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Silk Quilt Making
The ladies were nice enough to let me "help" made the silk quilt. It is amazingly hard to pull Well, today, I visited Emperor Qin's Terra Cotta Clay Army. It really was an impressive sight. I hired a guide for the day, Robin, and he was fantastic. I had never realized that the warriors were originally painted with color. In a couple of the pits, they have re-covered the warriors with dirt to protect their color. I was very excited to meet one of the original farmers who found the tomb in the 1970's - he signed my book and also was gracious enough to let me take a picture with him (right in front of the "no pictures" sign).
On a funny note, I almost got into a physical altercation in the bathroom at the museum. I was at the front of the line, and the lady (I use that term loosely!) behind me pushed me aside and went into the stall. I figured, "Wow, she must have really needed to go." However, when the next 4 women did the same thing, and the shoving began to get rougher, I started to get the idea. I was tempted to shove back and get into the stall, but I just left the bathroom. I couldn't believe how rude and
Grace and Kim at Great Wall
This was my guide in Beijing, Grace mean they were. They had Lindsey Lohan (in Mean Girls) beat hands down. I asked Robin if this was normal, and he said that I should have started yelling at them and that would have scared them. It's funny how I can go toe to toe with the toughest kid at Marco, but I wimped out when it came to a few nasty Chinese women. I had visions of finding out what the inside of a Chinese prison looked like. Oh well, you know what they say about Karma.....
After that visit, we drove into the city wall area of Xian - what a difference from where I am staying - it is much, much nicer. I had lunch in a dumpling restaraunt, and it was very good. On the way out, I saw the most beautiful little Chinese girl. I gave her one of my bouncy balls, turns out they are from San Francisco and are here visiting her Grandma for the first time. Her name was Ashley and she was 4.
Well, to tell the truth, I am more than ready to leave China tomorrow morning at 5:30 and head to Thailand. It is disconcerting being
Kim at Great Wall
Flip-flops were not the greatest shoes to wear stared at so much (and not in a friendly, curious way). A funny aside, a man ran face first (hard) into a pole because he was staring at me instead of watching where he was going and then got very angry at me about it! Served him right, the grump! It was all I could do not to crack a smile. At first I thought all the stares might have been because I am chubby, but I don't think so - I've been surprised to see some quite chubby Chinese (probably courtesy of McDonalds and KFC). I think it more likely because I am blond, and a female traveling on her own. I think Thailand is much more used to westerners.
Another thing that has surprised me is that I have heard Spanish 5 or 6 times since I've been here. I can't tell you how good it feels to all of a sudden understand some of the words swirling around me. I have gotten a few Chinese phrases down pat - Hello, Thank you, and I don't want any - thank you (which is really the polite way of saying NO - go away!). My guides have said
Silk Cocoons
These are the cocoons after they are boiled, ready to make silk. The Chinese remove the worms and eat them, yum! that my accent is quite "standard" which they assure me is a good thing.
Today I saw a pregnant woman in Xian. It struck me that this is the first one I've seen, which on the surface may not seem odd. However, the cities I have been in are filled with MILLIONS of people. From talking to people, it appears that in the cities people are much more willing to keep their girls. It is out on the farms that the baby girls become a problem. I also learned that the vast majority of Chinese are "free religion" which means they practice no religion. I believe this is encouraged on a government level, but am not certain about that.
I met some Americans last night who had been on the Yantghze (sp?) cruise and were lucky to escape with their lives. Their cruise ship cut 3 fishing boats in half and ran aground on a jetty. (No one was killed, thank goodness). Needless to say, it was a fine time in the lounge last night, they were more than ready to have a few drinks and regale everyone with their adventures.
Well, my dear friends and family,
Jade Ship
The picture doesn't do this justice, but it is a HUGE, wall-sized, jade ship. It took 4 years to carve I don't know what the computer situation is like in Chiang Mai Thailand, but I will try to check my e-mail regularly. Keep the e-mails coming, I love reading them whether they make me laugh or cry (or both at the same time - like one I got from Scott telling me about Sophie and Mickey). Maybe I'll be able to download some pictures from there.
Toodles!
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