on to Beijing

The three gorges was interesting - huge mountains, beautiful trees, one HUGE water dam (the biggest in the world) - based on what could be seen through the fog. It was so humid, it felt like being in a sauna while touring the area. The water, now pooling on one side of the dam is evaporating into the air, making it hard to see much farther than a few feet in front of you. This dam displaced millions of people, it drowned ancient buildings and unique relics; it is even going to change the weather (making it warmer) in places like Wuhan - a four hour drive away! Only a communist government would be allowed to change ecology and displace people in such a massive way, all in the pursuit of power. We bought a book so we could see what it was supposed to look like. The area was breathtakingly beautiful. By their own account it inspired poetry, paintings and even their own cherished Mao - it is not the same place it once was. I can see how the scenery would be inspiring, now it will be an intersting place to study mold and moss. I wish I had been to three gorges before the dam.

We will be leaving to Beijing and tour the sights there - the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, Tienanmen Square, and the Hutong tour (old villages in the city that have been preserved). I won't have reliable access to email. I will post again when we return to the States.

Field Trips

I haven't written because we've been out of town. We went on a field trip to Xi'an, China. Xi'an is a city of 6 million, but it is definitely a tourist attraction. They have maintained the old world feel in modern China - that is unique among the cities we've visited. There seems to be an overwhelming preference for new here, at the expense of tearing down history to build new. Xi'an (pronounced She-on) is also the site of the terracotta warriors. You've probably seen these around, they have a few at the Country Club Plaza in KC. I hadn't known their origins until now. They were built by an emporer so the army of soldiers could escort him in to the after life.

There was lots to see in Xi'an. We spent three days there. We arrived by overnight train and our hotel room wasn't ready. So, we walked to the south gate - Xi'an preserved the city gate that once surrounded it, now it is just part of the central city. We rented bikes and rode them the 13.74 kilometers (8.5 miles) around the entire gate. Fi and I were on a tendem (double)bike. It took us a couple hours, but it was a great way to see the city and all the Saturday morning activities. After that we checked in to our hotel (a local youth hostel) and showered. Yes, we stayed in a youth hostel. It wasn't as bad as you would assume. We had our own room with our own bathroom and the kitchen served pretty good food. It wasn't luxurious, but it was centrally located to everything we wanted to see. Because we didn't have enough exercise that day we also climbed the bell tower to get an overlook of the city. In the evening we attended a cultural dinner show with dancing, music and 16 kinds of dumplings - I'm not a fan of dumplings so I obstained.

The next day we took a tour to see the terracotta warriors. Before arriving we stopped at a silk factory. That was awesome! Did you know they use silk to make bullet proof vests? Also, the silk is from the cocoon of the silk worm, to get the different colors they change the DNA of the worm. Our second stop were the ruins of an ancient civilization believed to exist 6000 years ago. Then on to the terracotta warriors. We were traveling with five russians from moscow also staying in the hotel - they didn't seem to enjoy much. That night consisted of shopping, shopping, shopping in the muslim market.

Our third and final day in Xi'an we visited a museum of artifacts from the civilizations discovered in China. It was interesting to me because that is also our history. In the afternoon was more shopping. Then we went to the most amazing place - the Tong Paradise. This is like a giant botanic garden designed to replicate the Tong dynasty. It had amazing buildings, greenery, paths and water features. At 8pm they do a lazer light, water and pyrotecnics show. I think someone might be able to plan a whole day there. We missed it, but there were cultural shows earlier in the day. There were camel rides, play grounds and building tours. Dan said they spent millions - possibly billions on this. I believe it. It was phenomenal.

We took a plane back to Wuhan, ate dinner, and are leaving at 6:30am to the three gorges on Wednesday. What's the three gorges? That's the area of the worlds largest dam project, the one that displaced millions of people and will drown some very ancient buildings and temples, but will be an unbelievable source of water and power for China. I've seen a documentary on it on PBS. This will be field trip number two. I'm looking forward to it.

Yellow Crane Tower

Today we climbed the Yellow Crane Tower. It was the first time I really felt like I was in China. For most of the trip it felt like I was just in a big city outside the United States, it hadn't sunk in that we were actually in China.

The tower was built in 223 A.D. I think that is the oldest thing I've seen so far. I saw some old stuff in Europe, but the oldest I can remember was in Italy and built in 800 A.D. The tower is just like what you see in pictures of ancient Chinese buildings. We climbed to the top (stairs of course, there was an elevator but it wasn't operating). There was something to see on each floor. We walked/hiked the grounds and appreciated the gardens and other structures around the tower. At the bottom of the tower we found some costumes, got dressed up and decided to pose.

We had a great day. Tomorrow we leave to Xi'an to see the terracotta warriors, a museum and cultural show. We will return to Wuhan Tuesday, spend a couple more days. Then we will spend some time in the capital, Beijing before returning home. We plan to visit the great wall, forbidden city and more. I still can't believe I'm actually in China.

Relaxing massage?

Fiona and I decided to go to hot yoga tonight. Bob didn't want to stay home, he wanted to get out and do something. There is a massage parlor not far from the yoga place. Bob thought a relaxing foot massage would be nice. The driver dropped us in between and we went our seperate ways.

At the end of yoga we met up with him at the car and asked him about the massage. He said, "I don't speak Chinese." Obviously something was lost in translation because this photo shows the result of his relaxing foot massage. Yikes! There are 24 of these red, inflamed bumps on his back. He described them as "tender." Personally, I don't know how he's going to sleep tonight. I imagine it is uncomfortable to lay on your back, or even have the blankets touching the skin.

I guess they use these suction cups and fire to make these bumps. It's supposedly cleansing. Helen, one of Fiona's friends, said her husband did it and he has a hairy back. His result was much worse as it involved the smell of burnt hair. Would you like a relaxing Chinese massage?

It's Chinese to me

You know that saying, "it's Greek to me." Meaning I don't understand any of it, it's foreign, indecipherable, absolutely unlike anything I've seen or done before. Well, we've adapted it for China. Today we had many uniquely Chinese experiences. It started with fabric shopping - pick a fabric, take it to a tailor and they make anything your heart desires (as long as you can accurately describe it, which proved to be quite challenging). Bob and I have been many places in the world where clothes are custom made, none like this. I'm not a fan of shopping, but the fabric market was a blast.

There are shops upon shops with fabrics of all sorts. You pick the fabric, the lining, and the buttons. I never realized how the style of a button changes the look of clothing so drastically. My mission was to put together a suit for Kenyon to wear at our weddings - something custom made just for him. He obviously trusts me since he is letting me make this decision without him. I ended up with a navy pin stripe. I think he will look very handsome in it and it will match my outfits.

Between the fabric shop and the tailor we stopped for lunch at a noodle shop. We were with Fiona and two of her good friends. None of us really read Chinese and that was the language of the menu's. What did we do? We walked around the restaurant looking at what other people ordered. The waitress followed. When we saw something we liked we pointed to it (at the strangers table) and the waitress wrote it down. When the food arrived, it was quite an assortment and very, very yummy. It is a riot seeing Bob eat everything with chopsticks. There isn't a fork to be found, so he must get his giant fingers to work these two sticks. We had a good laugh at his expense.

From lunch we headed to the tailor shop. We overwhelmed her with all the details of our grand visions. I had Kenyon's measurements for his suit. We started with charades to let the tailor know what measurement was what; shoulder to shoulder, outseam, inseam, collar and crotch...once successfully communicated, she would write it in Chinese next to the English measurement. We thought we were making good progress until we got to the arm length - her tape measure seamed HUGE and completely unrealistic. That is when we realized we were working with two different systems - our measurements were in inches, hers were in centimeters. What did we do? Fiona just happened to have a tape measure (like the one's used for construction) in her purse. Don't ask me why, she just did. We compared each measurement from the tailors measuring tape to the numbers on the tape measure. What an experience!

As a joke Fiona wanted them to line the inside of the suit with a bright orange silk. When we told the lady this, she wrinkled her nose in disgust. As we were wrapping up the multiple orders, she protested the orange color. We tried to explain that it was a joke. She wouldn't have anything to do with it. She told us she needed more orange material - which we knew wasn't true, but we let her graciously protest our creative spirit. I think Kenyon will appreciate the concession.

Fabric shopping was so much fun. If I lived in China, I might actually enjoy shopping.