China Project 2007

Urumqui is awesome...we have now moved to the Chinese Muslim world. In Urumqui we stayed in a 5-star hotel located across from the city center square. We spent just one night but will return to this hotel in three days....There were rose petals in the toliet and rubber duckies in the bath along with candy and a small teddy bear on our beds....This was also the first hotel that I have had enough room to do some yoga..We spent the evening at the square, communicating with the local people, watching children roller skate (inline skates), dancing by all ages, badmittion and  the movie Eight Below (in Chinese with Arabic subtitles) on the big outdoor screen, we went back to the hotel and packed a carryon for our three days in Turpan and Kashgar. We will spend two days in Turpan, drive back to the Airport in Urumqui (2 hours) and then off to Kashgar.  Our first stop was the Kasar Underground Aquifer system that has provided water to the region for at least 2000 years. It was very fascinating. We next visited a Mosque with a Minuret tower. The history and information has been tremendous.This Mosque was a traditional Mosque until the cultural revolution in China. During that time, all decorations inside the Mosque were removed and it is still plain terra cotta walls today. We left the Mosque and returned to our new hotel for lunch and then to our rooms.  I am typing this from Turpan.  Our hotel room looks like something out of Arabian Nights..of course I lost my black notebook at the Aquifer.....and Alim,our guide found it for me......hooray.....It has my life in it..I hope to get it back later today...Will post pictures later....Off to Kashgar next!!!

Later........."Dunhuang lies at the western end of the Hexi Corridor in Gansu Province in Northwest China, an oasis on the eastern edge of Taklimakan Desert. It is nourished by melted snow water from the Qilian Mountains. The ancient town used to  be an important stop-over point on the Silk Road. The name "Dunhuang" was given in the Han Dynasty. In Chinese "Dun" means grandness and " Huang" means prosperity. In the 2nd century B.C. Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty sent imperial envoy Zhang Qian to the Western Regions, opening up a trade route which was to be known as the "Silk Road" in history. The imperial court set up Dunhuang Prefecture in A.D. 111 and Dunhuang became a strategic town. Through this route Chinese culture and products, especially silk, were introduced to European and Middle East countries, and foreign culture and products such as Buddhism of India came to central China. Much of Buddhism is propagated through artistic forms, which were soon assimilated into the Chinese traditional culture. The result was that many Buddhist images were carved in caves in mountain cliffs along the Silk Road. Many of them have been well preserved. The best are those at Mogao in Dunhuang."  A little history lesson...unbelievable to see so much preserved so well....Needs to be the eighth wonder of the ancient world along with the Terra Cotta Warriors....At Mogao is the second largest Buddha in China...but it is the largest indoor Buddha in the world standing at 35 meters. After lunch and a rest (being the desert, everyone rests from 12-3, a custom I highly recommend) we went to the Yellow Sands or Mingsha desert...and the Crecent Moon Oasis. I rode the two-humped camel (much smaller than the one humped in Egypt) and climbed the sand dunes in the  Taklimakan desert. The view was spectacular...ala Lawrence of Arabia or Indiana Jones! I also slid down the dunes on a sand sled...great fun.....fast ride!! Looks like National Geographic...and there was a photographer at the top waiting for the light of the sunset while we were there. Next stop on the Silk Road is Urumqui....then Turpin ...then Kashgar!!

Spending the night on the train was an experience...I had fun but not much sleep.....we arrived in Xi'an the next morning..met our guide, Rose, and off to the hotel that is located inside the city wall...Xi'an is the only city with a complete city wall in China. It is also the home of the Terra Cotta Warriors. We first went to the factory to see how the warriors were constructed and then to the Museum and actual site. We ate lunch in the Friendship Restaurant and then went to the three pits that have been excavated. From what they have found and what they know about the dynasty and  Qin emporer, they know that they have only uncovered about  1/3 of what is there...After leaving the museum, we stopped at another burial site of the Emperor and his wife.This was the most unusual museum, it was completely underground and we walked on glass and viewed the remains in the pits below our feet...very unique and so very authentic...we then returned to the hotel and went to Dinner Theatre ...The Ming Dynasty Theatre where we watched a reenactment of the history of the dynasty. After the performance we boarded a plane for Dunhuang (and the starting point of the silk road. This is the city that was the meeting point or center of the Silk Road..) When we arrived at the airport in Dunhuang, ours was the only plane...and it looked like we were landing in the desert....not far off...we were on the edge.... more later....

Leaving  Beijing University after a week was much more difficult than I thought. We made many friends and had the most awesome lectures on Chinese Ethnic groups, Calligraphy and Chinese History as well as Tai Chi lessons and many sightseeing tours of historical interest. We also were treated to the Chinese acrobats and the Beijing opera. Our farewell banquet was held in the palace of the Ming emperor and was absolutely incredible.  No time to post pictures but will later. We then boarded a train for Xi'an at 8 p.m. and arrive the next morning at 8:30...off again.....

The part of the Great Wall I climbed in Beijing is just a very small part of the wall. When I got to the top, I was told to look north and we could see Mongolia...we were very high up and the could see distant hills (mountains). Will try to upload some pictures but that is proving more difficult than I thought..The second picture is the view of the wall. The third picture is of  the other two women from our group  that made it to the top and myself.. Only seven out of our group of twenty took the plunge and went all the way to the top!!

Before leaving Beijing, we visited a Daoist Temple and a Tibetian Buddhist Temple, with the largest Buddha in the world carved from a single piece of sandlewood.It was over 900 meters high..and unfortunately I was unable to take a photo...but the last photo is of the temple itself.

There are three things that you need to do in China to experience it and assure that you will return. One is to climb the Great Wall, number 2 is to have Peking Duck and three is to see the Chinese Opera....I have managed all three....On June 21, I climbed to the top of the Great Wall. Only seven from our group made the trek all the way....We are now the "Magnificent Seven" and it took an exhausting two hours to make it all the way.... The weather was great and so was getting to the top....It took an hour and fifteen minutes to get up to the top and then...another 45 minutes to return.....and it was straight down....hope to be able to add pictures soon....

Before I left St.Louis, I had problems...Two of us in the group had a different departing flight than the rest of the group!! I was to leave at 7:05 instead of 7:45....What a shock...I had to really hurry through securtiy to get to my flight on time...and I thought my passport went missing in all the hustle!! I did find it in my bag and was able to get through an off to the gate on time!...Then, of course, the flight was delayed and we ended up leaving 15 minutes after the rest of the group's flight. In Chicago, we lucked out and ended up just two gates from our connecting flight to Tokyo. After arriving in Tokyo we had a four hour layover and spent the time roaming around the airport and playing UNO....Then 3 1/2  hours more to Beijing. We were picked up in the airport and carried our bags to the bus....where  we had another 30 minute drive to the campus. We are staying in the "guest house" at Beijing University...and it is about like a three star hotel. Nice enough accomodations. Our first morning we met with Professor Zhang (Jong) and were welcomed to the  University. Our first outing was to the Summer Palace where we walked the Long Corridor and saw the Marble Boat. We also got to ride on a dragon boat and go to the 17 Arches bridge. This  Palace was designed by the Empress Quix(will look up for exact) and it is said that any couple that walks the corridor together will be in love by the end. ( It is 2700 feet long) We also went into the Temple of Longevity and Happiness. We returned to the campus for dinner and then off to bed to recover from the 30 hours of flight time...On the 21st we arose early for a Taoi Chi Lesson, went to the Jade Factory, the 13 Ming Tombs, Lunch and then the trip to the Great Wall... More later...I am out of time!!

Auuuughhh... we are leaving for St. Louis in an hour........I think I have everything....Was up until 2...worrying....making sure I was leaving all the phone numbers for my niece....for the animals and the neighbors, etc., double checking that I had all I needed to go....I keep thinking of little niceties that I might miss and ..then opt not to pack those too....Have downloaded a book to listen to, lots of puzzles, word games and other reading material....It will be a very long flight to Tokyo and then on to Bejing.  On my return trip, I will leave from Shanghai and go to Bangkok before going to Australia to see my grandbabies.... Lily will be 3 in September and Ryder will be 1 in August...(aren't they beautiful Aussie children?)....Sort of the icing on the cake...go to China and then see family....Taking deep breaths and telling myself to quit worrying about what is here and just enjoy....Next stop....Beijing!!!

I was up until the wee hours last night as my friend and fellow art teacher, Cyndi, came over to fill me in on my trip and loan me a suitcase. Cyndi went with a group last year to China through the same program. She gave me a thousand tips as she looked at my itinerary and filled me in on some of the things that I would  do. I think one of the best tips was to use zip lock bags to pack! She used the bags to pack different items of clothing...one might have just socks, another underwear,etc....  The way that helped was that when your suitcase is  inspected...and it is both by the TSA and the Chinese, all your stuff stays together and isn't so jumbled later....The extra bags came in handy for packing things later, too....I am trying hard to take it all in and am organizing my studies by each city we are visiting. Two more days of summer school, and then I will probably spend all day Saturday packing and getting those last minute items!! Sunday we leave for St. Louis and Monday morning at 6:00 a.m., we depart!!!

Each day I seem to think of five more things I should get done before I leave. I spent most of the weekend stocking up for the animals so my neice can take care of stuff without any worries. I also checked two of my three flights (three different airlines) and plan to connect with the third today. Also trying to get some of my school orders done before I leave so that I will have some supplies when school starts in the fall. Below is a picture of the authorof Death of a Red Heroine ,Qui Xiaolong, and  me during one of our seminars. It was so exciting to meet the author. He has a new book out called A Case of Two Cities and it is about Bejing and St. Louis. He is currently a professor at UMSTL. If you would like to read more about him, his bio is at http://books.missouri.org/eviews/may.html

Another day of planning.....My roommate for the trip is an art teacher from the St. Louis area named Sheila. We are trying to figure how to pack so we both can keep our suitcases light! I am bringing powdered detergent and a curling iron.....she will be bringing other things that we will need like insect repellent and sunscreen. Emailing back and forth, we are getting it figured out. The problem with weight is that we will be gone for three weeks! Leaving the US we can have two bags with 50# each...not a problem....the problem comes in China. In China your total weight cannot be more than 44# !! That is less than one bag here in the US. Now they will let us leave China with two bags each not to exceed 50# but while in China we have to have no more than 44#. I think it might become a problem...so we are planning and conserving what we are taking...Might have to do laundry more than once!!! In this picture Sheila and I are in the middle. The other two teachers are also members of the Missouri Art Ed. Association and are part of the China Project. 

This past week has been spent getting ready. Getting ready to teach summer school and getting ready to leave the U.S. for a month. Small gifts for our hosts and student guides have been bought. I tried to find things that are really American and found that many souvenirs I found are "Made in China"! The new dollar coins will be American! and I thought that the teenagers would like some of the Burt's Bees products. I found some magnets at the nature store and am taking a drawing book for the high school we will be visiting.If you think of somthing that might work....let me know!

I will miss my dog and cat but have someone to stay with them at my house. My dog's name is Daisy and my cat is Peaches. Daisy is still a pup, less than a year old, and Peaches is thirteen, quite an old lady.

We attended workshops starting two years ago, giving up Saturdays to attend the seminars on East Asia. Now, we are ready to culminate our studies with a real, hands-on experience in China. The two teachers (one had to drop out) that I will be traveling with from Springfield are Becky Smith, from Central HS, Middler's Program teacher and Mary Ann Hollis, Wings teacher at Phelps. This photo was taken at one of our first meetings in March.