Xi'an Reports

Monday, April 8th, 1997

We went to eat lunch by the Big Goose Pagoda where we met this lady. I decided that it would be a good idea to interview her. So I did, but with the help of Denise, Simona, and Vicky; some members of my group.

Q: What is your name?
A: My name is Tian feng.

Q: How old are you?
A: I am 32 years old.

Q: Where were you born?
A: I was born in Xi'an.

Q: Are you married and do you have any kids?
A: I am married and have 2 kids, 1 girl and 1 boy. (She also notes that life is easy)

Q: How old are your kids?
A: The girl is 9 and the boy is 4.

Q: What are their names.
A: The girl's name is Yu fe and the boys name is Yu chao.

Q: Since in China you are allowed to have only one child, why are you allowed to have 2?
A: You can have two if the first child is a girl and you have to wait four years to have a second. This rule applies to the village that I lived in.

Q: What is your occupation?
A: I am the boss of this restaurant.

Q: How long have you have you worked in the restaurant?
A: I have worked here for 5 years.

Q: Do you make the food yourself or do you have a cook?
A: My husband is the cook.

Q: How much income do you get?
A: I get 7,000 (yuan) to 8,000 (yuan) per month.

Q: What is the rent of the place.
A: The rent is 15,000 a year. It is so low because it is owned by my grandfather.

Q: Is there a lot of crime here?
A: No, it is really safe.

Q: Do a lot of tourists come here?
A: The majority of people come from all over China and some tourists from outside of China.

After we had eaten a good meal of fried rice, noodle soup, and dumplings the total was 111 yuan (US$14). Since we were 9 people it was 13 yuan per person (US$1.75) . So the local restaurants in China is a very good bargain.

I was walking down a street. I felt sore all over my legs and feet. I drank a lot of water so I had to go to the bathroom but I held it in. I smelled the foul smell of the sewer and meat hanging for sale. I felt like I was going to throw up. I also saw goat heads, cleaned and soaking in a bucket of water for sale. This market street is located in the Muslim area; therefore they don't eat pork, just beef and lamb. I thought I was going to be sick. Then we walked down the street and saw pool tables on the sidewalk and "wow", I didn't know people played pool in China and especially on this narrow street. That brightened up my day a little bit! I heard lots of things like honking from cars and motorcycles, yelling, talking, felt the heat from stoves burning, and the noise of engines on cars and motorcycles. One common noise was the rattling of mule carts on the road.

Today in Xian we met a pedicab driver and we interviewed him. He seemed very nice and happy. After he answered the questions we took a Polaroid picture of him. As we waited for the photo to develop, lots of people gathered around us. Soon about twenty people were watching and when we gave him the photo he seemed very happy. The driver became a popular person. Everyone wanted to see it and I bet everyone wanted one too. It is not common to get a photo of yourself in China. It was a great experience.

Today was a very sunny and brisk day, and also very crowded too. While I was walking down the busy street with all the cars and bikes driving through to get home, to their work, or somewhere else, I saw stone lions. It amazed me because it was in the middle of the road! It was all gray and had a big, wide smile on it's face. It looked like a gash on the chin. It had a black fence all around it in a square shape. It's height was about half way up to the lion. The stone lion was kneeling on it's two back legs. The lion's two front legs were straight down in front of the back legs. It was kneeling on a square stone step about 5 ft. high.

There were two in the middle of the road and one on the side of the road. It was right by the entrance of the Da Cien Temple. I think the lions were there because it's a Buddhist temple and lions usually guard all temples. So the people inside the temple want the people outside the temple to know that the lions are there to keep evil spirits from coming in.

When I first stepped out of our hotel, I was greeted by warm sunshine, and simply a beautiful day. We then boarded a bus to the Shaanxi History Museum which is located about 5 kilometers southeast of the city wall. The ancient artifacts from each dynasty truly amazed me. Ranging from daily uses to weapons to ritual objects. They are different from all other artifacts because each piece was so carefully made and each design was so detailed for that period of time which was more than 3000 years ago. Because of our time limit, we didn't see it all. Next we walked toward a local market.

Along the way, we took Polaroid pictures of the people of Xi'an and gave the pictures to them as a goodwill gesture. One incident I'd probably never forget is when we saw a little boy playing Chinese chess with his father on the sidewalk. We talked with them and found out the little boy is 5 years old. In just minutes, local people had crowded all around. We then took his picture, and when we gave it to him, his cheerful smile really highlighted our day.

When we finally reached the market, we were amazed by the variety of food it offered such as different types of noodles, pastries, bean curd, meat, etc. Also, the cheap price amazed us. For example, a piece of bread with filling costs only 1RMB. It was actually a lot quieter and cleaner than I expected. By the time we walked through the long and narrow street, we were all starved.

Therefore, we stopped for a quick lunch at a local restaurant. We ordered some local food similar to what we know as fried rice and noodle. The noodle was special because it was freshly made. After our stomachs were satisfied, we walked on, and our afternoon adventures began which will be described by other members of my group.

The plane ride wasn't all that bad. Yvonne, Bella, and I all had seats next to each other (20 A, B, C). We spent the whole time playing cards. Time went by quickly but the flight was actually almost 3 hours. Plane food wasn't that bad... I had macaroni. Actually, it was great compared to the box lunches we got in the hotel. My orange had a big dent and was really lopsided. The apple had a million bruises. The cookies were out of the wrapper. Etc... I don't want to think of it anymore! Let's just say I lost my appetite. After a long walk on the West Wall, we had dinner. We went to a Dumpling Restaurant. There were about 20 different types of dumplings, including one in the shape of a rabbit and one in the shape of a penguin. Some were really spicy. I never knew that there were so many different types of dumplings! I had a great time!

The cool air-conditioning blows over me as I sit lazily in the tall, blue and white porcelain jar. I wish the shipping company had chose some other restaurant for me. This place barely gets any business at all,; I haven't been used all day! I tune out to the rest of the world and focus on the street across from the little restaurant. It is covered in thick mud and snobby bikers carelessly splash it into the restaurant. I see large slabs of ribs and the dead bodies of lambs or cows hanging from a pole which is stretched across one of the little canopies that people sell things in. There is a lot of noise. Little children are running and screaming with laughter, bike riders are honking their horns and shop keepers are screaming out in Mandarin for people to buy there meat, pottery, or sodas. The shops here are very open. I am under a roof, but I feel as if I'm outside. I'm getting tired. I glance at the watch of a passer by, and see that it's already 5:15. People should be coming for dinner soon. Suddenly, a group of foreigners walk in and sit down at my table. I can tell they aren't from China because of the funny way they are speaking. They are talking very slowly and using words I have never heard before like "Hello" and "Sit down" /I'm nervous. What if the foreigners have brought diseases with them on their lips and will spread them to me? They are about 12 or 13. Four girls sit down at my table. They are laughing very loudly. I think I will not like these new people very much. I'm actually a bit scared of them. Then, I get the biggest surprise of all: The girl to the right of me has sunshine for hair! She really does! It is a long, flowing yellow . I watch her with interest for most of the meal. She acts like the other girls, but I can't keep my eyes off her hair. I wish I was at another table. The waitress serves them all bowls of hot noodle soup with beef. Oh no, the yellow hared girl picks me up. and dips me in to her soup. After forever, she lifts me up and puts me to her lips. I gasp for air , but the air here in Xi'an is thick and dirty and it doesn't help me much at ally. This girl is using me wrong,; she's strangling me with her thin, strong smelling noodles and squeezes me too tight and too close to the end. Her lips are thin and long, not very inviting at all. Call me ethnocentric, but I prefer the Chinese to this strange group of girls. Xi'an may be muddy, but it's home and I don't mind. Everyone seems happy in the Muslim section. /it may not be perfect,. Most people are poor, it's noisy, dirty, and far from perfect, but I like it anyway.

Interview with Zu Yi Zuo,
museum guard and an officer at the Shaanxi History Museum in Xi'an. He's age 21 and is originally from Xi'an.

Q: What is your birthday?
A. November 7, 1977

Q: Why did you choose to be a guard?
A: I have to do it.

Q: How many years have you been a guard?
A: Three years.

Q: Do you like the work?
A: I like the work very much.

Q: What do you like to do?
A: I like to read books like Chinese legacy books and finding out the history of Xi'an as well as Chinese history.

Q: What kind of food do you like?
A: I like fruit most of all.

Q: What things do you dislike?
A: I dislike noodles, weather in Xi'an and I hate basketball.

Q: Have you ever been out of the country?
A: No, but I'd like to go to (sounded like "Bali") near or in France.

Q: If you finished your job as a museum guard what would you like to do?
A: To get more education.

I am a donation box. I lie in the middle of two of six giant pillars. The pillars are a light red color. The mosque behind me was built during the Tang Dynasty, in 742 AD. It is over 1,255 years old. The Communist Party and the Peoples Government made special funds available to renovate it yearly. Inside the hall tere are 60 pieces of huge wooden boards with the complete Koran written on them.

Thirty of the boards are written in Chinese and the other 30 are written in Arabic. The glazed rooftops are beautiful, like raindrops. The ceilings are carved with over 600 classical scriptures, and all the letters are decorated in the pattern of flowers and grass.

All around me there are also tall trees. The leaves are bright green. It is beautiful here. Directly across from me there are two stone memorial Gateways and there is one big one in the middle. To the sides of the Gateways there are miniature versions of "The Introspection Tower", the tower from which prayer call was made earlier in history.

Every day tons of people come to visit the Mosque. Over 500,000 people have visited me. Some people even put money in me. But they usually drop coins. A few years back Mohammed Ali visited here. It was so neat. There were so many people here. It was very loud.

There is not much noise here. People usually respect the mosque and just take pictures. It smells quite nice here ........ the smell of flowers and sometimes people have nice perfume.

Nobody comes at night. Maybe they are afraid of the dark. I wonder what type of people I will see next ....

7:30 a.m.: Breakfast was all that I expected and more. The only problem was that there was no milk for ten minutes, and when it finally came and I took a nice glass, it ended up to be water and gross!

Well, anyway the rest of the food was fine and it gave us enough energy for the rest of the day.

8:30 a.m.: We managed to get done at 7:55 so we had half an hour left, and during this time, we got ready to take bus to the Shaanxi Museum.

9:00 a.m.: Walked around

"From the perspective of a pagoda along Yanta Rd in Xi'an" Life was great hundreds of years ago when I was a sacred place . The monks took good care of me, it was peaceful. Now today I am a tourist attraction. Xi'an is much bigger than what I remembered. People throw trash and money everywhere. I used to look better but now I am falling apart. I wish if they leave me alone!!!

Sitting perched on the branch in this small cage, I peer out through the wooden bars focusing my eyes on the street. Ah, how long have I been in this cooped up cage on Muslim Street. The day is sunny and bright....but still a bit chilly. I slowly watch Muslim men and women pass by, without even glancing at me. The little, white caps they wear looking at the items in every shop. Bicycles ring their bells warning people to move out of their way. Little children with rosy, red cheeks pass by, laughing in delight in their green uniforms. Hey, I thought little kids liked birds! So far, every kid that has passed by has ignored me!!!! I peck at the sunflower seeds and bread in my cage......it's stale! I start shrieking in my high chirp in complaint. Suddenly, I stop. What could this be? A big group of children are coming, but not just any children. They have different color skin, eye color, and even hair color. Can you believe some had yellow hair? They must have dyed it. On their sweaters is printed, "Hong Kong". Wow, Hong Kong....this is my big chance. I start chirping," Help me, save me from this unfortunate cage. Listen to my voice, take me back to Hong Kong with you and make me a singer!" Three of these children walk by. The one with brown hair says, "What a noisy bird, someone make it shut up." The yellow haired child took out her camera. Wow, I picture of me, ME! I jump up and down in excitement wondering whether I should smile with my beak open or closed. The yellow haired child says, " Never mind, that bird is moving way too much, let's go find another bird." What!??? I watch in amazement as they walk away and get farther and farther while others breeze past me. I don't believe this? I bite the wooden bars trying without effort to break the wooden bars. As I settled back, it broke! I cried out in happiness, and flew out, swooping through the buses and cars. It's wonderful to be a free bird again! I love Xi'an more than anyplace in the world, it's my home.

Afternoon Itinerary:

Today was a sunny, cool day. After lunch, we went to the Da Chien Temple. As we went in the entrance, to our left was a drum tower and to our right was the bell tower. This temple was a Buddhist temple - like the one in Kowloon ( Wong Dai Xian ) - . The very first impression I thought of the moment I walked in was a big garden full of temples. There was grass on the sides, short stairs here and there, just a peaceful and quiet place. Right behind the temple was the Big Goose Pagoda. It was a building of seven floors and the stairways leading to the top floor was steep and dark. On the way back to our buses, ( from the pagoda ) we even saw a rainbow!

After the temple and the pagoda, we went to the Great Mosque. Interesting things I saw on the way was the door had a high threshold. It was said that it was to keep the water from going in to the house when there is a flood AND to keep the bad spirits away and keep the good spirits from leaving. Also, the houses were set up like the ones in " Raise The Red Lantern ". Other unique information I learned from others were that there are five different times in the day when only Muslim men can enter the temple to pray ( hey, sexist! ). Anyway, through today's tour made me realize something: NEVER, EVER, BUY THINGS IN TOURIST SPOTS ( TEMPLES, MUSEUMS ) BECAUSE IT IS A RIP-OFF. YOU MIGHT BE ABLE TO BUY THE SAME THINGS IN OTHER PLACES WHICH IS CHEAPER!! ( Well that applies to Xi'an! )

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