The "Silk Road"

We returned from our "Journey to the West" on Monday, but we have been so swamped with catching up in our classes that we just haven't had the chance to post anything on this blog.  We did, however, have some marvelous experiences along the "Silk Road" and enjoyed very much spending time with our BYU friends who are scattered all over China.

Lily, our young adult friend of the Jinan BYU Teachers, accompanied us as well as a US couple visiting in China plus another couple who are teaching at a prep high school. This was the first time Lily had been on an airplane so she was very nervous and excited.  We enjoyed having her along and she helped with bartering in markets, translating and taking a group of us on the overnight train since we had to divide onto two different trains.

Lily's first airplane flight.

Nancy and Lily at the International Market Place in Urumqi

The so-called Silk Road is the route early trading caravans took to reach China from the Mediterranean  and for products from China to reach western Europe.  It follows a corridor through major mountains and deserts to the West of Xi'an, the capitol of Shaanxi Province.  There are interesting cities along this corridor that date centuries before Christ.  Many of them are an oasis in the desert or are communities in valleys and basins of the Gobi Desert.  We learned that Gobi isn't really a desert but a barren high plateau wasteland with little precipitation and less vegetation.  It is surrounded by rugged mountains and depends on glacial run-off for water.  It is very desolate, isolated and is one of the furthest places from Beijing.

Our trip began by flying almost six hours from Jinan to Urumqi, the capitol of the Zinjiang Province.  This province has some of the most unique minorities, the largest being the Ughur (or Weegar) people.  They do have a different look from the Hun Chinese.  We visited a remote Ughur village and saw the Pachikli Grottos on the cliff that had paintings by Buddhist monks.  A donkey cart took us to an ancient city.

Urumqi is a "small" city of 2+ million in the "outskirts" of the known world.  We stayed in this "primitive" hotel downtown.  It was really nice.

This part of China is heavily influenced by Islam and borders many Islamic countries, including Afghanistan.   You can see that influence in Urumqi.

This area of China is known for its dried fruit.  These represent a few of the varieties of raisins available.  Most are quite good.

We traveled by bus to Turpan, where our guide insisted that the raisins were the sweetest in the world!  There were many varieties....black, golden, red, etc. and all are a different level of sweetness.  They were tasty!

In Turpan we were "educated" about the Chinese legend called, "Journey to the West".  It is a fictionalized account of a 16th century Buddhist monk who actually went to India to get the scriptures and bring them back to China. The route was roughly "The Silk Road."  The myth part includes his disciples of a Monkey King, the pig, the horse and a friar who have various personality traits that represent Chinese values and an individual's path of enlightenment.  They encounter various challenges and demons along their trip. 

 Near "Flaming Mountain" is this sculpture of the Monkey King and his associates on their adventures through this area of China.

Also, near were these grottos carved out of the side of the hill with elaborate frescos painted inside by monks thousands of years ago.

 

We were told that this unique staircase on "Flaming Mountain" was built so men could prove that they are real MEN.  It looked very tempting, but we didn't have time to give it a try.

A unique experience for us was taking an overnight soft sleeper train from Turpan to Dunhuang.  We shared a 4 bunk compartment with another couple from BYU.  We were warned that this was a night to sleep in your clothes and try to avoid using the restroom on the train.....we agree!!  We were glad we had a reservation for such "accommodations".  It was the National Holiday Week, celebrating the 64th anniversary of the PRC, and many people were on vacation.  Most travelers had to stand in the train for the entire 9 hours!!  We were actually surprised that the "soft" bed actually felt better than the "hard" Chinese beds in the 5 star hotels!

 Here we are in our "soft" sleeper car.  Notice our "pajamas?"

This is Nancy at the train station AFTER our night on the train.  Notice she is still wearing her "pajamas."

Our tour guide planned the next day to be "dirty".  We had slept in our clothes with no morning shower and concluded the day with a camel ride in the Gobi desert at Sound Sand Mountain.  Fortunately, the camel did not spit in our face!  However, the ride was quite jarring and many of us were ready to get off after the hour ride.  Near the camel rides there were huge sand dunes in the area and many young adults were climbing them and then "sliding" down the dunes.  At the bottom of the dunes was a beautiful small Crescent Moon Lake which used to be 50 feet deep.  However, the water table is changing and it is now only 3 feet deep and may just disappear.

 Nancy wasn't quite sure of this experience.  Notice, she is

 still wearing her "pajamas."

 

 There were over 700 camels in service that day.  We felt like were really were in the desert.

 

Stan posing with his camel friend

 

 Behind Stan is Crescent Lake, part of the oasis near Dunhuang.

This is also at Crescent Lake

In Dunhuang we visited the Mogao Grottos, a UNESCO site.  It was very crowded and we had difficulty keeping our group together.  The caves were carved out of the side of the mountain and one contained a very large 80ft. Buddha.

We finished our trip by flying to Xian, a city with a well preserved ancient wall and the site of the famous Terra Cotta Warriors.  The first emperior , Quin Shi Huang, who unified China in 221 BC, had 7,000 pottery warriors created for his tomb.  They were unearthed in 1974 by farmers digging an irrigation well.  There are several large buildings which house this exhibit and it is an ongoing excavation site. 

Mrs. and Mr. TerraCotta

In Xian we attended a cultural dancing show about the Tang Dynasty.  We also sampled many kinds of dumplings with various fillings (chicken, seafood, veggies, pork)  at the Dumpling Banquet.  Stan said he does not want to eat another dumpling for six months!  We are not sure if it was the dumplings or a virus that sidelined Stan and  a few others at the end of the trip.  It was a true miracle that Stan was able to fly back to Jinan.

T

The dumplings really were good but after 20 or so, well...

One teacher said his pedometer indicated we had walked 47 miles on our "vacation"!

Well, after the trip, it was back to the classroom.  It is interesting that students are reluctant to volunteer answers or questions in class, but if they have a concern they will definitely approach you in private.  After Stan gave a lesson on avoiding some of the various "mistakes" we had noticed on a writing assignment, one girl challenged him.  She said that the Chinese way is to use quotes, sayings and write flowery descriptions.  (Stan was encouraging them to be more concise and give their own thoughts, especially in a personal essay.  Plus he said, their audience is now an American teacher and they are writing in English not Chinese!)

Back in the saddle again

Nancy had two students who "lifted" paragraphs out of a travel brochure or from Robert Lewis Stevenson without citations.  One student said that it was an "honor" in Chinese culture to use someone else's words.  I said that in English and in the US, where many want to study, you "honor" someone by giving them credit for their words, not using them for your own!  We will see what happens on their next assignment!

Our university sponsored a trip to Mt. Tai on Saturday, which is about two hours south of Jinan.  It is a sacred mountain where three religions have temples represented in one place...Taoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism.  Many people come to the mountain to reach heaven and receive a blessing.  You can actually hike the 6,000 steps to the top, but we opted for the bus and gondola ride.  There were still plenty of steps to climb after using those modes of transportation.  The air was clear and blue at the top, but unfortunately we could not see Jinan because of the smog.

 Apparently it takes the students about 12 hours to summit

 and to come back down. 

 

 This our group for visiting Mt. Tai.  Notice the Oregon shirt.  Danny is from San Diego but likes the Ducks.

 Nancy near the summit.