It would seem that our unusual experiences just never stop. Each time I think we’ve hit the top, something more interesting and unusual follows on. It happened again yesterday and today – Chinese New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. This time – by accident – Monique and I were able to see the “real” China in ways that I suspect most foreigners never do. As always, there is some background needed to set the stage….
Because of some predictable yet still frustrating administrivia on the part of the Chinese government, Monique’s passport was being held for processing for the last several weeks. Without a passport you can neither fly (passport acts like our driver’s license) nor stay in a hotel (they register your whereabouts as you travel through the country). Not knowing if we would get it back in time for the Chinese New Year, we had to wait until we had the passport in hand before we bought airfare or arranged hotels for the week off work. Accordingly, when we finally did make plans, our options were limited. Flights were fully booked and very expensive, and hotel rooms were also very expensive and mostly sold out.
On advice from a couple of friends, we wanted to travel to the city of Xiamen (pronounced “Shaw-mun”). It is south of Shanghai, on the coast directly across the straights from Taiwan. It is the rough equivalent – both distance and weather – of flying from Salt Lake City to San Diego. (For those who know Barry Mower, the plant for his Lifetime Products is located in Xiamen.) Unfortunately, because of timing, the only room we could afford anywhere near Xiamen was at a deluxe high end resort on a remote rural island. Apparently, during New Year everyone goes home, not to resorts, so the normally very expensive Golden Bay Resort is virtually empty – thus Monique was able to get a GREAT deal – shout out to Mo, once again coming through with awesome travel plans. Unfortunately, once we got here, we learned why prices are so low. We discovered we are SO far away from anything that we can’t even get a cab into the city. DOH!!! As has happened to us frequently since we got here, what we thought was a cloud ended up being an unexpected silver lining…
The island we are on has four things happening – fishing, farming, an ex-military-base-turned-tourist-attraction, and the hotel we are in. As you can imagine, it would seem like there is not much to do. Well, we found some COOL things to do. Some of the most meaningful involved simply walking in and around and through the small villages on the island. I suspect we may be the only Caucasians to have wandered about, and it showed in the reactions from kids, adults and elderly alike. Gratefully, I am able to speak enough Chinese to get around – and that seems to impress the locals.
We strolled through some pretty humble homes and met some very humble people. It is seldom that one will meet such friendly, welcoming people. Despite the fact that it was the equivalent of their Christmas Eve, at every home, we were invited in to share their New Year meal (of course we declined). We chatted with some friendly older inhabitants of this rural community, including Mr. Xu (pronounced “shoe”) who is 78 years old with 10 children – 7 daughters and 3 sons. As with tradition, the sons all stayed in the ancestral home, farming nearby, and all the daughters moved in with their husband’s families – but last night all returning for the all-important New Year’s Eve celebration.
We also met and visited with Mr. Xi (pronounced “she”) – 82 years young and as friendly as you can possibly imagine. Yet another amazing experience as Mr. Xi kept asking about Monique, and as I tried my unworthy best to act as translator. Spry and kindly Mr. Xi reached out with his weathered leathery hands to hold Monique’s hand expressing gratitude at becoming her friend. Somehow, despite inability to speak the same language, the language of love broke through and Mo and Mr. Xi connected. These are experiences that cannot be purchased or planned. For Mo, an unforgettable moment in a smelly rural village – an experience which shall never be forgotten. See pics of him with Monique via the “Making Friends” link below.
We also spoke with store owner Mr. Yan. While we were there, Mr. Yan’s 17 year old son rode up on his three-wheeled ridable wheelbarrow loaded with junk of all sorts. Upon arrival, he pulled the junk away to reveal a stash of AMAZING fireworks. Brought them from their storage area and was hiding them because, apparently, they are illegal. Mrs. Yan quickly unloaded the fireworks and camouflaged them in front of their store, waiting for later use that evening. See pics of us with the Yan family. Friendly and kind. I LOVE all these people. I can’t seem to find the right adjectives to describe them.
Today, New Year’s DAY – the hits just kept coming. We visited the aforementioned ex-Military army base. It is located across a narrow channel from Jinmen island which is still held by Taiwan. During my mission 35 years ago, Taiwan and China were at great odds with the feeling of impending warfare always in the air. As missionaries we always heard about this fort, accompanied by amazing stories of daring Taiwan Navy Seals snorkeling across the strait then sneaking into China to spy around. THIS is where they landed!!! – maybe on the exact shore outside my hotel room, just down the coast from the fort. While at this now-tourist attraction we were well received by all, with many people asking to have their picture taken with us. Some of these photos can also be viewed by clicking the attached “Fort Facing Jinmen” link.
Later, we rode rented hotel bikes into the “main town” – very small by China standards – and got to experience some additional cool things. Without going into detail (I could spend 15 minutes on each of these experiences) we got to:
- Observe and chronicle the Buddhist pattern of ancestral worship, including lighting incense, kneeling and praying on behalf of ancestors, offering burnt offerings of faux paper money, foods, etc., then lighting firecrackers to scare away any demons – see “Trip to Xiamen” link
- Visit with carloads of people who stopped in the middle of the road to speak English with us, creating traffic problems which the drivers didn’t seem to worry about;
- Meet and take pictures with an ANCIENT Chinese woman working barefooted on her plot of land, hauling heavy 5 gallon container of water from the canal – not sure I could haul that heavy water;
- Discover a traditional, albeit deteriorated, Chinese family compound, taking the opportunity to explain to Monique how new generations of male children would expand the compound when they got married and “moved in” with dad;
- Meet Emily, a 26 year old single English teacher whose English was VERY impressive. She introduced us to the 4 generations of her family, including her 90 year old great grandmother. Yes, you can see pics of great grandma, but forgot to capture pics of cute Emily;
- Visit a different Buddhist temple that was under construction out in the middle of a field, only to discover we’d interrupted a young man and his girlfriend who had decided this was a great private place to make out – ummmm, excuse me, I didn’t expect to see you all the way out here (we both could have said the same thing)
- After many stops to ask for help, eventually find a friendly mechanic to fix the pedal on my bike. In the process we interrupted a game of Ma jong, interrupted someone’s meal, chatted with people waiting for a bus, but never did figure out the word for “wrench”. Monique finally saved us by scouting out a motorcycle repair shop – odd that it was open today, but grateful;
- Dinner of traditional Chinese “Hot Pot”, dipping various foods into boiling broth to cook it. Our ingredients included shrimp, clams, crab, squid, abalone, lamb, pork, onion, mystery meat balls, rice noodles, lettuce, and some other mystery something. Some tasty, some not so much. Abalone had no particular taste, not “fishy”. Liked the mystery meat balls.
Okay, enough is enough. There were TONS of other experiences, but there you have it – enough cool experiences to have taken place over the course of a year, but all within 24 hours. We still have 3 days here!!! I can’t keep this pace up <pant, pant>
Meeting New Friends in Xiamen: http://s1180.photobucket.com/albums/x406/jtlarkin/Meeting%20friends%20in%20Xiamen/
Trip to Xiamen: http://s1180.photobucket.com/albums/x406/jtlarkin/Xiamen%20Trip/
Fort Facing Jinmen: http://s1180.photobucket.com/albums/x406/jtlarkin/Jinmen%20Fort/
Also loaded some more still shots of fireworks in Shanghai, taken by my friend Bryan Ma: http://s1180.photobucket.com/albums/x406/jtlarkin/Chinese%20New%20Year%20Fireworks/?albumview=slideshow
Sorry for the overload. Wish you were here!!!! Happy New Year to all,
Cheers, love, hugs, sincerely, etc. (pick one)
Jay
No comments:
Post a Comment