Pingyao

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It's Sunday evening, August 1, 2010...we returned from Pingyao a few hours ago...it was a worldwind tour of this ancient city and it was fascinating. There is a modern part of the city -- full of stores and people shopping on t he streets, people riding bicycles with big flat screen TVs that they've purchased on the back, street vendors and department stores -- and then there is the ancient city behind the walls protecting the ancient city in past dynasties. You can't take cars inside the walls but have to buy a ticket and rent a cart to take you inside the city's walls...there are old family mansions inside that have been converted intohotels and there are museums and temples to visit. We arrived after a 2.5 hour ride over mountains from Shilou. The road is paved but relatively narrow part of the way. The ride was hair-raising...our driver was a good one but traveled very fast and as in Greece the drivers have a tendency to drive in the middle of the road and they pass slow-moving vehicles even when there is an oncoming vehicle in the opposite lane. I was praying most of the way...didn't want to die in my sleep but somehow wanted to be awake when I met Death. Anyway we made it there and found a guy with a cart...wewent to the gate and bought our tickets and then the cart driver took us inside the city walls and drove us around a little. It was incredibly hot so we were really exhausted but we rode around and then he wanted to know if we wanted a guide, a friend of his who would be our guide for the entire day for only 100 yuan...ok...and he would take us around in his cart for 120 yuan for the day...ok...so then he took us to the hotel...we checked in....paid what we thought was a deposit but really what was the hotel fee with an extra 30 yuan deposit...and then went to a local restaurant for lunch...not a cheap place but local cuisine...we had a very nice fish dish that was a little spicy..kind of grilled but with a sauce and some parsley or coriander-like spice in the sauce...some yams that were first fried but then covered in a sweetsauce, and then a stewed chicken in a rich broth...we also had some 'fried'mushrooms which turned out to be pan fried in a thick sauce, and also some egg with chives...my favorite. That was a good meal but it was really, really hot and we were sitting inthe middle of the hotel restaurant where there is little breeze. I think it must have been considered a breezeway at some point in the history of the buildings but on Saturday it was like an oven...after lunch we began our tours of the various museums...we managed to get to the first bank in Pingyao...the birthplace of the modern banking system in China...Ri Sheng Chang on West Street...this happened in the Daoguan Ages of the Qing Dynasty (1823 AD). This establishment dealt with remittances, loans and deposits and found that this business of banking was more profitable than the actual business that they were doing. The birth of the modern financial system ended the system of armed escort of silver currency by armed escort agencies. Other draft banks opened after RiSheng Chang and we visited 2 others there on West STreet, the Wei Tai Hou draft bank and Wei Sheng Chang. All edifices are of similar construction...there is a main entrance way with an open garden like space. There are 2 large rooms on either side and opposite the front entrance there is either a temple or a Centre Hall...there are entrances on either side of the Center Hall that lead to other courtyards...some establishments are larger than others...there are accounting rooms, and rooms for the managers and assistant managers, and rooms for receiving guests, and rooms for postage, and there is a storage deposit for currency...usually a pit in the ground that in some cases is covered with a table or chairs to hide it or is deep in the ground in a well-like structure that leads to a tunnel, I'm guessing...After we went to the banks we visited a laquer shop... very beautiful lacquerware is produced in Pingyao and I wanted a screen -- a classic 9-panel screen of 9 dragons...for a table top ... however they wanted $200 for it...too much...
After the banks and the lacquerware, we went to the Academy of Classic Learning which is basically a Confucian Temple...supposedly the place where Confucious studied and/or taught. We toured the temple...saw many Gods...and then we went into the main temple. There were monks telling fortunes...particularly for students who were seeking good fortune for their future studies. I decided to get my fortune read...so I picked up a stick in front of the God, a black stick with numberswritten on it...there were many and I chose 1. I went to the room where the monks were seated with different people talking to them and reading their fortune. A young woman told me to wait for this one monk to finish speaking with his customer and I would be next...once the customer left the monk didn't want to spe with me but said I should go to speak to someone who could speak English...so we crossed the temple to seek the English-speaking monk....when he came out with his customer, he led me back to the first monk and told me to sit down and insisted that he work with me...soI handed him the stick and he began to read the number...it was 46...the number on the stick was 46 and he said that was a lucky number...good fortune...then he asked my birthday ...the year the month, the day, and finally the time...he consulted his astrological tables and said....good fortune, ..... I have a strong constitution so good health...maybe someproblems with my bones this year...so I should go to Buddha and ask for good bone health (and actually it's true I've begun to have some arthritis in my fingers the last 2 months) and he said that I have2 children...a boy and a girl...and that both are good...he also said that I should be learning languages (and all astrologers taht I have ever consulted have said that I should be in communication -- languages or something like that -- and that I would be able to make money...then of course he led me to the incense and said that I should buy incense to make the offering to the Buddha...ofcourse he chose the most expensive but I chose the next most expensive...lit the incense and made my prayers to Buddha...it was a great experience...and I then bowed to Buddha and prayed for his good will and blessing...
Then we went to the former residence of Lei Renmin...an old mansion formerly owned by a wealthy family and now owned by a laquer artist and his father and their family...the estate is in disrepair but this family of artists is living and working there...and they do some very fine work...some original and artistic pieces of laquerware...they charged us admission..and gave us a tour and then took us to their shop in the back...I bought a piece with the word 'luck' and a dragon...the 9-dragon screen that I wanted was more than $200 so I really couldn't buy it...After that we went to Wall -- we climbed the stairs to the Wall Tower at one fo the Gates to the city...there we saw the inner concrete court at the gate...anyone coming into the city would have to pass through this enclosure and the doors could trap an invader in this area...The wall extended from there all around the city.
After this we went back to the hotel, washed up, and then went out to eat...we found an American-style restaurant and went there for a salad and pizza and I had a tequilla...I haven't had salad in amonth...so this was a treat...we then went shopping..walking up and down the streets...the vendors were still open...a wonderful evening...

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