a lot of acting and sharing photos via the digital camera. We'll post some of those pictures later on. And it was amazing to have our own personal guide- there are so many things we have been wondering about but couldn't ask. With Celia (our guide- that is her "english" name), we could ask almost anything. So we did. The poor thing was exhausted by the end of the day- and she had to translate all through dinner too! This morning they are picking us up at 10:30 to take us around for today as well, then we will have Chinese hotpot for dinner, just before our 7pm train leaves for Beijing. I don't think I've *ever* been this wined-and-dined. They have made it clear via Celia that they were so grateful that we took Fangshuo into our family, so they are happy to have the opportunity to return the favor. We couldn't be happier.
Did I mention that Mrs. Xi gave us a box of fresh strawberries that we ate for breakfast yesterday morning? Deluxe, man. I'm tellin' ya.
So the next section is for those of you who like museums and cultural history and stuff. Like you, Poppa of mine. We went to the Shaanxi museum yesterday morning, which my father has been to twice, and he has dubbed it one of his favorite museums in the whole world. This comes from a man who has spent qutie a bit of QT in the world's museums (we let him go at his own speed when we go as a family). We were pretty excited about it- until we realized that half of it was closed!! So disappointing!! but the 3 galleries we did see were just unbelievable. These people have lived here quite a bit longer than us north american types, as we all know, but somehow SEEING these incredibly beautiful brass pots from 700 BC just blows my mind. The ancient Chinese had this beautiful alphabet, at least by 1046 BC. "BEE" "SEE", people. When did we come up with our alphabet? As you go through the museum, the artifacts slowly take on more detail and creativity, until you get to the Tang dynasty, which was one of the wealthiest dynesties in China, and you just have these INTRICATE designs and colors and flourishes that you could really get lost in. I suppose it makes sense... these artists are building on knowledge and discoveries made by hundreds of generations of people before them. It makes us appreciate the importance of shared wisdom- I can't really describe how profoundly I felt this as we strolled through the museum.
one thing that was pretty cool, though, is that the paintings from the neolithic era, almost 6000 years ago, are similar in many ways to art I've seen from Incas or even African art. It makes one wonder about the origins of art- how it comes from this little biological unit, a human being, with its set of perceptive abilities, which take in the shapes and colors of the surrounding world, stir it into the brain a little, and then come out with their expression of what they have seen. I suppose it shouldn't be too surprising that some ancient Chinese person, who shares the same biology as some ancient Incan person, should come up with some similar paintings.
There was also a special exhibit of brush paintings by local artists. This, of course, made me think of my mother, who has become quite a brush paint artist herself (we used some of her art in our wedding). Mom, I hope this exhibit is still here when you come! I can't believe the things they painted- so full of life and color, so effortless and simple but deeply beautiful. I made a list of what they painted: camels, white peacocks, a gray evil looking vulture, bright peonies (the flower of China, which are just busting out all over the province right now), mountains, ancient, huge forests, snwo on red cherry blossoms, tigers, limestone forests, bamboo forests in the snow, rivers and clouds, and even the orange flowers that my mom has started painting. I was totally absorbed.
Yesterday afternoon we went to a place called the Forest of Stones Museum. This place was unreal. About 50 years ago, they discovered this HUGE stone burried in the ground (while didgina well or tourhg for an electrical line right in the middle of the city), about 8 feet high, that was inscribed, in chinese caligraphy, with the story of one man's life. Over the course of the next few years, they discovered hundreds of these stones, dating back to the Qin dynasty, which is 221 BC, and as recently as the 1930s. These stones, or "steles", were written when an emperor or famous official died. Often before they died, they wrote what they wanted to have inscribed on their stones. They would write their whole life story, and sometimes they would ponder about their own culture, writing the events and cultural practices of their day. It has been an incredible resource for the Chinese to learn about their own history. Its increible- there are poems by famous Chinese poets, and my favorite was a stone inscribed by Jin Ying. For those of you who don't know about her, she was a revolutionary around the turn of the century- about 10-20 years older than Chang Kai Sheck, and Mao Zedong, and the contemporary of Sun Yatsen and Khang Youwei (the rivaling fathers of the 20th century Chinese revolutions). She was AWESOME. I read about her in this history book we had for a little while on the trip (before we left it on a bus). She was an amazing poet, and an incredible advocate for women's right to vote, and worked to change major cultural traditions lke the binding of women's feet. Incidentally, our guide, Celia, said her grandmother bound her feet until she was middle aged- around 1950 I think that practice was banned. Anyway, Ying was an incredible influence on Chinese women and those revolutionary men, and obviously seen as quite a threat to the emporer. She was also quite a fighter, but in the end, at age 29, the emperor's men out-fought her and she was beheaded. (!!!) But she left behind quite a written legacy, including one of those stone tiles. UNbelievable stuff.
So that's a little bit of what we've been up to in Xi'an. Off to Beijing tonight, to the mongolian embassy tomorrow to get Eric's visa, and then tuesday morning at 7:20am we board the train for Ulanbatar, through the Gobi Dessert!
I hope everyone is feeling peaceful and happy.
xo
betsy and eric
No comments:
Post a Comment