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Published: October 12th 2008
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Tianhou Temple
Pearl and Ian in Nanshan What a good China weekend!
I got up early this morning to meet Pearl, one of the Chinese English teachers from my school, and Ian for a trip to Nanshan. We went to Tianhou Temple, which is dedicated to a goddess that protects fishermen. Shenzhen was a small fishing village before Reform and Opening, so Tianhou is sort of like its patron saint. The temple is over a thousand years old, but it's been destroyed and rebuilt multiple times. It's small and peaceful, with the smell of incense permeating the air and a drum tower for the evenings and bell tower for the mornings. It was wonderful having Pearl with us. She knew the history, could translate the Chinese signs, and explained various customs that we wouldn't have been able to figure out without her. I found out that I'll have good luck-- I was able to touch the right character on the wall after walking towards it from ten yards away with my eyes closed. Pearl also explained why the ponds were full of turtles-- people buy them from pet stores or "rescue them from being eaten in soup" and bring them to the temple to give to the
goddess. Her name is Tianhou or Mazu-- Pearl told us that the word Macao comes from a derivative of this word.
On the way back, Pearl asked me if I liked to hike and started talking about DONKEY FRIENDS! I asked her what she meant and she explained that the word lvyou (third tone over the u with the two dots, second tone over the o) means to travel, but lvyou (second tone, third tone) means DONKEY! Young Chinese who backpack, or carry large loads on their backs and hike, play with the words and call themselves donkey friends, or lvyou pengyou! It amazes me how much can be lost in translation...a "donkey friend" in English has completely different connotations, as our persistent jokes demonstrate. If someone can explain to me the precise meaning of "back person" I'll be completely satisfied.
Later, Pearl, Ian and I went to a fantastic Japanese restaurant and stuffed our faces with tempura, sushi, sushimi, and an omelet with tuna fish in it. It was better than it sounds, I promise. Pearl never ceases to amaze me-- we discussed the U.S. financial crisis and the banking/investment system thoroughly. She could speak fluently about
From the Festival for Tianhou
There is a festival to honor Tianhou on March 23 of the lunar calendar! adjustable interest rates, insurance and the FDIC, banking sector reform, mortgages, and the differences between the Chinese and American set ups IN ENGLISH. Most Americans don't know anything about those subjects, unless they're older and actually have a mortgage, and definitely couldn't articulate their thoughts in English as well as she could. Pearl has never left China, but her vocabulary is so impressive. I wonder if I'll ever be able to talk about banking in Chinese. Right now, I have trouble talking asking where the bathroom is.
I met Shedisha and Annelise for dinner. We hung out in Shekou, the ex-patriot hang out in Nanshan. There were Westerners everywhere...it was weird. I had ice coffee and tex mex-- YES, good mexican food does exist in China. WE FOUND IT. I had a chicken burrito with guacamole and sour cream. Con queso. Delectable.
On the bus home, a bizarrely loquacious Chinese woman sat down next to me. She talked my ear off. I figured she'd stop after my first four "Wo bu zhidao"s and my five "Wo bu mingbai, duibuqi"s (I don't know, I don't understand, sorry) but she kept going. I know that she asked me where I
was from and what I was doing in China, and I think she asked me about what was in my tex mex doggie bag. She kept touching me, pointing at me and then out the window at signs, and talking about something that sounded like "shaobien." Finally she took out two warm pastries from her bag and thrust them at me. I thought she was selling them, so I told her no thank you, but she firmly pressed them into my hand and said welcome to China. She waved when I got off the bus and I walked away unsure of whether I should eat the warm, delicious smelling pastries I held in wax paper. They looked like those pastries that we bought in Yonding with egg custard in the middle-- flaky on the outside, sweet on the inside, but the center was dark brown instead of yellow. When I got back, I asked my guard what they pastries were, and he said something similar...xiaobian? Does anyone know what that is? All I know is that out of all the countries I've been to, I've never been given homemade food by a woman on a bus, nor would I feel
Turtles!
The gift of turtles demonstrates goodwill safe eating it if I had been. I feel that comfortable in China-- the pastry was BOMB!
Thanks to my contact teacher Erica, Sarah and I found a wonderful dim sum (Chinese tea breakfast) restaurant right around the corner from my apartment yesterday. Steamed bread with condensed milk, pork buns, and soup dumplings...can life get any better? I SUBMIT THAT IT CANNOT. I spent the rest of the day being surprisingly domestic-- I sewed two buttons onto two pairs of pants, did laundry, fixed the rips in my bag from Nepal, and cleaned my apartment. Take note, ma. That night we went to see Painted Skin, a famous Chinese ghost story they made into a movie. It was ridiculous and wonderfully dumb...I loved it. Especially when the female demon peeled her skin off to reveal her wormy evilness, but mostly the ceaseless self-sacrifice and all you need is love message. And the part when the warrior was like, "maodamnit, not again." He realized he kept making DUMB movies. Tight. I think life in China is beginning to be life as usual...another week of teaching awaits me, and we're thinking of hiking six hours to a secluded beach to
camp next weekend. I'm calling my apartment home. I know what bus takes me to Nanshan. I'm making crepes tomorrow night. A return to normalcy, yeah?
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