History Lesson

Oct 14, 2007

This Sunday morning, Kim met us in the lobby while her husband, Jason, was waiting in the car eager to give us a day’s tour. He drives a new Toyota Camry but unfortunately speaks no English. Kim has to interpret everything. First we headed to the beautiful new history museum. Everything is displayed in cases with dramatic lighting. My study of Chinese history is sketchy at best and I just could not remember all the dynasties and who did what. Seeing the displays in this museum put more structure on my understanding. It is amazing to see the artifacts from 2000 BC of such fine work of pottery and bronze. We spent about an hour and half hitting the high lights with Kim sorting out for me the Qin, Ming, Qing Dynasties that all sound alike when pronounced here. In any case, Xianyang (where Rainbow School is located) was the first capital of a China united by the Qin emperor. Xi’an was the new capital of the Tang & Han Dynasties. The Ming and Qing Dynasties moved to Bejing.

From the museum we headed to the antique market which was rows of stalls with “antiques.” Supposedly these are articles that farmers find on their farm diggings and bring to sell. We were then driven to the Technology Zone of the city to the south. Here all the new building developments are happening. Kim & Jason have bought a condo in an unfinished building and are having it completed. Here in China, when you buy a condo, it is unfinished—no bathroom, no kitchen, no walls—just an open space. You must then hire your own contractor and designer to complete it. So, the cost basically doubles. We went to see their unit on the 16^th floor. We picked our way through an active construction area with loose marble stones, boards, bricks, mud puddles, open pits, etc. That is something we would not have in USA. While there, the sales agent came to visit and offered to show us the finished building that is a condo-hotel combination. We gladly went to see the models to get an idea of what one would get. There seemed to be a retinue of people joining the showing. We didn’t know if they were security, pressure salesmen, or just curious idle sales people. China has condemned the villages in the area and put up modern high rise buildings in their place. Unfortunately, the village people usually cannot afford the new place and must relocate. The government helps them relocate.

We then headed to a restaurant for lunch. I asked if we could have dim sum but Kim did not know what it was until I explained. It seems that comes by a different name. Since they did not know of a dim sum place in that area, we settled for a very nice restaurant. It had a kitchen showing through glass windows where you can watch the kitchen staff prepare the food. There were about 15 young men, dressed in white cook’s uniforms preparing the food assembly line style. We were told they do this to show you that their kitchen is clean and the food safe to eat. There were some dim sum items on the menu which we tried. The char siu bow was superb.

At lunch we learned more about their lives during the Cultural Revolution. Jason, at age 14, was sent to a farm to be a farmer. All young people in middle and high school were sent to farms. He shared a room in a poor farmhouse with 4 other students. After three years, he was allowed to return to his studies and qualify for university. Some city folk stayed on the farms because they married farm girls. Next week he would like to take us to the countryside to visit the area he stayed. While out and about, Jason’s son Ben, who is studying in Tucson, AZ, called. Jason plans to go visit him someday.

We returned to the hotel in the early afternoon as we need to be rested and ready for the coming week—week 2 of teaching English.

Here in China, the government allows the heat to be turned on on November 15. The weather has been is below 60 degrees. The students are curled up freezing and wet in the classrooms, but there is no heat because it’s not supposed to be cold. We have been wearing our coats all the time everywhere. GV made a special request for the heat in the hotel to be turned on. Some of our teammates have been enjoying the benefits of that, but we are waiting for it to reach our room. Fortunately, we packed two heating pads as substitute mini electric blankets to keep our feet warm. Next week’s weather promises to be better. We are thankful for a dry weekend.