I woke up to rain and thus decided to spend the morning in. I was tired of fighting the puddles. I finally went out and visited the DvD store one final time and picked up a few new releases.

My stash of goodies!

I stopped by Carrefour on the way back to the hostel and practically raided the imports section. One of the big perks of Qingdao is the abundant Import Sections. Its amazing what a tub of Land O’Lakes Butter can do for ones moral. And don’t get me started about discovering the Creamy Chocolate Betty Crocker Icing hidden away at RT.

I hung out in the lounge until I headed to the Station to catch my train. The sunny was cheeky enough to come out two hours before I had to catch the train home. Not enough time for the sand to dry or lug everything down and back before heading home. So I conclude my week at the beach with never once touching the sand. Ahh well. There is always next year I suppose. After going 8 months without the beach whats another 10?

As I got to the station I realized I’d been lax in picture taking so I thought I’d snap a few of the station. I rarely take pictures of the things I see all the time but figured the rest of you might enjoy those views.

Qingdao Train Station

Shopping Across from the Train Station

Ticket Office and Waiting Rooms

The trip home was pleasant as I purchased tickets for the fast train. I don’t mind the slow train going but getting home I just want to get there quickly. I was slightly aggravated to find the sun shinning in Weifang as I had hoped for that weather all week in Qingdao.

Vacation is officially over and now onwards to a new semester. It all starts tomrrow with the official meeting with the Dean.

I hope every one’s summer was splendid. I can hardly believe mine is finally coming to a close.

Well I’m headed off to Qingdao in the morning. I’ll be there until Thursday so although I will attempt a post or two I’m not going to stress about it.

Ahh Vacation!

I’ve finished my Summer job and will begin teaching at the University next week. So this week is me, my kindle and the sea! What a lovely combination.

Of course as with most trips I’ve been stressing about this one for the past week. Started putting things aside a few days ago and have repacked twice tonight. I am proud to say I’m learning to be a lighter packer. I’m not yet a light packer but I am lighter than before.

I'm I think I'm getting slightly obsessive when it comes to packing.

For those of you who think I have half a brain in my head please don’t read any further I would love that lie to live on for as long as possible. As a child I had this notion that what ever the weather was in Tulare, that was the weather for the world. Yes I now realize how ridiculous that notion was but hey I’ve never claimed to be the sharpest crayon in the box. Nor did I ever stop to contemplate how the snow in the mountains worked when Tulare never saw snow.

Anyway I guess that misguided notion still lingers as I’m troubled by and rather annoyed with embracing my new climate. When I look outside and see clouds I scoff and insist that they will pass with no effect on my day. Oh little do I know about monsoon season! I’m coming to realize that the definition of monsoon means that 20 hours a day some form of precipitation WILL fall.

These forms vary from downpours to sheets of mist that envelope you making an umbrella pointless and cumbersome. I have often wondered while in flight what it would be like to stand within a cloud. Now I know the feeling and wish I’d never wondered. Weifang has been enveloped by one giant cloud. The humidity on a good day hangs around 74%. Other days you just pray it will rain so at least you will have the satisfaction of being soaked by a liquid other than your own sweat.

For all my gripping I must admit the vibrant foliage around town almost makes it bearable. For as much as I love a good dry heat the color brown does not register as appealing to me,thus Tulare in the summer has little appeal. So beautiful scenery or dry heat? The jury is still out on this one. So for all those enjoying the Tulare heat, pull out a lawn chair and sun tan for me for one hour. With this cloud coverage there is just no point here.

Ladders to Heaven

 The ladders are painted in correspondence to prayers to Buddha. They are painted to invite Buddha to descend from heaven. 

Vendors at every stop

Tibetan Water Funeral

  It is tradition to dispose of the dead by, Marvin’s words not mine, cutting the body into pieces and throwing it into the river. 

Tibetan Villages along the highway

  We took the scenic route to Shigaze, it was about seven hours. Fortunately the road has been paved in the last few years which sped up the trip. The scenery was intriguing and the views spectacular. I enjoyed seeing the traditional homes and villages along the roadside. 

The biggest tourist trap yet

  The Tibetans have capitalized on tourism and every tourist stop is packed with rather pushy vendors. This stop did offer some unique photo opportunities. This stop was a scenic view of the Yangzhuoyong Holy Lake. 

Picture on a Yak Y10

Tibetan Prayer Flags strung across the

Tibet Prayer Pile, okay I can't really remember what these were, but they are suppose to bring good fortune to those who build it.

According to Yahoo Answers...this is a chorten.

Yangzhuoyong Holy Lake

The rock piles covered the lakeside

A glacier covered mountain - between the lake and Shigaze

    This was the highest elevation we encountered on our trip – 16,568ft. My headache is Lhasa had disappeared but as I stepped off the bus and walked around it returned once again. 

Traditional Nomad Tents

Religion is a prominent part of daily life in Tibet

An ancient fortress nestled amongest the hills.

The reflection was spectacular!

   Once we had descended again into the valley I began snapping pictures out my window without really looking. As I reviewed my shots later I found this one. I wish I had been paying attention so I could have centered it a little better. I was shocked at the reflection. 

Traditional Homes along the roadside

I never tired of the clear blue sky

More homes

The colors were all vibrant

Dried Yak Chips covered the outside of the walls, insulation?

Itinerary: 

Tashilhunpo  Monastery, founded in 1447, was once inhabited by over 4,000 monks.Today,only600 remain there .This monastery is one of the few that weathered the stormy seas of the Cultural Revolution relatively unscathed. 

It is the home of the Yellow-Hat-Panchen Lamas and one of the most beautiful remaining ensembles of Tibetan architecture. The Grand Hall contains the tomb(containing more than 85kg gold lots of jewels ) of the

We took a day trip to see the Le Shan Buddha. The drive to Le Shan was beautiful. The countryside in the Southwest is so different from Shandong. It is lush and green with various crops.

Tea Fields covered the hills

The river often floods

The Leshan Giant Buddhawas built during the Tang Dynasty (618–907). It is carved out of a cliff face that lies at the confluence of the Minjiang, Dadu and Qingyi rivers in the southern part of Sichuan province in China, near the city of Leshan. The stone sculpture faces Mount Emei, with the rivers flowing below his feet. It is the largest carved stone Buddha in the world and at the time of its construction was the tallest statue in the world.

The largest Buddha in the world

The Leshan Buddha has been greatly affected by the pollution caused by the unchecked industry in the area.

Stairs asecnding the mountain

The Gang

 On the trip we met two couples who have been teaching English for the past year in China. Sue and her husband taught in Xi’an.

The gang and Sue Wood

After leaving Xi’an we met up with the tour group in Chengdu Saturday morning.

 That after noon we went to the Giant Panda Base. Really quick a few things I’ve learned about Pandas: 1. they are very picky eaters, there are 5 varieties of bamboo of which the Panda will only eat one. 2. they are temperamental when it comes to weather and when the weather gets warm they must stay in the AC. 3. If they give birth to twins they will only raise one and leave the second to die. 4. They refuse to adapt to their surroundings which leaves some scientist wondering why we aren’t taking a hint from mother nature and letting them go extinct.

I’ve come to decide they are just the supermodels of the animal kingdom which leaves every other animal wondering why they get so much attention when they refuse to follow the rest of the group. I’m not sorry if I see, cynical I’ve never been a real animal lover and quite frankly they are just not as cute and cuddly as I thought they were.

The Great Panda, or should I say the Great Picky Panda

No if only I could afford to spend my days like that all would be right with the world

Not the enclosures I would have imagined. But then again I grew up with the Chaffee Zoo in Fresno

The Red Panda is definitely more entertaining to look at.

Yes, I'm going to go with a member of the raccoon family on this one.

The Reserve was beautiful

 After the Panda reserve we had a wonderful dinner and then went to see a Sichuan Variety show. The different acts highlighted the various arts popular in the province as well as the China as a whole. The fist act was that of Beijing Opera. Before I’d felt inclined to go to a Beijing Opera performance as it was a traditional art of China, now I think I’ll leave that ticket available for some who, how shall I say it, appreciates that kind of ear splitting, headache inducing performance.

What's a traditional showcase with out Beijing Opera

 The Shadow puppets were quite impressive and I felt like a little kid taking pictures of each and every one. Does anyone else see Scooby Doo or is that just me?

Now that's an impressive shadow dog.

My favorite shadow puppet

 I was grateful our tour guide explained this act prior to the show as I appreciated much more understanding the context. It is a common belief that in the Sichuan province the women wear the pants. In this act the man arrived home late, after losing his shirt in yet another gambling game his wife makes him go through a series of repent acts. Each act must be complete with a full oil lamp balanced atop his head.

And who says men can't be trained...

 The first is a reenactment of a famous dialogue between a husband and wife, he must play both parts with acceptable gestures, voice inflection and so on. Another feat is that of crawling under the two benches and back again without touching the lamp with his hands.

Quite a feat, I was enthralled.

 A musical number was preformed on the Er Hu.

The Er Hu, it is beautiful to listen to.

 Face Changing is a unique performance in China. I once watched a TV special on the reigning master of face changing. He can do over 100 face changes in a single performance. The performer changes the mask so quickly it seems as if it is done by magic.

Traditional Face Changing Show

 The next morning we went to LaShan. When we returned we browsed through the Old Town in enjoying the low altitude for one final night.

My new obsession - hair sticks

Old Town Chengdu, pricey but a wonderful atmosphere.

ummm...not much I can say

 That evening we were on our own for dinner. We stumbles across a BBQ restaurant and we decided to give it a try. We didn’t exactly understand what we had gotten ourselves into but enjoyed it all the same. We soon realized it was an all you could eat buffet and Thomas and I decided to make the most of the meat selection.

All you can eat smorgasbord, and only 29kaui

Okay so not exactly following any health codes but....

 

 Katie, as a culinary student unfortunately knows all the health code rules and was horrified to see the conditions from which we selected the food. But in the end we all knew we’d eaten worse here so as long as we have Imodium who really cares.

I must admit it was a delcious meal. The seasonings were delicious and all you can eat meat, I was in heaven.

My two week escape around Southwest China started in the ancient city of Xi’an.    

We left Weifang Wednesday morning and took the train to Qingdao. Katie wanted to hit up Jimo one final time and with to objections we all tagged along.  I ended up purchasing 3 more pearl necklaces. We caught a taxi to the airport and had a rather pleasant even more surprising, rather long conversation with the taxi driver. Between the three of us, Katie, Thomas and I we understood about 85% of what was said.    

Our plane to Xi’an landed early evening and we caught the shuttle into town. We soon found our hostel which was conveniently located at the south gate, great location for taxi drop off, Nan Men 南门 is easy to say and remember. We tried to find the large antique market but must have missed it as we ended up wandering narrow alleys with less than pleasant aromas.    

We turned in for the night and soon discovered why the room was so cheap. NO AC. We had figured booking the basement would be cooler but we hadn’t taken into account we were next to the laundry and boiler rooms. To keep things pleasant lets just say I’ll be more than happy to pay the extra 25 kuai a night next time.    

As usual I had my activities for the day booked solid and started early.    

First stop: Small Wild Goose Pagoda -    

Small Wild Goose Pagoda Bell Tower

 The Small Wild Goose Pagoda, is one of two significant pagodas in the city of Xi’an. The Small Wild Goose Pagoda was built between 707–709, during the Tang Dynasty under Emperor Zhongzong of Tang (r 705–710). The pagoda stood 45 m (147 ft) until the 1556 Shaanxi earthquake. The earthquake shook the pagoda and damaged it so that it now stands at a height of 43 m (141 ft) with fifteen levels of tiers.  The pagoda has a brick frame built around a hollow interior, and its square base and shape reflect the building style of other pagodas from the era.    

During the Tang Dynasty, the Small Wild Goose Pagoda stood across a street from its mother temple, the Dajianfu Temple. Pilgrims brought sacred Buddhist writings to the temple and pagoda from India, as the temple was one of the main centers in Chang’an for translating Buddhist texts. The temple was older than the pagoda. The temple was originally called the Daxianfusi or Great Monastery of Offered Blessings by Zhongzong, until it was renamed Dajianfusi by Empress Wu Zetian in 690.  (wikipedia.org)    

Small Goose Pagoda

Memorial Steele with in the Temple Compound

After visiting the Small Wild Goose Pagoda we went to the Shaanxi Museum. It was a beautiful collection of artifacts collected throughout the province. Shaanxi Province is known for its neolithic cultures and long history of settlement. We got a preview of the Terra-cotta warriors and many magnificent bronzes.    

Before heading back into town we stopped at a small Temple mentioned in my guide book. It was a peaceful experience. The temple was under going major renovations but we came during lunch as there was no one working at the time. It is always amazing how even though we were in the middle of a busy neighborhood the grounds were peaceful.  

Major renovations were underway at this small temple.

 We headed to the Muslim corner for lunch and an afternoon of sites. First we strolled through the shopping streets as we mede our wat to the Great Mosque.  

The back market streets, aka Tourist traps

The old town shopping area had an upbeat thriving atmostphere that was a pleasure to stroll through.

^{The Great Mosque – Xi’an}

Although it was Muslim there was a strong Chinese influence

After visiting the mosque we continued to wander through the Muslim Quarter looking for a place to eat. The Muslim food is the pride of Xi’an and we were not about to pass that chance up. 

Umm, should someone say something?

We decided on fresh pulled noodles in a spicy broth. Yumm 

Fresh pulled noodles, nothing beats food from Xijiang - Uyghur people

We spent the evening roaming the town and turned in early for a good night’s rest, or atleast as good as one can get when sweating like a pig.   

Friday was the Terra Cotta Warriors. We had gotten directions from the hostel on how to take a bus out to save money. We left in what we thought would be plenty of time but well nothing ever goes as planned. We finally reached the Train Station and ran like crazy to the bus area. We spotted our bus and made a mad dash to the door. What a relief, we made it with two mins to spare, no exaggeration. I was horrified to discover had we missed it we would of had to wait an hour for the next. We settled in for the hour out to the site. It was well worth all the hassle and worry.    

Pit 1 - Infantry & Calvary

The Terracotta Army is the Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses of Qin Shi Huang the First Emperor of China. The terracotta figures, dating from 210 BC, were discovered in 1974 by some local farmers near Xi’an, Shaanxi province, China near the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor. The figures vary in height (183–195 cm – 6 ft–6 ft 5in), according to their roles, with the tallest being the generals. The figures include warriors, chariots, horses, officials, acrobats, strongmen, and musicians. Current estimates are that in the three pits containing the Terracotta Army there were over 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses and 150 cavalry horses, the majority of which are still buried in the pits. (wikipedia.org)      

Each are distinct and spectacular in its own right

Excavation and remodeling is still underway and will continue to be so for years to come.

The work done is phenomenal.

 The opportunity to see this piece of Art History was truly spectacular. No slide can ever compare with the opportunity to see it first hand.     

The site of the well

Pit 2

The world famous "Archer"

Pit 3 - Command Headquarters

After a long morning at the Terra Cotta Warriors we decided to take a leisurely bike ride around the city wall. Well for the other three it was leisurely, I was just grateful I made it.   

Xi'an City Wall - Restored obviously

9km once around

For the record I’ve never claimed to be athletic. You rented the bikes for 1½ hours, for 20kuai after that each additional 10min was 5 kuai I was more than happy to pay the extra but as we were all on the same ticket I wouldn’t put it past the Chinese to charge everyone for my lack of athleticism. So the last thirty mins was a made push to avoid paying everyones late fee. I did it, and true to their character not one of them made me feel bad for falling behind.    

Xi’an was a wonderful city. We lucked out with beautiful weather; it had remained in the 80’s each day with cloud cover. We had be worried as Victoria had gone the week before and the weather had not dropped below 95 the entire time. I happily have crossed off yet another item from my bucket list! 

Summer is here, therefore the oh so glorious, much sought after in the west, tanning rays of the sun. But to an impressionable young Chinese girl summer does not bring the hope of a splendid, hair hiding, leg lengthening tan but the never ending battle of Sun vs Parasol.

My students are always oh so horrified when they see me in shorts, cap sleeved shirts and sunglasses. I am most obviously missing the most essential summer accessory my Parasol! While I am trying desperately to get back my usual summer tan my students run from shade spot to shade spot precociously angling their parasols for the most shade coverage. Don’t get me started on the number of girls who where tights in this sweltering heat.

Beauty is relative to where you live. In America thin, tanned, well curved girls are the standards to which we strive while here in China it’s the anorex, white, flat as a board girls who get the attention. Humm how well do you think I’m fitting in.

I promise to add pictures of more Parasol sporting girls but for now the following will have to suffice.

While Katie, like myself, is trying to accomplish the western chore of a even natural glow Thomas has taken a more Chinese approach to his summer.

Oh Thomas...

At one time it was Katie’s yellow purse that I looked for in a crowd but now Thomas’s Purple Parasol, a good three feet above the rest, is so much easier to spot.

The Qingdao Beer Company had a three week mini festival outside of Jusco this month. Kelly and I finaly went to check out the festivities, come to find out, on the last night. Now I know and boy am I looking forward to next year, I’ll be there everynight! The BBQ is amazing and cheap!

The entire area in front of Jusco was taken up by a massive stage and surrounding stalls.

Kelly tried her hand at darts!

The stage - the tables were packed

There were a variety of performances, from the alto clarinet to very very bad karaoke.

At one point the MC turned into a auctioner, the scrolls were beautiful.

Good Food and Excellent Company

During the summer, BBQ restaurants pop up all across town. Wendy had told me, Peter and she loved the BBQs along Shui Ke Lu. Kelly and I joined them for dinner and had a wonderful time. The BBQ restaurants are really just huge tiled areas with low tables and folding stools out front. They are a cultural phenomenon. When the evenings cool off people head to the BBQs to socialize and eat, sometimes for hours. Wendy said a single restaurant can clear over ¥50,000 a summer.

The BBQ here is delicious, skewers of thin slices of meat, vegetables and tofu. Most of the BBQ’s come from the north western province of Xinjiang. The spices are an earthy herb mixture with plenty of kick. The meat is typically mutton or goat as Xinjiang has a high Muslim population.

The game in the background.

I was shocked to find the extreme enthusiasm for soccer in China. You can’t swing a dead cat without hitting a screen playing the games at night. It seems like I’m back in Argentina. The BBQ place had a projector out front and the tables were full with engrossed fans. Peter and I stumbled through a Chinglish conversation about of favorite teams. We both agreed on Argentina!