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Virtual China Participants and Observers:

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From: "HKIS Middle School (General Account #1)" 
Virtual China Participants and Observers:

These Virtual China messages were written from Xi'an, March 25, 1996. They
come from the Xi'an Group 2, Anne Street's Group. They are the first
messages received from the second Hong Kong International School study
group to visit Xi'an in the past two weeks as part of their "Virtual China
'96" project.
----------------------------------------
Author: Christopher Teng
Date: March 25, 1996
Location: Bell Tower Hotel
Activity: From perspective of dumpling left on plate

Message:
Dumplings are being raised to their mouths all around me. When will it be
my turn? When will I be eaten? Other dumplings, going, going, gone!! What
about me? Why am I left? Is it that ugly scar? Why am I not worthy of
death? Aaaaiiieeee!!!!!!!!!!!! The trash can!!! PLUNK...........
-------------------------------------------
Author: Li Ling Chao
Location: Xi'an
Date: March 25, 1996
Activity: Perspective of a beggar

Many foreigners walked along the street of the market today. A large number
of them wore red sweatshirts with some school name on it. (I didn't bother
to read it - all I wanted was money to feed my ragged looking daughter).
Foreigners carry lots of cash. I took my daughter with me today to beg. Her
face was smudged, but she still wore that same quiet face which seems to
win sympathy of many shoppers. I approach the first foreigner I saw, and
tapped her on the arm and begged for money as I pointed to my child. The
foreigner stared at us with a bewildered look and turned away. I persisted
to tap her until she understood and refused. to give me some money,
regretfully. I looked at the girl in her neatly ironed jeans, with he shiny
camera and stuffed bag. She probably had money to spare?
I gave up with that foreigner, and tried another and another etc. I did the
same routine. My daughter wore the same face. And the foreigners did the
same thing. Then all foreigners stated to clutch their bags and stuff their
hands in their pockets. When they moved up the street and I followed them
with hope (for they had also looked at us with pity), but then they seemed
to get a little nervous and I knew my chances were slim to get them to give
me any money, so I walked away.
---------------------------------------------
Author: Samantha Luk
Location: Xi'an, China
Date: March 25, 1996
Activity: Perspective of young child

My sister and I were playing on the wagon that my father drove around to
different places to sell his necklaces and souvenirs at a cheap price. I
was still in my diaper stage, so my pants had slits so I could learn how to
use the bathroom. It was cold but I was used to that. Then the first
foreigners come up. It was a white skinned woman with purple hair. It was
in a bob and stuck straight out. I was curious about this woman who was so
different from me. She snapped something that looked like a small
rectangular cube with a snout. She pressed a button. I heard a click. Soon
many foreigners came up these contraptions. I stare curiously at them for a
long time. I was very curious at what these things were. They kept snapping
them, my sister was curious too. She was also staring. Then the
purple-haired lady took out a huge version of those things and snapped. Out
came a square paper. It was a picture of me.
------------------------------------------------
Author: Christopher Yang
Date: March 25, 1996
Location: Bell Tower Hotel --- Xi'an, China
Activity: From perspective of dumpling being eaten

Message:
Hello my name is "dumpmeng", a red-bean dumpling about to be fried. My
outer shell is made of uncooked wheat slices. My intestines are made of red
bean paste mixed with sugar. The process of frying has started, I am
turning golden brown and crispy, help. At last I am put on a cold plate and
am served to the humans, I was sitting on my plate all alone until a pair
of chopsticks tried to pick me up, but failed. Chris Yang would eat me.
Yes! He picked me up and swallowed me in one painful gulp. What is going
on? He is feeding me to a girl, I hate being fed to a less superior
FEMALE!! This is total injustice!
-----------------------------------------------
Author: Jessica Lee
Date: March 26, 1996
Location: Xi'an, China
Activity: From perspective of an "old man"

Message:
Oh my! Gag me with my beard! I'm so old and I've got an ache in my back.
I'd be so happy if I were back in the good old days when I was just a kid
in my teens.
What!? I see an bunch of American students here at Xi'an? Impossible.
They're right in from of me wearing all of the same sweatshirts. They have
clothes with warm material and good designs. They speak English so I
couldn't understand a word they were saying. I don't understand why they're
so different from the Chinese. They have different colored hair with blue
or brown eyes. Some of them are Chinese just by their looks. I murmured
under my breath as I passed them. I hope non of them overheard. It's very
rare that I see foreigners around here in Xi'an!
-----------------------------------------------
Author: Erika Brow
Date: March 26, 1996
Location: Scholar Street, Xi'an, China
Activity: From perspective of a shopkeeper on Scholar Street

Message:

"Boy, those foreigners really know how to bargain. I've lost a lot of money
because of them", I thought to myself. Today was another busy day. I was
busy selling things all day long. I've been making a lot of money until
those people came. The funny thing about those people was that they were
all dressed pretty much alike. They all had red sweat shirts on with a
dragon on the front and a logo on the back that said "HKIS". They were all
probably one whole team. Anyway, like I was saying, those people took a lot
of money our of me. I didn't quite enjoy the experience,. they always
wanted cheaper prices, but it felt pretty good when they bought my
products. they were also really friendly. I would probably hope to see them
again.
-----------------------------------------------
Author: Rebecca Hardman
Group: Miss Hanson
Date: March 26, 1996
Location: Xi'an, China
Title: Perspective of the wall surrounding Xi'an ------ a poem

Valiant, Spectacular
handsome, proud
that's what I am
and that's what I must stay.

content am I
as curious creatures walk my back
gazing, lazing
and fooling around.

Life is so great
using my beauty as a bait
watching the city go
from a striking sun, to biting snow.

The people who built me
their hands the key
to the protection of them
and the happiness of me.

Yet ..... still
my bones are mourning
the sun scorches my back
my mouth ..... yawning.

Life can be down
great poverty in the town
watching the city go from
right to regret, that I know.

Then .... I remember
the happy creatures,
and their lives
I must not fail.
----------------------------------------
Author: Vanessa Kwok
Date: March 26,1996
Location: Shaanxi museum - Xi'an, China
Activity: From perspective of a clay horse in the Shaanxi Museum

Message:
Everyday I can see a million pairs of eyes peering though my friend, the
window. Sometimes I wonder where all these foreigners come from. I can see
their smiles, rosy cheeks and eyes in every shade of color that glisten I
can here the chatter of their voices with many different accents. I can
also smell the air from the soil which I was excavated from, damp and
muddy. As a clay horse, I was used for burial purposes. The land I was
buried in was a dry and cracked during the summer where there was hardly
any rain now. I live in a beautiful glass case with a brief description of
me. I think that they think I'm very special. There has been a big turning
point in my life since I had moved. Even though my life is more luxurious.
I still miss my old house and I want to go back to where I belong.
-------------------------------------------------------
Author: Philina Fan
Date: March 26,1996
Location: Shaanxi museum
Activity: From perspective of a monk in a temple

Message:
Left, right, left, right. Ah, done sweeping the steps. What?! Who are they?
They have black hair and blackish brown eyes. I'm sure they're Chinese.
They're a different kind of Chinese anyway. I can tell by their face.
This temple is holy and they're screaming and shouting about people
"kowtowing" to Buddha. That's normal. What so great about it?
They're looking at me oddly and timidly. One smiled and I turned away. Who
wants to smile at foreigners? Am I that weird looking? I'm just a monk
doing my job. There really is not much to do here. They're taking pictures
of the temple inside. I hope they don't take pictures of me. I'm not for
viewing, disrespectful brats! They stared taking picture of the Buddha on
the altar. They're walking to the side into the courtyard. They're looking
curiously at the figures on the side. There's nothing special about it .
The figures are just sitting there in a lotus position. Whew! They finally
left the temple. I was afraid some thing bad might happen. They're probably
going to climb the wild Goose Pagoda. All tourists do.
--------------------------------------------------------
Author: Matthew Shaffer
Date: March 26th, 1996
Location: Xi'an, China
Perspective of a guard at the Shaanxi Museum in Xi'an

Today a group of students came to the museum to look and learn. I was
amazed how curious they were! And they had very unusual clothes, hats and
bags. I thought I had seen foreigners, but I have never seen people like
this. And they were all kids! Where were their parents?   Why were they all
running around taking notes? I have all these questions in my mind as I
watched them.
I enjoyed it when they all sat down and talked to us and the staff. They
seemed to be very friendly. I enjoyed it when they visited us.
---------------------------------------------------------
Author: Oliver Jay
Date: March 27, 1996
Location: Xi'an, China
Activity: From the perspective of a farmer who found the Terra Cotta Warriors

"Ni kan, Ni Kan!" (Look, look!) Back around 1974, about the time of the
cultural revolution, I was digging a well to help irrigate my fields. then,
as I pulled up the rope, there came some clay parts of a human being. I
told the government and they gave me only 30 Yuan! (It takes about 8 Yuan
to equal 1 US$) While I was think of having 500 Yuan; at least it's better
than nothing.
today I saw some students wearing red clothes. I remembered last year some
kids wore the same thing. Their faces looked different and extremely
interested. In a second, they crowded around me and stuffed me their
booklets to sign my famous signature. I've been signing autographs since
they finished refurbishing the pits (where the warriors are located).
That's my job! Signing autographs all day long.
Back to the students ....... only one student spoke to me. He even
interviewed me! I told him the history of the Terra Cotta Warriors. In
fact, I even gave him a postcard!
-----------------------------------------------
Author: Bernard Yau
Date: March 27, 1996
Location: Xi'an, China
Activity: From the perspective of an ox in the field above the Terra Cotta
Warriors

What are they shouting about so early? I've been their ox for 7 years and
never heard such shouts of excitement. Well, actually they were like that
yesterday morning, too! The farmer was just having a big fuss over an old
dirty broken head of a warrior. He was telling all his neighbors how he got
it and so on. What's so special? He just found it in the well while trying
to dig up water. It was after a year or so that I found how important it
was.
I have heard that it was 1974 when my farmer owner, Mount Li, first found a
head of a warrior which was made out of clay. Soon, the government found
out about it through the grapevine. the government gave 30 Yuan to our
master, Li, to have the place dug to be investigated. I didn't know
anything more until my son, Horsy, died also and came to heaven to tell me
everything else. When they dug further through the ground they discovered
there was an entire army of statues beneath the ground. It was said that
all these statues were made for Emperor Jing Qi as a burial object. These
statues of army soldiers were all built on a human scale and were arranged
in a military fashion. they started to build a museum around the site. Up
till now 40,000 Terra Cotta Warriors were found. (not all in this spot) I
was told also that further investigations are still continuing.
-----------------------------------------------
Author: Geoff Waters
Date: March 27, 1996
Location: Xi'an, China
Activity: from Perspective of The Nestorian Monument

Message: I am a large, black stone tablet called " Da Qin Jing Jiao Liuxing
Zhongguo Bel." That means, " The Stone Inscription about the spread of the
Roman Nestorian religion in China." I am taller than a man and stand on a
large stone turtle. A Nestorian cross is carved at my head. My inscription
was cut into the stone in 781 a.d. and celebrates the first 150 years of
the Christian church under the Tang dynasty. I am mostly written in
Chinese, but some parts, including the names of the Nestorian priests, are
written in the Syriac script. That is because the Nestorian sect of the
ancient Christian church originated in Syria. From there, it spread through
Iran and Central Asia, to China. The first priest arrived in Chang'an (now
Xi'an) on 635a.d. The Tang Emperor Taizong was interested in foreign
religions, maybe because the Li clan of the Tang emperors came from central
Asia, not China. They still spoke a Turkish language and could read the
Syriac writing. Emperor Taizong gave land for a church in Chang'an and
ordered a Nestorian church established in every province in China.
Later emperors changed that law and forced everyone in China to because
Buddhists. The churches were all destroyed in 845a.d. I was lost and buried
in the ground, maybe my believers who wanted to keep me from being smashed.
I was found and dug up almost 800 years later at the end of the Ming
dynasty. Now I stand in the Bei Lin, or "Forest of Stone Inscriptions," in
Scholars Street in Xi'an".
Unfortunately, the Nestorian Christian Church died out 1000 years ago:
overcome by the Roman Catholic Church in Europe, by the Byzantine Church
and Islam in the Middle East, and by Buddhism in China. In fact, Nestor and
his church are completely forgotten, except for a few scholars and those
people who know I am here and come to pay their respects now and then.
One of those groups came to see me today, but the museum was closed when
they arrived. So, they bought a rubbing of my inscription in the Scholars
Street market to take back to their school. I will wait until next year,
when I know they will come again.
-----------------------------------------------
Author: Hasnain Ahmed Malik
Date: March 28th, 1996
Location: Xi'an, China
Activity: From perspective of the bus carrying the HKIS students

Message:
I am the bus for the "yellow" group. They are the second half of the
seventh grade coming to Xi'an. We (me and the "yellow" group) have a lot of
fun, as they sit on my seats. They talk about school, Hong Kong, the
excitement in Xi'an, the adventures they have, and many other topics.
I can't help but notice their enthusiasm about coming to Xi'an and about
the nice people who they meet along the way to their destinations. They
usually walk which means I miss out on some of the experiences but I can
always hear about it later.
Sometimes they play cards, do work, and many other things which they are
expected to do, which usually is extra work given to them by their group
leaders.
The best game id D&D (Dungeons and Dragons). It is very interesting and
exciting, but it all depends on the DM (DM is a fiction god).
I have to go now .... the students are going to the factory and the village.
-----------------------------------------------
Author: Matthew Leung
Date: March 28, 1996
Location: Xi'an, China
Activity: From perspective of a clay Terra Cotta Warrior standing in the pit

Message:
As the sun rises and the doors of the museum open, people begin to pour in.
Some visitors are shocked at the numerous Terracotta soldiers; I am among
them. In the middle of the morning, a group of approximately 50 students
suddenly emerged at the door of the museum. They quickly walk in,
occasionally mumbling to each other. A few minutes pass as the teachers
explain to the students that they were to take pictures in a large group.
After taking their group photos, I noticed that each of the students were
carrying a booklet and were writing in them. They slowly walked behind me;
I became very frightened. I could distinctly hear their talking and
walking. After about 15 minutes, they once again appeared on the other side
of me. A while later, they walked out the museum door. Once again, I felt
lonely and sad because it is not often that I have such a group of excited
students come here.
-----------------------------------------------
Author: Yancisca Yeung
Editor: Mrs. Dawson
Date: March 28, 1996
Location: Xi'an, China
Activity: From perspective of a student in a school in China

Message:
"Ni hao"! (How are you?) This was one of the greetings in which I said to
the HKIS students when they came to visit us. Even though most of them
won't understand what I said, but I need to show my welcome and manners. I
wonder if they would appreciate my performance. What if I mess up and
everyone starts laughing ..... No, I will do my best and put all my effort
into this. This is worth it, since I started practicing this dance from the
beginning of the year!!!
*       *       *
Yes, I finally finished! I didn't make a single mistake! Everyone's
cheering and clapping for me. In my life, I had never been pleased at what
I've done for others using my talents. My dream has finally been
fulfilled!! Now it's my friends turn to show her talents, she is so much
better than me. I wonder if the HKIS students have something to perform for
us. I can't wait to see!
* *     *
Okay now they are starting. .... They seem so relaxed and comfortable while
doing this dance. It really has no point, everyone is just having fun
jumping around, swinging their bodies to the rhythm of the "Locomotion". I
might as well join.... Wait! I hope the HKIS students appreciate our
performances on how China's culture truly is.
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