Weeks 29+30: China Vacation

During these two weeks I had the pleasure of vacationing in China with (most of) my family. My aunt, uncle, and cousins are living in the city of Chengdu for the year, and I had convinced my mom that we should all go visit them for Christmas before I even knew my world saga would be happening. Since it was an action packed trip, I will be elaborating on our adventures city by city.

Stop 1: Chengdu

I arrived in Chengdu on Christmas Eve and met with my extended family in the airport, so we could all drive to their apartment together. Once there, we were able to uphold the family tradition of Grandma reading all the cousins “The Night Before Christmas”, albeit via skype this year. My family were not so lucky to join in on this telling, so we met them at breakfast the next morning, which was followed by gift exchanges and then an exploration of the old city. Here we were able to witness the traditional practice of ear cleaning, a process that uses metal rods and vibrations to loosen ear wax and supposedly relax the patient. Personally I could do without a strange person poking things around in my ear like a tuning fork, but the few Chinese people we saw receiving treatment looked like they rather enjoyed the process. We capped off Christmas day with some delicious Cantonese food, a good start to the culinary delights that were coming.

The next day we went to the Giant Panda sanctuary and were delighted by their playfulness. The creatures are extremely rolly polly and look exceptionally huggable as they played with each-other. (Fun fact, you can pay a high price to actually hug a panda: as my cousin described it, they mostly just lean on you and they’re not very soft, but it’s awesome!) After enjoying the spectacle we continued to the oldest working irrigation system in China. It was a gorgeous setting but the actual irrigation part was less than overwhelming. However, history is important and the engineers of the family were ecstatic, so it was a trip well spent. We enjoyed a culinary trip that night, sampling different street foods that my aunt and uncle have found and grown to love in their time in Chengdu. This varied from simple noodles to a Chinese “burrito” to ice cream that was garnished with pop rocks and cotton candy. The variety was extraordinary and there was good food for everyone.

Our final day in Chengdu included a trip outside the city to see a historic and enormous Buddha statute carved into the cliffs of a river. While it was a remarkably big carving, the highlight was a nearby temple where we admired the huge range of facial expressions and poses of statues, presumably of deceased monks. Following this we got Sichuan hotpot with the family, renowned for its spiciness which lived up to the stories. We were also treated to Sichuan Opera at a tea house. This opera is run like a variety show, where there are acts from dancing to shadow puppets to teapot twirling. The climax of the show however is the famous face changing, a process where dancers will almost seamlessly change a cloth mask in front of their face without you even seeing. They enhanced the show even more when one of the dancers went through an entire costume change in the blink of an eye-the show is not to be missed.

Stop 2: Jiuzhaigou National Park

Jiuzhaigou National Park is one of the most famous places in China, and one of the top 10 places the guide books say to visit, so we thought we’d pop in for a few days. After a few days in smoggy Chengdu, the air was clear and clean and the views absolutely breathtaking. You land up in the mountains and then have to drive through winding roads with amazing views to get down into the valley, where the park is. We spent two days exploring the national park, which is rife with crystal clear waters in unimaginable colors. Unlike hiking in America, the number of tourists requires the government and park authority to restrict places that people can walk and explore. Thus, you take a bus to the end of the pathway, and then wander your way back using predetermined boardwalks. This felt a bit claustrophobic for an outdoor attraction, but since we were there in the winter the number of guests was significantly reduced. After all, it’s China, so there will be crowds no matter where or when you go.

Another highlight of the park is the Tibetan villages within it. Unfortunately, most of these have been converted to cater to tourists and don’t offer the authenticity we were looking for. Nevertheless, it was cool to see all the prayer flags and spin the prayer wheels. They also make a pretty decent peanut toffee so I can’t really complain too much.

Stop 3: Xi’an

Xi’an is the city best known for the Terracotta Warriors, a discovery made less than 50 years ago by some farmers that were trying to dig a well. It is now one of the biggest tourist attractions in China, and the farmer has become a key figurehead who now spends his days signing books and taking photos. However, the warriors were magnificent, set up in such a way that it still looked like an archeological dig that they just happened to put a permanent roof over. It’s amazing to think that these figures have remained intact over 2000 years. We had a chance to explore all the different ‘pits’ where the warriors are housed as well as examine some of the excavated figurines behind glass cases before it was time to move on.

The other highlight of Xi’an (we were there a short 2 days) was the Muslim quarter, particularly the street where they have a multitude of street vendors in the evening. You could choose from a plethora of meats on sticks that were grilled next to hanging carcasses of the animals being cooked or opt for spicy fried potatoes, Arabic bread, pomegranate juice, or a variety of other treats. We wove our way through the stalls picking up various delicacies to try as we went until we ate our fill. Then we bought some imported chocolate and toasted in the new year with it.

Stop 4: Beijing

No tourist trip to China is complete without a decent stay in Beijing, one of the oldest and most historic cities in the world. Despite the smog we were treated to many exciting sites during our time here, the highlights of which included Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace, various Hutongs, and innumerable temples.

Day 1 in Beijing included a hair-raising car ride from the airport to the hotel. It included weaving in and out of traffic, creating an extra lane where there was no space for one, and generally squeezing through spaces that were not designed for a car of the size we occupied. However, we reached our hotel in record time which allowed us to make it to Tiananmen Square in time for the flag ceremony. This is a daily event for the military to display Chinese pride and precision as they march from the Forbidden City across the street in perfect time to perform the ceremony. Their march is said to be an exact number of paces per hour, and while I didn’t calculate that outright there was never a foot or hand out of line with the rest. After we enjoyed this event, we went to warm up with some finger-shaped fried dumplings as the guide book recommended. Like most of the best places in China, this one was hidden in a little shop that looked like someone’s front room and would have been easily missed if we did not know about it before.

Day 2 brought us to the Forbidden City, a historic site only opened to the general public in the last 100 years. It was a solid statement to the feudal system with the emperor at the helm, complete with dozens of buildings for both state affairs and family affairs. Some of the most interesting locations were homes to the emperor’s concubines, another facet of the lifestyle. Everything was extravagantly decorated and created with status in mind, but didn’t look like a particularly pleasant place to live all things considered. Too much pomp and circumstance for my liking. Following the palace we went to the nearby parks to get a view of the city. We were disappointed in this because of the smog, but it was pleasant to walk through the parks, which, as I’ve noted in prior posts, are very distinct from the ones I am used to in America.

Day 3 we took a self-guided walking tour of other city highlights, including the Drum and Bell Towers and the winding alleys of the Hutongs (ancient and historic neighborhoods throughout the city). Similar to the ones we saw in Xi’an, the Drum and Bell towers had some interesting artifacts and displays to look at, but were overall not especially fascinating. The highlight of those stops was Mandy’s choice to purchase a video of herself CGI’ed flying through the famous sites of Beijing in traditional Chinese garb. Ask her for a showing, it’s certainly a worthwhile 2 minutes! The Hutongs were much more exciting, with various shops and food vendors along the way. It is very easy to get lost in the old parts of the city with winding roads and no street signs, but if you have the time it’s an excellent way to get a feel for how life used to be in china. Our tour also led us along one of the many lakes in Beijing-this one had a completely artificial island for ducks created close to the shore, complete with little houses and tires filled with grasses, close to the lake edge. You never know what you’ll find when you take a walk around China!

We also paid a visit to the Lamasery, a famous temple devoted to the teachings and practices of Tibetan Buddhism. Unfortunately it was not so distinct from the myriad of other temples that we found it unmissable: however, it did have a giant statue of the Buddha that made it into the Guinness Book of World Records, so the stop was altogether a success.

Day 4 began with a visit to the tomb of the famous Mao Zedong. His body is preserved and on display in a mausoleum in Tienanmen Square and is free and open to the public as long as you do not bring a camera. While I don't have any personal love for the man, it was interesting to see so many people be so strongly affected by a visit to his tomb.  

This day also included a visit to the Temple of Heaven and Earth (or something to that effect). As with many of the sights in Beijing, this one is tied to the traditions of the royal family, as they would come here to pray for good harvests and other similar ceremonies. It was a hauntingly beautiful site, with kilometers of gardens that had perfectly straight rows of trees, to reflect the Confucian values of order and unity within nature. After we had our fill of the sites, we went to a market across the street to try our hand at bargaining. Unfortunately my family was not so into it, but Jeff made a great bargain by not saying anything at all, so to each their own!

That evening we tried the regional delicacy, Pecking Duck. Pecking is the ancient name for the city of Beijing, so it was only right that we try this delicacy. I must say, it was good but not something I would strive to eat every day, I’m much more a fan of dumplings. However, we passed the evening with good food and in good company, so it was very pleasant indeed.

Day 5 was our opportunity to tour the Summer Palace, the site of the royal family get-away to escape the summer heat. It is only a few kilometers from the center of Beijing, but the family would have had a caravan of people and stuff to bring with them, so the trip could take a full day. It was one of the most beautiful sites of Beijing, a clear reminder of the inequity between the ruling family and everyone else. There was a large lake with man-made islands sprinkled throughout it, and various buildings and temples to round it out. One of the more famous figures in the emperors history was Cixi, the dowager empress. She reallocated the navy budget to make renovations on this palace, but did include a granite boat statue as a tribute to the original cause!

Following our stroll around the grounds, we headed to the 2008 Olympic site to see the renown Bird’s Nest and Water Cube. It’s hard to realize how HUGE the complex is through the videos and reports during the Olympics, but this site was massive and would have been a bit insane to walk through during the games.

Our day was completed with dinner at a North Korean restaurant. This is an establishment serviced by the sons and daughters of North Korea’s diplomats, and they are rumored to be kept under tight supervision. We were not permitted to take pictures while in the restaurant which added to the mystery, but did enjoy some pretty delicious foods, ranging from BBQ to kimchi spaghetti. As some of the only non-Korean speaking people in the restaurant we stood out enormously, but it was a good experience and one we are unlikely to get again.

Day 6, our final day in China, led us to a hike along the Great Wall. We left with a tour group of people from around the world and were accompanied by two Chinese guides. It started snowing as we left for our trek, so we were treated to magnificent views of the wall and the surrounding mountains, a formidable passage for anyone planning to attack. After a gorgeous (but cold) walk along a section of the wall, we descended to a local village for a huge meal of home cooked food made by one of the villagers. While it was a tour attended soley by tourists, this felt like one of the more authentic visits to the wall, and we were not stuck pushing our way through the typical crowds of China. This brought our family vacation to an end: the next day Jeff went back to California, Mom, Dad, and Mandy to New Hampshire, and I went on to Shanghai for a few days to work and catch up with old friends there. An excellent vacation indeed.