Brass chariots at the Terra cotta warriors museum

This is just one of the two brass chariots unearthed as part of the Terra Cotta warriors dig. It is half size and behind glass, so the photo is a bit blurry. The detail on them is amazing.

TerraCotta Warriors

TWhile in Xi'an we visited the huge Terracotta Warriors museum and archeological dig. It is amazing! Thousands and thousands of life size statues of warriors in this huge larger than a foot ball field building are standing in rows. The photos do not do the exhibit justice so I'm including one from a "factory" where replicas are made. The statues were made for the 1st emperor of China (221 BC) so they are really, really old. One of the many amazing things about them is they have not found any two with the same facial features (they have uncovered and pieced together to some extent) over 6000 warriors. This is still an on-going dig, so more is being discovered.

Mogao Grottoes, Dunhuang, Gansu

I know i was tired that day (after the train ride), but back to Dunhuang on October 5th when we visited the Mogao Grottoes. Theya re a series of over 600 caves that were carved into a mountain side by Buddhists. Each cave that we went in  (about 10 or so) has statues of Buddha along with paintings on the wall. They were very impressive, but I'm sorry to say after a while (several hours!) we were a little tired of them. They were made between the 4th and 11th centuries. They even found some early buddhist manuscripts. Unfortunately the caves were discovered by European explorers (and 1 American) in the early 1900s and many treasures taken away. Photos were not allowed in the caves, so the photo is of the exterior.

Xi'an

We arrived in Xi'an the evening of the 5th. We went directly to the Dynasty Hotel, from which we could see the old city wall. In the foyer, at the top of some stairs, is a statue of Qin Shi Huandi, the emperor of China who united the country in 221 B.C. The hotel was lovely with clean rooms and a wonderful buffet breakfast in the morning. 

First thing in the morning of October 6th we went on the tour bus to the city wall and gate. The walls were built in 1370 during the Ming dynasty. 

Rug making in Dunhuang

We spent a little time in a rug making and selling facility in Dunhuang before boarding a flight in the afternoon for Xi'an. The rug she is making is of silk. The prices were good, but we didn't purchase one.

Gobi desert and camel rides to Crescent Moon Lake

After a night train ride form the trian station near Turpan (out of town half an hour) we arrived in Leychang, a station town, at 4 am, took the tour bus to Dunhang in Gansu province for breakfast at a hotel before going out on the Gobi desert. We took rides on bactrian camels (2 hump - more comfortable than the 1 hump) to near Crescent Moon lake. Some people had set up sand slide rides (sort of like going down a hill on snow) so David rented a tire and went down. It was a very warm day after a cool night.  We were very tired all day. The soft-sleeper (4 berths to a cabin) was comfortable, but it was difficult to sleep and then be up so early. The ride on the bus was jolting so sleep was impossible. We did enjoy the day.

Turpan Mosque and Minaret

The last site we visited in Turpan was an Iranian style mosque and minaret, the Imin Ta. Imin Ta, the minaret was built in 1778 and the stairway closed in 1989 after an earthquake threatened to destroy it. The brick work on the minaret is lovely with many variations. The mosque is beautifully simple.

Tuyugou Valley village

After visiting the Gaochang ancient city we drove for about 30 minutes to a modern village perched higher on the hillside above the desert. The photos are quite large so it is difficult to send. One is of the interior of a home. I'll see what else I can send but it may only be the one photo. Also, it looks like our "china Journal" is picking up our postings so try it as we won't keep sending these emails to you unless you write and say you want them (can't see the blogjournal Or whatever).

Gaochang City

Another ancient city lies near Turpan. We drove out on the morning of October 5th to see it. We traveled by donkey carts from the visitor center (a bazaar, really) to the city. It, too, was destroyed by muslim invaders. It had been an important military city for the Chinese empire at one time. Unlike Jiaohe that was built by tunneling, Gaochang was built with bricks. 

Karze and Jiaohe

We visited a Karze museum. The Karze is an ancient (well over 2000 years old) method of irrigation. The people in this desert area dug wells on the slope from the mountains towards the Turpan area. The wells were dug at intervals with an underground tunnel connecting them and then where needed they would have the water surface to provide water for people and crops. It was amazing to see how it was done. I've included a photo of one of the underground channels of water. This is one of the driest (and lowest areas) on earth, yet they have these wonderful grapes and other crops.  The Karze is still used today - we could see the mounds of wells in our travels.

We also visited the ancient city of Jiaohe which was built on  a plateau overlooking a river. It was made by people tunneling into the soil and forming huge buildings. It had been a large city, but was destroyed  by muslims who wanted the Buddhist residents to change their religion.

Turpan and grapes

On the 4th of October we drove to Turpan in the morning on a very nice modern highway. There wasn't much traffic in this remote area of China. We arrived in Turpan, a desert city, in time for lunch. We also visited a place where we could see grapes grown and buy some raisins if we chose to. The family gave us other fruit (watermelon and a melon like a honey dew), plus raisin samples.Our guide, Jack, (he may be in a photo with the grapes) said Turpan has the best raisins in the world. He is right! They were expensive, but the sweetest, tastiest raisins we had ever tasted. There were many varieties; form tiny ones that are supposed to be used for medicine to large seeded ones. All were good. Lunch was good, but just another Chinese meal. The restaurant had some statues of a caravan (silk road) and of a huge nang bread. The hotel in Turpan was the best in the city (3 star), but had very worn carpets, leaky toilets and just not well maintained. it would easily be a 4 or 5 star with updating!

Uygur program

On the evening of October 3rd we went to a delicious buffet dinner that was followed by Uyghur performers. I'm only putting a couple of photos in. Most of the performances were dancing, but there was one on a musical instrument, a couple of singers, and even an 8 year old boy who did a tight rope walk above some of the dinner tables. There was alarge group of Chinese attending and surprise - they were from California!

The Heavenly Lake in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region

After traveling all day (flew from Qingdao to Shanghai and Shanghai to Urumqi) we arrived in Xinjiang on October 2nd. The next morning we took the tour bus for a 2 hour ride into the high mountains outside the city to The Heavenly Lake. It was a beautiful ride. We saw a few domestic herds of camels along the highway. Much of the landscape until we went into the mountainous area is like Utah or Idaho. The lake is very lovely and is considered sacred by the people. There is a Taoist temple on one side of the lake and several small temples on the mountains, also. We went for a 20 minute boat ride out from the shore so we could see  a little further. I'm not sure if you can see on one of the photos, but there are snow covered peaks at one end of the lake.

Near the bus was a small market where we saw lamb hanging and also nang bread being made. We bought some of the flat bread with sesame seeds on top and loved it! it is a Uygur bread similar to Indian nan bread. Everyone in our group kept asking for this bread! We were able to buy it throughout the Western area. 

The Xingiang province is made up of about 70% Uygur minority people (their language and appearance is Turkish rather than Chinese). Uygur is spelled several different ways and pronounced sort of Weghur. There are about 20% Han (Chinese) and the last 10% are various other minorities. This is the area that had some rioting in July, but it was safe now. Many of the minorities, especially the Uygurs, are Muslim so we saw a number of mosques in the city. Urumqi (pronounced in Mondgolian as Urumshi or Uygur as Wulumuchi) is made up of a higher percentage of Chinese than the rest of the area. it is a modern with lots of high buildings.

Moon Festival

The moon festival is celebrated this weekend (Oct 2 or 3rd). It is an important old festival when people like to go to their homes if possible. They also give mooncakes in elaborate packaging to others. The photos show a display in a store, a close up of a mooncake and then of a package we were given by the International office at the university(2 shots, 1 with just the inside with some items opened and then one with the lid and also the interior). We like some of the mooncakes but others we don't care for the fillings.

Temple and Pagoda

About a 20 minute walk from our apartment we found the Tian Hou Temple (Marine Goddess). We haven't been inside yet, but we loved the very Chinese architecture so had to send a photo. It was originally built in 1467. Most of Qingdao is very modern so it was fun to see a very old building.

The other photos are of Zhanqiao Pier, built in the late 19th century. The Pavillion was added in the 1930s and for years was the symbol of Qingdao. We left our apartment at 6 am and when we arrived at the pier there were already Chinese tourists and vendors with goods layed out along the pier. Before 7 am the ticket office for the Pavillion was open (we hadn't brought enough money to go inside). It was all very interesting! We even saw people doing Tai Chi along the paths near the ocean. They had Chinese music playing so it really added to the atmosphere.

Arrival in China

Our trip to China include a long (7 or 8 hour) layover in the beautiful Seoul, Korea airport. We had photos taken in Korean costume at one of the kiosks set up by the Korean government to show their culture.

As we flew in to Qingdao we could see the beautiful city below. Qingdao means green island (it isn't an island, but has many green trees and beautiful parks). It covers a huge area, but this photo shows the area near where we live.

At the Qingdao airport we were greeted by several people, including Charles (far right) a graduate student who had communicated with us for several months. He brought some friends to help with bags. He has continued to be a great help in learning our way around the city and getting things working (internet, etc.)

Qingdao

We arrived in Qingdao, China on August 28th after a long flight and then a long layover in Seoul, Korea. We were met by Charles, a graduate student, who has been helpful to China Teachers Program teachers in the past. We were tired, but after a short rest Charles took us to a shop nearby to buy fruit and vegetables and to find a small restaurant.

We were missing 2 bags so our unpacking didn't take too long, although most of the things the previous teachers left had been stored and  needed unpacking. We arrived 2 weeks ago and now can get around fairly well. There are 3,752 buses and 187 routes so it is still confusing. If all else fails we catch a taxi!

I'll try to put a couple of photos, but I'm not sure if I have the ones I want. I'll be adding to this now that we both have internet. i only had ones of the Fushan campus of Ocean University of China (I teach there and we live on Yushan campus - about a 30 minute school bus ride away) and of me teaching the first day of classes.

China Teachers Program Training

August 3rd through 14th we attended training for the China Teachers Program at the Kennedy Center at BYU. We learned so many things and now we are hoping enough stayed in our brains that we will be able to use it when we are teaching in China. We had great teachers for everything, Chinese language,English as a Foreign Language, Writing, and various cultural sessions. Kirk and Midge Evans, who had been teachers with CTP in the past, were the facilitators and kept us organized and moving. The days were long but enjoyable. There was even a China District Conference for both the Beijing and Shanghai districts on the middle Sunday.

We were able to stay with Marilyn and Randy in Provo during the week and the weekends were with Keith and Ann and Steve and Koelyn. We enjoyed the visit with family also.

I'm putting a couple of photos in. David took some better ones but I haven't had time to load them on my computer.

The Middle Kingdom

China was called "The Middle Kingdom" or Zhongguo (pnyin) as the ancient Chinese thought it was the center of the universe. Today, it is called Zhongguo in Chinese. Sometime I hope to be able to put the Chinese characters for China on the blog.

China has one of the oldest civilizations in the world. China has given the world many things including printing, gunpowder, and paper. There have been various dynasties over the centuries and now it is a communist country. We look forward to seeing many ancient sites in the country as well as the modern cities and people. We will have the opportunity of teaching English in China to university students and hope to learn a little Chinese.