Rats

Okay, so it’s been almost a full month since the last post. I know, I know, we’ve still got to complete the Xi’an posts since there’s a lot more to tell but things have been really busy here. Not much of an excuse but it’s all I can muster at this time (I’ll find a much more plausible excuse and put that one in the next post if it’ll make you feel better). We will again step away from the Xi’an posts to focus on Suzhou and the happenings here. What’s happened in the last month, Warren took a trip to an Outward Bound camp in Singapore, bicycles have become a new mode of transportation for the Dudley family and Jacob was in his first (waaaayy) off Broadway play.

We’ll focus on the play; “Rats” for this post, although the other items will also be worth mentioning in future posts (and hopefully that means near future and not a month from now). At SSIS (the kids school in case you don’t know), they had a class performance and Jacob’s teacher encouraged him to join their all star cast for the Elementary School play, Rats. Rats is a play based on the tale of the pied piper, just so we are clear on that (it’s not a sci-fi thriller about rats gaining mutant powers and fighting crime or anything like that). I didn’t know anything about the play but we “encouraged” (read, told him to take part in) him to be in the play. We don’t push our kids into things like this but in this case, we made an exception since it would be good for him. He would be a part of something that he had never done before. [Editor’s note: Just so Warren doesn’t feel left out….he has started to play Water Polo at school. I know; water polo at a high school?!?! It’s not the normal high school that’s for sure (and no they aren’t walking down the halls singing either).]

So for many weeks Jacob has stayed after school and practiced with the cast in preparation for the performance. He seemed to have everything down pat but the performance would tell the story of how well he knew his lines and if the efforts would pay off. Thursday and Friday night (20 & 21) were the performances. He seemed to be more excited about the pizza party Friday night but we knew he was really anxious about being there and having to get up in front of all those people. Tammy went to see the play both nights but I only went on Friday night since I have Chinese class on Thursdays. I’m not a big “theatre” guy (although I’m pretty sure I could’ve done the Siskel and Ebert thing if I were paid to go and watch these things) and I haven’t seen a play in many, many years so this was the first time to see a performance by kids in the elementary school. I was hoping Jacob would do okay; he had a small part (he was Bruiser Rat) and only had to say a few lines. It was a good show, not very long (which is always a bonus…always leave them wanting more right) but pretty darned entertaining and Jacob did well (along with all of the other kids in the play). There must’ve been around 90 kids in total involved in the performance so it was a pretty involved thing, a lot more than I was expecting. His teacher Ms. Sally headed up the play and did a great job of getting the kids ready. A lot of time and effort (and patience) went into getting this play off the ground and all of the people that took part put together a really strong performance. I’ll take one moment on Ms. Sally and tell you that first impressions here are dangerous (as they are anywhere but here where you meet people from different countries and cultures you don't always have a grasp on what is "normal" or acceptable). We first met her at the school open house since she is Jacob's homeroom teacher. She’s from the UK with red hair, many piercings, the multiple bracelets, rings on fingers, thumbs and some tattoos on her arms. I thought to myself, what kind of liberal flower power wanna-be are we getting here to teach the kids (quick, get me Newt on the phone). Well, I was completely wrong about her. Ms. Sally is a very organized and caring teacher; the kind of teacher that everyone wants for their kids. She may not have looked like your “standard” teacher but she sure as heck has gotten a lot out of Jacob and it’s the results that make all the difference (unless you are in politics, then it’s all about what you say, how you say it and how “honorable” your intentions are….what a crock!). I know that you are asking yourself, “Scott, did you learn a lesson from this and learned not be so quick to judge people?” Sorry to disappoint you, but the answer is “No”. Hey, at least I admit it (and did you expect any different?).

Back to Rats and Jacob; he looked pretty darned funny in his rat costume with his face all painted up. He did very well and I think all of the kids did a really good job. One small child in the front was a hoot, he looked lost virtually the entire performance. He was one of the younger kids so he wasn’t expected to do much but just the look on his face was great. I watched Jacob a lot but couldn’t help checking out this kid every once in a while to see if he had returned to planet Earth from fighting aliens (oops, I mean undocumented intergalactic travelers…no profiling here) on a distance planet in a galaxy far, far away. Jacob complained that he was bored but I think he enjoyed being on stage. I don’t know that he will take part in any other plays (we won’t “encourage” the next opportunity, we’ll let him decide….unless we change our minds which we have the right to do, after all, we are the parents and we make the rules right) but at least he tried it and gave it a good effort.

Once again, I will say it. My kids have surprised me. Warren in water polo, Jacob in a play…these are not things they would’ve done at home (forget that there’s no water polo in Stockbridge…work with me people). They have adapted to the environment and are thriving at most things (some of the education is coming very hard for them but they are trying hard, considering the ranking of GA public schools…it’s not a surprise to see they are behind many of their peers). It’s coming to the end of their first year at SSIS and all things considered, they have done remarkably well. We like the school, they like the school and we are trying to take advantage of all it has to offer them. You’ll have to wait and see what they try next.

Hua Mountain (Part 1)

Xian 4 – Hua Mountain
Day 2 in Xi’an was a planned trip to Hua Mountain provided the weather was good. We got to sleep in a little so we were rested and the weather was okay so Jacky picked us up and we headed out to the mountain. Now, this isn’t part of the standard Xi’an tour package. Probably most visitors stay in the city, Drum Tower, Wild Goose Pagoda, etc. We decided that it would be nice to get away from the city and so we asked to visit the mountain. It is one of the 5 most famous mountains in China so we figured it was close and why not see some nature while we were out in that part of the country. We were told it was 90 – 120 minutes from the city so it wasn’t too bad of a ride. Unfortunately, it was actually 3 hours away from the city but little did we know… The ride to the mountain was full of surprises and we learned a lot just from looking out the windows of the van.

We headed essentially to the TCW museum area and kept on going. On the way to the mountain, Jacky avoided the interstate highway since it was under construction and he wanted us to see the smaller villages along the way. Well, we got to see the real China on this trip into the countryside. It’s tough to write down a lot about all we saw so I’m going to spare you (your welcome) a long dissertation and wrap it up with short points about the trip.

• The villages and farming communities in China are interesting and show the difference between the China we experience in Suzhou. These people are dirt poor (this isn’t the typical “less fortunate” people on welfare in the US that have cars, the big screen tv and all of the stuff that they have a “right” to have…even if it means that they utilize the government to steal that money from their neighbors) and I mean dirt poor. They depend on themselves and their neighbors to survive; if they don’t plant food and tend the crops…they don’t eat. If they don’t make their clothes…they are naked, you get the drift. You see the homes they live in, no central air, probably no running water and I’m certain that there is limited electricity. Jacky explained to us that they live a simple life (and there aren’t two dumb blondes anywhere to be found) and since this is the only life they know, there’s no complaining about what they don’t have. In many ways, I wonder who is happier, them or the people that are always chasing “the dream” (consisting of having everything their neighbors have and then some). Jacky indicated that they may have never been to a city in their life or that they may take a trip once per year to buy things that they cannot get in their village. This reminded me of my youth living in Princeton, Maine where my family would load up the station wagon and make semi-annual trips to Bangor to buy clothes for school or other things. That’s a pretty sheltered life right there but at the time I never thought there was another choice (we also walked 2 miles to school in 4 foot of snow, uphill, both ways). I don’t know how many villages we drove through but it was amazing to see how life was for those people. They swept their trash out to the sides of the road and waited for someone to come by and pick it up (I guess, I mean there were piles of it like it was garbage day). This is why we say that we saw some of the real China on this trip. No big city living, just hard working people living life as best they can and using what they got. They didn’t depend on others; they depended on themselves to ensure they had a decent living.
• It appeared from what we saw that you either farmed the land or worked in a rock quarry, or in one of the power plants. We saw multiple mills that cut the rocks with these huge saws (it looked like something out of the Bugs Bunny cartoon with Wil E. Coyote strapping the Road Runner to a log and trying to saw him in half). Crazy looking stuff and hugely dangerous I’m sure but a job is a job. There were the small shops, local restaurants and stuff but not much other work in the villages, just like any small town.
• Sorry animal lovers but the dogs here are just skin and bones. I know that the people are poor so they don’t have a lot of table scraps to share so I’m sure they do what they can for the animals. You just feel for the dogs, they are scraggly, nasty looking things. I know that they would be just like any other dogs (or at least most of them) if you went over to them but I guess we are so used to seeing dogs treated like anything but dogs (and that includes our own life with a dog) that you forget that these are animals. Around the world people just don’t have the same affinity for the dog as we do in the US. I guess that’s why in many places, it is okay to eat the dog (little Johnny, Rover went to a better place….my stomach). Along some of these villages, in the windows of some of the places there are pictures of dogs and cats. At first you might think that this is a kennel or a vet but we’ve been told (and you know that rumors are always absolutely 100% true all of the time) that when they have a picture of a dog in the window, it means that dog is on the menu. How much is that doggie in the window (arf, arf) the one with the de-li-cious tail (arf, arf).
• The roads we traveled on were narrow and winding but it didn’t stop the drivers from passing each other. In some ways, this was more amazing than the driving we see here in Suzhou. Out in these villages and between these villages were a bunch of dump trucks and heavy duty trucks traveling to carry stuff between the quarries and the rock mills. The drivers never seemed bothered by the trucks. They would pass on a bind corner without a moment’s hesitation. There were times where they would pass a dump truck on both sides (the left and right) at the same time…even if they were going into a corner. Honk your horn, flash your lights and I guess that’s the signal that you now own the road for the next 15 seconds. It was nerve wracking to watch them drive like this. You were waiting for someone to get crushed but just at the last moment, someone would move just slightly to allow room for them to get through. I wondered what the market was for Depends in China since they’ve got to dirty their britches with the way they drive. These were two lane roads and sometimes people were passing like they were 6 lane highways.
• I’ve mentioned the coal power plants around Xi’an. Well, just because we were out in the country doesn’t mean they weren’t there as well. About 30 minutes from Hua Mountain we drove by one of the biggest power plants I’ve ever seen. I don’t need to draw you a picture about this and the less I say the better. However, when you need power you have to get it from somewhere and this is how they power this area of the country.
• We’ve seen chickens on their first and last ride to the processing plants back home. Here we’ve seen pigs on the ride (this little piggy went to market, that part of piggy went home) here. Driving through one of the villages, we happened to pass a man on a scooter with two goats on the scooter. The goats were alive but I don’t think he was taking them out for a ride (at least for their enjoyment). We had a hard time not laughing out loud with this but we didn’t want to draw attention to how funny it looked to us.

To be continued....

Terra Cotta Warriors - 8th Wonder of the World

After the Tour de Wall bicycle ride, we get into the van and Jacky informs us that it’s about 90 minutes to the Terra Cotta Warriors (TCW) museum so we sit back and take a break while we make the trek to the museum. After about 30 minutes, we stop at a place to “learn how the warriors were made”. When we walk in, we are greeted by a man who begins to talk to us and shows us the clay, the molds, the kilns, etc. As we continue to walk through this “prequel”, it begins to dawn on us that this has nothing to do with how the warriors were made but it has to do with how they make the souvenirs that they sell. Once we were done with how the TCW figures are made, we walked through a furniture making gallery, then on to other clay figurines, then to silk art, then more artwork and finally, they show us the gallery of items from each area that are for sale. They had actual size warriors there for sale (the price includes shipping….really, what the heck am I going to do with it? Look, I have a full size warrior in my house. It might be interesting for a little bit but it’ll soon be a big dust collector that you wonder “why did I buy this thing?”). Not only could you buy one actual size, they would make a mold of your face and put it on the warrior. They had an example of one where a Canadian had his face put on a warrior’s body. Now, I didn’t ask the nationality of the person that had this made, they told us it was a Canadian. So for my Canadian friends, I didn’t conclude this on my own because he had a hockey stick and a Maple Leafs jersey (or for the French Canadians, a Canadians jersey [with the obligatory beret], or for the tweeners, a Senators jersey). I couldn’t fathom the logic (or perhaps more accurately the arrogance) behind this move. Conversation piece…sure but c’mon. The Terra Cotta Warriors are part of the history of China, why would I interject myself into it by having them make a statue with my head? It’s like buying a replica of Mount Rushmore but removing Teddy’s head and inserting my own…It’s all about me. Anyhow, they had all sizes of the warriors for sale, some made from the clay, others from “jade” (there’s no way it was real jade) and all kinds of other things for sale here (books on the “history” of China….like that’s the true story, it’d be like expecting CNN to actually report on the news). There was no pressure put on us to buy so we didn’t (along with most of the other tour groups on this stop). It was kind of interesting but it was also like walking through a large, unnecessary gift shop before you got to the museum.

So, back into the van we went and we didn’t stop until we hit the museum. There was a small village surrounding the museum, souvenir shops, food vendors and off in the distance were the homes of some of the original farmers in this area. The odd thing here was that they checked your ticket three times before you made it inside. Jacob didn’t need a ticket due to his age so he went through with me. Each time, the guard looked at me, at him and I could see them thinking that he was older than we said but Jacky stepped in to indicate his age and we were waved on through. Jacky started us in Pit 1. As soon as we walked in, it was simply unbelievable. You were at the ground level and were able to look down into the pit to see rows and rows of these terra cotta soldiers at the depth that they were buried. They were in the pit lined up in formation like they were ready to advance on the enemy. Pit 1 is 230 meters long with 11 corridors (each about 3 meters wide). The corridors were paved with small bricks and then covered with a wooden ceiling supported by large beams and posts. The wooden ceilings were then covered with reed mats and layers of clay for waterproofing, and then mounded with more soil to make the pit about 2 to 3 meters higher than ground level. As mentioned previously, we saw the small traveling exhibit and since that time couldn’t wait until we got to see the real deal. It is hard to describe but it was nearly unbelievable when you consider that the army was made over 2,000 years ago. There are no two warriors that were to be made alike and so although the body may look similar, each has a distinctly different face so just the magnitude and scale of this project is huge. The collection of people needed to construct the army would have to be massive and this was just one pit.

At the moment, they have three pits that have been excavated or partially excavated and they know of 5 more that they will not excavate until they can solve the one major problem that they have. The warriors are actually colored with paint to make them appear exactly like they would in life but once they are exposed to the air, the paint fades and cannot be restored. So, they all look just like clay figures despite the fact that when they were unearthed, they were in color (where’s Ted Turner when you need him). From what we were told, it takes less than 3 days for the color on the warriors to completely fade away. They have tried to paint the figures to match the original condition but they have not found the right mix to match the original look and that will remain on the warriors (the original recipe for the paint and many other things found in the pits were lost to history since many involved with the building of the Emperor’s tomb and the pits for his army never left the area (fertilizer). For this reason, Pit #3 has been partially excavated but none of the warriors have been exposed to date. Once they believe they can preserve the warriors, they will continue to dig at these sites to continue to unearth the army of the first emperor of China, Emperor Qin (pronounced Chin). At the moment, they believe the three pits contain a total of 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses and 150 calvary horses.

When you see them up close, you can see the soles of the shoes have an actual pattern (and you could just make out the small swoosh) and the individual hairs on the head are detailed along with other things like the fingernails. The detail work is simply amazing and was really the thing to see, it was tough from the viewing of the pits but later when we got an up close look, it was something (we also got to see this with the traveling exhibit but you could not take any photos). We asked Jacky how this could be done and he indicated that each warrior was inspected and if it wasn’t right, someone else take your place (above the ground). Talk about pressure.

Along many of the rows typically near the back, there were hundreds of broken pieces of soldiers. Years after the burial of Emperor Qin, the people broke into the pit and destroyed many of the warriors to display their feelings towards the Emperor’s “less than kind” regime (the Chinese have developed a computer program to scan the broken pieces and help them re-assemble the broken warriors). The majority of the workforce were basically slaves so the working conditions were poor and the people were pushed very hard to complete the task. In addition, when their work was complete, many of the laborers were killed to preserve the secrets of the pits and the tomb. Many of the things found in the pits, the bricks, the advanced metallurgy of the weapons, the paint pigments were lost to history when those that created them were killed to prevent the secrets from being revealed. It’s hard to fathom but many of the secrets of the pits have yet to be discovered even with the advancements in technology. Emperor Qin created the army to serve him in the afterlife so he could continue his rule as Emperor.
Our goal was to move around and get some good photos. We started with a great spot just above the original entrance to the pit and I wasn’t moving for anything or anybody until I had the photos I wanted. We had one chance to get this and I wanted to capture as much as I could with the camera. This was the prime spot since everyone wanted a photo with the pit in the background. We finally gave up the spot and began our move to the side of the pit. It was so interesting to see the warriors at the sides of the pit were actually turned and faced the sides of the pit as if they were preparing for an attack from the flank (that’s the side and not the cut of beef just in case you were confused). In the very back of the pit, there were several dozen warriors that were in the process of being re-assembled (like a large 3D puzzle). I can’t imagine the time and effort to perform this task but in this US this is what we would call “job security”.

The pits and army were part of the folklore of the country but faded into obscurity until the pit was discovered in 1974 by a group of farmers digging a well. The tomb of the emperor has not been opened and they will not attempt to open it until they are certain that they will not destroy any artifacts that might exist in this tomb. Right now, it’s a large dirt mound that looks more like a small hill in the distance but it is a burial mound that has been reduced in size again due to the passing of time. All around Xi’an you will find these burial mounds for various emperors/leaders of the country, Jacky indicated how many of the burial mounds there were but I can’t recall the number. This one is obviously the most famous simply due to the fact that this is the tomb of the emperor that created the country of China.

We went from Pit #1 to Pit #2 where there was a more limited collection of the warriors. This was more of the “office” of the pits where communications were done and orders were handed down to the army. Pit two, although much smaller in size and scope still was very interesting just due to the level of detail involved and again, it was a massive undertaking. Pit #3 was basically an unfinished dig site. They had dug down to the level of the top of the pit but had not uncovered any of the warriors in this area. This pit showed the enormity of the task involved in getting these warriors out of the ground. First you had to dig down to the “roof” of the pit. Then you need to remove the wooden roof and begin the arduous task of removing the dirt and debris to expose the warriors contained in this pit. The thing is that they have no idea what’s under the roof, perhaps all of the soldiers in this pit have been destroyed or damaged beyond repair. Conversely, perhaps this is the pit that will contain the answers to many questions around the technology for some of the weapons, the coloring pigments, etc. It is so interesting to think that although there have been a lot of warriors exposed, there are still many yet to be revealed. As you walked through and saw the sheer magnitude of the dig and all that they have uncovered, we hoped that in our lifetime that they will be able to open the Emperor’s tomb and reveal the remaining TCW without losing the color of the warriors. We’d love to go back and see more of what there is in Xi’an for the TCW but we don’t think that things will change in time for us to get the second chance to see the 8th wonder of the world.

So this concludes our Day 1 in Xi’an. Day 2 is all about Hua Mountain so stay tuned to see what we learn from that experience.

Xi'an - The City Wall

Day one in Xi’an started with an early wake-up call, not from the front desk but from outside. First, where our hotel was located was very near to one of the Chinese government offices. Second, we were also very near a small park where people went early in the morning to do Tai Chi and dance for exercise. So, music starts playing about 6:30. Now, if the windows were not open it might not have been that bad but the rooms were stuffy and we had to have the windows open to get some air in the rooms. So, the music is fairly loud, not obnoxious but loud enough to wake you up from your slumber. I’m still not really certain if the music was for the changing of the guard, the flying of the flag or whatever. It really didn’t matter much, it woke you up (and played for 15 minutes so there was no falling back to sleep). Then the Bell Tower bells ring to let you know it’s time to get up (thanks for the “free” wake up call). Of course, in between the man-made noise; it’s the cooing of the stupid pigeons that were on the window sills of the apartment complex right next to the hotel. The people in these apartments obviously fed the flying rats and so they hung around waiting to get something to eat. All of this added up to an early start to the day. We were still tired from the day long venture to Xi’an but we got moving so we could grab breakfast and meet Jackie and Mr. Wang to get the day started.

Our itinerary for the first day was the city wall, bell tower, and then the terra cotta museum in the afternoon. We started out by driving over to the city wall. It was indicated to us that we could (if we wanted) ride bikes on the city wall. Now, I’m not afraid of some exercise but I wasn’t really keen on riding around on a bicycle on my vacation. However, along the way to the wall Jacky has his mind made up for us, you will get some exercise and ride around the city wall on bicycles. Huh!?!? When we arrived, he gave us some history on the city as we walked up the stairs to the top of the city wall. He showed us some interesting items about the wall, some of the logic behind the structure and the architecture and then more about when it was built. All the while, I’m snapping photos and listening while looking for another angle for a photo (say cheese). Then, we happen to walk by a bike rental place and Jackie indicates that here is where he says goodbye and he will wait for us while we ride around on the wall. How long is it around the wall? Oh, only 14.5 kms (ONLY 14.5!!!). So since there’s no backing out, we go ahead and rent the bikes for 100 minutes this was the standard rental time so I guess it’s enough time to complete the circuit..

Now a moment on the bikes…these are your daddy’s bikes. Seriously, the lady from the Wizard of Oz (you know, she turns into the wicked witch of the west….I’ll get you my pretty) had a bicycle that was more modern than these things. No shocks, no frills, no padding, squeaky brakes and just enough rust to make you wonder if it will last the trip. I haven’t ridden a bike for many, many years but I was able to get back on and get moving without killing myself (or anyone else) so we headed off.

So, 100 minutes to cover 14.5 kms…the math should’ve been obvious to me but for some reason it didn’t register until I got rolling. Perhaps I was still mulling over the bicycle ride in my mind and didn’t realize that I was actually doing this. I thought this was optional? We started the ride at about the halfway point on the North wall. The sky was probably as clear as it gets in Xi’an and the temperature was good for a ride so things could’ve been a lot worse. The kids take off with Tammy close behind and me stopping every 10-20 meters to take photos. Yeah, this was a good idea….NOT! I’m trying to take photos just to show the overall scope of the wall, the inner city, the moat around the wall and the modern city rising around the walls plus I wanted to grab images of some of the other things that interested me while on the ride. Hey, wait for me (Sqeak! Snap-snap! Rattle, rattle…okay so the sound effects don’t work well, try to image it, be the bicycle), I’ll be right there. It might surprise you to know that the city wall was erected during the Ming dynasty, which makes it pretty old. Of course there have been renovations, I’m sure the cable lights weren’t part of the original wall. So, if I had thought this through logically something might have occurred to me regarding the wall. It was about 1 km into the ride that it occurred to me that this wall wasn’t really meant for cycling. (Ta-Dah! Yes, I know, it’s an absolutely astute and dare I say brilliant assessment of the situation! Well done, Mr. Watson!) I know that you are dying to know how this thought came into my head. Well, it’s pretty simple, the blocks that made up the top of the wall weren’t really very level and the wear and tear on these blocks caused a great deal of unevenness between each block. So, combine a very uneven riding surface and a bicycle made in the 1940s with no seat padding and you’ve got a recipe for some jack hammering going on (please don’t squeeze the Charmin)…do I need to paint you a picture? As the ride went on (and on, and on) I would try and scan the area for photo opportunities plus have to swerve around on the wall to avoid the larger holes and find the “smoother path” and still try to keep an eye out for the family. When we finally got to the Northwest corner of the wall, I realized that we were in big trouble (or perhaps it was just me). It was clear to me that once you start, you really can’t just turn around and go back so we paused at the corner and then down the West wall we went.

There were many interesting sights to see on both sides of the wall, a few examples of those are listed below;
• There are parks on the outside of the wall all around the wall. People go into these parks to exercise with the “equipment” there. Nearly every time I looked, there were people on these contraptions that were obviously meant for exercise but I have no idea what they were called or when they might have been built.
• There was demolition going on in many areas inside the wall. Seeing 4-5 guys on top of a building with sledgehammers hitting the walls beneath them struck me as odd. One big swing of a wrecking ball would’ve taken the whole place down but that’s only a job for one person. This job involved a lot more people and therefore it was better to knock the building down brick-by-brick.
• People getting a haircut out on the street, the barber chairs were on the street and there they were….a little off the top please.

Just the sheer size of the wall was a surprise to me. When we were halfway through the ride, it seemed that the wall would never end. I kept looking ahead to see if the next building might be a sign that the corner was near (of course it never was). We stopped and took a break near the mid-point in the ride. Tammy and the boys actually stopped and waited for me to catch up and they had a Gatorade ready for me (I was huffing and puffing like an overweight smoker that just walked from the couch to the fridge for another beer and some pork rinds). We stopped for about 5 minutes and then, it was off to finish the ride (it was the mental challenge now, I think I can, I think I can..). I had started to become a little more finicky about the photos I took since if I kept at the current pace, we would never be done. It was a loooonnnngggg ride. The kids finished before Tammy and I and as you can imagine, we had to pay a little extra since we didn’t make the 100 minute curfew. I think it took us a little over 2 hours to make the trek around the entire wall.

Once we finished and got to take a break and mull it all over, it was definitely worth the effort (maybe not so much the bruising) to get to see and feel large the wall is and get a better feel for how the city must have looked during the time when the Silk Road was the major trading route. The sheer size of the city at that time must’ve been a simply awesome sight and the blending of the cultures/dialects as they came together for trade would’ve been something to witness. I was very tired and we were lucky to have the chance for a break after the ride was over. We got back into the van and headed for the Terra Cotta Warriors museum….more on that coming up.

Easter in China

So we take a short break between the Xi’an posts for a quick blurb on Easter Sunday. You might note that it’s a day after Easter Sunday (which also happened to be Warren’s birthday) and we have to fess up…..we ate the Easter bunny. [To the tune of I Shot the Sheriff] I ate the rabbit ‘cause he didn’t bring me Easter eggs. Okay, a little explanation. Since it was Warren’s birthday, we allowed him to choose the fine dining establishment for dinner. His selection; Baschu, the Szechuan restaurant about 5 minutes from the apartment. The place is usually very crowded (which is always a good sign) and so we headed out early to ensure we didn’t have to wait for a table. We got right in and started through the menu to pick our favorites. The one thing we had to have….spicy rabbit leg. Sorry Easter bunny fans but eating rabbit leg on Easter seemed to be the perfect fit. It was very tasty and you wouldn’t know that the rabbit has just gone around the world delivering Easter eggs and jellybeans. Of course since we didn’t get any of those things we got our revenge by eating the rabbit. Now it may not have been THE Easter bunny but I think we sent a message about our expectations for next year. I guess the chef at Baschu could now be called Elmer Foo (kill the wabbit, kill the wabbit…).

One other strange sight from yesterday day was that as Tammy and I headed to Auchan to pick up a few things, we drove by the Blue Marlin restaurant. Hanging outside the establishment was somebody dressed in a Bugs Bunny outfit. Now perhaps it is just me but I’ve never, ever confused Bugs Bunny with the Easter Bunny. No relation, no way, no how. But in China, a bunny is a bunny so shut your trap and bring your kids over to get their photo taken with Bugs/Easter Bunny. Anyhow, that was our Easter on this side of the world. Hope you enjoyed your Easter Sunday.

Now we return to our regularly scheduled Xi’an stories, stay tuned.

Xi'an-Part II : Good Eats

Our Xi’an adventure part II (hopefully it’s not one of those sequel movies that doesn’t live up to the first movie). In part 1, Planes, Trains and Automobiles we discussed our journey to Xi’an. For part 2, we will focus on what we ate and where we stayed while in Xi’an. We were warned by others that Western options aren’t really part of the standard fare for the area so we went in with our eyes wide open but hoping that we could find good food to eat while we were there. Just for some background (and so you can feel my pain), on Monday, the 8th I went to the doctor’s office because I was having severe sore throat pain. The doctor indicated that I had tonsillitis, and placed me on antibiotics and other meds to try and relieve the problem. We were concerned since this was about 10 days out from our trip and of course flying when your throat is raw and ears are hurting isn’t a good thing. I wasn’t feeling much better and so I went back to the doctor on Thursday and he gave me a second dose of antibiotics to try and kick start my recovery. I was worried because I was worn out from the infection and I was having trouble eating and drinking. I had zero appetite and even worse, everything tasted the same, a strong metallic flavor (mmmm). It’s not like I have a lot of fat stored in my body for a long winter’s nap so I was concerned about eating while we were in Xi’an since I didn’t really need to drop any more weight (it’s bad enough that kids want to tie a string to me in a strong breeze and see how high I can fly….look up in the sky, it’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s a lawai [Chinese word for foreigner]).

We arrived in Xi’an around 6:00pm the first night. Along the way, our guide Jacky asked what we liked to eat. He mentioned a dish called “big chicken noodle” that was served in a restaurant close to the hotel. He said it was slightly spicy but it was good. So, we went with his suggestion. After all, we had no idea where we were in relation to anything and someplace within two blocks from the hotel sounded easy to find and we could eat and get back within a reasonable hour. Considering that we got up early that day to ensure we made it to the train station for our train and we were being picked up at 8:00 the next morning, we needed to get some beauty sleep (and no smart guy, it didn’t improve my looks at all). Jacky gave us a card with the name of the place (or so we thought) and we headed out to find the place. About where he said to look was an establishment with a chicken on the sign but none of the Chinese characters that Jacky wrote down matched. We thought it had to be the place but we wanted to be sure. Tammy asked a lady on the street and she didn’t know but then looked again and said it was the place so in we went. ATTENTION DINERS! White people will be moving through the restaurant, please watch them closely and observe their odd rituals as they sit down and eat! We got the front window seat to show off the “strange creatures” that were eating in the Chinese place. We’ve experienced being stared at before but this seemed a little different, I don’t know why but people were turning around in their seats to watch us. The Chinese are curious and for them staring isn’t rude so they stare. People at the table directly behind us (looking away from us) actually turned around in their chairs to look at us. It was bizarre. Luckily, they had an English menu and we quickly found the Big Chicken Noodle dish. It served 2-3 people so we ordered that plus some spicy spareribs, corn and fried rice. While we were waiting for our food we noticed a guy outside the front window having a little “issue” with his food. He basically walked over in front of the small row of bushes in front of the restaurant and puked a little. All you could think was “I wonder what he ate (and where he ate)?” It seemed he was a little tipsy so perhaps this was an overindulgence of alcohol that played a part in his “refunding”. The kids didn’t see it so they were still okay to eat (I think you’d have to vomit directly on Warren’s food in order for him not to eat). So the food arrives and it’s really good. The big chicken noodle is spicy chicken parts (with bones and the obligatory chicken foot) on top of noodles in a spicy sauce. It was a little spicier than we were led to believe but it was still very good. The corn, ribs and rice were also very good. At the table behind us (where they loved to turn and look at us) we noticed that they had a cake arrive at the table with candles on it. We recognized this as a birthday cake (or so we hoped) and Tammy told them “Sheng ri kuai le” (happy birthday) and they got a big kick out of the foreigners saying happy birthday. They liked it so much that they brought us over a piece of the cake. It was cake with fresh fruit on top (kiwi, strawberries, etc.). It was very good. The one thing we have noticed about the cakes here is that the frosting is more like cool whip and less like the frosting from a can used in the US. It’s probably much better for you and it tastes very nice. Not the sugar rush but it still fills the need. We thanked them and told them it was delicious (hou chi…pronounced “how chir”). They laughed and we said goodbye when they headed out to continue their evening. It shows that if you make even a small effort here in China, it is very much appreciated by the locals. So that was night one food.
We stayed at the Aurum hotel. It is a 3.5 star place and was near the center of the old city (within the city walls). We had two rooms with a door in between so we could monitor the kids. Each room had two twin beds so we slept like we were on the Dick Van Dyke show (ooohhhhh Rob). Strange but true, it wasn’t the best place we’ve ever been but it also wasn’t the worst. It was what it was, a Chinese hotel that attempted to cater to Westerners. They had TV but there was only CNN to watch in English (and you know how much I luuuv CNN!) but we didn’t plan on being in the rooms all the time anyhow. The hotel came with a free breakfast, both Western and Asian so we planned on eating at the hotel for breakfast. They had french toast, bacon, eggs, cereal, fresh fruit, sausages and a few other Western options. The food wasn’t anything beyond just okay but it was at least free and we could get something in our stomachs to start the day.

The first full day in Xi’an, we headed out and rode the city wall in the morning (more to come on this) and then took the 90 minute journey out to see the Terra Cotta Warriors. When we arrived there, we decided that it was time to eat after all it was about 12:30 – 1:00 when we got there. Just outside of the museum there was a small city of places to shop and to eat. Jacky warned us that they would try to overcharge us for food (and gifts) so we had to be prepared to negotiate everything. As we walked in, we walked by a KFC so Jacob was immediately drawn to eating there. Tammy and Warren wanted something else and headed off to find some noodles. I needed something so I went with Jacob to get his KFC fix. Again, I have to point out that this isn’t your dad’s KFC. We ordered the mini chicken burgers with fries. Contained in the mix of the fried chicken patty was vegetables (peas and carrots)….you ever remember getting a chicken sandwich with veggies in it? I never really ate much at KFC but when I see chicken burger I usually think, it’s chicken and chicken only but I was shown, once again, that this is China. It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t what I was expecting. Jacob and I picked up our food and headed out to eat outside but the place where Warren and Tammy were kept insisting that we eat with them so we relented and ate with them. Their noodle dishes looked really good and they enjoyed them. We’ll skip by the details of the museum until later so fast forward until dinner time. On the way back to the hotel, Jacky showed us two places where we could eat that were close by. One served the Peking Duck and the other was a Cantonese place. We decided on the Cantonese place. Cantonese food is really what we expect in the US when we go into a Chinese place but of course here the menu is much bigger and contains many items we don’t find on the menu in the US. It doesn’t have the spicy kick of the Szechuan places but it’s still good. So we go in and order sweet and sour meat (the meat type wasn’t listed but we took a chance and figured it was pork), two types of dumplings, fried rice, fried noodles with beef, and a few other dishes. It was pretty good but I think we prefer the spicier foods to the less spicy but still flavorful food in the Cantonese cuisine. We ate our fill and walked back to the hotel. We were pretty beat so we just turned in to be ready for the next day.

In preparation for the next day going to Hua Mountain, we had to go to a store and buy some bread to make sandwiches since Jacky said there would not be a place to eat for us. So, he gave us directions to Wal-Mart right near the hotel. That’s right, Wal-Mart, my favorite place. It was an adventure just to find it, the signs pointed to the left and so we turned left and walked along looking for the entrance or other signs….nothing. We retraced our steps figuring we missed it and still nothing. Hmm, we (meaning Tammy) asked someone about it and she indicated to keep walking and then turn right. Hmmm, it appeared to us that she pointed us to a dead end when the street just turned a funny angle and we kept on walking. Fortunately for us, we decided to keep the kids at the hotel while we found Wal-Mart. With our confusion and a lot of extra walking, it turned out to be a good thing. We finally found it and wondered who decided to put the signs where they did since they really made no sense but (once again) this is China. This was by far the most chaotic, rushed, crammed, jammed and slammed (scattered, smothered and covered for all of you Waffle House fans) Wal-Mart I had ever been in. Even Tammy thought that this was a zoo (which is saying something). The place was organized differently and so we had some trouble finding what we needed but we managed to get it done. We got some bread, peanut butter and jelly, snickers bars, chips and other assorted snacks to eat while we were on the mountain to keep us going. We made it into line and fought through the maze at the registers to get out. On the way out we noticed that the greeters for this Wal-Mart were replicas of the Terra Cotta Warriors. On the one hand it kind of made sense but on the other hand it really trivialized the exhibit just a little (I know, being a little picky aren’t I?). Anyhow, we made it through and headed back to make our lunch for tomorrow.

Obviously, the next day breakfast was at the hotel (and it wasn’t any better the second day, in fact it seemed to get worse) and we headed down the road to the mountain. We were told it was about 90-120 minutes outside of town. WRONG!!! 3 hours later we arrive (we’ll discuss this adventure in a later episode….don’t you love my little teasers?) at the mountain and take the bus to the cable car up to the peak. Once we arrive at the peak, we noticed a little picnic table area and so we stop to grab our nice box lunch. It was a little after noon so we were pretty hungry at this time. We ate and were watched with interest as the locals wanted to see what else we pulled out from our backpack. Sandwich, chips, etc. Jacky neglected to tell us that they sold hot dog on a stick at the peak but the sandwiches were probably a better idea. Once we were done at the mountain, we headed down and got into the van for the 3½ hour trip back (yes, it took 3 and ½ hours to get back….and we used the expressway! You know you’ll have to check back to get the “rest of the story”). Jacky indicated to us that near the Big Goose Pagoda there was a street that had Western restaurants and we could then go down and see the light show after eating. It was about 20 minutes away from the hotel by taxi. We decided that Western fare was past due and we would go for that option.

It turns out that there are two restaurant streets around the Big Goose Pagoda, one is Western options and one is Asian options. The driver dropped us off on the wrong street (without us knowing) and so we headed off down the street to find something to eat. We noticed that it seemed we couldn’t read the name of any of the places and when we asked to see a menu at a few of the places, they didn’t have an English menu. We walked down one side of the street and then down the other side. The only option available was an Indian place. Normally, we would’ve taken that right away but we had to fly home the next day and sometimes Indian food can be a little riskier but we decided it was worth the risk (plus we couldn’t find any other place). It was delicious and was much cheaper than the Indian place we go to in Suzhou, about ½ the cost. We had the typical Indian food for us, Chicken Biriyani, Chicken Tikka, Garlic Chicken Curry (normally we go for the Madras but we didn’t want to risk the heat from the dish), samosas, and of course nan bread. This place was a big surprise but a welcome surprise. We found many foreigners eating inside which made it easier to choose but also we saw a lot of Indian/Pakistani looking people also eating there which was a really good sign. After we finished our meal, we headed to where we thought the light show would be but we didn’t find it. What we did find was the Western restaurant street, we didn’t do much looking here since we had already eaten and figured we probably saved a lot of money. We looked some more and then headed back to the hotel. We were disappointed that we didn’t find the light show but that’s the breaks.

Our last day was breakfast at the hotel (yawn). Then we went to the Muslim Quarter and walked the streets there. It was a combination of shops to purchase goods, souvenir stands, market stalls and food stalls. If you wanted it on a stick, you could find it somewhere here. We looked for something to eat here besides just noodles and we found it in a very unlikely place. Right next to a butcher shop (with meat chunks, bones, blood on the floor) we found a lady rolling out dough very thin and flat. She would add some meat, some cabbage and a dash of spices. She would then roll it into a ball, smack it down on the wooden table she was using (that probably was older than she was) and stick her hand into some melted butter (I think) and rub the top of the ball. From there, it went into what looked like a large sandwich maker skillet filled with oil. The meat & dough balls would go in and the top would come down to flatten them out into a frisbee sized disk to be deep fried. It smelled good and despite the HUGE potential for some kind of bacterial cross-contamination, we thought that nothing could live in that oil (besides, living in the South taught us that everything is better deep fried). We saw a guy waiting for his and so I ordered one. It was 3 RMB (less than 50 cents) for this fried meat pie and it was delicious. They cut it into 4 pieces and placed it in a paper towel and then into a plastic bag to be held and eaten. After we all tasted it, we ordered a second one and told her it was delicious. She didn’t seem all that enthused but we got our second one and were on our way. Tammy and Warren tried some steamed bun dumplings that were pretty large. Then we finished off the snacks with two pieces of fresh nan bread. I’m not a fan of eating on the street but this was all very good and tells me I’ve got to open my mind more (I know, can you imagine that, me with a more open mind?) to try some of these local favorites. We ate and walked around and purchased some items to bring home. We really didn’t buy very much, the photos we had were enough for us and we didn’t really see the need to overspend for too much.

Our last meal was on the flight home. We took a late flight and got served a full meal on the plane. I told you about the box lunch on the plane in the earlier post (you did read that one right!?!). This time, the choices were rice or noodles. It was a noodle dish (Tammy had that) or rice dish with chicken (Warren, Jacob and I had that). Both were good, not super but for airline fare…it was pretty tasty. It came with a mix of vegetables in a separate plastic pouch (carrots and parsnips I think) and a few other items that I really don’t recall. We were all pretty worn out by the time we got back to the apartment. It was a long trip but well worthwhile. We were worried about the food but it turns out that the food was the last thing we should’ve been concerned about. The kids once again proved that they can eat just about everything and it’s good to step out from your comfort zone every once in awhile to find out what else you might be missing.

Next stop, Day 1 in Xi’an. Stay tuned and keep checking in.

P.S. - My insensitive thought for the day; If the leader of Cuba endorses your policies, wouldn’t that be equal to having Jeffrey Dahmler as the official spokesperson for your hamburger patties or Ted Bundy as the official spokesperson for your dating website? Think about it.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

So we have made our first venture out from the relative safe environment of Jiangsu province to Xi’an in Shaanxi province. If you don’t know where this is, there’s something they have just invented…it’s called a map (that’s right, sarcasm is back!), you can use that to see where we went. Why did we choose Xi’an? Xi’an is one of the oldest cities in China and was at many times the capital of China in the long history of the country. It is also known for the Eighth Wonder of the World….the Terra Cotta Warriors (bingma yong in Chinese). While we were in Atlanta, we took the time to see a traveling exhibit of these warriors in 2008 but we knew at the time that it would be nothing compared to what we would see in Xi’an.

Just so we now can be travel snobs, we were told that if you come to China and don’t see Xi’an, then you haven’t been to China. How’s that for an uppity flair? We had this on our list of places to visit in China as soon as I accepted the offer and it took a little bit of time to make the trip but we finally made the arrangements and set our sights on Xi’an. Over the course of the coming posts we’ll talk in more detail about what we experienced in Xi’an but first we’d like to start at the beginning…..how did we get there?

Living a couple of hours outside of Shanghai has major advantages since we’re not far from a HUGE airport and can grab a plane to just about anywhere in China. Typically, Westerners will have a car arranged (for those of us without a driver) to pick them up from their apartments and drive them to the airport. This is quite expensive (around 400 RMB) and we decided that the trip itself had cost us enough and we would try to save the cash for something else. So we took an alternate route, we purchased train tickets to get us from Suzhou to Shanghai and from there we would hop on the subway to the Maglev station and then take the Maglev to the airport. What’s the Maglev (okay, I’m sorry for the sarcasm earlier, no sarcasm here)? It’s one of those magnet rail, high speed trains that get you from point-to-point in much shorter times than standard trains. The train we took from Suzhou to Shanghai runs at maximum speed of about 200 kph, the Maglev runs at a maximum speed of 431 kph. The trip from the station to the airport took 6 minutes 54 seconds so you can figure out the distance. So, despite our train from Suzhou being delayed about 35 minutes, we were still able to arrive at the airport in plenty of time to catch our flight.

The best part of flying in China is that they start boarding 30 minutes before the flight and they stop checking in people for the flight at the same time. The moral of the story is that if you want to be on your plane, be early (or don’t plan on getting on your flight). It’s the same for the trains; they open the gates about 3-5 minutes before the train hits the station. Once at the station, you’ve got about 3-5 minutes to get on the train and they are off. They don’t wait around for anyone. Of course, this doesn’t mean they can’t be late (like our first train was but it’s the system so deal with it). So, we flew China Eastern Airlines, the same airline I took from Germany to Suzhou a little over one year ago. Another interesting tidbit, you don’t get to pre-select your seat. Your seat is assigned when you check in….just another reason to be early (if you want that aisle seat in the back of the plane by the bathrooms which is my seating preference). So, like clockwork, we push away from the gate about 10 minutes before the scheduled departure time and we head for the runway. So, unlike the US airlines where they believe that pushing away from the gate means on time, in China getting in the air on time is what they count as on time (and they mean it when they say that the flight leaves at 3:00).

So, about 45 minutes into the flight, along comes the snack cart with a box snack. We’re no longer in the US so you really have no idea what to expect for the snack. They serve the standard Coke, Sprite, OJ, coffee and tea to drink. In the box, a roll, a small piece of sponge cake, two cookies and a small bag of apple chips (along with one of those small plastic cups of water). So, the roll contained a surprise. I was wondering why just a plain old roll….cold and dry. Surprise, you bite into it and you can’t help but notice what Anthony Bourdain calls “meat in tube form” inside the roll. Now a cold “pig in a blanket” isn’t what I was expecting but I was starving and it was actually pretty good.

As you can imagine, all of the announcements in the airplane were in Chinese BUT they did repeat the announcement in English afterwards which was a good thing. There were a few bumps on the flight but overall a good flight and we arrived on time. We got off the plane and loaded on to a bus to take us to the terminal. Our luggage was on the carousel when we arrived and we headed out to find our driver. It turns out that our guide, Jacky was also there to greet us and talk to us on the trip to Xi’an (so we covered it all, planes, trains and automobiles). We hopped in the van with our driver, Mr. Wang and Jacky for the 60 minute drive to Xi’an. It was an interesting drive, we were tired but we watched out the window and talked with Jacky about our next several days in Xi’an.

Initial impressions from Xi’an;
· There aren’t a lot of “whiteys” in Xi’an
· The traffic was crazy awful, a city of 8 million people will do that
· People crossed the street when, where and how they wanted. It was Super Frogger (on crack). Seriously, it was crazy. It’s been mentioned many times before in my posts but this was by far the most bizarre situation I’ve ever seen. Shanghai has some order, Suzhou is a little more chaotic but still people basically follow the rules. Xi’an….no rules, no order, just pure chaos.
· The “environment”, well….Xi’an is powered by the coal industry and there was a very large power plant right outside of the city. Need I say more?
· I think we found the “real” China

Stay tuned as we move forward into Day 1 in Xi’an in the next post. Take care.