culture – Page 5 – HurricaneMaine

Dim sum, Diwali, and TedX

This was another foodie and experience weekend. I’m training (sort of) for a marathon. I can’t train fully as I still have a chronic hamstring issue. But I can run a half marathon and if I go slower I could run the full marathon. At worst, I can run and walk it and still finish in the time limit. It will be my one and only marathon and it is here in Guangzhou. I ran the half there last year. Crazy but up for the challenge.

After my 9 km morning run I had a leadership class on assessment at 8 am. At least I get the class done early enough in the morning. After that I went to dim sum with colleagues at the Luck Win Teahouse. Dim sum is the same in a lot of places. They have the same foods which you share as a table and sample everything. Each dim sum restaurant though has their one special dish you can’t get anywhere else.

You scan the code to order and then also to pay. So convenient.

This was the amazing dish that is a specialty here. A fried dough that is hollow on the inside and filled with a warm sweet coconut milk. Yummy.

Other dishes we ate:

This is fried radish. It was so good. Better than fried tofu or potatoes.

This had shrimp inside and was cooked perfectly.

This was really good. The rice roll on the outside is made with red rice.

Then off to a doctor’s appointment to check on the 4 stitches in my head (I had a cyst cut out the afternoon before. How many do I need in my lifetime?). I walked home and passed this little farmers market. I bought honey. The day before I stopped and bought pumpkins.

I went to a Diwali dinner that night but had to leave to go to another event. Shalini and Sai are wonderful people I’ve been working with while they help until all our teachers are back. A great night with authentic Indian food and spending time with friends and the meaning of the festival of lights and dispelling dark.

The next day was TedX Guangzhou at the Garden Hotel. It was a pretty long day but some great messages from a variety of speakers. They had translator devices we could use. The gardens there are beautiful. (Pictures a few paragraphs below.)

The theme was Embracing complexity. The first session was: It’s about us. It focused on having empathy for our own transformations. Another speaker spoke of the kids lack of connection with the natural world and the result we see in how students and people think about one another and the resources around them.

The second session was Nitty Gritty. One message about climate change is that it is all around us and how small changes in temperature have made large changes where others are not aware. Another speaker spoke of complexity in systems from large scale (Earth) to small scale (cells). The energy constraints on systems are a common property as well as feedback loops. Another speaker spoke of protecting animals, and not just the cute ones. An educator spoke of perception opening hearts and ensuring that education is not indifferent. I like the speaker on the food crisis. She engaged with people to make the point of knowing where raw materials come from, learn recipes, make food, eat, clean up…. It brings up the motto from 4-H: head, heart, and hands….. Know how everything is used and what it takes to bring food to our table.

Lunch was delicious and I followed it with a walk around the gardens.

The third was Full Spectrum. There were many messages here including migrants who want a better life and should be trusted that they are motivated to do just that. It also discussed economics such as inflation and other items that affect society.

I chose a breakout session where we broke in groups to find evidence of various things in a neighborhood. We then moved around groups to look at what each group found and heard interesting stories as each group interacted with people differently. There were some common assessments of the neighborhood and similar stories from the residents.

The fourth session was Onward and Upward. It focused on high density areas that are dealing with high livability issues. It also looked at serious environmental issues and local groups stopping destruction of old neighborhoods and environmental areas.

Food and friends

I am grateful to have a variety of friends from different activities and tours I have been in since arriving in China. They all have found incredible places to eat.

I am eating out more and more and enjoying the amazing delicious food in this city (it is really renowned for is cuisine and variety).

I started last weekend in a Friday afternoon at a golf driving range. I didn’t take pictures but I had such a great time whacking at a ball and talking with coworkers I don’t see everyday over snacks and drinks.

The next morning I juggled a long run with a leadership course in assessment. Of course there was homework, but afterwards I met my friend Morgana and co-worker Dirk for British day. If course there were fish and chips and pints of beer.

At night there were long established plans to go to a 2 star Michelin restaurant at the Mandarin Oriental hotel. The restaurant is called Jiang by Chef Fei. It is an amazing restaurant.

Drinks in the upstairs bar while others arrived. They have an unbelievable selection of gin.

Netherlands, Germany, UK, Canada, NZ, Singapore, and US represented here.

Part of the 9 course set meal some chose.

When did arrived and everyone takes pictures!

Some photo shots afterwards. We crowded into an elevator that had a bellman and trolley. He did not know what to make of us squeezing in that way instead of waiting for another elevator.

Downstairs in the Mandarin Oriental.

I also went to dinner on Sunday with my friend Elaine. She knows of a great Thai place in Po Park. The fish curry was amazing. So hungry we forgot to takes pictures. Another highlight was sitting in the Tesla cars in the mall.

Another dinner a day later at a different Cantonese restaurant to start the week.

Apple shrimp, a great mushroom fish, and a casserole with crab roe.

And more window shopping… This place was a one stop shop for a bunch of things. Stationary, snacks, wine (right next to the toys)…

Looking in a clothing store brought back memories of shopping for similar flannels for the kids and I to wear for the holidays….. Miss my family….

Kaiping

I traveled with Global friendship and Pachamama tour to a village outside of Kaiping for day of the dead celebrations. It was a two plus hour bus ride out of the city.

Kaiping area is home to hundreds of unique Diaolou-fortress watchtowers. They were used to protect the city from invaders and we’re built during the second world eat and with conflict with Japan. Kaiping is the hometown to many overseas Chinese many of which have an interest in maintaining and finding use for the many abandoned buildings. The villages are historic and surrounded by agriculture and traditional way of life. The Diaolou and villages are enlisted as UNESCO World Heritage sites.

Tangkou village

The TK-SPACE is a communal space for international people to get together and learn and interact in rural practices and developments.

Two old factories were renovated to build this hostel and restaurant. The largest part was an old watch factory and the other made lampshades.

The place was already decorated for Halloween.

We had lunch and settled in then took a walk around the village where the abandoned buildings and diaolous. Many of the buildings the owners cannot be found or descendents won’t spend money to transfer ownership. As all the owners here are from other countries many are not here anymore and are elderly.

The design asking the to of not in concrete but of pressed rice and has survived the years.

Wet painting. While the concrete is wet, the paint is applied and they must work fast. The color stays many decades later.

This old place is like a mansion. So sad to see it empty.

This is the post office and all collect calls in the area came here which means they needed to be arranged in advance.

The Diaolou.

An old Diaolou. There is writing on the wall from 1946 where soldiers used this as a hideout during the war and to keep a lookout for japanese.

In every rice field there will be an altar for good crops and always near a banyan tree which must never be cut down.

The flowers and seeds (rice) in this rice paddy. You know how you cook rice or open a rice package and smell the rice? Standing next to the rice paddy, that is what you smell…

We painted pumpkins or skulls and are mexican day if the dead bread made as gifts to leave for the dead on Nov. 1.

Day of the dead party

Morning run

We ran from village to village for a 10k run the next morning and saw this moon. It was the first full moon that fell on Halloween since 1944. The picture here in the morning is better than the one I took at night.

I also went through a UNESCO area but did not take pictures. Unfortunately we did not go back there later that day.

After breakfast, we toured the crops. This place leases land to villagers and then buys back the produce for their center. They supply jobs and economic incentives.

This rice is within two weeks of harvest.

This bathroom is state of the art for the area and had brought in tourism as a result.

In front of this Diaolou is water chestnuts.

Bunlos Resort, Yangjiang

I went on a banana tour to a resort this last weekend and was so happy to see friends from my school and dear friends from other schools I don’t see often enough!

This will be a great resort when it is fully open. It was a soft opening so not all stores and restaurants were open. But to be able to walk on the beach, swim in pools, and be with friends it was a great weekend.

The infinity pool at the top is nice. A typhoon was off shore so the weather changed constantly.

I enjoyed the pool off of the beach even more.

Fresh watermelon juice just blended with no sugar.

There is a rock path that leads to a cliff pool. We walked the path but did not pay to enter the pool.

For dinner we bought beer and take our and ate in one of the rooms so we could have good conversations and company.

Some other pictures of walking around the beach.

The breakfast buffet was good! I especially liked the steamed buns. The purple taro ones had date filling inside. The black ones were chocolate with a nut filling. The rice rolls are a local specialty and have shredded cabbage inside.

The Nanhai Maritime silk road museum was interesting and they recovered many artifacts from the sunken ship. The ship sank in 1000 AD.

The maritime silk road connected China with the Middle East and Europe. It takes its name from ‘Nanhai’ – the South China Sea. The wreck is in exceptional condition as a container was placed around it under sea and a bottom added. They then lifted the whole thing out and excavation is now done in the museum where people can watch. Quite the undertaking. It is thought to contain 60,000 to 80,000 precious pieces of cargo, especially ceramics.

Outside the museum is another beach and local merchants.

Xi’an city wall and the Big Goose Pagoda

The Xi’an wall is the most complete city wall that has survived in China. It is also one of the largest ancient military defensive systems in the world. It was originally built in 1370 after the establishment of the Ming dynasty.

Every 120 meters, there is a rampart which extends out from the main wall. All together, there are 98 ramparts, which were built to defend against the enemy climbing up. Each rampart has a sentry building, in which the soldiers could protect the entire wall without exposing themselves to the enemy. Besides, the distance between every two ramparts is just within the range of an arrow shot from either side, so that they could shoot the enemy, who wanted to attack the city, from the side. On the outer side of the wall, there are 5,948 crenellations, namely battlements. The soldiers can outlook and shoot at the enemy. On the inner side, parapets were built to protect the soldiers from falling off.
https://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/shaanxi/xian/citywall.htm

Walking from the apartment we passed the bell tower, which has shows.

We also walked past the moat on the outside to get to the ticket office on the south gate.

They have floating gardens using hydroponics.

After paying to get into the wall, we looked at some of the artifacts then went on top of the wall.

The original wall which stands about one story tall.

You can also rent a bike to cycle the 13.7 km around the top. We rented the bikes and bikes the whole way around. Pretty hot outside.

Really and stairs for horses and soldiers.

The original city is to the right of all the pictures. The expanded city has taller buildings on the outside than the buildings on the left.

These are pictures of a Buddhist temple inside the old city wall.

Preschoolers were walking in the wall as well.

Walking at the bottom of the north side of the wall.

Soldiers and horses can make it to the top of the wall.

East wall

Later in the afternoon we went to visit the Big Goose Pagoda. It was closed but we walked around to visit the sights.

Columns depicting the various dynasties

We walked through the area around the pagoda.

There was a performance that showed the east meeting the west on the silk road.

At night we went back to the Muslim Quarter to find dinner. These dragons caught our eye. They were putting out water droplets to cool people off. The second one led to a store behind it.

Cave village in the suburbs of Xi’an

Clarence drove us to caves after the Temple and before we arrived to see the warriors. He was setting the stage for really old rural Xi’an life dating back 5000 years. The villagers today have stayed in these caves living a simple life and pass it down to their families. 20 families live here.

Clarence. Or tour guide and owner of the apartments. Really nice guy.

Inside the cave is one big room with other rooms behind it.

The kitchen is outside and on the right you can push and pull the bellows to fan the flames.

The old woman has already prepared hey coffin for when she dies.

Like the Japanese, they use hard surfaces for a pillow. Here they use a smooth rock.

This is used to measure the weight of produce as they are farmers that sell to people in the market.

Community bathroom. To the right are did kennels. Unfortunately, one villager breeds dogs to sell for dog fighting. Yes they are pit bulls which are illegal in China.

They have walnut trees and many others. In the front is pomegranate. Behind is a persimmon tree.

Ba Xian An, Temple of the 8 immortals

This is the biggest Taoist temple in Xi’an and is a famous Taoist architecture in northwest China. This was built in the Song Dynasty but the fastest renovation was in the Qing Dynasty. This place is very peaceful and serene and why I was attracted to chinese culture.

Outside of the Temple were antique sellers on the outer streets leading to the temple.

The immortals are legendary in Chinese mythology. Each immortals power can be transferred to a vessel to bestow life or destroy evil. One of the immortals is female. The may have been named after the 8 immortal scholars in the Han Dynasty.

The paintings in the ceiling are impressive.

Taoism is based upon the writing of Lao-tzu from the 6th century BC. It is based upon humility, living in harmony with the Tao, and religious piety. It is the oldest religion in the world and as much philosophy as it is religion:

It emphasizes doing what is natural and “going with the flow” in accordance with the Tao (or Dao), a cosmic force which flows through all things and binds and releases them.
https://www.ancient.eu/Taoism/

Taoist temples are usually not in cities but in mountains which makes this one special. It is said you will meet the immortals when on the bridge.

The eye on left hand off this sculpture means it can tell whether you are a good or bad person.

The colors of the faces have particular meaning. Green stands for green dragon and is the god of east. The white tiger is the god of the west. The black turtle is the god of the north. The red bird is the one for the south.

When die you go to the west as sun sets.

Taoist people wear their long hair in a knot on the top of the head. This was also seen in the terracotta warriors as that was the religion back then.

This is the oldest religion. All other religions were brought to China on the silk road. As I walked through a passage, people would put their hands in specific phrases on this plaque. You can see where people touch the most.

Terracotta warriors, Xi’an

Before we went to see the terracotta warriors, we ate at a restaurant nearby. They had lots of warrior copies. Clarence, the guy who rented us the apartment was our tour guide.

The Terracotta Warriors in Xi’an, are life-size terra cotta sculptures in battle formations, reproducing the imperial guard troops of Emperor Qin Shi Huang (259 – 210BC), the first emperor of the first unified dynasty of Imperial China. He conquered the 6 warring kingdoms in the east and took them over to unify China. He was a brutal emperor. Each warrior was different and resembles his army.

It was a funerary project started at the time at the age of 13 to protect him in his afterlife. He became emperor at 22 and resigned for 37 years. He ordered the construction of the Great Wall and his 100 km high mausoleum in the mountain.

Found in 1974 by farmers digging a well, it is considered the most important archaeological find of the 20th century. They were discovered many times before but since this area was originally Taoist, many thought that it would be bad luck to dig it up as they thought it was a temple or were afraid something would happen to it. There were too many farmers in 1974 there to keep it quiet and as the cultural revolution had happened there was less chance that it would be destroyed.

All of the warriors have their hair in a bun. This is characteristic of Taoist people.

The figures vary in height depending upon their roles, with the generals being the tallest. Flowing rivers were simulated by using mercury in his tomb. The soils there do show mercury contamination.

Originally the warriors were half under ground and then a roof was put on. They took the forest away to make pits. After they were buried, the erosion of clay over time buried them deeper at 8 meters. 72,000 slaves were used to build this.

Xiang yu created an uprising after he died and broke into the mausoleum. However there are other theories. The weapons, chariots, and roof were made of wood and generally you burn the body and things for the afterlife. Some believe that they were burnt first then buried. The flank guards face out to protect the guards and they were the statues more intact. Theory is that the clay is harder on the outside than the inside and therefore did not collapse over time like other areas. If it had been broken into and destroyed, those flank men would not have stayed in such good condition.

This section is just being excavated. They remove pieces to put together in a different section, then place the warriors back in position when finished.

Imprints of the wood beams in the clay. Chariots were made of wood and not survived. Warrior with hands holding in front are holding weapons.

The vanguard is along the front of Pit 1. They are the archers. Others are holding spears. Those that have the armor is the infantry.

Those facing it were flankmen to watch the sides.

This cutout area is where coffins were buried long before 1974. Heads are missing around where the coffins were. When they dug, they would cause damage to the warriors. Back then when they found a piece they thought it was from a temple because of Taoist past beliefs. They did not mention what they found.

Coffin inside still in this one part. The wood is gone, but the bones remain.

All the warriors were broken this way and then restored.

Area of restoration as they search for pieces. All of the warriors are numbered by GPS.

Each warrior is 150 to 300 kg.

Remains of the burnt wooden ceiling from 2200 years ago. But maybe burnt as Taoist burial first then buried.

Imprint of wheel from a chariot though the wooden wheel is long gone.

Print of crossbow.

Horses.

Workers scanning pieces.

Pit 3 was found in 1976. This is the original ground level. The picture below shows how they were found at the beginning.

Bodyguards of the emperor.

4 horses with 4 people for a chariot. They used colors and sounds (drum, gong) to tell movements like retreat and direction to move.

The ramp at the bottom left was used to bring the warriors in by chariot. There were 11 entrances.

You can see the grooves from the chariot at the bottom of this area.

Given the area, it would have been better to bury so if these in a cave. It would make sense why they would create a wood city as there is a burning ritual for burial.

This tomb is from the Han dynasty. Holes in the chat were created with an auger to determine the she and whether there were warriors present.

Kneeling Archer was one if the most interact pieces. It was preserved better as since it was lower to the ground there were less forces from the top.

Officer.

The representation if the horse show they had saddles back then but not stirrups. This was an archer.

To small bronze chariots were found and signify the carrying of soul back to palace. This was found on the other side of the tomb and they face westward as the sun sets to the west.

Xi’an had been the capital of many dynasties as this was the seat of power after this first emperor reigned.

Silk road extended, Xi’an and the terracotta warrior apartments

Despite a little trouble on the airplane with extra requirements as we were foreigners, the rest of the trip was uneventful. I am really beginning to wonder what the narrative serves by thinking that only foreigners moving around need scrutinized and not Chinese. They have to register with the app like we do, but they do not need to be virus tested before traveling or having to show the date when we arrived back to China.

Regardless, we found someone to help us register the health code on the plane and the owner of the apartment picked us up. He gave us history of Xi’an.

His apartment is called Warrior pit 1 (he also has a Warrior pit 2). As a tour director for decades, he outfitted the apartment with clay warrior sculptures.

Entrance

The backsides of these waitress are in the bathroom!

Living area

Bedroom

Bathroom

We went out to the Muslim quarter to look for food.

Bags of ice in China are small amounts of ice cubes not like the big bags in the US.

The poor little squids. I already ate the larger one.

Fun with the warriors

Relaxing in the apartment we thought of funny things to do with the warriors. We will think of more…

Silk road tour, day 7, Mogao Caves and Dunhuang (Gobi desert)

We traveled 5 hours to get to Dunhuang from Zhangye. Dunhuang is a city oasis which just pops out of the Gobi desert sand.

The next morning we took a short trip to the Modao Caves. I am glad to have been okay if a tour as the number of types of tickets are restricted. Mogao means high up in the desert.

According to Tang Dynasty (618 – 907) records, a wandering monk in 366 AD had witnessed a vision of thousand Buddhas under showers of golden rays. Inspired, he started the caves construction work that spanned ten dynasties. Mogao Caves are also known as the Caves of a Thousand Buddhas.

This is the largest treasure of Buddhist art in the world. The earlier caves are more of the Indian style of Buddhist depiction with more Chinese style in later works. Each dynasty can be distinguished by the colors and cultural depictions in the paintings. It also have a glimpse of culture, politics, religion, and the arts. There are 492 caves from the 4th to the 14th centuries. They were actually forgotten for 500 years with some vandalism. Only 20 of the caves can be visited. No pictures are allowed and groups can only enter certain caves as long as temperature and humidity are stable there.

Caves 23 of the Tang dynasty show workers in the fields.

The unique artistic style of Dunhuang art is not only a blend of Han Chinese artistic styles assimilated from ancient Indian and Gandharan customs, but also an integration of the arts of the Turks, ancient Tibetans and other Chinese ethnic minorities.

The discovery of the Library Cave at the Mogao Caves in 1990, together with the tens of thousands of manuscripts and relics it contained, has been acclaimed as the world’s greatest discovery of ancient Oriental culture. This significant heritage provides invaluable reference for studying the complex history of ancient China and Central Asia.

Cave 61 is the largest. You can view it here: https://www.e-dunhuang.com/cave/10.0001/0001.0001.0061

It depicts Mount Wutai with a large scale map that depicts daily life. The Grand Buddha sculpture is from the Tang Dynasty which shows elegant architecture.

Cave 329 shows oxidation of the paint used for the faces where lead paint was used and turned black over the years. The art can be found here: https://www.e-dunhuang.com/cave/10.0001/0001.0001.0329

Caves 16-17 are 3 stories restored in 1906. They found sanskrit manuscripts of medicine, astronomy, and geology. Only 8000 exist in Gansu and Beijing; the rest being taken by explorers to other countries. They were held in cave 16 a non-descript monks cave off of 17, which can be seen here: https://www.e-dunhuang.com/cave/10.0001/0001.0001.0017

Monks living area today are caves with no murals.

Song dynasty preserved the murals on the outside facade of these caves.

In cave 259 you can see architecture from the Wei dynasty. There is an influence from India and gabled ceilings. The sculpture is 5th century. It boasts alot of blue from Afghanistan (Lapis lazuli) and the sculpture is the Pensive bodhisivata.

Cave 257 is also the 5th century and in the same style. It can be seen here: https://www.e-dunhuang.com/cave/10.0001/0001.0001.0257

The 9 stories pagoda was built in the Tang Dynasty but only colors have been restored. The Buddha is 35 m high. It was the 5th largest Buddha in the world but 2 in Afghanistan were bombed by the Taliban so now it is the 3rd largest. It is the future Buddha known as Maitreya. This is the bodhisattva who will appear on Earth in the future, achieve complete enlightenment, and teach the pure dharma.

Paintings found around it were destroyed when the roof collapsed.

Cave 23