An Shang Village Visit

Geological question: Which geological feature do Iowa and Shaanxi Province have in common?

Spring is here, and we have even had some 80-degree summer-like days. It rained hard on Saturday and freshened the air. The cherry blossoms and peonies are finished and the tulips soon will be. My dad loved peonies, so they remind me of him. Pineapple, mangos, and papaya are delicious, and now watermelon is in season.



Where to start, I’ve been so busy traveling every weekend for the last month that I have only had time to briefly answer email, prepare lessons, and move into my very own apartment. I am exhausted so it is really nice to have a weekend at home and to get caught up and to rest and relax.

I finally have an apartment of my own – that took longer than it should have, but it is in the same neighborhood where I have been living and many of the teachers live. It is in an old building and is very ugly. I have two rooms, plus a covered balcony. I can move around so I am very pleased to be there. I have a nice bed, very few pieces of furniture, but a good TV to watch the English Channel. (Before I was living in a tiny room in a guesthouse). The kitchen is awful and the bathroom is worse, but I’ll survive! I have a squat toilet with a shower right above it – handy for cleaning!



I will begin with the latest weekend adventure, Easter weekend. I was invited to attend the Third Annual Folk Art Festival in An Shang village, about two hours west of here. An Wei, who has been a contact since I first expressed interest in coming to Xi’an to teach, invited me. An Shang is his home village, and he has been involved with Global Volunteers and Project Peace there. I spent the weekend with Mary Warpeha who I met in Minnesota before I left and who has been a friend of An Wei for a long time. I visited Mary in Beijing a couple of weeks ago where she was teaching English for a month. This was the sixth time she was in the village, so she was quite the celebrity. We were on stage with other dignitaries, and Mary was among those that gave a speech. One of my students told me on Monday that he had seen me on TV. It was fascinating sitting on stage and observing the elderly farmers who sat on their own collapsible stools while they looked up at us. Many wore straw hats, some men had on Mao caps, and the women had round white cotton caps. Clothing was somber and well worn. Their faces were tanned and very wrinkled., some had skin problems, eye problems and many had missing teeth. Many of the men wore big round tinted Mao glasses.



The village consists of about 1200 families, mainly elderly people who are often grandparents caring for their grandchildren while the parents work in town. After the speeches we had a tour of the Folk Art Museum run by a go-getter in the village. Later Mary and I would return to make purchases of peasant paintings and local handicrafts.

Village women and University groups sang and danced. Bare backed girls in sexy dresses with their partners in black did a Latin number, there were several ethnic dances, which just like Hmong dances, was jazzed up a bit, and there were modern dances with bright flowing satiny garments. Later, in the evening, there was Shaanxi Opera. One can only take so much of the high-pitched voices and screeching music, so Mary and I went back stage to escape the sounds and watched the performers putting on make-up and costumes.

Food and other vendors lined the main street through town. There was a bit of everything spread out on the pavement or on tables. Bright gaudy fabrics or soft pastel colors with flowers, hearts, or teddy bear for sheets, hardware and kitchen items, and clothes. There were freshly made noodles, which were being cut and served cold, sweet glutinous rice cakes, hot dogs, stuffed red bean buns, and fruit. Mary and I walked this main street many times and each time the local people enjoyed watching us and greeting us as we strolled by. Mary bought a vest and an encouraging crowd gathered around her. We also took many pictures, which people enjoyed looking at on our cameras.

Later we attended an awards ceremony for teachers and students at the school, and Mary and I helped to hand out the certificates. We stayed at the home of An Wei’s brother and ate delicious food with many choices of dishes and green tea with every meal. The fresh eggs in the morning were especially good.

We walked in the countryside and a young woman, Sasha, accompanied us to translate. We went into several homes, one to see a kong which is a large hollow cement/clay bed covered with quilts and which is heated in the winter by pushing corn and wheat shaft from outside the house into an inner chamber of the bed. This then burns and heats not only the bed that the family sits and sleeps on, but also the whole room. We toured a cave home dug into the side of a hill where a man from Xi’an had come to spend the summer because it is cool. Few people live in cave homes now, but many did 20 years ago. Rape which will later me pressed to make canola oil was a brilliant yellow in the fields, and the winter wheat was very green. Later after the wheat is harvested, corn will be planted and then in the fall hung up on the sides of houses to dry for use in the winter. Many people also have chicken farms for eggs. We walked by apple, plum, kiwis, and pomegranate orchards. Each house has its own vegetable garden.

I had observed cemeteries many times from cars buses, and trains, but never before had the opportunity to walk in one. Coffins are buried in the ground, and then earth is heaped on top of the coffin forming a mound. There are many decorations on new graves and branches are lined up on top. After three years, a permanent tombstone is put up. Some very old graves were completely over grown with weeds. The weekend before was a holiday: Tomb Sweeping Day when people honor their ancestors by going to the cemetery, sweeping the tomb and bringing food and drink.

On Easter Sunday we visited a temple where the women were gathered to celebrate the new section of temple; Mary was well known there since she had visited it on previous visits and knew several of the women. There were many different statues of deities. The women said they study Buddha readings and gather socially twice a month. Women work hard when it is harvest time, and they work hard in their homes, so when they have down time it is good for them to get together.


I really enjoyed my visit there with all the friendly hospitable people. It was wonderful being in the country, walking through fields and breathing air that is cleaner than in Xi’an.

Photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/darlene.kunze/AnShangVillageApartmentWork?authkey=Gv1sRgCL7tg4OQvs2zRw&feat=directlink