1/19/09
 
  Today we woke up bright and early at about 6:30 to get ready for our morning walk around the West Lake of the City of Hangzhou in northern China.  At 7:00 we departed and we enjoyed and brisk walk of about a mile to the lake and back and although it was foggy it was very scenic.  At 8:00 we arrived back at the hotel when we had breakfast and prepared for our day around Hangzhou. 

First we visited the Hu Xue-yan House, which is the largest private garden residence in China South of the Yangzi River.  This house was built by a very wealthy banker named Hu Xue-yan (1823-1885) in 1872.  Hu Xueyan was born poor but when a rebellion broke out in a province near Hangzhou Hu invested all his money in the government to fight the rebellion and when the rebellion was defeated he was given high honors by the emperor and owned half of the government so he was very rich. 

The house we visited had a massive wall and a small side door from which we entered so Hu could keep a low profile within the city of Hangzhou.  We saw 12 houses for Hu's concubines the nicest of which was made of the nicest and hardest wood in all of China from the tai mu tree for his favorite concubine.  Then we saw the center of the compound which held the sacred symbol of his house hold where only his family could step for fear that it would take away his riches. 

Also the center of the house was the main kitchen and his mother and wife's living quarters, which were upstairs of the center building.  Hu Xue-yan himself lived above a magnificent garden with a pond and rock caves below all of which we saw.  After the house visit we went to the Hu Qing Yu Chinese Medicine Pharmacy, which was owned by Hu Xue-yan.  At the pharmacy he saw different kinds of herbs and Chinese medicines and learned what they were for. 

We also saw acupuncture being performed to heal some of our own students and Mr. Saltman himself.  To end the morning part of our day we say a Chinese pharmacy museum where we learned all about the history and uses of Chinese medicine.  Then we had lunch. 

After lunch we rode on a dragon boat.  The trip took about 30 minutes through beautiful countryside.  We arrived at the silk factory after we got off the dragon boat.  At the silk factory we were showed how silk cocoons are transformed into silk bead sheets, silk pillows, and silk pajamas.  Then we were shown into a large room where a silk fashion show was put on for us and one other tour group.  When we were leaving it rained.  That was the first time that it rained.  Once we arrived at our hotel we had a short nap and then had dinner.  Today was a relaxing day.

AS and WM

Day 13 Photos:

Day 12:
January 18th

  Our day started out like any other day. We woke up early and ate in the hotel restaurant, then departed from the hotel for our short bus ride to the Zhengzhou airport. We then flew to Hangzhou, and the plane flight was one hour. They served chicken with rice, along with an unripe banana. As we entered the baggage claim, we were greeted by the commotion of at least fifty locals. Amidst the crowd stood our new tour guide, Thune. He escorted us to the nearest McDonalds. I enjoyed a spicy chicken sandwich. Next to me, I witnessed my fellow classmate devour 4 if not five Big Macs! His name is undisclosed.

After our meal we boarded our new bus and met our new driver, Chun. As soon as we left the airport we set off on the highway. Our eyes wandered as the countryside unfolded around us. We were witness to an incredible sight: innumerable crop fields leading up to lavish Victorian style houses paid for by the valuable crops of the region. Soon we entered downtown Hangzhou, and we crossed the massive Qiantang river, which links Hangzhou to the East China Sea.

On the other side of the river, we found ourselves engulfed by rolling hills of green. We continued on our journey for about 15 more minutes, until we reached a large green tea plantation. We left the bus and walked up a small deck; soon we found ourselves among thousands of tea plants. They glistened as the bright orange sun shone through the fog reflecting bright yellow light off the dark green tea leaves. Our guide then taught us which leaves were good to pick and how to pick them. We were then led into a room with a large table surrounded by chairs. All thirty of us gathered around as cups of premium grade green tea were filled half way as a sign of welcome. Then, we were instructed to swirl the cup releasing the tea’s aroma. They filled the glasses the rest of the way, and all began to enjoy the rest of the tea. It soothed our hearts and warmed our bones. We were then introduced to four types of tea, the finest being emperor’s tea. Many of us including myself bought the emperor’s tea, which was picked last year at the end of March.

Then we left the tea plantation and soon found ourselves at the bottom of a massive pagoda. We were all very excited and soon began to ascend the ten floors. There is an old Chinese legend that says every floor that is climbed adds another ten years to your life. We soon left the pagoda and got on the bus before driving to dinner. We would be attending what is widely considered Hangzhou’s finest and most historic restaurant. There we enjoyed all the house specialties; freshwater shrimp cooked in a clay pot, beggars chicken steamed in lotus flowers, and fatty pork cooked for seven hours and braised in a light soy sauce. We finished our meal with slivers of succulent watermelon, typical dessert of any Chinese dinner. Soon we found ourselves on our way to the Lakeview hotel. Once inside, Mr. Hatherly distributed the room keys to each student. I then went up to my room with my roommate. As I entered the room I turned on the television set and began to watch Chinese animal planet. 

MM and MO

Day 12 Photos:

Day 11:
January 17, 2009

Today was a more relaxing but still very exciting day in Zhengzhou. Our first destination was the Henan province’s ping-pong academy where children are trained from an early age for the Olympics. Kinkaid students played against the professionally trained athletes. Though most of us did pitifully, we still had lots of fun.

Next stop was the Xue Da School, a center that offers after-school English classes. We got to meet some friendly students who told us about their lives. The Xua Da School was so welcoming and kind; it was a really great experience. After receiving the gracious gifts that the school gave us (plush oxen for the Chinese New Year), we left to eat lunch at a local restaurant.

Fully satisfied, we traveled to the Henan Provincial Museum. There we looked at ancient artifacts and interesting models. Following the museum, we attended a music program. All the instruments played were replicas of ancient instruments. By the time we headed back to the hotel, we were very relaxed by the soft music.
Our last destination was dinner at Pizza Hut, where we ate a delicious meal of pasta, onion rings, and of course, pizza.

Loving China,
Julia + Liz

Day 11 Photos:

Day 10: Zhengzhou, Kaifeng, Dragon Pavilion, Iron Pagoda
January 16, 2009

Greetings from Zhengzhou! We had quite a day. Early this morning, we took our bus to Kaifeng, where we spent the rest of the day. Kaifeng is a city of 4.1 million people that has been destroyed many times by flooding of the Yellow River. First, we went to the Dragon Pavilion, a park that was the setting of the Northern Song dynasty palace. It stands between two lakes, the Pan Family Lake and the Yang Family Lake.  Our next stop was the Iron Pagoda, a brick pagoda whose name is attributed to its rusty color. The Iron Pagoda is a part of the Youguo Buddhist Temple in Kaifeng, and it shows a clear influence of Indian design, the country from which Buddhism came. Pagodas indicate to pilgrims and travelers that a Buddhist temple is nearby.  After a delicious Henan lunch, we traveled to Torah lane.  In the vicinity are two mosques, a church and a synagogue.  At the end of Torah lane lies grandma Jao’s house.  Grandma Jao and her English-speaking granddaughter taught us their family history and the story of the Jewish people’s struggle as a minority in China.  Judaism was brought to China through the Silk Road just as Islam was.  On the way back to Zhengzhou, we visited Xiangguo temple.  The temple is known for its striking architectural design and the remarkable monument inside.  In one of the temple structures lies a statue of a woman with one thousand eyes attached to one thousand hands.  In the evening we returned to Zhengzhou to eat at a Muslim families restaurant to enjoy delicious noodles and dumplings!

Marshall and Harrison

Day 10 photos:

 

Day 9: Kung Fu School & the Shaolin Temple
January 15, 2009

  Today, we departed from the historical city of Luoyang and took an hour and a half bus ride to our first stop of the day, a Chinese buffet at a hotel. Once we finished dining, we took a short bus ride to a Kung Fu school.  There we watched a performance put on by many of the male students.  There were boys of all ages and dressed in bright orange Kung Fu outfits.  They preformed a series of traditional Kung Fu and it was fascinating.  After the show, we drove to the Shaolin Temple, a Buddhist monastery that is home to the Buddhist monks and have used martial arts training to enhance their powers and meditation.  There are many buildings that make up the Shaolin Temple, including the Shaolin Temple Martial Art Training Center, the Hall of Heavenly Kings, the Mahavira Hall and the Pagoda Forest.  The Mahavira Hall has three incarnations of the Buddha, one representing past, another present and another represents future.  A remarkable part of the Shaolin Temple was the Pagoda Forest.  There were many of pagodas that measured up to 50 feet.  After we visited the temple, we returned to the bus and rode the bus the rest of the way to Zhengzhou, our next major destination. 

  -- JO and MD

Day 9 Photos  :

Day 8: Luoyang & Longmen Buddhist Caves

January 14th 2009

  Today we woke up after spending our first night at the Peony Hotel, which is the best hotel in Luoyang. It is also a four star hotel and a more traditional Chinese place. After eating breakfast, we boarded the bus and enjoyed a sunny day as we drove to the Longmen Buddhist Caves. The rulers from the Northern Wei Dynasty, which were a nomadic Turkic speaking culture from Mongolia, built the Longmen Buddhist Caves. The amazing fact that we learned was that the caves contain 1,300 caves and 100,000 statues.

  When we arrived at the site, we saw many Buddhas of different sizes and learned about the Buddhist religion. The largest Buddha, called the Vaironcana, stands 17 meters or 56 feet in height, while the smallest Buddha stood a mere 2 centimeters in height. Buddhism was not originally a Chinese religion, but rather was brought to China by the Silk Road and by sea. We really enjoyed seeing the Longmen Caves because of the wide variety of the Buddhas in their size, shape, and form.

  After leaving the Longmen Caves, we made our way to the White Horse Temple, which is a Buddhist temple that dates back to the Eastern Han Dynasty. It was the first official Buddhist temple in all of China and allowed Buddhism to gain recognition and support. When we went inside the temple, we saw many buildings with large statues of the Buddha, his two disciples, Bodhisattvas, and the Four Heavenly Kings. We couldn’t take pictures inside the buildings as a sign of respect. We then headed off for lunch at a hotel nearby.

  We went to a cave house after lunch and learned a different lifestyle of many Chinese people. The cave house was a hole in the ground that had the rooms built in the sides of the cave. It was very interesting to see a new style of living.

  Later, we went to the Ancient Tombs Museum. There are 25 tombs total, which were from the Han, Wei, and Tang Dynasties. What was very interesting was that each tomb from the different dynasties had their own unique characteristics – size, bricks, and murals.

  In the meantime, we are waiting to go to dinner at our hotel to celebrate Mr. Saltman’s birthday.

Day 8 Photos:

Day 7: Terracotta Warriors

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

  We woke up this cold and dry morning.  We dragged our feet to the counter.  As we wearily wiped the sleep from our eyes with the palms of our hands, we couldn’t help but perk up – today we see the Terracotta Warriors!  The bus ride to the museum was long and icy.  As we stepped off of the bus into the blistering winter air, GH briefed us on the incredible legacy surrounding the clay army.  Moving into Pit 1, the temperature dropped, but our excitement remained.  We looked upon the heavily anticipated Terracotta Warriors (6,000 soldiers and horses in one pit!) and gasped in awe.  Once clad in brightly painted uniforms, equipped with weaponry respective to their office, now the soldiers stood drab and weaponless.  Allegedly, after the death of Emperor Qin Shi Huang Di (the emperor for whom the tomb was constructed), the Han troops infiltrated the tombs, setting fire to the underground pits.  All of the wooden weaponry was incinerated, lost to the world forever.  When archeologists first excavated the site in 1974, the paint disintegrated within thirty minutes of exposure to air.  We then moved through Pits 2 and 3, our hands numb with excitement and frost.  The First Emperor’s massive life-size army stared blankly at us.  It was terrifying. The emperor’s full-size army was intended to demonstrate the power he commanded in the physical world, and therefore the power he would possess in the afterlife.  This was no game, for he meant business.  Sad to depart, we boarded the bus and headed back into the city for lunch.  Later, we took a train from the quaint city of Xi’an (which we’d grown to love) to the ever-so-slightly warmer Luoyang.  Tired and worn out, we stumbled into our hotel rooms and into deep, tranquil slumbers where we dreamed about the wonders that tomorrow would hold. 

Fondly,
MB, AG, and AW

Day 7 Photos:  Terracotta Warriors

Day 7: Terracotta Warriors

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

  We woke up this cold and dry morning.  We dragged our feet to the counter.  As we wearily wiped the sleep from our eyes with the palms of our hands, we couldn’t help but perk up – today we see the Terracotta Warriors!  The bus ride to the museum was long and icy.  As we stepped off of the bus into the blistering winter air, GH briefed us on the incredible legacy surrounding the clay army.  Moving into Pit 1, the temperature dropped, but our excitement remained.  We looked upon the heavily anticipated Terracotta Warriors (6,000 soldiers and horses in one pit!) and gasped in awe.  Once clad in brightly painted uniforms, equipped with weaponry respective to their office, now the soldiers stood drab and weaponless.  Allegedly, after the death of Emperor Qin Shi Huang Di (the emperor for whom the tomb was constructed), the Han troops infiltrated the tombs, setting fire to the underground pits.  All of the wooden weaponry was incinerated, lost to the world forever.  When archeologists first excavated the site in 1974, the paint disintegrated within thirty minutes of exposure to air.  We then moved through Pits 2 and 3, our hands numb with excitement and frost.  The First Emperor’s massive life-size army stared blankly at us.  It was terrifying. The emperor’s full-size army was intended to demonstrate the power he commanded in the physical world, and therefore the power he would possess in the afterlife.  This was no game, for he meant business.  Sad to depart, we boarded the bus and headed back into the city for lunch.  Later, we took a train from the quaint city of Xi’an (which we’d grown to love) to the ever-so-slightly warmer Luoyang.  Tired and worn out, we stumbled into our hotel rooms and into deep, tranquil slumbers where we dreamed about the wonders that tomorrow would hold. 

Fondly,
MB, AG, and AW

Day 7 Photos:  Terracotta Warriors

It will likely be a few days before the group in China will have internet access again.  Updates will be sent and posted again when the group reaches a hotel with internet access again.

Day 6:  Xi’an: bike ride, Wild Goose Pagoda, high school visit, paper cutting.
January 12th

This morning we had an incredible buffet-style breakfast in our beautiful hotel the Shangri-La.  After stuffing ourselves we headed out for a bike ride on the Xi’an city wall.  The wall was huge and once we arrived we all rented bikes and some of us biked the whole 8-mile long wall.  Graham and Harrison finished in first on the tandem bike and set a Kinkaid record on the wall finishing the full 8 miles in 43 minutes.  Glen and Trey finished second on the tandem bike in a close time of 46 minutes.  I (Arya) biked solo and was keeping up, but when I passed up Allyson and Samantha their bike chain had fallen and I had to stop and fix it.  Other than that minor set back the ride was great and very interesting because we got to see a lot of Xi’an and all of its wonders.  After this eventful bike ride we went to the Wild Goose Pagoda, which is an amazing Buddhist temple in Xi’an.  We were able to go inside the temple and see the amazing statue of the golden Buddha.  In front of the temple there was a structure where you could place incense sticks and make prayers that the Buddha will grant for you.  Each of us received three of these sticks and after burning the tips made our own wishes.  Glen and I were very impressed by the beauty of the temple and really enjoyed being able to marvel at its grace.  After the temple we went to lunch in an interesting multi-level restaurant.  I (Glen Allen) really enjoyed the bread dipped in garlic sauce and the beef; I think Arya enjoyed the tomato soup the most because he had about 5 bowls of it.  After our lunch we headed out to a prestigious high school in Xi’an.  Once we arrived, their gracious principal greeted us and told us about their high school.  Then we went into an auditorium and had a little meet-and-greet with the Chinese students.  They were very nice and very talkative.  Then they dispersed us into groups of Chinese students to do an activity.  Baker and I (Glen Allen) sat next to who we think was the class president and she was very nice.  After learning the Chinese art of paper cutting we played limbo and musical chairs.  I made it to the final in Musical chairs, but lost to Walt in a fierce battle. Tonight we are heading to a much anticipated “all-dumpling” restaurant, which we are very excited about.
 
Good-bye from China,
Glen Allen & Arya

Day 6 Photos:

 

Day 5:  Xi’an, Han Yangling excavation, the Great Mosque
January 11th

Today we left Beijing and travelled to Xi’an the second destination on our trip. Xi’an has been the capital of thirteen different royal and dynastic periods between the tenth century B.C. and the tenth century A.D. Upon our arrival in Xi’an we immediately left the airport and headed straight to the Han Yangling excavation. The Han Yangling excavation marks the burial site of the Han Emperor, Jing Di. The site also includes the tomb of the empress along with 10,000 smaller tombs- satellite tombs, tombs of concubines, royal family members, and court officials. At the excavation Professor Wang, an archeologist in China and the director of the site, briefed us about the history of the tomb. After lunch we visited the Great Mosque. The mosque was built in the late 1300s and represents the heart of the old city today. At the mosque we were able to visit with the Imam, the leader of the mosque, and he was able to tell us a few stories from his past. After leaving the mosque we returned back to the hotel, where we heard and saw a PowerPoint presentation about the terracotta warriors by Professor Wang.

HL and GB

Day 5 Photos:

 

 Day 4: Photos & Journal Entry:

Photos: The Great Wall, Temple of Heaven, & Lunch

 

January 10th:

Anxiety filled us as we woke up to the day that we’d get to climb the famous Great Wall of China.  On our way to the Great wall, we stopped at the Temple of Heaven.  During our arrival there our tour guide, Nancy, began to talk about the history of this temple.  Some of that history includes the following:  it is one of four “elemental” temples located in each of the cardinal directions in relation to the Forbidden City of the Ming dynasty.  The temple of Heaven was created to honor Tian, or heaven.  However, the Chinese idea of heaven is unlike the Christian idea.  Tian is a force, or power, that balances all life in the world.  The temple was beautifully constructed with three parts to it: the Altar of Heaven, the Vault of Heaven, and the Hall for Prayer for Good Harvest.  Afterwards, we were given ten minutes to take pictures and explore.  It began to get quite chilly, so we scurried off to the bus for an hour-long journey to the Great Wall.  Throughout our bus ride we were informed about much information concerning the Great Wall.  Some of which is that during the seventh century China was made up of various rival kingdoms.  However, in 221 B.C., all walls of those kingdoms were linked the formed the Great Wall.  it may have taken ten years, but one million lives were lost in the process.  Foreign encroachments, such as the Mongols, seized China.  They had no use for the wall, so it wasn’t well taken care of and parts of it were destroyed.  When China regained control, triggering the Ming dynasty, the wall was restored which is what is seen today.  The most misleading fact about the Great Wall is its title.  The Chinese call it “the Long Wall”, but the west invented the name “the Great Wall”.  As the bus stopped, everyone raced to the ski lift to raise them up to the same level as the Great Wall -- 2,700 feet.  We had one hour to walk a photograph the Great Wall before we bob sledded down the mountain.  The bobsledding made the experience much more exciting!  As soon as we got off of the bobsleds we walked down to the bus where we bumped into street vendors.  When our purchases and bargaining were complete we headed off to the Xiao Long Pau for lunch.  Once our tummies were full with delicious cuisine, we drove off to the Ming Tombs.  There, Nancy enlightened us with facts about the tombs.  The two most interesting comments were that only thirteen out of sixteen emperors of the Ming dynasty were buried there, and the first to be buried was an empress, Empress Xi Chi.  Next, we went to the hotel for a short break before dinner.  We ate dinner at Xiao Wang Fu.  It was fantastic, but by the time we finished, everyone was exhausted and needing to go to bed to wake up early the next morning for Xi’an.

SS and AS

Day 3 photos: Bai Zhai Da Yu, Beijing Zoo, The Bird's Nest, & The Summer Palace

 

Day 2 photos:  Tai Chi & Beijing Opera
 

Click on the photo below for a larger version.

 

Day 3
January 9th

  We started off the day today with a visit to the Olympic buildings, the Birds' Nest and the Water Cube.  We went inside the Nest but could not go into the Cube, and it was interesting to see the building without sports being played in it.  It was decorated with Christmas-related items, and the mascots used for the Olympics danced around to a modified Christmas song.

  After that we drove to the Summer Palace, where the emperor and his family would spend the hot summer months when they wanted to get away into nature (the Qing emperors, being from the north, especially enjoyed nature and the cold).  From there we went to lunch at a restaurant designed to look like a traditional Chinese house and ate a mixture of shrimp, beef, chicken, and vegetables.

  The zoo was next.  We saw mainly pandas here, and there were more than twice the usual amount there because some had been brought from their homes during an earthquake in the region.  The pandas were very cute, but unfortunately not quite as white as they appear on TV and in movies.

  Finally, we went to a local (mostly pearl) market.  Everyone enjoyed bargaining for everything from clothes to pearls to laser pointers.  Dinner was after, and we ate a Mongolian-style meal where everyone put raw food into boiling water to cook it.  It was a pretty light meal, and a nice end to another long day.

BT and TM

After a long day of countless hours of flying and a night of much needed rest we went to Ritan Park and practiced 24 movements of Tai Chi. The whole time we were bundled up in layers of long sleeves, long underwear, sweaters, and coats as the temperature was well below freezing. Afterward, as we walked around the park, we saw a group of women practicing another type of tai chi with pink pom poms. After our short lesson we headed off to Tiananmen Square, which is the largest public plaza on earth. As the wind picked up, some of the group bought Mao hats from people in the square. We walked around the square to Tiananmen Gate, which leads to the Forbidden City. We split into two groups--one with our tour guide throughout China, Gerald, and the other with our local to Beijing tour guide, Nancy. After stopping for hot chocolate we hopped on the bus to head to lunch. At lunch we had Sichuan food, which is typically spicy. After lunch, we all got on pedicabs, which are 2 person carts pulled by a bicycle. We toured the older Hutong neighborhood and then stopped at a local’s home for a calligraphy lesson. Everyone tried their hand at calligraphy by writing different versions of the word fish. We came back to the hotel and some of us walked next door to the Silk Market, where we got to bargain as low as the vendor would go. After a break at the hotel we went to dinner, which was traditional Pecking Duck. We went to the Peking Opera afterwards, which was very interesting. The performers wear bright makeup and often do great acrobatic moves. We then came back to the hotel and rested up for the next day.

AN and TX

Day 1

The Kinkaid in China group for 2009 began January 6th close to 3:00 a.m. on their way to check in at Bush Intercontinental at 5:00 a.m. Aside from the usual problem, not enough personnel to handle the number of travelers, check in was uneventful for our short flight to San Francisco.

Intermittent air turbulence had little effect on the vast array of movie players and game devices that appeared shortly after crossing the Brazos River on a northwest track to our first destination. A.S. passed the time by beginning her first of at least four knit caps that she would complete prior to landing in Beijing. A few others used the tried and true method of sleep. It had been a short night.

Our transfer to San Francisco’s International Terminal was easier than before. In the past travelers had to walk, what seemed to be, halfway around the terminal to reach their connecting flight. A newly completed walkway made this year’s trek a short ten-minute walk to our connecting U.A. Flight 889.

An early departure soon found us on a northwest track to Alaska just east of the Aleutians. I wondered what adventures awaited this year’s group. Would we be surprise guests at a wedding in a small village by the Yangtze, see a group of small children all yelling “hello, hello” while we stumble through our “ ni haos”, watching Mr. S perform a strange “bird dance” on a busy Kunming street, have dinner with a Chinese rock star and author, who knows what 2009 will bring. Rumor has it that both Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Namu will be in Beijing at the same time that we are.

Our flight path took us over Mongolia, close to Dalian and into the capital of the People’s Republic. Past travelers might note that the weather was cold, 37 degrees, and Beijing “clear.” J. O. did point out that she caught a glimpse of blue sky but unanimous agreement was not reached.

We had landed at the new Olympic Airport and both entry into the country and claiming of baggage went very smoothly. Kinkaid’s true friend in China and A & K’s best, G. H. met us just outside the terminal. All of our passports are in hand and Mr. and Mrs. S. and J.K. have weathered the flight well. Tomorrow has us in Ritan Park for Tai Chi early morning and The Forbidden City shortly after.

Best to all, wish you were here,
T. W