Pre-semester Traveling:
Beijing to Xi'an to Guilin to Shanghai to Zibo

The trip from Albany to Beijing was not as gruesome as it was the first time. Still, it took a few days for our bodies to adjust to sleeping/being awake. But the fact that we had pre-arranged airport pickups and deliveries, hotel reservations, and a very reputable tour director to act as the liaison gave us extreme peace of mind. And "Harrison," with whom we emailed communications many times before we left, turned out to be very reliable and forthright.

Our hotel in Beijing was very convenient. We could walk to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City, (which we did). Restaurants and markets were also all around us. And we felt perfectly safe walking around this area, even after dark. The weather was brisk. We donned many layers, and were glad for the gloves and scarves we decided to pack.

We could talk about the touristy things, but more importantly are our impressions and experiences. So here goes …

We paid a visit to Chairman Mao's mausoleum. Why? Because it seemed like the right thing to do at the time. We smiled as we observed the many stares we got from the Chinese people. Imagine someone with light hair in a sea of very black-haired people. Imagine a ruddy-complexioned man in his Tilley hat against a backdrop of Asian men, wearing no hats, and of a very different skin tone. But we made eye contact and smiled to those who found us such a curiosity. We sat with a "doctor" who diagnosed our ills, and was ready to put us on a three-month regimen of natural Chinese herbs. While he made sense to us, the hustle we got put us on the alert. And so we bowed politely and said "not now, thank you." We took a taxi to the famous Silk Market. No Silk. But vendors selling all sorts of wonderful things. Designer labels, or very good imitations, at ridiculous prices. After spending a few hours there, then dining local lunch foods, we stumbled on a foot massage palace. Although I was reluctant to enter, Jim insisted we make a serious inquiry. Wow! What a deal! For the equivalent of less than ten dollars, U.S., I received my very best ever back, neck and foot massage, which lasted about 40 minutes.

Next stop - Xian, (pronounced in a variety of ways, but most often "She-en"). A major contrast to the very clean and calm Beijing. It was dirty, polluted, over-populated and very noisy. We were here in order to see the famous Terra Cotta Warriors, discovered in 1974 by a local group of farmers trying to find a well. (We have a picture of us and one of the farmers, who signed our book for us.) Very, very impressive. Our feeling here was that had these wonderful remnants of the past been discovered in another time in our history, there probably would not have been the respect and reverence given to preserve and restore an unbelievable collection of over 8,000 life-sized, unique soldiers from archers to generals to chariot-drivers. Clarence, our tour guide, was wonderful. Humble and very knowledgeable, we felt we had lucked out. We shared our tour with two American ladies from Pittsburgh. After the Terra Cotta Warriors, we had a terrific local lunch, learned about Clarence, who assumed his "Western" name for the tourist business, and was celebrating his birthday that day. An interesting note - his birthday is the tenth day after the Chinese New Year. Remember that the New Year changes each year if following our solar calendar. Therefore, one's birthday, according to the lunar Chinese New Year, also will change from year to year. Another thing we learned about Clarence was that he and his wife have a second child. Because of this they had to pay a major fine to the government. They also had to relocate about four times during the second pregnancy because local people reported them to the police. I guess until the baby is born and the fine is paid, the couple was considered breaking the law of "one child per family".
Speaking of police, we also found ourselves in an interesting position while in Xi'an. The hotel clerk did not understand our work visa (Type Z), which does not list the number of days you may stay in the country. She was also confused about the date information. Try as we may to explain this to her, she decided it was enough of a reason to report us to the local police. We were escorted by the bell boy to the local foreign affairs administrator. A little disconcerting, but he indeed validated that our visas were in proper order. One final highlight from Xi'an - we visited a Muslim Mosque and while in that sector of the city, found a local restaurant that was serving the special meal - a combination of Chinese and Arabic mutton stew. The best part was sharing this wonderful lunch with seven other locals, who took us step by step through the meal ritual and the language barriers did not seem to matter.

Guilin is the site where the limestone hills (Karsts, geologically speaking) jut out everywhere you look. It is a geologists paradise! We visited the local hills which were to resemble everything from cauliflower to monkeys on Buddhas to upside-down (you fill in the blank). We entered several caves and saw incredible stalagmites, stalactites, and many formations. We took a river cruise along the Li River-spectacular views!
On to Shanghai - a very modern, crowded city that has very clean air, and wonderful views of the Yangtze River. We stood atop the famous Peace Hotel and watched the world pass by.

We are ready to head to Zibo later today and settle into our teaching mode. We look forward to all that lies ahead.

Next Page

Tiananmen Square

Terra Cotta Warriors

Li River & Karst Gorge

Guilin Currency

Yangtze River in Shanghai

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