Finally, months after the actual trip took place I have a chance to put this trip on record. This is most definitely a concise version of what I wanted to write, but I will add to this later. For now I want to write basically what happened and what I was able to see in only a few weeks time. Before I leave for Germany, I'll post on expectations, worries, excitement and all the thoughts that come to mind before leaving the US for an extended period of time. For now, we'll go back in time to the Epic Adventure that was our end-of-program-trip.
Day 1: We started the journey with a night train to Xi'an, home of the Terracotta Warriors (Bing Ma Yong). After not a lot of sleep we arrived in Xi'an, checked into our hotel, grabbed breakfast in the hotel and then we were off to see the T. Warriors. After all of the buildup and seeing lots of pictures of them before actually seeing the real deal, I was not as amazed as I probably would have been. Still it was an incredible sight, if only because the area was so huge. Imagine giant warehouses filled with formations of warriors individually, uniquely crafted. The lunch on the grounds was yang rou with man tou which is a speciallty of the region. It was just right for the windy, chilly, raw day. Next we had some free time in the afternoon so I ended up exploring the Muslim Quarter with Andrew and we ended up running into a man who spent a lot of time in the US. He actually knew more about US culture than we did (I don't know how this was possible, but he did). So this worker at his little shop brought us to his studio to show his artwork and other students in his class. Later in the day we had a group dinner, which turned out to be another banquet since we were traveling with such a huge group, around 72 kids in addition to the office staff. After dinner, we explored the Muslim Quarter in greater detail, eating lots of chanr along the way (meat cooked on a stick) and other muslim specialties of the region like a piece of mantou doused in lots of sesame seeds and sugar-like stuff that made it really sweet. I also picked up a Jianzi that night (a Chinese hacky-sack that implements five or so multicolored feathers and tin to give the hacky-sack some sort of "substance". The street food in Xi'an was incredible (actually it was great everywhere really because in the US we don't really have "street food" per se and this street food was QUALITY).
Day 2: Waking up early, morning flight to Xining, which was the pit stop for Tibet (ie. If you can adjust to the altitude increase you go to Tibet, if not then you go ahead to Chengdu, as some in our group were forced to do). Our first day there was spent going to a mosque and hiking up Nanshan to a Daoist Temple. The temple was on the side of a mountain and really was an incredible scene. We could see all of Xining (mainly an industrial town, not that pretty) under us and lots of mountains in the distance. At night we spent some time at the big night snack/market in Xining that had lots of wild stuff. Ok, right now think of the wildest piece of meat that can be cooked and fried on a stick. What you are thinking of WAS at this snack street. The scene was incredible. Smoke billowing up into the air around us while the vendors stare at our small group, the vendors throwing in nuts into huge pots feet deep, fifty sticks with lamp skewered upon them over hot coals perpetually burning. The lamp chanr was definitley the best I had had up to that day.
Day 3: After a group breakfast we were off to the Tibetan monastery which was an eye opening experience...seeing so many Chinese minority groups and religious people that were not to be found in Beijing...but more on that later in Tibet since this was a Tibetan Buddhist Monestary. Later on we had a lecture fom a Tibetan professor at Xining U. Everyone was so tired from the day, most took a nap during this time although he was fairely captivating, providing an intro to Tibetan culture and the like. After the lecture, we were off to Tibet! To the train station! For a 24 hour+ ride on the highest train in the world!
Day 4: In the train station we saw lots of minority groups carying satchels of stuff and Buddhist monks waiting for the moment the train would board. While we were waiting around, we heard English from a foreignor at of nowhere. It was one of the most unexpected occurances in a place so far removed from the Western world. A man probably in his late 20s practically yelled at us, "I HAVEN'T SEEN WHITE PEOPLE IN OVER A YEAR! WHO ARE YOU GUYS AND WHY ARE YOU HERE!?!?" Wow. We all cracked up when he told us this. Other then our group, I and some of my friends from the summer had not seen too many white people for 6 months. We could understand where this man was coming from. It is truely hard to imagine what it is like to be the minority group until you step out of your comfort zone into a country exclusively populated by a different race. The man seemed so relieved to find someone who looked like him and could relate to his life. We understood what this man was thinking. It is not easy assimilating with a completely different culture for an extended period of time.
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