Thursday, August 10, 2006

Xi'an is one of the most culturally-rich cities in the world, and we've experienced a lot of it. We went to the Hu County peasant painting village today and saw one of the masters of this art create paintings right in front of us. She is a master papercutter and a beautiful painter. Peasant painting came out of the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s and 70s when Mao wanted to celebrate the people. The colors are bold and bright and the subject matter is humble and simple. It was incredible to stand in a room surrounded by so many colorful images of people's daily lives.

We also visited the Great Mosque, which was extensive and impressive, though not something I was really interested. There is a Muslim market attached to this, which was fun as we got to buy see new things for sale. My roomie Jen bought a few of the shadow puppets that are famous in this area.

Dinner was on our own and while I won't say where we predictable Americans ended up, I will say that french fries are delicious. After dinner, we visited the Bell Tower in the center of the old city and rang the bell (which you can do 3 times for 5 yuan, about 80 cents), then we walked to the South Gate. We saw hundreds of people in a large square fan dancing. Not a company or an organized group, just people, out after dinner, fan dancing for exercise and community. Incredible.

Tomorrow we are off to Chengdu where will see pandas on Saturday. Yay pandas.

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Gambe!

Since I last wrote:
I saw four of the master artists in China create art RIGHT in front of me. Our amazing tour guide, Huajing, got us into an artist's studio - he is very famous in China as a painter, poet and calligrapher. He both painted and calligraphied a poem for us. Then another master painter painted exquisite peonies, another painted a harvest of grapes, and the last calligraphied on fans. SOOO moving to watch artists work and to watch the artists as they watched one another (they don't usually get to do that so it was an experience for them, too).

Ate duck. That's right, my poultry-hating ass ate Daffy and it was delicious!!! Huajing invited 2 of the artists to dinner with us and I sat at the table with them. The owner of the restaurant recognized them and sent over bottles of Chinese liquor.He poured shots all around and then yelled Gambe, which is the Chinese equivalent of Salud! or Cheers! BUT, it means "empty your glass", not "to your health". Empty our glasses we did - again and again. Thirty minutes later I was not only eating duck but posing for pictures with a huge plate of it in front of me and an empty bottle of liquor on my head. I LOVE China.

Saw the Terracotta Warriors today. An emperor in 221 BC decided to bury over 8000 soldiers near his tomb, each one hand-crafted and painted. They weren't discovered until the 1970s and today there is a beautiful museum where you can go and see the soldiers that have been excavated. The scale is breathtaking.

Now, I am off to wash my face before dinner, which will consist of course after course of Jiaozi dumplings to celebrate the Lunar New Year.

Sunday, August 06, 2006

Wow!

So, I'm here in the Taiwan Hotel Business Center on the Internet, which is so cool. This really is the international language. The trip so far has been amazing and I don't even have time before breakfast to tell about everything, but here are few things we've done/seen:

The Great Wall - the first day. Holy cow! My calves are still sore from climbing some really steep parts - it's all steps. About 5 of us went "to the left" with hundreds of other people instead of "to the right" with thousands of others. We kind of booked it and made it past a lot of people and got to a point where you can't go any further because the Wall is in disrepair - this was great because we were some of the only people here (except for the vendors, who are EVERYWHERE). THere are really no words to describe this wonder. Amazing.

Also went to a Cloisonne Factory and saw how the technique is done (and, of course, bought stuff), then to the Ming Tombs where we walked the Sacred Way - which only the emperor would walk to visit the tombs of his ancestors, and finally to a Jade Factory, where again we saw the technique and parted with our American dollars. We ended the day at the Summer Palace, made famous by the Empress Dowager Cixi, where we were the ONLY ones in the place - we ate dinner in an Imperial dining hall, right next to the dining hall that Nixon was entertained while he was President. The servers wore elaborate costumes and the food was exquisite.

Yesterday, we started off at the Temple of Heaven, the place where the emperor would commune with the gods, then went to a Pearl Market - I am now in possession of a great many pieces of pearl jewelry - Great fun haggling with the different stalls for the creation of necklaces and earrings. Lunch was in a famous Noodle restaurant - my favorite food yet, must be the Italian in me. We then went to the Lama Temple and learned about Chinese Buddhism and then for a light dinner at the Golden Bowl. Most of the group opted to go to a Peking Opera but 5 of us went back to the hotel for foot massages - if I could take my foot masseuse home in my suitcase, I would!

Off to breakfast now, more when I can.

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Itinerary

Everything that can be shoved into my suitcase has been. I have snacks and books on CD and lots of underwear. I am ready.

For any interested parties, here is my basic itinerary for the next 17 days:

Aug 3: Fly from Boston to Chicago (4 hours) then to Beijing (13 hours) where it will be tomorrow when we land.

Aug 4: Stay in Beijing for 4 days and do touristy things like skip on the Great Wall, visit the great Hong Qiao Market (Red Bridge Market) to ogle at the pearls, and experience the history of Tiananmen Square.

Aug 8: Fly to Xi'an, home to the mausoleum of the first emporer Liu Qi, who buried himself with a vast terracotta army which was uncovered in the 1970s. We will also see the Great Mosque and visit the Muslim market and eat a banquet to celebrate the Lunar New Year.

Aug 10: Day trip to the Hu County Peasant Painting Village, where we will visit different artists' studios. Peasant painting has only been around since the time of Mao so this will be a great opportunity to see some of the masters of this craft.

Aug 11: Fly to Chengdu where we will see PANDAS on a preserve (we've been told that if there is a baby, we will be able to hold it), and a Sichuan Opera which, as a great fan of Western opera, really intrigues me.

Aug 13: Before flying south to Kunming, we will visit the Leshan Giant Buddha, the biggest in the world after the Buddhas in Afghanistan were blown to bits in 2001 by the Taliban. Once in Kunming, we will visit the Yunnan Stone Forest (literally trees made of sone), partake of a tea ceremony at a tea house, and relax in a Hot Spring, where it is reported that foot massages can be had that could make a stoic weep with joy.

Aug. 16: We fly northeast to Shanghai, but get on a bus immediately and head to Suzhou (pronounced Su jo). I plan on stocking up on comforters and tablecloths at the Suzhou #1 Silk Factory and then contemplating the twilight at the Lingering Garden.

Aug 17: We drive back to Shanghai, where we spend our last 2 days watching an Acrobat show, eating dim sum, and prowling about the Shanghai Museum. Our last dinner will be at teh Peace Hotel at the Dragon and Phoenix Restaurant, which overlooks the Bund, a famous part of the city resplendent with European architecture.

Aug 19: Home again, home again. We leave at 6:00 PM from Shanghai and arrive at Logan at 11:56 PM the same night - what a mind fuck.

Don't worry, I'll take lots of pictures, which I'll eventually post on my blog. I will also attempt to blog while in China, but no promises.

In the meantime, my songs have been selected for this year's QHS Songs List (only 5 from the 80s, 8 from the 2000s, 3 each from the 70s and 60s, and 1 from the 1950s); everyone will miss me terribly at the QHS Annual Summit to discuss this upcoming list; people will make sure that my husband is eating something besides Wendy's SuperMelts; and, oh yeah, my house will sell. For asking price.