Life in China

May 5th is the first day of summer according to the lunar calendar and it certainly feels like summer here, although for the last couple of days it has been raining; it is so dry that rain is always welcome. Last week I was wearing t-shirts and the temperatures were in the 80’s. The girls were wearing multi-colored peasant skirts and flimsy tops, and when they went out in the sun, they put up umbrellas for sun protection. May 12th was the anniversary of the big earthquake last year so there has been a great deal on television about the rebuilding of the villages and information about how people are getting on with their lives.

I always start my classes with a warm up question related to the topic to be discussed, and the students talk to each other. The one last week was a great success: Would you ever marry a foreigner? Why7 or Why not? Most would not, but fun to hear their responses. The ones who speak better English and are more outgoing and confident were the ones that said yes. Another day I divided the class into two sections, those that are only children, and those that have siblings. It usually comes out about even. They needed to discuss the advantages and disadvantages in each group. Later we discussed the one-child policy which most agreed was necessary because of the large population and limited resources in China.

My bad experience

There is no album with this blog because my camera was stolen. It was a very unpleasant experience, to say the least, and I am still suffering, both physically and psychologically. I went out of town for the weekend to an old town, Pingyao. I had rented a bike for the day (Friday) and was riding out of town on the side of the highway on my way to a temple. My camera was around my neck and shoulder. As I was biking along some guys on a motorbike pulled up and pulled the camera strap. It broke, thank goodness, they took off, and I went flying. Not pretty, but at least I was not badly hurt, only cuts and scrapes all up one side of my body. When I returned to the guesthouse, they were very nice and took me to a clinic where they cleaned up the wounds and put on bandages. I have been really sore and the bruises are impressive, but I am on the mend. On Saturday when it rained, I settled into the couch in the guesthouse and read and talked to some of the guests there. I needed a day of doing nothing. I went to the clinic at school on Monday and they dressed the cut on my arm again and gave me a prescription for the swelling and black and blue marks, which are all up and down my left leg. I feel better every day, and today the school gave me a beautiful bouquet of flowers and some apples.

Pingyao has a city wall and old buildings from the 18th and 19th century intact. All the homes have courtyards, and those in the guesthouses and hotels are lovely. There are often several courtyards one after another with rooms off the courtyards. There were some very large complexes with numerous courtyards that were official buildings and are now museums; the grandest one was a government building, which included a court, prison and other official rooms. There were many tourists there, and of course the main streets have lots of shops and have been cleaned up for the tourists.

Hiking

On Saturday, May 2nd, I did an all-night hiking trip up Hua Shan, one of the five major Taoist mountains in China. It consists of 5 peaks in the form of a lotus flower, thus the name “ Flower Mountain.” A teacher friend and I decided to join the Chinese and hike at night. The idea is to reach a peak for sunrise. It’s supposed to take 5-6 hours, but it took me longer to reach the East Peak, also called Morning Sun Peak at 6,857 feet. Because of cold windy, wet weather I didn’t get there until after sunrise, which was fine because by the time I was getting there, most of the people who had been at the peak for the sun that never rose because of clouds were coming down.

We began our trek at about 9:00 pm. Since it was the three-day, May 1st Labor Day holiday, there were many many young people doing the hike, also a few older folk. There was a constant stream of people huffing and puffing along the stone walkways and up the never-ending steps. There are many places to rest and many concession stands at various intervals. There were hundreds of lit up steps going up the steep mountainside, which they say is a very dangerous. There are chain link railings so that one can pull oneself along. Some of the steps are very narrow which makes it more of a challenge.

I talked to many of the Chinese young people, and a small group decided to accompany me. They were very sweet and made sure I was okay. When the rain started, they purchased rain ponchos, and for an hour we huddled together at the side of a building trying to stay out of the wind and rain. By this time I had put on my polar fleece jacket, hat, gloves and long-sleeved underwear, but I still shivered. Luckily the rain stopped, the steps dried, and the sun looked like it might be coming out so I continued on my way. My friend was moving along at her own pace behind me, and my newfound friends had decided to return on the cable car before reaching the peak because they needed to catch a plane home in Xi’an.

It was lovely at the top with views of mountains and plains. These are some of the better signs at the top of the mountain at the edge of the cliff beyond the guard chains: No Passengers; Watching, No Walking, Walking, No Watching; No Striding; and No Jumping. I enjoyed the views and decided not to continue on to any more peaks because my legs already felt like rubber and I had yet to hike down. The amount of trash on the mountain was disgusting as were the toilets. It is shocking to me that in such a beautiful natural setting and with trash receptacles available; people still throw things all about. In the morning, the workers began cleaning up the mess left by all the irresponsible hikers. Upon my return home in the late afternoon on Sunday, I slept and slept and slept. It was not easy getting out of bed on Monday morning and harder yet using the squat toilets.


Wedding

The other major activity of the weekend was attending the wedding ceremony of an English teacher. A bus was provided for all the English teachers because it took place in a small town an hour away. We were picked up at 10 am and taken to the banquet hall where the wedding started at noon. There were lots of fireworks outside, and then the bride dressed in white and the groom in a white tux walked up on the stage accompanied by a bridesmaid and best man. An official from the town was the MC and there were several speeches, and the marriage certificate was read. It was a public announcement of their marriage – no vows, no promises. One assumes they were done in private. There were bubbles and sparkler displays at the beginning and at the end of the presentation. There was joking and someone talked about how they had met. The couple drank red wine in odd positions as did the best man and maid of honor. The lunch began with the usual array of meat, fish, tofu, and vegetable dishes. The bride changed to a long lacy red dress and the couple came to each table to toast the guests and to be toasted with rice wine. This time I drank some –very strong and not very tasty. By 2:00 we left.