Ger to Ger, Molly

I am in shape. It's a slightly round, soft-and-squishy shape, but it's a shape. If you were going to turn me into a basic shape for the sake of modeling or mathematics, I'd be more of a sphere than a cylinder. This is not me being self-deprecating or looking for comfort, this is me being honest with myself. I like walking, I prefer sitting around and reading, playing the basson or a game, or writing to almost any other way to pass the time. (This excludes spending time with friends or family. I'm a sap like that.)

So, how is it that at 6am in the morning I was not just awake, but running across frozen ground in late May? Interesting story.

We arrived in Mongolia before the 28th, which was our original arrival date. Our lease started the 28th, so we had nowhere to go for a few days. Allison decided she would set us up on Ger-to-Ger trips. The concept is a clever one: It capitalizes on the Western desire to get reconnected with nature and a "real" way of life with the growing need for the herder income to be, well, larger. People are set along from ger to ger, staying with families, seeing the countryside, and being fed traditional Mongolian food.

The trip I went on, along with Amber and Evan and Yelena, was to Terelj, a national park outside of UB. Through it flows the Terelj River, which appeared to us as little more than a glorified creek. However, dry water beds wind and tangle themselves up in the landscape. I imagine that they fill with water during the far-too-short rainy season. Or at least I like to imagine it that way.

Other members of the cadre* have written enough that if I continued my ramble in the manner I intended, I fear reading would get tedious--though reading my longwinded rants probably is anyway. For further explanation, wait till I publish the collected essays of this trip in "Around the World In Eighty-One Days: Another Shamelessly Titled Travel Book," which should hit book shelves within the next two years. (In my dreams. No, not literally. I'll spare you the pain of hearing about my dreams as well, dear reader.)

I'll highlight the amusing parts that star me.

1) My horse.

In the morning after out first night, I am put on a horse and told, through gesture and what was either Mongolian or someone just laughing at me, how to steer the monstrosity I had the pleasure of sitting on. I use monstrosity not to describe size, but to convey a meaning of "monster like," specifically referring to the beast's temperament.

In short, this horse wanted anything but for me to be on its back.

It told me this by walking straight to a clothes line with the intent to knock me off. Our kind host raised the clothes line in time, but this set the tone for the rest of my brief time on this animal. It would walk a few steps away from the ger and then stop, walk backwards, turn in circles, or just do anything else it damn-well-pleased that was not what I was trying to tell it to do. In frustration, the herder attached the horse to the cart and lead it that way.

The horse, god bless his little horsey soul, decided h e was ready to walk on his own and listened to me for a bit. We got to ride without being tethered to a cart like two small, disobedient children. He was slow, but he listened.

Then it stopped again.

Yelling, kicking, and even throwing rocks (the herder, not me) could not get the beast to move. So the herder attached it back to the cart. It didn't want to move and instead reared up backwards and then fell down. Or should I say threw itself down, because it did just that.

Thus, I got off the beast and didn't ride for the rest of the trip.

2) Boltzig

When one enters a ger, they are given milk tea and boltzig. Boltzig, much like the milk tea, varies ger to ger. Some is soft, some is warm, some is hard, some is sweet, some is salty, some is greasy, and some doesn't taste like practically anything. Our standard entering of a new ger went like this:

Step 1, say hello.
Step 2, be sat down.
Step 3, have someone mime being cold to us and then say "Huten!"
Step 4, be given a bowl of milk tea.
Step 5, have a container of boltzig be placed in front of us.
Step 6, try the boltzig out of manner's Allison instilled in us.
Step 7, not eat anymore boltzig.
Step 8, have a host come up and eat a piece before gesturing that we do the same.
Step 9, eat more boltzig.

Whenever someone new walked in the ger, someone from the host's side, we would repeat steps 1, 3, 8, and 9. Occasionally this would be broken up by step 5(b), "refill container with more boltzig."

We ate a lot of boltzig.

They're good, but if I never eat it again for the rest of my life, I won't bemoan the lack of boltzig in my future.

3) Huten!

I'm probably "romanizing" this wrong, but, quite frankly, I gave up trying to romanize anything correctly when I first typed "suu te tse" and found myself disgusted with how it looked. ("Suu" looks like "cyy" in cyrillic.)

So, huten is a good way to describe the trip and we had a crash course in how the country deals with the weather--something Allison had warned us about. The weather felt kind of like my beloved Pgh in March: colder than I wanted it to be at any given point in time. Mongolians deal with the weather the way most of America does, by trying to push it as far in the opposite direction as possible and hoping that it neutralizes somewhere. Inside the gers was nice and warm when we first entered. Before too much longer it got a little warmer than I'd like. Then the sweatshirt came off and it was good again. Eventually I'd just be sweating, run outside to cool down, go "Oh, , I'm cold," run back inside and repeat.

Amber has a good anecdote about how hot her sleeping back was when she and I shared a bed in one of the gers.

Our hosts were extremely accommodating throughout my adjustment to the temperature management systems. (By the final day I was okay with it!) They took immensely good care of us. I recommend Ger-to-Ger for all your traveling about the Mongolian countryside need s.

*For explanation of my overly abundant usage of the word "cadre," see "Incarnation Day," by Walter Jon Williams.

Allie on a camel in the Gobi Desert. Enough said.

Taking in the energy and singing a Tibetan Buddhist prayer...

We love the food here! I think we are all happy to be done with chopsticks though now that we are in Mongolia.

This is the group at Peking University. Beautiful campus. The professor on the right teaches Mongolian and the man beside him is Dandy, who is a professor at the National University of Mongolia and helped us along the way to UB. Below them is a student we met there. Great times!

My favorite part of our excursion into the desert was the sand dune lizard. There was this amazing desert lizard about four inches long from head to tail end that was running up the sand dune. The lizard looked similar to a chameleon accept for its stub-like flat head and its armpits. It had under each armpit a small red pouch which contrasted greatly with it's sandy grey color. These pouches would expand and contract as if they were filling up with air upon each breath of the lizard. I wonder if these red pouches were meant to attract a mate, being evolutionarily advantageous for sexual selection. The lizard also did something that was unlike anything I have ever seen. It shook its body rapidly and sunk into the sand, completely submerging its body without leaving a trace of its presence. I really got a kick out of this. I hope that the landscape and creatures continue to fascinate me in weeks to come.

Sand Dune Yoga!

On the sand dunes outside of Cain-shand, Monglia.

Birthday on the Border, Molly

My birthday was the other day. We were in Saen-Shed. It was great and fun. They got me presents and blueberry torte!

We left the border that day, heading for UB at last. At last. It's a very apt phrase. For several years I've heard people talk about UB. I've always responded with wonder and fascination. Finally, I was going to be there.

On the train ride I had one of those moments: Those teenage, coming-of-age story moments when the characters are sitting around together and say cliched things that feel deeply philosophical at the time. I go too far with these analogies sometimes. Allie was telling us about her conversations with the Inner Mongolian University students (see below.) They didn't have concepts for what we were doing. I realized she was right. Several of them had asked me repeatedly if we were all graduate students. Emily had followed this up by saying that she feels privileged and lucky, that seeing these places and meeting these people reminds her what's out there in the world and all that she has. [If I'm messing this up, please correct me -M.]

This is all true.*

Trains are a unique thing in the parts of Asia I've been. The tracks (according to Allison) are different gauges in Mongolia and China. In order to cross from one country to another, each car has to be lifted up individually and have the wheels changed. This takes about nine hours. They do this because China was afraid Russia would use Mongolia, and their rail system, to invade. They took drastic measures to keep this from happening. Sleeping on trains is also a thing of joy. Every time we've gotten to sleep on a train, I've been so dead tired, so exhausted, that I feel as though I really deserve the sleep I'm getting. Allison woke us up in time to be ready to get off in time for UB. Chinggis's image, carved into the side of a mountain, greeted us.

Chinggis has transformed from this hero (bator in Mongolian) to a person, a member of the group, Every step of the trip, from conception to this moment in UB, he's been along the way with us in some way. He's gone from Ghengis Khan to Chinggis. Like a friend, I look for him in the streets and smile whenever I catch his eye.

When we got off the train, we were in UB.

Nothing, not the months of classes, endless hours of talking, wikipedia articles, or China, could possibly have prepared me for UB. I've gotten so used to being the only Westerners around, that I find myself surprised at how many white people are in the city. And UB is a city. There are skyscrapes, development, and a substantial population. There are street kids who are so heartbreakingly sad. I wish I could take care of them, but I can't even take care of myself. We've had Allison and Amanda try to prep us for dealing with the beggars. I've been thinking "I'm from Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, I can handle panhandlers." I was not ready for a dirty, hungry looking little kid walking beside me saying "Help. Money."

UB is great though. If no one has referred to it as a gem in the desert, an oasis--someone should have. UB rises up out of the ground as this beautiful testament to post-soviet decay, soviet grandeur, modern engineering, and idyllic Mongolian life. There's everything here. The train passed through Ger districts. A fin-shaped building of glass and metal is being constructed. We talked through Sukbaator Square, where marble columns are offset by gold colored statues. Soviet-era apartment buildings, a unique shade of sickly-yellow, stand with chunks torn out of them.

It's a beautiful city.

I think I'm in love. (Again.)

*I would be waxing philosophic there way too much, so I'll continue my rant in a footnote. [Allison, if this is inappropriate, please tell me. -M.] On the train we were gross. Seriously. We hadn't showered in about three days, four for some people. We were all wearing clothes we'd worn before. We were sweating. We had dirt under our nails from -China-, dirt that will probably never be completely gone. And I, at least, was so incredibly happy. There are people who are that way, who travel and are dirty and don't sleep, because they have to. The fact that I chose to have my life be this way, even for a short period of time, changes the feeling of it. Uhh, I could keep going on how great this is, but soon I'll be bringin' out the existentialism. I'll save you that pain. Short version: I chose this. I can enjoy it because of that.

Family visit outside of Erlin

Here we are with a camel herding family outside of Erlin (China). Once again the image is a bit small, feel free to email me for a larger copy. ~Allison

From left to right:
Micheal, Mr. Herder, Mr. Herder, Allison, Mrs. Herder, Mrs. Herder,
Molly, Yelena, evan

Lower row:
Emily, Mama Herder, Melissa, Amber, Allie.

AT LONG LAST, COMPUTERS WITH USB PORTS!!!!!!

Pictures!!


In Tien An Men (May 14th)
From left to right:
Dandi (Mongolian professor) Evan, Allison, Allie, Emily, Molly, Micheal

Second row: Yelena, Amber, Melissa

I dont know why this computer wont make the picture appear larger. If you would like a bigger copy email Allison at ahh8@pitt.edu.

Final travel before classes - homestays and horses

Hi! The class is in UlaanBataar, Mongolia for the evening. Tomorrow morning they will head back out to the countryside for the final portion of their traveling before classes start next Monday.

The students will be doing group home stays arranged by Ger-to-Ger. Ger-to-Ger is a USAID supported community based eco-tourism country that provides alternative revenue to families that want to continue herding but need a financial safety net. Because the students will be staying in the families ger, they will be traveling in groups of 4. Their schedules are below. You can read more about Ger-to-Ger at http://www.gertoger.org The students will be back in UlaanBataar on the 29th and will have the weekend to settle into their apartment before classes start.

Micheal, Emily, Allie and Melissa will be "Questing for the Last Emperor"

Day 1	Camel and horse riding to locally worshipped Khadagt Khoshuu: In the morning at 8am you will depart from UB by jeep for 280kms to Khugnu-Tarni National Park and you will arrive at Mr. Byambatogtoh's nomadic family around 2pm. Upon arrival you will be served tea and a lunch. Afterward, Mr. Byambatogtoh and his sons will guide you to the locally worshipped site of Khadagt Hoshuu for 10.5kms. When you arrive you will dismount from your camels or horses and participate with the herders in paying respect, according to customs, to Khadagt Hoshuu. When you are finished you will return back to the family’s nomadic ger and have an evening dinner wit the family before you retire for the evening.
Day 2	Travel with ox cart to the human statue of Ar Bulan: After breakfast, you will continue your journey to next family by camel or horse for 3 kilometers. When you arrive at Mr. Bumayush he will serve you a nomadic lunch and tea. Afterwards, you will travel by ox cart for 6kms to the ancient human statue which is located in Ar Bulan; the head of human statue broke and disappeared. Later you will return back to the family’s ger and have a dinner with the family and overnight in the family's extra ger. Day 3 Worshipping Bugdiin Ovoo: After breakfast, you will continue your trip by horse for 7kms to the next family. When you arrive at Mr. Otgon he will serve you a nomadic lunch with tea.Afterwards he will guide you to Bugdiin Ovoo by ox cart - 12km round trip. This ovoo's worship ceremony originates from Mongolia’s shamanism pratices of worshiping nature. An ovoo is a prymid shaped collection of stones, bones, woods and silk scarves, placed on the top of the hill or mountain. Ovoos are sacred and whenever you go by an ovoo you should walk around it three times to pray and make a wish. In the early evening you will return to the family for an evening dinner and retire in their extra ger.

Yelena, Evan, Amber and Molly will become nomads on the "Nomadic Lifestyle" route.

Day 1	Learn the methods of saddling a horse and preparing ox cart: Our local guide will receive you at last bus stop of Terelj Protected Area. Then you will travel by ox cart or horseback to his home that is located 3 kilometers to the north of Terelj River. Upon arrival you will have a nomadic lunch and tea at with the family. Mr. Chuluunhuu will show you how to saddle a horse and prepare ox cart to which you will have time to practice for yourself afterwards. Later in the evening you will have nomadic dinner with the family and have lots of fun playing traditional Mongolian games like the ‘ankle bone game’ which is called ‘Shagai’ with family.
Day 2	Learn the methods of tying bridle and how to make patterns for national dress: After breakfast, you will start your horse ride to the next family that is 24kims away with the local nomadic guide. Upon arrival, in the late afternoon, at Ms. Amarjargal’s family, you will have a nomadic lunch and tea. Ms. Amarjargal will show you how to tie a bridle and how to make pattern designs for national dress; she is really talented at sewing. Afterwards, you will have a nomadic dinner and even tea with the family.
Day 3	Learn the methods of tethering animals and making traditional knots used for dress: After breakfast, you will continue your travel for 9kms to the next family with local nomadic. Upon arrival at Mr. Bold’s family, you have a nomadic lunch and tea with the family. He will show you the methods of how to properly tether livestock as well as how to make a button by cotton or silk for a national dress. Afterwards you will have a nomadic dinner and tea with the family before retiring for the evening.

Hohhot: A Sample of Food

In case anyone's curious about what we've been eating, here is a list of foods that we ate on Tuesday night. The students and faculty from Inner Mongolia University's new anthropology school treated us to a banquet.

Delicious foods included the following: spicy noodles, cabbage salad with vinegar and peanuts, sweet-and-sour pork, chicken and onions, sliced eggplant in oil, beef and potatoes in a tomato-red sauce, three long brown fish in a hot pan, a large bunch of ribs from either sheep or lamb with a tasty dry dip of spices and ground-up peanuts, and white-dough dumplings of four different kinds.

Tea was prevalent at the restaurants in China, and we also tried yogurt (thinner and more liquid than U.S. varieties).

More food updates will come as more food is consumed. Yum!

Dinosaurs and Police

We just crossed the border from China to Mongolia and I am ever so happy to be in a place where I can understand what people are saying about me! (Today they were saying look at the girl in the weird pants!). We've just spent the week visiting the University of Inner Mongolia. Inner Mongolia, home to the Chinghis Khan memorial, an Indian Temple and alot of traders. It is also home to some pretty spiffy museums, including "Dinosaur Fairyland" which is a bit like the Jurassic Park Movie. We are suspicious about the inclusion of "Fairyland" in the title, maybe they were aiming for something like Disney land or theme park, but for now it just seems like elves should be dancing around the dinosaur statues. The museum was locked when we arrived, but mysteriously the janitor was sitting outside with a key and offered to let us in for 20$, so we had the place all to ourselves at a price cheaper than the normal admission! Today we are waiting for our train. The border crossing was a lot faster than I had expected and we have a 6 hour layover. The town here is pretty small (the hotel we are in is the biggest attraction) so it's a good time to catch up on my email. This hotel is a weird place, it is a Mongolian run hotel that does not let Chinese people inside. So the entire outside area (steps, balconies ect) are covered by Chinese people trying to find some shade, and the inside is very quite and empty. Fortunately for us, the hotel serves dinner to Americans. The Chinese people are stuck outside eating ramon noodles with cold water. Talk about awkward! We crossed the border from China to Mongolia this morning in a, er, educational manner. We had spent last night in a hotel owned by the Chinese National Bus company, which runs buses from Inner Mongolia to Mongolia. We did not want to take those buses because they are a bit packed and there is always a chance of getting left behind when they let everyone off to have their passports checked. So we hired 2 jeeps and a van to drive us across the border. However, it is illegal to hire private transportation across the border, or at least it is a valid reason for the police to pick on you. So the bus station called the police when they saw us getting into the jeeps. Fortunately, we had enough time to cram all of our luggage into one jeep and have that jeep drive away from the bus station. So when the police officer arrived he only found a group of students standing outside with day packs and waiting for taxis to visit the herding fa miles (which is legal). However, this police man though he was smart and waited to follow us where we were going. Thus ensued a fun cat and mouse police game where we would drive to one place, wait around, and hope the police man would leave. When he didn't we got out and drove to another place and pretended to be interested. Eventually we drove to a library and pretended to have a broken car. So we were "stranded" and obviously not about to cross the border. The police man offered to "help" if we would give him 20$ (apparently the going price for bribes). He drove off in his car to get "help" and we drove off to the border. Apparently this is a common way for the Chinese police to make a bit of extra money. It was funny, but confusing and I think the students nearly had a collective heart attack when the jeep pulled away with all of their luggage inside. The police speak English, so we couldn't give an explanation to them until we were a safe distance away. Luckily they all played along and we got through in good time. You will notice there are not yet any pictures on the blog. We have taken many and are just having an Internet speed issue. We keep getting timed out when we try to upload pictures. They will be up once we get to UlaanBataar.

Visit to Inner Mongolia University

A few days ago in Hohhut, China our group was fortunate enough to meet with some students and professors from the Inner Mongolia University. We met each other through a question and answer session. The anthropology students and faculty were overjoyed to have us there, and we spent much time exchanging ideas about Mongolian, Chinese, and American culture and education systems. One of the professors expressed that the State has encouraged the university to expand and accept more students, while still maintaining academic quality. I feel like this is a challenge that American universities face too, trying to increase $enrollment$ and still provide a quality education. When we explained this to one of the professors he said that it is funny because this is more representative of capitalism than socialism, but it's happening in China anyway.

Talking to the students made me realize how many valuable educational and recreational opportunities I have in the US that these students do not. The students don't even understand the concept of many experiences I have had or organizations I have belonged to. These include having a job while studying in college, being on a sports team, studying abroad, going to a beach, living away from home to go to school, etc. This experience made me very gracious for all the opportunities I have had, and made me thankful for being an American.

China!!!

Ni-Hao!

Greetings from the Chinese-Mongolian boarder! Everyone is having a great time and we really haven't had a problem with the whole earthquake crisis. Trains were diverted to help with the relief effort, but that didn't affect our travel plans. We have just finished our whirl wind tour of China. Here is a brief over view of our exciting excursion!

Beijing:
We toured Peking University with a professor and student from the Mongolian Language and Culture Department. The campus was originally a garden, and is under protection from development. It was breath taking. Then we were rained out at the Summer Palace. Even with the nasty weather the architecture was amazingly beautiful. We walked the Long Corridor(luckily it is covered) to see the Marble Boat commissioned by the Empress Cixi.

The next day we ventured the subway! We made a quick stop for a photo opp in Tienanmen Square and crossed the street to visit the Forbidden City. Built in 1420, the sloping roofs and the vibrant colors are a testament to the pride that China takes in its heritage. After stopping at a grocery store for snacks, we boarded the train en route to Hohhot.

Hohhot:
We slept on the train. Those that were awake around 2 am had a brief glimpse of the Great Wall. We arrived at the Inner Mongolian capital city at 5:30 and were met by our friend Erdenisang! He was a great help during our stay in Hohhot by showing us around (a daunting task, as ten Americans tend to stick out). He would pick us up in the morning and walk us back to our hotel at night. We dropped our gear off at the hotel and headed to Inner Mongolia University. We felt privileged to be invited to view a collection of ancient Mongolian texts.

The next morning we got an early start on a four hour drive to the Chinggis Khan memorial. This was on a site where his funeral procession stopped. The tribe that was charged to guard it is still holding their post today!

The next day we had a free morning to explore the city, but we met again in the afternoon to visit three Buddhist temples. The first of which is still an active monastery. There, we were lucky enough to sit in on a prayer service. The monks chanted in Tibetan for about an hour and were happy that a group of westerners wanted to watch. They even took our picture! The third temple is called the Temple of the Five Pagodas and one is modeled after Indian architecture.

On Tuesday, May 20, We saw the Inner Mongolian Museum. The weather was a little chilly and windy as we were in the middle of a dust storm. The Anthropology Department at the University arranged for a meeting with some of their students, and some of the faculty. We were given the opportunity to speak one on one with them. This was a great experience because they were as interested in learning about our university and life in the US as we were about learning about Hohhot. Our Anthropology students had a lot of explaining to do about what we study in comparison to what is taught in Inner Mongolia, especially because their department is very new!

After the meeting, we all went to a special banquet room and were treated to quite a feast. The food was amazing and there was more than enough to go around! Every meal here is an adventure, especially since none of us can read Chinese. Those mystery dishes that we just point to, have almost always been our favorites! Erdenisang saw us off when we left Hohhot the next morning with full bellies and smiling faces. We met many great people and made some fantastic friends in Hohhot. We hope that this meeting will spark a long friendship between our universities.

We hope this gives you a insight to what we are up to in Asia! Stay tuned for more posts and many pictures!

Love,
Amber and Emily

Molly on Erlin

Today we drove through the desert into Erlin, a town near the Mongolia/IMAR border. We drove up in a van like monstrosity. Along the way we'd have to stop at every police checkpoint to report--it's how them monitor speed. It was fairly unexciting in actuality. Whenever I thought about what it would be like to drive across continents, pass through countries, and move through border checkpoints with my feet closer to the ground than in the air, I imagined something much more exciting and dramatic than driving through the South West. Or at least something that looks like the South West.
After lunch we got to visit a herdsfamily about fifty (?) kilometers out of Erlin. The family never asked our names and we never caught theirs. We sat in a smallish ger--they use larger ones in the winters. The mother explained to us that they were saving up to build a house, as is becoming the style these days. Recently three of her sons married, and they needed to spend what money they had on wedding arrangements. We drank salted milk tea out of practically every drinking bowl in the camp. The woman answered questions we had. She was patient, smiled often and laughed deeply.

On the ride back, we stopped by a dinosaur dig site. Driving up to the site was a thing of beauty and horror. If you have never ridden in a car with me (you lucky dog, you), then you don’t know what happens to me in cars: I fall asleep. Once the monotonous drone of the engine and road mix with the slight sway that you get on paved roads (more on this later), I zone out. I am in this van, zoned out, watching the landscape roll by and being entirely unable to tell we’re moving because it all looks the same, when suddenly I see a raptor. I don’t mean the kind with feathers. There was, in a field by the road, a raptor. And then there was a triceratops. Then, loaming ahead on the road, was the skeleton of a t-rex.

I’ll say this, China knows how to do an educational site. We had recently gone to the Museum of Inner Mongolia, which is a natural history museum on steroids and growth hormones. It was the closest thing I’ve had to a religious experience in a long time--excluding the visit to a Buddhist temple the day before, but that was an actual religious experience. Statues of dinosaurs, posed realistically and painted in a way that looked plausible to me, were practically moving. It looked like someone had taken a snapshot that had managed to capture the dust blowing in the wind. Footpaths winded through and over dunes. To the side of the path, bones were lying in the ground and more dinosaurs were posed. An unerected skeleton lay in a pile on top of a small ridge. The building was impeccable and closed. A few clever words (specifically ones that have zeroes following them) from Allison got us inside. It was kitchy, but fun, with the most realistic animatronic dinosaurs I have ever seen.

While driving back to the hotel the reality of my situation hit me. Our driver and his companion spoke in rapid, unintelligible (to me, at least) Mongolian. He drove faster than I would have (believe it or not) down roads--I'm being generous with what classifies as a road here--you could barely make out across a plain so flat and empty you could practically see the curve of the Earth. The road was more pockmarked than an unfortunate teenager’s face; the dust formed a path of destruction behind us. There were no seatbelts in the van and we bounced around. Suddenly missing my annual trip to Hershey Park didn’t seem so bad. Even if I had wanted us to slow down, I’d have been unable to say so.* There was a moment when all of these factors crashed together in my understanding and I knew that we’re not in Kansas anymore; We’re in Central Asia and there’s no turning back.

*(Parental note: I do know how to ask

Molly on China

I've been drafting these long posts on China, different experiences here, and my impressions. None of these have been written up.

Needless to say, we are in China. Or were. Or are. Sort of. We're currently in the Inner Mongolian Autonomus Reigon. It's generally very Chinese, from my brief experiences in China and my learning experiences about Mongolia.

There are several things that have quickly become part of my understanding and day-to-day life.

1) Water is hot.

Water is hot. It never comes with ice. Room temperature water is a blessing and more refereshing than I ever could have expected it to be. Water is either bottled or boiled before drinking. Most bottled water isn't even refrigerated--or at least not nearly to the extent we're used to. However, our showers have also been hot. This is glorious. Also, we are given the chance to try many new drinks (see tea below), because we're not buying water as much when we go out.

2) Toilets are holes in the ground.

Some of these holes in the ground are very nice. Some have things like marble floors and hand holds, but some are simply holes in the ground. You bring your own toilet paper everywhere. You don't always have water or soap to wash your hands. As a result, lots of places give you wet wipes for your hands.

3) Smog.

Cities here are smoggy. Rural areas are dusty. People wear gloves and face masks all the time. When we went to the Summer Palace, Melissa and I climed all the way to the top (somewhat unintentionally). We began to walk up and just didn't stop untill we ran out of up to walk. We looked out across the lake into downtown Beijing. When the Palace had been built you could have looked out and seen for miles, I'd bet. I imagine seeing the sky over taking the ground as the curve of the Earth faded it away from sight. Now, if I move my eyes in the right ways I can make out the outlines of the new sky scrapers. The smog is prodigious. It's like no smog I've ever seen before. Hohhot (Huhhot?) also is fairly smog filled and I'm told UB isn't much better.

4) Tea is everywhere.

In America, we get free water in resturants. Here, we get free tea. I love this. I love this so much. I drink tea the way grad students and over worked office workers drink coffee. Normally I have to pay for a cup of tea and then pay for refills as well. Here I just get tea!

5) Everyone wants to say 'hello!'

People say 'Hello!' to us. People wave. When we smile, wave, and send a salutatory greeting back, they smile as well. Allison told us that we would be a novelty, that many people would stare, but it is a lot less awkward than I expected it to be. I enjoy this small connection we're being given to the places we've visited.

6) Eating 'family style' is just how it's done.

I'm used to ordering my own food at resturants and then occasionally sharing a bite or two with a close friend. Here, every meal is served with standard American sized portions, but instead of having them to yourself, we're sharing. Dishes go on a lazy susan in the center and we're given the chance to try everything. We have these great meal time conversations, discussing what we're eating and what we like about it, being admonished for our awful chopstick skills, and navigating the surprisingly hard act of spinning a lazy susan with eleven hungry people at a table. It makes dinner a lot more interesting.

I'm really enjoying the trip so far. It's just been great. China has been fantastic.

And We Are Off!

Hi,

We are sitting in the New York Airport.

I thought I would leave a small report regarding today's earthquake in China. The earthquake occurred 930 miles away from Beijing and will not effect our travel plans.

We will be in Beijing on May 13th and will send emails/calls home at that time. We will also be in contact with the Honors College. You are welcome to call the Honors College at 412 624 6880 if you have a question or concern that does not quite justify the cost of an international call.

Beijing

Hi!

Some basic Beijing Info:

We are staying at the Beijing City Central Youth Hostel on the nights of May 13th and 14th.
We will arrive in Beijing late on the night of the 13th and go directly to the hostel. Those of you who are sleepy can go right to bed. If you want a walk before you go to bed we'll go to the night market on WangFuJing for snacks or a proper dinner and maybe to TianAnMen Square.

(This is a map of the area around the Hostel. The Hostel is marked by the blue triangle).


MAY 14

On the morning of the 14th we will have breakfast at the hostel (you will eat while Dr. Tserenpil and I go to get your train tickets) and then do two of the following excursions. We will vote on the excursions while we are all in the airport awaiting our flight. We will travel IN A GROUP on all of the Beijing excursions. I know this is not fun for some of you, but it is even less fun (and pretty easy) to get lost in Beijing.

Excursion options (note I did not write any of the following descriptions):

TianAnMen, Forbidden City, and Beihei Park
The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the mid-Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. It is located in the middle of Beijing, China and now houses the Palace Museum. For almost five centuries, it served as the home of the Emperor and his household, and the ceremonial and political center of Chinese government.

Built from 1406 to 1420, the complex consists of 980 surviving buildings with 8,707 bays of rooms and covers 720,000 square meters. The palace complex exemplifies traditional Chinese palatial architecture, and has influenced cultural and architectural developments in East Asia and elsewhere. The Forbidden City was declared a World Heritage Site in 1987 and is listed by UNESCO as the largest collection of preserved ancient wooden structures in the world.

Summer Palace
The Summer Palace is mainly dominated by Longevity Hill (60 meters high) and the Kunming Lake. It covers an expanse of 2.9 square kilometers, three quarters of which is water. The central Kunming Lake covering 2.2 square kilometers was entirely man made and the excavated soil was used to build Longevity Hill. In its compact 70,000 square meters of building space, one finds a variety of palaces, gardens, and other classical-style architectural structures.

In December 1998, UNESCO included the Summer Palace on its World Heritage List. It declared the Summer Palace an "outstanding expression of the creative art of Chinese landscape garden design, incorporating the works of humankind and nature in a harmonious whole." It is a popular tourist destination but also serves as a recreational park.

Temple of Heaven

The Temple of Heaven in the southern part of Beijing is China's largest existing complex of ancient sacrificial buildings. Occupying an area of 273 hectares, it is three times the area of the Forbidden City. It was built in 1420 for emperors to worship Heaven. The principle buildings include the Altar of Prayer for Good Harvests, Imperial Vault of Heaven and Circular Mound Altar. The Altar of Prayer for Good Harvest, 38 meters in height and 30 meters in diameter, stands on a round foundation built with three levels of marble stones. This towering triple-eave hall is under a three-story, cone-shaped glaze-tile roof in blue color crowned with a gilded knob. A circular wall of polished bricks known as the Echo Wall encloses the Imperial Vault of Heaven. The Circular Mount Altar, south to the Imperial Vault of Heaven, is where the emperor prayed to heaven. At the center lies a round stone called the Center of Heaven Stone that echoes when a visitor speaks loudly when standing on the stone. The Temple of Heaven was entered into the world cultural heritage list in 1998

Panjiayuan Antiques and Art Market

FLEA MARKET AFICIANADOS, Beijing history buffs and junk collectors alike were in jitters two years ago as rumors swept through the dusty stalls of Panjiayuan about official plans to clean up the capital’s infamous, largely unregulated and delightfully chaotic "Dirt Market."

Fast-forward to this year, and Panjiayuan is still open and, by practically any measure, bigger and, better, with bargains galore. China’s capital flea market remains chock-a-block with beads, bangles, jade, jewelry and, well, junk. If there is a trinket - however tacky - found anywhere in China, rest assured you will also find it here. From Mao caps to Ming pottery, Yinxing teapots to military binoculars, Panjiayuan has everything, including Tibetan trunks, bronze door knobs, antique locks, wooden puppets, even actual kitchen sinks.

Eating:
Breakfast - at hostel
Lunch - picnic location to be determined by excursion option selection
Dinner- HouHai lake used to be part of the Imperial gardens, now it is surrounded by upscale restaurants. It is touristy, but not too bad. We will have dinner at the Chinese restaurant that has tables along side the lake and then you will have about 2 hours to visit the shops or rent a paddle boat (either paddled by you, a motor, or a Chinese teenager) to explore the lake. You can read about the lake here, http://www.gluckman.com/BeijingHouHaiLake.html but be warned, we are not eating at any of the restaurants he reviewed.




May 15
We will depart Beijing via train for Inner Mongolia. The train leaves early, so we will go to bed early on the 14th. (This picture was taken out of the Hostel's window and is here as a warning, it will be CROWDED and SMOGGY).