Whether it be the ornate brush strokes of calligraphy, the beautiful landscapes of famous mountains, or portraits of the Four Beauties, I have always admired traditional Chinese art. The 798
UIBE, 25ºC, scatters showers
When I arrived in
My post office vocabulary (from week 1) needed refreshing, so this was a good test of my Chinese, especially considering no one in the post office spoke a word of English. I successfully bought a box, enquired about different shipping methods and prices and asked them to seal up the box. The one mistake I made was to not ask how much it cost before they sealed my box. When the cashier told me how much it cost, she sounded almost apologetic. I was a little aghast, and was even more concerned when I discovered that they only accept cash. The only record I had was a little piece of paper that had some numbers scribbled on it. At least there was an electronic tracking number!
UIBE, 28ºC, overcast
北京有交通堵塞问题。Despite having vast ring road that make concentric circles around the heart of Beijing, despite providing an endless array of buses, despite charging just 2元 (20p) for a ride on the underground, Beijing has severe traffic problems. Private ownership of cars has risen dramatically as many Beijingers have cashed in on
On a Friday afternoon at 3pm, I was stuck in gridlock on the third ring road. It was in this traffic jam that I noticed a fascinating phenomenon – bus convoys. This is my own term, but I think it quite accurately describes the reality. When there is heavy traffic, buses help each other out. They yield for other buses, and create a driving column of buses. I spotted one poor mini stuck in the middle of a line of six double decker buses. This is traffic bullying in its most cruel form.
There are markets all over
Imagine Harrods only sold glasses. Boutique after boutique crammed in side by side. Every type of glasses you ever imagined. This was the glasses market. The three of us browsed from shop to shop, looking at different styles, looking at prices. When they realised we weren’t Chinese (as our Chinese is still far from native!), many 老板 shopkeepers asked, 你们是韩国人吧？ “Are you Korean?” This left me a little bemused at every turn!
The past three summers, I have taught Chinese students English on a one-month long summer course hosted by a school in
Today, I had the pleasure of eating with two of my former students. Beyond (left) and Vicky (right) were my students two summers ago. 老师 “Teacher”, Beyond used to address me. Her unwavering respect always impressed me. It was incredible to see how two of my former students had matured into two driven, successful young ladies. Next year, they will both be attending Qinghua, an Oxbridge of China.
Helen had told us the previous night that a special Western breakfast would be served for us from 8am. A Western breakfast, indeed: we had a choice of sausage, eggs, boiled tomatoes and other staples of a cooked breakfast, croissants, brioche and other continental bites, and noodles and Chinese dumplings (this is
As I ate breakfast, I scanned the room in search of Helen, but she was nowhere to be seen. I was relieved when our guide came in a little after 8.30am, announcing that we would be leaving at 9am. Our first stop of the day was at the Wild Goose Pagoda in the centre of Xian. The name is somewhat misleading, but the building is essentially a tallish tower (see below). I climbed to the top to take in the view of a surprisingly expansive city. Wide roads spanned north, south, east and west from near the tower, indicating that we were right at the heart of the city.
By evening, we had returned to the train station, and set off on our 11 hour return journey to
“Your tour guide’s English name is Helen. Helen will take you on a tour of
“Helen will take you to eat the lunch now.” And just as Helen said, we were whisked away in our coach to a restaurant. Helen’s English is far better than my Chinese, but I couldn’t help but laugh to myself every time she referred to herself in the third person. After a dumpling infused lunch of local cuisine, Helen took us to see the Terracotta Army, Xian’s most treasured site.
The Terracotta army was built under Emperor Qin’s instruction to protect his tomb in the afterlife. It took more than 700,000 people almost four decades to build these terracotta figures, their horses and their chariots. Every single figure is different, with clothing and moustaches indicating rank. They were all intricately painted one by one before being enclosed by their imposing mausoleum. Yet as the Qin dynasty fell, uprisings brought soldiers to the site of the terracotta army. They razed everything, with not a single figure escaping their ruthless devastation. The terracotta army was lost and forgotten for nearly two thousand years.
Then one day a farmer was building a well. As he dug deep into the ground, he came across the remnants of a terracotta soldier. He had made one of the biggest archaeological discoveries of the century. This farmer has received great acclaim, and Helen shared a funny anecdote of the time he met then President Bill Clinton. Unable to speak English, the farmer had been given a quick crash course so he could say a couple of basic phrases when he met the President.
“Who are you?” The farmer was so nervous, he said “who” instead of “how”.
“I am Hilary’s wife,” was the President’s reply, humoured.
“Me too.”
Helen had booked dinner at the Flourishing International Hotel. When we arrived, it was dead. When we left, it was also dead. But it was nice to have a huge banquet hall to ourselves, I suppose.
What does tomorrow have in store? Only Helen knows.
