6/12/2006

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Looking down from the apartment to the primary school exit.  No crossing guards.  I witnessed a close  call.

Crossing the street from school.  A lesson in traffic negotiation is required of Chinese citizens.

The frieze on the entry wall of the provincial library.C

The school near our apartment has begun its musical reminder that classes are beginning.  The song repeats and repeats until I think it will drum through my brain for ever! 

Later I hear a rhythmical clacking of what looks like bamboo sticks.  The children have laid them along the ground side by side and have chosen two teams.  The first team takes a stick in each hand and the second team forms two parallel lines, jumping between the sticks in a hop scotch fashion trying to avoid being struck in the ankles by the students' sticks.  They are well coordinated children from what I see.  Nobody seems to get struck.

At noon we watch the kids walk from school for a two hour recess.  They go home to rest until 2 pm.  There are no crossing guards.  We watch a sea of kids wander into five lanes of traffic that relentlessly intersects their route.  We note a few very close calls, one involving a bus.  I wonder at a woman on the school side holding an umbrella over her head and turned to the school-standing motionless.  What is her role??

At 1 Nathan and I leave.  He wants pizza.  We go to a French shop down the street.  We sit outside and are soon approached by a young beggar and soon another.  He enters the shop to beg from the Foreign tourists who frequent the place.  He is turned away by a waitress.  Thirty minutes later our pizza is here.  Very good.  Tin crunchy crust.  I have coffee.  Its been ages since I've had any-days and days.

A truck pulls up to the shop next door and delivers loads of supplies.  He piles the boxes waist high at the curb.  Waitresses run out to carry them, groaning with the weight, into the shop.  I tell Nathan to import dollies into China and make a million.  He says he remembers seeing only one or two since living here.

Later Nathan and I return to the provincial library to take pictures of the frieze.  

6/11/2006

Michael and Xiao Jing brought breakfast home after exercising in the park.  A vendor nearby sold them warm soy milk and rice flour roll-ups with peanut sauce.  Michael was short of breath by the time he'd sprinted up the eight flights of stairs to our apartment.  After breakfast we split up.  Michael stayed behind to work and Nathan and I headed to Xiao Yee's to do laundry.  Xiao Jing soon decided to take me walking leaving Nathan and Xiao Yee to "have some time together."  They are close since she often cared for him when he was little.
Xiao Jing and I happened upon an imposing newly constructed building.   It had marble steps fronting the whole building and marble urns as tall as me on either side of the doors.  We had thought this place might be a university but I noted a bank of card catalogues along one corridor.  On the wall above our heads was a frieze showing the great thinkers and man's progress according to the Chinese I Ching.  Marx, Michelangelo, etc.
We wandered past an art exhibit and sale to examine the card catalog.  The cards were of course typed in Chinese although many were hand written so neatly I wondered how old these could be.  
We walk upstairs and began to look at books when we were approached by a group of 15-20 young people probably 16, 17 years old.  A spokesperson asked me if I had any questions about the library.  It seems it is a new building and they will soon be hosting a group of Internet technology people from all over the world.  "What is this place?" I asked. " Our brand new provisional library."  "As a foreigner I'm curious about the frieze on your entrance wall.  All those circles along the bottom.  What do they mean?"   "They show the power of man, every man"  "What will the focus of your conference be?"  "To learn how to present the Internet to young people as an educational tool and to protect their morality"   "What education must a librarian have here?"  "College degree.  Our libraries are heavily funded in China."  They are at the mercy of government budgets in the USA." "Yes. They are always well funded in China."  
"In the U.S.A. every published author"s book (here I indicated Xiao Jing, saying, " She has three.") is found in the Library of Congress in Washington, DC.  Is that the case here in China?"  There was much discussion among the group and then the response was, "We have such a library in Beijing."  "In America I can sit at my computer and find my library electronically, look for a book, check it's availability , reserve it or see if it's available at a neighboring library.  Is that possible for Chinese?"  "Yes but our libraries are not inter-related.  Each is independent."  "What hours are you available?"  "8 am till 9 pm every day except Monday when we are closed till noon."  "Will you have the card catalog on the computer as well as on paper?"  "Yes. Our elderly will use the card catalog." 
As the questions continued the group moved closer and closer to us.  We felt backed to the wall.  Xiao Jing says, "This is typical of the Chinese."  The group was very grateful for our cooperation.
Next we entered the childrens' room.  Spacious with primary colored kid sized tables for reading, some packages of snacks for sale, computers, their own librarian.  We asked for two books: Who Needs Friends and Curious George.  They had neither.  We were directed to the "English area".  Little House On The Prairie was there, Nursery Rhymes, and Harry Potter!  
As we searched I felt a gentle poke at my leg.  A 3 year old boy looked up at me handing me a book- an English encyclopedia for children.  I turned a couple pages with him but he quickly returned to his table only to be replaced by a few older kids.  We turned pages together.  I pointed at a picture and said the animal's name.  They repeated it carefully and we worked at the pronunciation  together.  They quit at "hi-ber-na-tion" leaving the book behind.  
We wandered through the art sale and then on a whim we went to the daily and periodical room.  Xiao Jing asked the librarian for a NY Times.  He inquired of his co-worker.  "No".  "Washington Post?"  "No."  We left.  I said, "Well, duhhh.  Of course!  They aren't going to have those newspapers here!  They would be censored!"  Xiao Jing said, "Oh, my God, I never thought of that!"
Back at Xiao Yee's we decided to go to lunch at a noodle place- a cafeteria nearby.  It was 2 levels of round tables that seat eight. There was a stage across one wall flanked by a decorative fountain/waterfall.  A group of girls were practicing a dance for the evening performance.
We chose a table at the rear and joined a young couple who nodded at us and continued eating.
Xiao Yun called to a waitress, "Clean off this table and the floor!"  Soon Nathan and I were served huge bowls of steaming chicken broth.   Tiny plates of meats, yogurt and vegetables were placed on the lazy suzan that filled 2/3 of the table.  We chose what we wished to add to the soup.  Xiao Yun attended to my broth adding first a tiny quail's egg.  It will cook quickly in the broth.  Then razor- thin slices of pork, chunks of chicken, etc. and finally a bowl of rice noodles were added.   This was a wonderful treat.  Nathan added hot pepper spices to his.  The bowl was so big that I had problems managing my chop sticks and as I stood them from the bowl's base I found they were submerged 2/3 of their length!  Xiao Jing's soup was a much smaller bowl of noodles made from red beans, a bit harder to the bite but cooked to perfection.  
As we left I reflected on how these sisters take care of me so graciously.  They are determined that I eat enough to maintain my vigor.  I felt grateful for this. 

  

6/10/2006

Michael and Xiao Ping.  His sunglasses are along the back of his head

We are to pack for our trip to the Tibet border today.  "Take clothes for one week and make do.  Layer. It's gonna be cold,"  says Michael.
We go to Xiao Yee's.  Soon Xiao Yun brings Nathan to the apartment.  He's been in Taiwan with friends the past two days.  He saves me from a very long day while the sisters meet to discuss the trip.  They shorten it to two weeks.  Who knows what the final result will be?  I don't even have to care.  I am completely without responsibility.  It's making me crazy!
Da Ping arrives later.  He is Michael's dearest family member - a busy radiologist.  He offers me a complete physical exam.  I really don't feel it's necessary but it might be interesting.  

6/9/1996

It rained all night. Michael says the rainy season has finally begun. YUCK. I love my new rain or shine jacket. It's worth more than the the little bit I paid for it.
 No exercises for Michael and Xiao Jing today.  Xiao Jing's friend from primary school and her orthopedic doctor husband is taking us to an archaeological dig.  As we start up the mountainside in their Buick we take the highway.  Traffic is heavy.  Huge trucks and those funny vehicles that are jerry-rigged primitive engines becoming trucks behind.  I can't figure out how the driver brakes these rigs.  There are horses pulling carts, bicycles along the far right and  some pedestrians.  
I ask Michael, "What's up with these funny sheer sox men and women wear in China?"  He says, "The Chinese believe they keep their bodies cool by exposing their calves.  Did you also notice the men rolling their t-shirts and pant legs up?  Same concept."
The road goes from smooth and well maintained to gravel and back again to smooth.  We have a couple close calls with a bus and huge truck that leave me wondering about the guy's ability to drive.  I make the mistake of glancing at the speedometer: 90k/hr.  I pulled out my date book:  1 km=0.621mile=90x.621=55mph, right?  Even if it isn't I feel better.
We turn off and drive through a village.  He's forced to stop because of a funeral procession..  By the time Michael gives me my camera it's too late for a good pic.  I'm aware of fire crackers going off (to keep the spirits away).  The procession moves on.  It all happened so fast that details were missed.
In the next village we stop at our hosts' relative's place and wait for the English teacher who is helping a researcher at the dig.  This man is grandparent of the child who lives here.  Xiao Jing tells me he married a peasant girl during his time working near the Cambodian border.  They bring the child along to the dig.  
We arrive there and are escorted into an exhibit hall of very neatly displayed stones that have imprints of fossils within.  We examine them through fitted magnifying glasses. There is also a time-line.  These fossils are from when the whole area was under water long before the first creatures began to live on land during the Sagacious Period 530 million years ago.  Michael says this is even old for the Chinese to appreciate.  We take pictures of a garden here.
As we head back for our lunch our cars are surrounded by a herd of goats.  They are all around us!  We try to take pics but they are really too close and the safety windows in the back of this car won't go down completely.  We take a few anyway. 
Lunch is at a restaurant fronted by the Lake of the Immortals, a huge lake that the Chinese government has declared pristine and forbids any development.  The Chinese who live nearby fish these waters.  Our fish dinner will be from here.  
A woman approaches us selling corn from a shoulder pole.  She carries it in a pan at the end of a shoulder pole and at the other end is a big metal tea pot.  Xiao Jing buys corn and we pick the kernels off till we are called to eat.  I break away from the others and dip my fingers into the warm water.
Previously the cook had led us to the fish tank to choose our fish.  Then she scooped it from the shallow water.  It escaped and she scooped again and tipped the net toward the floor, grabbed a hammer and as Xiao Jing cried, "Mother!  She's going to hammer it!" I turned my head to see that it was dead.  The fish was sliced into large chunks and made into a soup with leeks and lots of common mint.  So good I had two bowls.  Also rice cooked with  crisped chunks of white potatoes.  I enjoy a dish of early pumpkin chunks.  "Like butter", says Michael.  There was also whole fish crisp fried with salt.  
As we left I  noted in an ante room a group of men playing mahjong and smoking from a water pipe, an ancient thing from which they inhaled through a kind of stove pipe.

The garden at the dig.

    

A friend of our hosts, Michael, Fan Xing, Rui Yun & Xiao Jing at the Archaeological Exhibit  Garden.

Note the hammer in the chef's hand.

A friend of Fan Xing, his son & wife.  This friend had been sent to the south during the Cultural Revolution.  He met his wife (a peasant ) during that time and brought her back to Xian with him after the Revolution.  Many women were abandoned during that time.

On the beach at West Lake.  A vendor sells corn to Xiao Jing.

A funeral procession.  The deceased 's family wear white head bands.

6/8/1996

Xiao Jing and Michael left early for the park.  She's anxious to have her second lesson with the Tai Chai master.  Michael say she's a very quick study given her history of dance as a child.  Soon after their return we left for Xiao Yee's.  A late breakfast and the four of them were on their way to Quijing where Michael and Xiao Jing will visit the college of Education and present the plan for a "relationship" between University of Pacific and the college.  
I spend the day alone at Xiao Yee's reading, listening to my IPod.  Rain starts at 3 pm and it pours constantly until they return at 11pm.  I had visions of the city floating away and of me being awash with no way to communicate with anyone!

6/07/2006

Xiao Yee arrived this morning to bring Michael and Xiao Jing to the temple because the editor had told her she should present a bouquet of flowers to a particular god.  Xiao Jing had happened upon a vendor who sold lilies as we were walking home last evening.  She felt that this had been an affirmation of her need to offer them. 
Xiao Yee had brought a bag of soy milk with her which she had warmed in the microwave at home.  We drank it with honey and ate the baked goods from last night's purchases.  Michael and Xiao Jing had practiced i Chai at the park so they were hungry.
I spent the time here in the apartment.  Michael returned to say that after Xiao Jing had offered the lilies and had kowtowed three times to the god she turned away from the altar and left.  She and Michael noted a monk who was 109 years old praying in the same spot after her.The groundskeeper told them he was at the temple to visit.
Michael made coffee and started his work closing his door.  I spent the day reading.  We had dinner and walked home from Xiao Yee's by 9.

6/7/1996

Xiao Yee arrived this morning to bring Michael and Xiao Jing to the temple because the editor had told her she should present a bouquet of flowers to a particular god.  Xiao Jing had happened upon a vendor who sold lilies as we were walking home last evening.  She felt that this had been an affirmation of her need to offer them. 
Xiao Yee had brought a bag of soy milk with her which she had warmed in the microwave at home.  We drank it with honey and ate the baked goods from last night's purchases.  Michael and Xiao Jing had practiced i Chai at the park so they were hungry.
I spent the time here in the apartment.  Michael returned to say that after Xiao Jing had offered the lilies and had kowtowed three times to the god she turned away from the altar and left.  She and Michael noted a monk who was 109 years old praying in the same spot after her.The groundskeeper told them he was at the temple to visit.
Michael made coffee and started his work closing his door.  I spent the day reading.  We had dinner and walked home from Xiao Yee's by 9.