Tuesday dawned bright and beautiful . . . and brittle. Another cold one; -3 degrees Celsius, I believe. Fortunately, our hardy Montanans were better prepared for it today. And the strong sunshine made it seem warmer, at least, as long as we were in the sun.
Also helping was the fact that our first visit was indoors – at the Jade Factory. I now realize that part of the screaming deal we got on the package price for this trip was probably related to also visiting “government stores”. But the quality is good and they make a big point of stressing that these goods (pearls, jade, and cloissone) are certified by the government. Of course, imitations and knockoffs are a big issue with our international trade right now, so take that for what it’s worth.
Nevertheless, we learned a lot about the national stone of China, both soft and jadeite. And the worksmanship is amazing. One of their showpieces is the “Happy Family Ball”, a piece of jade cut into a round ball with 12 holes on the outside, representing the 12 months. THEN, the carver cuts another ball inside the first one, using those twelve holes. It is completely separated from the outer layer and can turn freely inside the outer. Depending on the size of the stone, there can be as many as five layers of balls, all free-floating, inside. Of course, all this is done by hand. In fact, that’s one of the things we’ve noticed here – mostly manual labor. And the equipment they do use is very outdated.
Plus safety is not their primary concern. I consider I saved a Chinese girl’s life today. She was working at a machine that was a bit too high for her, so she had her four-legged chair propped up on bricks. The back leg was dangerously close to slipping off one. I alerted the tour guide who “talked her down” from the situation. OK, OK, so maybe she was only in danger of breaking a fingernail, but I’m telling the story!
On to the Ming Tombs. There are a number of tombs in the foothills north of Beijing. Only one (as far as they know) has been opened. They explained that part of the reason was the first one they opened revelaed the beautiful vibrant colors of the silks buried inside. After only a few hours of exposure they had signifiantly deteriorated. So they will wait ’til they perfect the excavation process. On the way here, we passed the farmland, including cherry orchards. Made me miss Montana again. The roads are decent, altho traffic is becoming more of a problem as more and more cars are bought. We learned a lot more about the long and proud history of the Chinese.
And finally, the Great Wall. There are varying claims of its length, from 6 to 8,000 kilometers in total. Only a part of that is still intact and we chose Juyongguan. Amazing that they would build these on the absolute roughest part of the territory, snaking up the steep ridges, rather than ceding the bad ground to the Huns and Mongols and walling out on the flat land. We soon found how steep it truly was. All our party climbed some part of the wall, making us “heroes” in the eyes of Chairman Mao. You can see in the photo how steep and uneven the steps are – besides incredibly icy.
Besides the effort to build, it was hard to imagine the maintenance, much less the effort of patrolling this monumental defense. Altho I did mention to “Hank”, they probably had nothing better to do. “Kind of like Chamber work, I suspect,” he said . . . I get no respect, even halfway around the world.
Fortunately, President Obama should be proud of all of us – we’re repaying that American debt at a fantastic rate. In fact, one of our party, let’s call her . . . Katarina (the names have been changed to protect . . . me!), has earned a reputation of not passing up a souvenir stand along the way. Prices are considerably lower than U.S., altho not the ridculous claims we’ve heard in the past. Maybe China is starting to catch up.
An amusing story about shopping. One of our gang, we’ll call him Redward, found a cap he wanted at a souvenir stand. He checked the label and sure enough . . . made in the USA! Of course he had to buy it.
After dinner (they certainly seem to have picked great veues for meals – and no one complaining about too much Chinese food, yet!), some of us chose to attend the Peking Opera, while others made their way back to turn in early. This is definitely not opera in our sense, altho the opening “act” was a young lady with an impressive, if not comprehendible, voice. The very next act was more of an acrobatic, tumbling routine with about 18 guys all over the stage. We had front rows seats, again thanks to Citslinc, our tour organizer. This may be one of those “acquired tastes” they talk about.
One other little gem to remember if you visit here is the bathrooms. Cleanliness and convenience has not been there forte anywhere. In many, you have to bring your own toilet paper with you. Minor, but important, consideration in the big scheme of things.
We’re getting a little more used to the time here, altho “Julith” said she looked at her clock, thot she’d overslept, showered, put on the makeup . . . and discovered it was 1:30 in the morning! Again, GREAT people having a great time. Wish you were here.
