Thursday, May 29, 2008

A perfect taste & picture

The amount of times that I am sitting amongst Chinese people and they ask how
I like their food, always causes a moment of embarrassment, when I have to admit that I don't. I have said it before and will say it again, that the food served here has a different taste, texture and appearance to that back home.

But, when I visited Xian, to my amazement, I found dishes that actually resembled things that I could work out what they were and tasted 'normal'! After
avidly watching the satellite channel (when it has not broken down), the one that
is called Travel & Living (I highly recommend it), I have come to the conclusion
that people do not eat 'ugly' foods because they really believe or view them as
appetising, but from force of habit of past generations, eat them as they believe
it is normal to do so!!

Worms, beetles, cockroaches, hamsters, raw fish (not Sushi) including bones and all, cannot in this day and age seem normal, but in past years due to lack of
food, education and modern civilisation became regular eating habits.

So arriving in this city, I was delighted to see recognisable food stuffs being sold even on the street!! Peking Ducks were lying out baked in the sun, (my only
complaint being that their heads were still attached and their eyes were watching me accusingly!) and a light or heavier sandwich according to your taste and pocket was instantly served up. Delicious! There was roast or fried chicken on a wooden skewer that you could nibble on as you pushed your way through the crowds and then the unmentionables, or at least for my palette, but seemed to go down more than favourably with the locals. This was the squid and pig bellies that were also attached to sticks, eaten with relish, but left me cold and shuddering.

Then to my 'joy' I found a European style bakery. Here the large double fronted store was a paradise of danish buns, many grained breads, biscuits and delicious
cream cakes! Walking around and viewing all that was on show, it was hard to choose, but finally with great restraint I chose a danish for my journey and a cream cake for my leisure. Now with all this display, the coffee seemed to cause the most difficulty, but after agreeing to accept a cold one instead of hot, I tried to find a seat.

The shop on the left hand side was packed full with patrons and all viewed me rather balefully as I attempted to take a seat, obviously they were ill at ease at
having to share a table with a blond alien! With the help of a waitress I succeeded in securing a seat. It was then that I took stock of what they were eating. It seemed that the second half of the shop was a mixture of frozen yogurt and ice flavoured granules. They came in an assortment of colors and sizes and were being devoured with relish, understandably as it was so hot outside.

Reluctantly a couple and their child drew up a chair and shared my spot. The little girl looked at me suspiciously as she was spoon fed her cake, somewhat reluctantly and kept eyeing her mother's iced concoction with a wistful look, after a long labored force feeding the mother begrudgingly agreed to swap dishes and
a happy beaming smile lit up the young child's face. It seems that children are the same all over the world.

Friday, May 23, 2008

A Perfect Picture

After having continued on to see the golden Chariot and horses that were found, I was in urgent need of a rest. My newly acquired glasses though light in weight, seemed quite useless against the relentless sun, but I nevertheless sun starved in Beijing, decided to sit out on one of the outside terraced walls in an
attempt to catch a tan.

After a while, I began to realise that even though many a pretty maiden was
passing me by, all holding aloft a parasol to shade their skin from the browning
rays, I was the one who seemed to be attracting the attention and many a person stopped and asked to have a photo taken with me. Not having the will
or energy to refuse, I grimace ruefully for the offending lens.

Men seemed to think that they were 'gods' as they rolled up their shirts and displayed their lack of abs and snow white skin for all those who stole a glance,
I did wonder if they were attempting to look sexy or were simply hot!? Wives/girlfriends were holding on to their partners/husbands arms, as most of them tottered by on ridiculously high heels, in a way it is a pleasurable thing to see as having the one child policy, their attentiveness to each other seems to be
more pronounced and as more often than not the grandmother almost takes over the role of mother, their personal relationship is less stressful.

After a while I took out my notebook and started to scratch away with my pen.
Not looking up or around me, it took me a while to notice that I had attracted
an audience. Around eighteen to twenty men and women had formed a semi-circle around me and it was only when I noticed that I was now in the shade, that I looked up. The one poised nearest to me, seemed to be the appointed spokesperson and began to ask questions in a quite flawless English. He wished to know where I was from, what I was doing and if I was a 'Scholar'. Trying hard to repress a smile, I tried to answer his questions as candidly as possible.

Upon hearing I was also from Israel as well as England, he pressed upon me the
point that people from the first were known to be very clever and then proceeded to translate all that I had said into Chinese. Then the last statement
finally made clear to me why I was the 'ultimate' attraction that day, he said
'you write with your left hand!' this was both said as statement and mark of
respect, as people in China, still to this day, write and use primarily their right hand!

An unexpected wonder!

As you disembark from your vehicle, you are greeted by four massive buildings and at first you are a little at a loss as to where to enter first, as of course nothing is written in English. Deciding to enter the one straight in front of me,
I climbed the steps and entered a large darkly lit hallway, passing by the book stall, I entered the inner room.

For a moment, no available space could be found at the chest high wall in front of me and I stood closely next to the backs of those in front of me, waiting for the first available space. After a while and a little impatience on my part as others were crowding into my back, I found a spot andmoved closer. If I say that my mouth fell open in wonderment, you can picture it.

It was not that the sight before my eyes was beautiful, colorful or eye to eye; it was the sheer size of the room! The display hall is the size of two football pitches, surrounded by a low wall, where one can press up against and gaze in wonder at the site before you, take pictures and stare in amazement.

The soldiers are posed in standing, crouching, armed and disarmed positions, some facing in your direction and others in another. Afterwards when one buys
the guide book, all is explained and you understand that these were positions of
battle. At the end of the hall, there are some life sized figures and horses that
can only be seen clearly as you make your way around the hall.

This pit, still being excavated holds both damaged and broken pieces and to think that they were left undiscovered for so many years is mind boggling. To say that they are impressive, is not enough, it is not only that you can see that
they were once of various colored uniforms, or that their faces all hold different
features and expressions, it is the sheer vastness of the pit and you can only stand and imagine how much work and how many people were needed to create this wonder. It left me speechless, astounded and overcome at their force.

A Silent Army

Using my notebook with my student's Chinese translation, I managed to make
myself understood to the hotel staff through a series of gestures and sign language. Numbers of the appropriate buses needed to get me to my appointed
destination were written on a piece of paper and a rough drawing made of where I was to catch them. I set off.......

Along my route, the jostling and shoving was not so bad, almost amusing, as when the passer by turned to look to see who they had pushed, their face was a
picture of astonishment when they saw me calmly walking on!

I alighted the first brightly colored vehicle and took it to the last stop, the train station. Here I got into a little difficulty as I unsure of where exactly to catch my next bus, but finally stepped into the middle of the busy traffic, where a policeman was standing on a white pedestal, covered by a large stripey umbrella, directing the traffic, ad midst honking horns, I casually made my way
to him, pointed to my book and followed his hand instructions to the appropriate stop.

There were masses of people clambering on tour coaches for 35 yuan, but as the
trip was to be solely in Chinese and stopping at many 'tourist shopping stops'
I ventured on the the regular bus, that cost only 11 yuan and would allow me access to any site that I wished to see. The attractions included the Mausoleum of the Emperor, the Spa and Museum, but pressed for time and honestly only
interested in the silent soldiers, I settled down for a long journey.

A number of natives were pushing each other for the 'honor' of sitting next to me, they included a 'yellow' monk, teenagers and a child, minus a nappy of course! I forgot to add that on the flight over, young children were permitted to
alight on the plane, with their little bottoms exposed, both an endearing and
amazing sight.

Finally we reached our stop, the final one on the long and winding road. In truth I enjoyed the drive as I looked out of the window in fascination at all there
was to see along the way. Many a souvenir shop, with memorabilia of all sizes and shapes, but the problem being that here among the historical paths, what seems a great memory, once taken home seems just tacky and money not well spent.

From the bus stop, there was quite a walk back to the entrance of the museum.
I am not sure what I was expecting, but not what I saw. First there were the ticket offices, where the queue was long and squashy, the heat unexpected
and sweaty. After purchasing the collective pass to all the museum, there were
an array of wheelchair bearers, preying on the elderly, offering their services for the next few hours, lamenting how far the walk was to be to the soldiers themselves. I could only admire their ability in forming a business
from the simplest idea.

After you enter through the turnstile, there is a light 'carriage' railway that for
a few yuan will take you to the museum entrance. Of course I was not foolish
enough to attempt walking the distance and got on the train for easy access to
the 'famous' pits.

Thursday, May 22, 2008

An Authentic Place

Labor Day looming, I was at a loss as to what to do with myself for two whole days! For those of you who know me personally, you are well aware that for this 'workaholic' that is too much free time. So after some delibertation and investigation and help from a colleague, I found myself at
the new Terminal 3 airport, bound for Xian.

The new no. 3 building is enormous, well signed and easily accessible. The walk for inland flights
to the gate is not so long, but I have heard that for foreign destinations, the walk is much further.
Deciding that there was no need to take a tour, I had planned my overnight stay carefully. Listing all the possible places of interest that I wished to see, I asked a native student to write
for me in my notebook the name of all the sites in Chinese, that with an easy point of my finger
I would be able to move around without any difficulty.

A short flight later, around two and a half hours, we arrived in the city of Xian. A simple hotel
had been booked by a fellow staff member, and an airport shuttle made easy access into the centre of the city. One hour later, as I disembarked my first thought was "wow, this is China".
The bus itself stops directly opposite a rectangular structure known as the Bell Tower and to the right a short distance away stands an almost identical model, known as the Drum Tower.
Their stance and impressiveness, hung with Chinese decorations, automatically makes you feel
that you have stepped back in time.

Looking around I noticed that the Taxis were green, unlike the yellow and maroon ones of Beijing; outside a restaurant, all the staff stood to attention as the manager gave them the day's
instructions. The Chefs in their tall hats, looking as stiff as their uniforms, were mopping their
brows against the beating sun. This too was a surprise, as in Beijing till that point, that sun rarely shone!

Looking about I noticed that the streets were crowded, lots of tourists seemed to be milling about with maps in hand, you could see they were not locals for they too were standing and staring about at the happy mayhem. Prettily dressed ladies and girls were giggling as they
walked down the streets, holding pastel colored umbrellas aloft as protection from the sun's
glare. It seemed that even in this city, cyclists were able to load their bikes and to my astonish-
ment I even saw one such gentleman on a motorcycle, with a number of gas tanks, smoking a
cigarette!!

As I walked in the direction of what I hoped was my hotel, having no luggage to speak of more
than a bag, there were lots of advertisements for tour buses leaving for some of the sites that
I had listed on my paper, but even though the price was not high, I decided that I wanted to do
the 'Lonely Planet' solitary tour, for in truth one is never alone, there is always someone to stop
and converse to along the way.

The city had a holiday feel to it, full of excitement and smells. To one side a class of roller skating was being held and on the other a mobile phone fashion show, with young models dressed to kill
walking the runway, showing off the latest handset models! The stalls on the streets sold an
assortment of low priced market stall goods and the food stands were absolutely pressed upon
by eager awaiting clients for their tasty goodies, but first I had to find and check into my hotel,
disengage myself from my bag and set off in search of what I had truly come to visit..........
'The Terracotta Soldiers".

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

An Act of God

My blog has been silent, yet there is so much to say. There are no easy words to
express the daily horrors on the news following the earthquake disaster of last
week. It is hard for you back home or in other parts of the world to fathom or
visualise the havoc and despair that has been put upon the inhabitants of the areas that were hit by the quake and the outpouring of grief and sorrow of the
people as a nation.

One has to have a heart of stone not to be moved by the sights shown and the
stories of bravery and miracles told, not only in the newspapers and on the news, but from person to person as each has read or heard of some moving
story that they wish to share. For those of us who have lived through war,
terrorism and in a politically vibrant country, we can well identify with their
pain and loss. For those who have suffered at the hands of any kind of natural
disaster, you can appreciate too the tragedy that has occurred here.

It has been eye opening to see a country that is most of the time smiley and
positive, to be at a loss as to what to do and an outpouring of monies and blood
have found their way into the respective banks. But as the days pass and the hope of finding further people alive begins to dim, thoughts are turned towards
the question of 'what is to be done with all this money?'.

As for those of us who live in the west well know, misappropriation of funds is
common, not necessarily intentionally, but because in an aim to satisfy all needs, the money in hand is not always used appropriately and often those in dire need, are left bereft of even basic facilities and commodities.

For this reason, I have already said it to my students and I say it again for all my
Chinese readers, collect funds and purchase practical items. Toys (which child
does not want their own ball or teddy bear), books, non-perishable food stuffs
such as flour, rice, instant noodles, coffee, tea etc.... that can be stores and distributed to people individually, so giving them a glimmer of self dignity and
pride.

For those of you who wish to continue to fund the area in the months to come, set up a fund with friends, or colleagues then wait till the sum has reached an
amount that you are able to put to practical use and buy necessary equipment
either for schools, kindergartens, invalids etc... In truth there is no end to the
amount of requirements of these evacuees.

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Disappearing Act

Hi there everyone, thank you for your concern that I disappeared and for that I apologise. A lot has happened over the last two weekends and I have been unable to get to the computer to write in the latest events, both in China and
abroad, but will be uploading all the details in the next few days. I appreciate your interest and patience.

Let us suffice to say, that during the May Labor break I took my first baby steps into the 'authentic' China and I am not sure who was the greater relic, myself or the antiquities that I went to see. It seems that blonde's who are left handed, wear a skirt and short socks and are not young and travelling alone, seem to attract a lot of unwanted attention!

Next the 'visa' almost impossible situation of pre- Olympic mania, has forced me
to leave China and go to seek the 'important' pictorial stamp in ones passport
elsewhere. So documentation + in hand I travelled home to see my brood (kids) and grand-'kiddie', which was both an event and delight.

Returning proved to be in itself a story, both of delays and unexpected happenings, flying through the Ukraine and finally landing, delayed of course,
in China and back at work, sitting on my favorite computer chair and position at the computer, writing to you all.

But alas, as the hour is late and I still have to travel home and be up and about
for work early on the morrow, I beg your further indulgence and will begin to relate my adventures in a couple of days. Looking forward to your continued
logging in to my stories and your comments too...... Beverley

Saturday, May 3, 2008

A moment of frustration

It was a hot and sweltering day. Having lived for four months further north, it was quite a
shock to head down south and feel the difference in temperature. Stepping off the plane after
an hour and a half flight, the pilot informed us that the temperature was 20 degrees. By Israeli
standards that was not too hot, so I stepped off the plane quite confident that the clothes that
I had brought would be suitable for my trip.

I had chosen a mixed wardrobe of a floral skirt, made of thin material, a sleeveless top that was
covered with a summer weight crochet sweater. I had brought with me a summer Lycra shirt
to wear in case the days were a little warmer. Upon arrival at my hotel, I was already a mess.
The sun albeit shining, was casting a humidity that was totally unexpected after the pollution
and greyness of Beijing. Even though the days were bright and sunny, it was as if the sun did
not even 'kiss' my skin, but bounced off and left no mark.

On the other hand, the claustrophobic feeling cause by the amount of people on the streets and the warmness of the city, left me dashing for the shower and a change of top, before I embarked
on the rest of my tour. As to where I went and what I saw I shall save for now, but share instead
what conclusions I drew as to why I appeared to be the greater point of interest than the historic site (The Terracotta Soldiers) that I had come to see.

After getting tired of the stares, pointing and occasional laughter of the Chinese who do not consider it rude to openly come up and stand next to you, obviously discussing you in great detail, either gesturing with fingers or outright stares, I wrote down some words to alleviate my frustration. It is possible that they do not believe that foreigners have feelings, for you do not
see them staring at each other in the same fashion and however hard it is to be understanding, it
can at times be most trying, so I wrote.....

''Now let me count the ways that I am a curiosity to them (the Chinese).
I'm blond, not young, wear a skirt, short colorful socks and shoes (they wear flesh colored nylons), I ignore them (most of the time), I don't use an umbrella as a protection against the sun, I write English and most incredibly...... with my left hand!

They on the other hand, mostly wear jeans, except for the older men that wear pants above
the waist line pulled in tightly with a belt, use umbrellas, both male and female, are afraid of the sun, clutch on to each other as a definition of togetherness or possessiveness, stare as if you are an alien and not just a white female (although I do concede that I do not look 'run of the mill')
let their children of young age, up to around four run around without underpants or nappy, give a push or shove that can send you sprawling or flying as they clamber to get on the bus first.....
so who's strange?

Honestly, at times it is endearing, but at others trying, it is really hard not to get a little
more than offended at times. What will be when it comes to the Olympics I ask myself?
Maybe I shall by then fade into the background?!




A mixed race

In a country with 56 'races' or 'lineage', it is surprising to discover that out of this large number
the majority comes from the Han line and the other 55 are the minorities! I must admit that it
made me think of the 12 Tribes of the Jewish people, as today we know only of the Priests, Temple custodians and the general population. From exactly which tribe we come, we have no
way of knowing, as they are known as the 10 lost tribes after the destruction of the Temple and the exile that was forced upon them, their settlement unknown. When asking a student from which line he was from, he proudly told me the Han and when I asked further how he knew, he reported from his parents of course.

It seems that in all paths of civilisation we have always looked back at our roots and heritage, today it has become fashionable even to be able to delve into an archive and trace back your family tree and history, in my family, on my father's side, from time to time I receive a phone call asking for further updates of my brood, that they too can be listed on the ever growing family tree. Pictures and a map was sent to members of the family to be able to go and visit
former family graves in Prague and at that particular spot my own sister (Israel) and first
cousin (Canada) happened to meet purely by chance, at the same time.

Who you are, where you come from has always mattered, whether it be to Jew, Christian,
Arab, Chinese etc.. pride is our backbone, but can also be our downfall. How pleasant it was
to read that the Japanese Head of State, wishes to attend the Olympic ceremony and finally
try and let bygones be bygones in a gesture of friendship, reminiscent of the days of Sadat
and Begin.

The people of China are such a mixed nation, falling into categories of Traditional, Post Reform
and the newer, younger generation. A mixed salad of different eating habits, dress, openess and
fear of the west and what it represents and brings. Some are suspicious of what I may say and the influence that I can have, others welcome my openess with outstretched arms.

After travelling a little in China these last couple of days, due to the Labor Day holiday, I came back with excitement and frustration. The first because at last in the city of xian I saw what we
Westerners would call authentic Chinese Culture and the latter because I appeared to be the
greater attraction than the sites that I went to see!!!

On one side, after waking up in the morning feeling like a 'frizzed' out 'blob', I could at least take pride in the fact that not being a 'model' figure of any size or proportion, I at least had a look and hair that people seem to remember! I am sure that now, together with the brief description
passed around from taxi driver to taxi driver, I must now grace a few thousand picture albums whether it be on the computer or hand held!

Some would ask if they could pose together with me, others would take when they thought I wasn't looking. As I observed other westerners passing me by, I did not notice that they were
receiving the same attention! So as to why? I will share that with you in the next installment.