Guera in China: Weekend Warriors

You know what’s awesome about having a fulltime job? Weekends.

I guess that sounds a bit facetious. Of course I love my job. I also love my weekends. I love my weekends because I don’t have to wake up at 5 am, unless it’s for a flight. I love my weekends because I can spend my time lazing around my apartment skyping or cleaning or making extravagant breakfasts to enjoy with my lady friends. I love my weekends because I can go on local Weifang adventures or bigger out of town adventures. So, I am dedicating what is bound to be an epic blog post to some epic weekends.

Weekend Adventure A: Xi’an

You know when you're young and you read National Geographic Magazine...? Wait, I mean, you know when you're young and you're hacking up National Geographic Magazine to make some heinous collage that your teachers and parents pretend to love just because you are expressing yourself creatively... Yes, well, you come across a lot of pictures of people, places, and sights that you never imagine you will actually see.

What I love about living in China is that I see and do a lot of things that I never thought I would ever see or do. I admit that China was not on the top of my list of places to get a teaching contract in. I can honestly say that I never really thought that I would live in China. I think at some point I had the half-baked idea that I would visit The Seven Wonders of The World which would bring me to China to see The Great Wall... but I think I vaguely conceived of this plan only because it sounds like something that you're supposed to want to do. In fact, I am fairly confident that I couldn't even list the Seven Wonders, not to mention that they keep adding Wonders to the list ... I diverge. The point is, I never thought I would live in China and I never thought that I would see the Terra Cotta Warriors anywhere but on an amateur collage. (Oh, and I am pretty sure they aren't one of the Wonders anyways.) In addition, I never thought I would be someone that buys a weekend flight to visit some friends in another part of the country. So let me tell you about the series of events that led me to my first visit to the Terra Cotta Warriors and my first experience as a truly jet-settin' weekend warrior...

I am truly fortunate in that I was born and raised in a beautifully loving and supportive community. One day while perusing facebook, I noticed that Mike and Merror, some family friends were one their way to Xi-an. And I noticed that my mom had already commented on her status update to ask if they would be willing to schlep a care package to China for me. Obviously, I “liked” the plan and chimed in with my approval. Next thing I knew I was waking up at an even earlier hour to catch the first flight out of Qingdao to Xi-an on a Saturday morning.

Mike and Meror along with their colleague, interpreter and driver picked me up at the airport and we headed straight to The Terra Cotta Warriors.

I don’t really know what to say about The Warriors. There is something indescribably awesome about being in the presence of something created with so much intention, effort, and vision so many years ago. It’s hard to describe. To me, it’s that same feeling I get when I walk into an ornate cathedral in Mexico, or when you visit the ruins at Teotihuacan or Palenque, or when you spend a beautiful day hiking The Great Wall, or when you are walking along the beach in Tofino, or when you are on the top of Mount Erskine. It’s what makes me believe in faith. To be clear, this isn’t the same as believing in God, gods, spirits, or religions. When I say I believe in faith I mean that I believe in the idea of believing in something more. It’s a nice feeling. I think what these places have in common is that they are visited by that feeling constantly over the course of several years. I love that. I am so thankful for having the opportunity to see so many of these places in my life.

The rest of the day was pretty awesome too. We went to the Muslim Quarters of the city to stroll around and eat some lamb soup. This area of Xian was really cool: stone pedestrian walkways and stalls selling all sorts of snacks and touristy knickknacks. We ended the day by returning to Mike and Meror’s amazing hotel suite and had a sauna and what was definitely the best shower I have had since leaving Canada. Water pressure, I miss you. To top it all off, Mike and Meror had kindly brought a care packaged from my parents. There is nothing like opening a package of all your favourite things that your mom has lovingly packed up: dark chocolate bars tucked into wool socks inside slippers, and licorice spice tea, and wool cardigans with heart-shaped buttons sewn on, and new outrageously large feather earrings, and chipotle peppers, and spices. My mom knows how to put together a care package.

First up: The Warriors. I can't believe there are 3 000 of them. And, they are all different

Yes, we are with The Warriors. From the left: Melinda, our translator, Mike from Saltspring, Luis from Spain, Meror from Saltspring, and me! Photos courtesy of Mike and Meror.

Me and The Warriors! Okay, it's a pretend set of The Warriors designed to capitalize on keen tourists who want a more authentic looking portrait. We'll take what we can get.

China Post Kiosk! Of course I went to investigate. They sold both postcards and stamps. I think the trick might be going to a tourist destination where foreigners from all over want postcards and stamps. I stocked up. Keep your eyes on your mailboxes folks!

Muslim Quarters: Street vendors, snacks, and amazing jewels.

Don't be fooled by their good looks, folks. Persimmons are gross and they make your teeth feel funny.

Weekend Adventure B: Tai’An

Sinead and I make a good travelling team. I think it’s because when we say we will meet at 11:30, we both know that means we will booth be running to the meeting spot at 11:35 and laughing as we watch our train pull out of the station.

We went on this trip a while ago (I wrote a blog about being on the train) but never got to posting up the photos. We went to visit Amber and climb up Tai-Shan. Amber is Sinead’s friend from home and teaching at our sister School in Tai-An. Tai-Shan is one of the holy mountains in China. I think the legend is that if you climb to the top, you will live to be a hundred. It’s also the mountain that is on the back of the 5 RMB bill here.

Photographic Evidence of our attempts to summit Tai Shan and our touring around of Tai'An

Street vendors outside the train station

Taxidermy. It's surprisingly popular here.

Painted Walls and blossoms. It felt too much like something you'd see in China to just walk by.

This is the courtyard in Amber's apartment complex. How awesome is that?!

At the bottom of Tai-Shan! It was pretty exciting to actually walk on an incline. I know that sounds strange but Weifang is the flattest place I've ever been. There are actually no hills at all! You'd be surprised how much you start to miss inclines. I'm gonna come clean right away and say that we didn't even make it near the top. After having missed the fast train and spent a good portion of the day on the slow train, we didn't have much time for hiking. We have vowed to return in the spring.

Carved stone pillars.

Calligraphy with water on the plaza.

Touristy kitsch!

I am pretty sure that is exactly what you think it is.

Fun with convex mirrors, cameras, and muscles!

Apparently, swimming in this lake is good for you. There was a lot of garbage in it, so I am not so sure. Either way, when we return in the spring to actually make summit, I am definitely jumping in to ensure longevity. Perhaps it can negate all the damage incurred by eating at KFC, McDonald's, and Pizza Hut...