7 Straight Days

This week has seemed very strange to me, and to the students, too, I assume. As I wrote last time we had school for 7 straight days, but are just completing our three day holiday for Dragon Boat Festival and now we will go to school tomorrow –Thursday – and Friday before having a free weekend!

I last wrote just before we took our first school field-trip to the Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses Museum located about 40 minutes away from our school. For more information you might want to look at: http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/shaanxi/xian/terra_cotta_army/

It is an incredible place! The statues are massive and the building for Pit 1 is the size of a hangar with room for a huge jet-liner or two. Although this is not my first visit I was again amazed. What is new since my last trip is that archaeologists are doing more excavation for the first time in many years. In the 1970’s they dug up a portion of the terra cotta figures which were still colorfully painted more than 2000 years after they were buried. However after a short time in the air the paint disintegrated so that now the figures appear mostly just the color of the earth they were made with. According to our guide a German company and a Belgian researcher provided new technology to preserve the colors so they are once again digging. Visitors can see the work in the pit.

We were accompanied on our field trip by a group of 14 girls and two teachers from Singapore. They had spent 10 days at GaoXin No. 1 High School and were approaching the end of their time in China. We were also accompanied by She Ying, the Assistant Director for International Affairs of the high school. She has been our main contact here for years, but usually is too busy to spend a day out of the office. It was lovely to spend time with her. Our former Chinese teacher (2008) Shi Laoshi also came with us.

After leaving the museum we went back to school where the entire group was given lunch in the private dining room of the teacher’s cafeteria. It was a delicious lunch. Katie ate nearly an entire bowl of green vegetables and Sam nearly completely handled a bowl of pumpkin cakes if I remember correctly. In any case everyone enjoyed the meal.

After a brief break the entire group then re-boarded the bus to visit the new (2007) Qujiang Pool Park. It is located in an area that was once a royal park of more than one dynasty. We took a small “train” which drove us around the lake showing the many sculptures, carvings and gardens of the park. It was a lovely day.

We were back in school on Sunday, so we were confused as to what culture class we would have that day. However we learned that the entire school was on “Tuesday” schedule meaning that we had cooking. The students learned how to make dumplings! They managed to finish two big bowls of them!

Over the last 3 days off each of us has spent time with our host families. I’m looking forward to hearing about the experiences of each student. As for me I spent the days visiting friends, shopping and climbing a small part of Mount Hua – one of the five “sacred mountains” of China. It is called “hua” because the five peaks resemble a flower – “hua”. It is also considered one of the more dangerous climbs because the “trail” is so steep that climbers must hold onto chains. Many Chinese people prefer to climb the trail at night in order to watch sunrise – but also to avoid seeing the enormous drops alongside the narrow trails. However now there is also a cable car – which we used! – which whisks passengers up hundreds of feet in 7 minutes. From the landing one can take several paths. Although my hosts would like to have climbed more I did manage to reach several magnificent sites including “Gold Lock Pass” where visitors buy locks with messages and prayers for friends and family which are locked onto the chain which helps climbers. We also went part way to the Dragon Ridge and Cloud Terrace. The views were incredible – as was the trail, but at no time did I feel unsafe. (Of course some of the most dangerous parts of the trail have been closed, and we didn’t venture up the steepest parts.) It was strenuous but worthwhile!

On our way to Mount Hua we also saw another incredible Chinese “dragon”. This involved hundreds of trucks backed up one behind another (forming a dragon) on the road leading to Mount Hua. The distance from here to Mt Hua is only 75 miles, but it took us nearly 4 hours to get there. The drive was more frightening than the climb though the drivers were incredibly skillful. In order to make any progress cars, buses and some trucks use the wrong side of the road or make a new (non-existent) lane facing opposing traffic, and if that doesn’t work they create a lane on one shoulder or the other. With the use of horns, flashing headlights and fractions of inches to spare we made it! It was unforgettable! Along some of the smaller roads we took (to make more progress) we saw many sections just harvested wheat. The cars drive over the wheat laid on large plastic tarps separating the grain from the chaff. The grain is left to dry in the sun and then later the farmers collect the grain and pour it in large grain sacks – all done in the roadway. (Some wealthier farmers have equipment to do this, but I saw at least 50 different places where this was the method used.) My host sister says that this method is unusual in the flatlands where combines or threshers are more common. However the area I drove through was at the foot of the mountains. Today on the road to visit relatives we saw grain drying on the bicycle/motorbike part of the road. Once again this is only for small farms and is actually not permitted.

China is working hard to improve the quality of the environment. Where many farmers used to burn fields inspectors now look for violators. The water in many lakes and rivers is improving.