Ningxia

This weekend I visited Ningxia, an Autonomous Hue Region, northwest of Xi’an and at the edge of the Tengen Desert, which is part of the Gobi Desert, just south of Inner Mongolia. It is small and poor; 30 percent of the population is Muslim, “Hui” in Chinese. They are descendents of Middle East traders from over a thousand years ago. The small farming villages consist of one-story mud brick homes; therefore, it is obvious that they are poorer than in Shaanxi province where many of the homes are two stories and often have white tile on the surface. I could also see at least one mosque in every town; sometimes they looked similar to Chinese temples. I rode the overnight train to Zhongwei, but was up before dawn so I admired the fields as the sun rose. There was winter wheat, not yet harvested, and corn, often planted in between the rows of wheat. There were also many fields of potatoes and wolfberries (also called goji). The Chinese put these small red berries, about ¼ to ½ inch in length, in tea and soup, and juice is also available. They are an antioxidant and good for inflammatory diseases among other things. They are grown on small bushes under nets. Sheep were also grazing. As we got closer and closer to Zhongwei, there appeared wet rice fields. The Yellow River is near by and the very ancient irrigation system still provides water for rice and other crops. Later, near the second town I visited, Guyuan, I saw more potatoes, wheat, corn, and also sunflowers and small violet flowers from which dark cooking oil is made. At the market there were the usual vegetables and several varieties of peaches, apricots, also watermelon and other melons. Hollyhocks grow everywhere.

I arrived early in the morning at about 7:00 in Zhongwei and went to the Gao Miao temple, park, and amusement park and sat in the sun with the older women. They fed fish, gossiped, and did exercises while I read and waited for the temple to open. It is an eclectic temple with numerous halls, rooms, and stairs leading to different levels of halls and passageways. One large room contained statues of at least one hundred Buddhist saints, some gentle and serene, others fierce and scary looking. One had fifteen-foot long legs; another had one arm that extended far into the ceiling. The basement, once used as a bomb shelter in Mao’s time, with dark damp passageways was a mock hell with small scenes of torture; dramatic music would suddenly blare forth as one approached and red lights flashed. I was down there alone, so was glad when I figured out the exit. The good people go to heaven and the bad to hell.

I went on to Shapotou, a resort on the Yellow River; here the river is only several hundred meters across, compared to miles across where I had been before. It is the end of the desert and there are sand dunes. To get down to the river I went on a sand sled! I then took a short smooth rafting excursion on the river; the raft consisted of nine whole sheepskins blown up and used as pontoons. It was a small raft for six people sitting close together. At one place on the river, there were two huge water wheels that carried water from the river to irrigation ditches. A section of the Great Wall is also here, and another section of the Great Wall was further south. They kept building the wall in different places depending on where the enemy was. The Mongols coming from the north eventually conquered China in 1279. Genghis Khan died in 1227, so it was Kublai Khan who conquered and established the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368).

Later, I went by bus to Guyuan, three hours south. This was a destination because of a recent article in Smithsonian that said the cave site of Xumi Shan was an endangered site. (“Endangered Cultural Treasures,” March 2009) I arrived in town late afternoon and started walking down the street when two university students approached me and said my backpack was open, I usually pin it shut, but had neglected to do so. We chatted and they said they had a foreign teacher. Before I knew it, Teresita from the Philippines was on the phone. She and another teacher, Sherry from Tennessee, met me at the hotel, where the girls took me. Teresita told the girls a number of times how proud she was of them because they approached me, a foreigner, and talked to me. Many times students would like to talk to foreigners, but they are afraid to do so. There are only three foreigners in the town, so they were pleased to meet me. We had dinner, walked, and compared teaching experiences (they are both in volunteer programs and in China for several years). The town is small and provincial, and that is why they like it, because it is manageable.

I was able to meet up with a friend of the other teachers, Leslie, a former teacher and now a Chinese student, and several American students and their Chinese teachers who were doing a weekend tour of the area in a van. I was very lucky to have a ride because it is in a remote area and hardly anyone goes there. (We were the only ones on a Saturday late morning.) The Xumi Shan caves were carved out of red sandstone. (The color of the mountains was like Red Rock Canyon in Nevada. Some of the Buddhas are enormous, the biggest being 25 meters high, from the Tang Dynasty (618-907). Most are in caves. Vandals and many during the Cultural Revolution destroyed some that are in small niches on the surface of the mountains. At one time the gigantic statues were painted and had a layer of gold, which would have been exquisite. The students were fun and were good at Chinese. We had lunch together and then the group continued north, and I took a bus back to town. I certainly got the stares. I get stared at a lot, but in this area, they are not used to foreigners and people really stare, make comments, and even point.

There is a small mountain in Guyuan with temples lining the trail up to the top so I decided to hike up to get a view of the town, terraced hillsides, and mountains in the distance. The town is at 6000 feet and surrounded by mountains. There is no industry so the sky is clear and the air fresh. In winter, however, they get snow, not a lot, but snow, nonetheless.

Sherry, Teresita, and Mark, another teacher, met me in the evening and we went for dinner and a walk. Later they left me in the hotel lobby since my train did not leave until midnight.

Last week, Sunday and Monday, all the high school students in the country who hope to go to a Chinese University took the entrance examinations. It is extremely important because it determines which type of university the students will be admitted to. On news they said that 10 million students took the exams, and 6 million will be able to enter university. Only those students with the very highest scores will be able to go to the best public universities. In many cases it determines the future of the young people. Most students say they studied much harder in high school than they do at college.

All my freshmen and those all over the country will participate in two weeks of military training once school is over. They are all moaning and groaning saying it will be boring, hot, and difficult. School is almost over, two more weeks and I will be finished with all the oral examinations. It is hot, in the high 90’s.