October 20, 2007
It’s Saturday and all of our 2-week team mates have gone. We had signed up for a tour for today but it was cancelled for lack of an available guide for just 5 of us. That would ordinarily be a bummer but Kim, our teacher escort from Rainbow School, said she and her husband, Jason, would take us out for the day. We chose to visit the Hanyang Mausoleum. On the way there, the highway was closed for repair so we had to take a detour. Jason did not know the way so we got lost and saw things we would have never seen. We drove by new areas being built up next to old villages. He asked for directions from many people but they did not know the way either so we just kept moving in the general direction. We were told these were new roads so there was no map yet. Finally we found the toll way again and came right to the museum. This is the only archeological dig that is preserved underground with the museum built over it. We walked on floors of glass and look down into the pits while listening to a wonderful commentary in English on audio handsets. The museum only opened in 2006 and is fascinating. The pits reveal life as it was in the Han Dynasty as the emperor had a miniature city built for his after life. There were areas of government, food storage, court life, concubines, etc. It is amazing how archeologist can recreate things from some dusty pottery. They have recreated models of the emperor’s chariots, clothing, and court life. Only a fraction of the tomb is excavated and the government has decided not to open the tombs further until better methods and technology is developed to preserve what’s there. It will take generations to excavate these digs. They were built over 28 years with multitude of slave labor. Jason & Kim had been to the museum site many times but had never been in it. This was a fun experience for them too.
After all morning at the museum, we needed to find a place for lunch. Jason was concerned about local restaurants being clean so he headed for the airport area not too far away. Since he didn’t really know the area, he drove around until he found a strip mall of restaurants. Kim went to check them out for cleanliness and came back with a good report. She chose one that thin pancakes. She ordered a corn and pumpkin soup, then some fillings that would make “mu shu” with thin pancakes with vegetables in them. All was very good and tasty. This turned out to be are area the airport workers eat and there was a variety of foods in the different restaurant stalls. Since this one met Kim’s approval, we felt it safe to eat there. The entire lunch for 5 was $7.00.
Now that we had eaten, we were off to visit the Zhang Village. In the Cultural Revolution Jason was sent to farm at age 14. He lived with a family of 5 sons and 6 other city boys who were also sent. They lived in a tiny village house of only 2 rooms. So today, he was taking us to the village to meet his foster mother & father. He had not seen them in 2 years and has always thought fondly of them. Again we got lost and saw things and places of the village life on the way—corn drying on the roofs and in trees, cemeteries, farmers digging sweet potatoes, apple trees, bicycles piled high with goods, and tricycle trucks laden with stuff all accented with the farm odors. When we finally got to the village, we were greeted by the Zhang daughter-in-law. We went through a brick entry that had a bedroom on one side and a weaving room with a loom on the other. As we stepped into a courtyard, a new house in white marble like stone stood before us. The old man with large Harry Potter style glasses was sitting there rubbing corn off the cobs. He greeted Jason with a big smile and then welcomed us. The new house had large rooms—an ante room filled with apples, a kitchen, closet, 2 furnished bedrooms, 1 large empty room, and a back patio with his and her outdoor toilets. We took many photos and then were invited to tea and apples. Jason peeled fresh Fuji apples which were delicious. Mr Zhang’s sons all have good jobs with the Rainbow Company through Jason, and have built their father a nice house. We then went to the farm area to find the mother. On the way we saw that the apples on the trees were covered with small plastic bags when they are small so that as they grow, the bugs can’t get them. They are pick already individually wrapped. Food brokers come by and buy them after harvest. These will stay fresh through February next year. We wandered back to the house on the village road greeting the neighbors. As we were driving off, Jason met one of his junior high friends. It was fun to watch them greet each other and chat. Although we didn’t know what they were saying, we could tell they were glad to see each other, and were catching up. This man stayed in the village because he married a village girl. He was very proud because all his 3 sons were attending college. What a treat to peek into the village life with someone personally connected.
Darlene, one of our fellow teachers had come along. She is a farmer in Michigan so this was of special interest to her. She told us all about living on a farm in Michigan and showed us comparisons. She knew about the soil, the crops, and the business end of farming thus making things all the more interesting with her enthusiasm.
We headed back to the hotel through Xianyang. This is the same city where we teach everyday but we had never been through the heart of the city. It is quite a metropolis, almost like Xi’an growing into a modern city with wide city streets crowded with people.
We counted ourselves fortunate that our planned tour cancelled and we had this wonderful opportunity of seeing the museum and village farm.
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