With Mary guiding us outside of Beijing, our bus rides have become a captivating part of the tour. She told us about her personal experiences growing up in Xian, her thouhts on the one child rule, Chinese Linsanity (!!!), how Chinese law mandates caring for your parents once they turn 50 (and the associated problems with an aging population), her experiences in school (where PDA's are a no-no, they have long school days followed by hours of homework, and teachers are respected more than parents!), the Spanish-like custom of midday naps, and the Chinese secrets of staying slim (#1 Eat an emperor's breakfast, an official's lunch, and a beggar's dinner. #2 Walk a lot, especially after eating. #3 Drink hot - never cold - fluids, including boiled coca-cola with ginger.)
Our tour of Xian began with a visit to the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, which houses the ancient Buddhist scriptures that were brought back and translated from India. This site of the thousand armed Great Maternal Grace enlightens visitors to the zen of Buddha - finding inner peace and happiness by forgoing luxury in pursuit of nirvana. So obviously we followed our enlightenment with a trip to the Jade factory. We think the boys may have found some inner peace, as they sat on couches in boycot of the jade.
Later, at the Xian forbidden city wall, we were taken back in time with a welcoming ceremony. The impressive wall runs nine miles around the center of Xian (what was once the emperor's forbidden city). While atop the wall near the main gate, we saw the stark contrast between the ancient wall and the modern day skyline, giving us great context to the different worlds we're exploring.
In Southwest China, we are in wheat country. The buffet breakfast included a make your own noodle soup bar (and an omelette bar), and each of us was served a large noodle soup bowl for about the fifth course at lunch. Our dumpling (meaning "making friends") dinner came with a traditional Chinese performance. If the acrobat show was like the Ringling Bros, then this was like the opera. Some impressive dancing, costume design, and even a plot were not enough to help some sleepy travellers fight their heavy eyelids...until cake arrived for Gissele and Valerie's birthdays! The dumplings were spectacular in their variety - both in shape and filling. The favorites were the duck shaped duck, pig faced pork, and of course shroomp.
Mr. Jepson gave Mary a break on the way back to the hotel and ran one of his famous trivia sessions. We showed off our new knowledge like how Emperor Qin started the people's republic, that the Nile is the longest river in China, and that there are 4 provinces in China. We are seeing, learning, and experiencing more than our brains can absorb.
Love,
All of us in China
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