My Fated Life Partner

We hiked up Miaofeng Mountain on Saturday to take in some views and explore some Buddhist and Daoist Temples. I didn't like the hiking on the way up, or down for that matter, but the view from the top was gorgeous, so I suppose the sweating and heavy breathing would just have to be tolerated.
We paid our respects to the various gods and statues at the top, but Jill and I spent the most time with "The Man in the Moon" who can apparently help you find your fated life partner.

We'll see how that goes, though I'm not sure I enjoy having to hike to the top of a mountain to find him.

This is a restaurant. It is also a family's house, on the other side of the table, we had a lovely view of their bed.
And behind us, the television.
This is where they cooked our meal.
It was a loooooong way up.

This dragon man guarded one of the entrances.

Operas and Hutongs

On Friday night, we had dinner at a restaurant that featured Sichuan opera. The dancer comes out and does some sort of dance and every time she flicks her head the mask changes. I spent the better half of the performance trying to figure out exactly how this worked.

I haven't figured it out yet.

But, I am thinking that if all else fails, I could totally dance around and flick my head and change my mask.

Afterwards, we went to a hutong (in Beijing, that's like an alley) filled with bars. We wandered in and out and sat down on a rooftop deck and watched the world go by.

This is a few members of the group wandering down the street.
Brian and Zach ordered this rather girly concoction.

And here is the dancer.
Sorry I don't have any better pictures of the masks.

Fúwùyuán, èrshí

One of the most frustrating things about learning the Chinese language is how some things sound similar to others.

I went out to dinner with Chase the other night, mostly to keep him company, and we went to the Muslim restaurant around the corner.

He waved at our waitress and he ordered his 6 lamb skewers and some pita. When he finished, he decided that what he really needed was two more. He yelled across the restaurant (in China, you always yell at your waiter. In the US, this would result in spit in your food. Here, it just gets you prompt service.) And ordered 2 more (or so he thought).

What he really did was order TWENTY more because er shi (twenty) sounds an awful lot like er ge or something to that effect which means two more. When the waitress tried to clarify we just stared at her blankly as we often do and he repeated his order.

We waited for what seemed like forever, especially since he was only ordering two kabobs and when they finally came out we just laughed and laughed because only a stupid American would order twenty lamb skewers on top of the six he had already eaten and then proceed to eat all of them.

If only I spoke Chinese.

Taking the Day Off

We left Xi’an around 6 pm to travel back to the city. This would have put us back in Beijing at around 6:30 in the morning and we probably could have made it to work on time or close to on time, had the train arrived on time. What I have learned about travel though, is that nothing is on time, so I should simply assume that I will arrive at least a few hours late and I will stop complaining about it. When we got about half an hour from the station the train stopped and we sat on the tracks for about an hour.
I’ve yet to figure out why that happened, but it was beyond my control.
Zach and I had already informed the fine people at our office we wouldn’t be in on Monday, so I went shopping instead with my friend Jill. I’m going to have a really hard time when I go shopping at home after this experience because bargaining in the markets has taught me that it’s perfectly acceptable to be as rude as possible to the salespeople. If I had encountered customers like me in my time at the Gap, I might have quit.
In any case, my day at the market was not bad at all, since I cleaned up and only spent about $100. And the day ended at this adorable Italian Restaurant called Annie’s that Jill and I stumbled upon after our trip to another market.

Terra Cotta Warriors

We went to Xi’an specifically to see the Terra Cotta Warriors, which are actually located about an hour and a half outside of the city.
The first soldier was discovered in the 1970s by a farmer who was digging a well. Farmland in rural areas was actually not government owned, but part of a compound. The farmer who discovered the soldier though reported his finding to the government. He was rewarded with 20 kuai (a little more that $2 US today, probably a bit more then). That farmer was actually at the museum and he’s since learned how to sign his own name so that he can autograph books for visitors.
Archaeologists started digging after the initial discovery and discovered thousands of soldiers buried in battle formation guarding the gates of the Emperor Qin’s tomb. There are supposedly about 8,000, but only about 2,000 have been dug up. They haven’t even gotten to the actually tomb yet. The soldiers that are still buried are painted, but the paint has faded, so archaeologists and scientists are working on ways to preserve the paint before doing some more excavating.
The Warriors and Horses museum was a bit like being in a tame version of Indiana Jones, the display areas are actually buildings constructed over the excavation pits so you can look down on the soldiers in their formation below the ground. You can go into the first pit where the first soldier was discovered and the soldiers are lined up in rows. In the next, the soldiers were prepared to curry messages for the emperor and there were quite a few archers. The third pit still looks like piles of dirt and hasn’t been excavated because exposing the wooden beams in the ceiling over the soldiers’ heads to air would make them crumble, so they are working on ways to stop this.
I’m thinking now that I might like to become an archaeologist and dig up the rest of the tomb. I could change my major and keep on studying, how ‘bout that Dad? I’d have to of course improve my Chinese because something tells me I’d have to say more than “Please, thank you and I don’t want that.”

Muslim Market

After our bike ride, we went to the Muslim quarter to see a temple and then have dinner do some shopping. They kept us pretty busy in Xi’an and made sure we saw everything there was to offer. Part of me thinks the goal was also to tire us out so that we’d go home and go to sleep in order to be up to see the Terra Cotta Warriors in the morning. There is apparently a large Muslim population in China and quite a few of them live in Xi’an.
I like shopping in markets because in general, everything is really cheap. You can find just about everything you’re looking for, bags, clothes, shoes jewelry and some art and for the most part, you can bargain your way to pay whatever price you want. The frustrating part is no one has a set price, so I might spend 20 kuai on a shirt that someone behind me might pay 10 for. It’s only really frustrating until you realize that the difference is only a couple of cents.

14 km around Xi'an

Xi’an is one of the only cities in the world that still has an intact city wall that runs around the city. Our hotel was inside the wall, but we had to leave to go to some of the restaurants they took us to as well as to go to see the Terra Cotta Warriors. On Saturday afternoon, after a trip to the history museum, to the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, lunch and a nap, we went bike riding on the wall. This seemed like the best way to see the city.
I thought that this would be a nice leisurely ride, but it was 14 km around the wall, and we had about an hour and a half on our bike rentals. So I pedaled and pedaled as fast as my little legs would go. It is bike rides like those that don’t make me feel guilty for going out on Friday nights (or Tuesdays or whenever else I happen to go out). The city is gorgeous and at a certain point, I lost the rest of the crowd and I pedaled for about 2 km by myself. This was the perfect opportunity to watch the rest of the city in silence, and I didn’t have to be concerned with racing to the finish line.

If you don't let the birds socialize, they'll become autistic

Or, A Trip to the Big Wild Goose Pagoda.

One of my favorite things about being in China is the problem that people have translating from English to Chinese. On my way to work, I pass about 6 trash cans, all of which say “Protect CircumStance begin with me.” I have absolutely no idea what this means or what they’re going for, and I can’t for the life of me figure out why there isn’t an English speaker on staff that would proofread these signs before they were painted on trashcans all around the city.
Back to my point though. After we went to the Historical Museum, we went to the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, a Buddhist Temple in Xi’an. Apparently you could climb the temple, but after the earthquake, they forbid visitors to do so. I can’t say that I’m entirely disappointed that I didn’t get to climb. It was like 100 degrees outside, it was bad enough that I had to climb 20 stairs and then stand next to candles and incense. The prospect of climbing higher just didn’t excite me at all.
You can see in the pictures that the candles melted in the sun even without being lit. The gardens were filled with Buddhist statues from various places, Japan and elsewhere. There were lots of cages in the garden because apparently Chinese people like to keep birds as pets. Our tour guide Mary said that if the bird cages weren’t all together in the garden then the birds might become autistic if they got lonely.
We asked if perhaps she meant something other than autistic, she didn’t understand the question. Her English was very good otherwise though.

Shaanxi History Museum

We started our Saturday with a delicious Western breakfast buffet (omelettes and croissants and orange juice hooray!) and then we headed to the Shaanxi History museum to look at cultural relics discovered in Xi'an in the last 3,000 years. I particularly liked the jade swords plated with chromium and the drinking glasses which the emperor used to make sure his guest drained his wine, but I don't have pictures of those. I will probably get some more pictures from other people though, so keep your eyes peeled, this entry is a work in progress. The museum did have a few of the Terra Cotta soldiers from the Qin Dynasty mausoleum, so I'm putting them up. We went to the Terra Cotta warrior museum on Sunday, so more pictures are coming.

Riding in hardsleepers

We left Friday afternoon to go to Xi'an for the weekend. According to our tour guide, if you want to study 300 years of Chinese history you go to Shanghai. If you want to study 1,000 years of Chinese history, you go to Beijing. And if you want to study 3,000 years of Chinese history, you go to Xi'an.

It was about a 12-hour train ride, so we stayed in a hardsleeper. Since I am not particularly well-traveled, I had no idea what to expect. What I found was a car filled with bunkbeds, three in a row, six in a little area. The bed was not much wider than I am and hard as a rock. It was also filled with snoring travelers, all of whom wanted to take in a little of Xi'an's history.

I lucked out and got the bottom bunk both ways, and I spent the time reading the new David Sedaris (hilarious) and listening to Jeremy Irons reading me The Alchemist on my new audiobook (download it).

The ride was bumpy and a little long, but at the end, we got to stay in a gorgeous hotel right in the center of Xi'an overlooking the bell tower in the center of town. Plus, the hotel is apparently very popular with foreigners, which meant I got to speak English to the people in the elevator.

AND there were nice western toilets. With toilet paper. You don't know how much you appreciate those until they're gone.

Sarah, your room is like a dating service

According to most of the boys here (American and Chinese roommates), my roommate Sam is the most attractive of the Chinese girl roommates. For this reason, she has already been asked out by several of the Chinese boys on our hall.

I find this particularly amusing because she's rather quiet. When I disappear down the hall to talk to people for hours on end, she is in our room, quietly reading. She's actually very social when she chats with me, but she doesn't like to talk to everyone.

On Tuesdays, Sam and I usually go to calligraphy classes together. Last Tuesday, she went out with Timmy, Richard's roommate. I did not make it to calligraphy class.

What a sad state of affairs.

My only consolation is that she doesn't actually like Timmy, she thinks he's a bit boring. Iguess that means we'll be going to calligraphy tomorrow. Maybe I'll actually learn to write my own name.

Betcha didn't know

Part of my job at work is putting together an internal newsletter format and template to be used to reduce the number of employee e-mails. I don't think it's fair that everyone should have to read all boring things, I have been putting together some useful tips to include as something interesting to read. These vary from how to save money, to how to greet people, to what not to say to people ( I HAVE been asked how much I weigh on the bus, this needs to be stopped.) In this process, I've learned a few things:

From an article in the Beijinger regarding Kublai Khan:
" vomiting and passing out were considered good form, demonstrating a guests joyous heart was at one with his host."

HMMMM, good form?

AND, I knew this, but I had never really thought about it.
Using the word "kindly" implies that you are actually angry. It's actually not all that polite. Most people don't realize this though.

Bahahahahaha

I still contend that the best part of my job is reading people's resumes. Here are a few highlights from the gems this week:

1. Adversity reveals genius, fortune conceals it.

I suppose this is supposed to be some life lesson, but I don't know why you would want to put a fortune cookie saying on your resume.

2. I am thinking agile, strong logic analysis capability, has strong practical ability, has a software development experience and good programming habits, can loyal to adhere to prudent principles of integrity; work actively enthusiasm in order to compete its desired Good things go all out in force; happy with communication, interaction can play an active effort to reach the goal of team; good at learning, diligence and pragamatism and assiduously, and has a strong thirst for knowledge. And I Can accept the mission.

I desperately wanted to give this character the mission, whatever it was.

3. Working carefully and precisenessly.

Apparently not too precisely.

4. State of the body: good.

Oh, thank god.

Thought from the Cubicle

While I have managed to do a great deal of work from inside the walls of my cubicle, my mind often wanders to things that would make life in my tiny blue space more enjoyable. I've come up with a few things:

1. Mandatory deskercise. I've looked up plenty of my own exercises, but I think it would be waaaaaaaaay more fun if everyone in the office was stretching with me. Then I could play some music and we could sweat to the oldies.

2. Office Olympics. We really should be cashing in on this One World One Dream business.

3. A snack/break room. I have no idea why a two story office does not have one of these. What if a girl wants to microwave something?

4. A knitting circle. They really need more social things to do in the office. I would rather do this than eat in the cafeteria.

5. Drinks in the cafeteria. A person really needs something to wash down the baozi.

6. Less unnecessary furniture. I often feel like I am being trapped by filing cabinets.

Old Summer Palace

It turns out there are two Summer Palaces, one old and one new. The one we went to last weekend was apparently the new one. After our trip to the migrant school, we walked around the Old one. It’s more or less a park, surrounding a bunch of lakes. There were some buildings, but most have been destroyed by Europeans. Enjoy the pictures.

Reality Check

Today we visited a migrant school about 40 minutes away from our dorm. It’s easy to forget when you’re living in the city that China is in fact a Third World Country. It’s developing rapidly, but it’s not there yet. When you move just 30 minutes outside the bubble, you see a completely different China. The school was rather dirty and in disrepair, but the kids running in and out of the classrooms were excited to see us and happy to play tag with the tall American boys.
Being at the school really put things in perspective. While I’m complaining about the crappy internet service in my dorm, these kids are lucky to have books. There is a small computer lab with old PCs donated from an NGO, but most of them don’t actually work. And the ones that do don’t connect to the Internet; the kids use them to learn to type.

I also think that the kids and the teachers in the school and the migrant family that let us into their house were the Chinese people that I’ve only read about. In the city, I get pushed onto the bus and hit in the head with umbrellas. I have to race for a cab and then pray that the driver will have mercy on me and take me where I need to go. The people living in this migrant village were pleasant, the kids were laughing and they don’t have half of the things that Bejingers take for granted.

So today’s lesson? I’m going to stop and think the next time I get tipped over (Zach’s phrase, but I quite like it) when things don’t go as smoothly as I imagine that they should.

Inside the classrroom.
Out in the neighborhood.
In the house of one of the families.


The principal led us through the neighborhood. Those are bricks holding down the tin roofs.

This is the principal's office.
This little boy is standing outside of the teacher's dorm.
The computer lab.



In the pre-school classroom.
The view from the classroom window.




The recycling center that some of the families work in.