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Monday, June 2, 2008 - This year, like last year, the
UM President's delegation visited China while we were here, and so
we get a nice opportunity to feature the program at a morning breakfast
meeting. |
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The 4 students from PKU who spent the summer of 2007 in Ann Arbor
joined the 4 UM students who are with the program this year.
Here are Yiran, Xiaowen, Justin, Zach, Allison, Melody and Wei (Walter). |
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Xiaowen Feng, Wei Wang, Yiran Shen, Justin Lomont, Allison Ho, Melody
Campbell, Forner Head Coach Lloyd Carr, Zach Miller, Xiaoxue Zhou,
and the son of one of the US diplomats who is starting at UM in the
Fall. Sorry, I forget his name. He was interesting though: born in
Taiwan, raised in China and the US. Completely bilingual. |
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Coach Carr, Zach, and no-name. |
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Tuesday, June 3, 2008 - On Tuesday evening, the UM alumni association
hosts a large event for the area alums in China, and we were invited.
Here are the UMPKU 2008 women on the ground floor of the American
Hotel, grabbing a Startbucks before the event. |
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One of the members of the delegation this year was Rich Rogel (r),
head of the UM Capital Campaign, whose generous support helped to establish
our exchange program. |
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Rich and me. |
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Jefferson Porter, UM Assocate VP, liked my tie. |
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UM/PKU Joint institute Director James Lee working the press. |
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UM Political Science Professor Ken Lieberthal chats it up with an
alum. Ken is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institute, and the former
special assistant for National Security Affairs to President Clinton. |
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Rogel's son, Xiang Gao, is a world-famous violinist. He was travelling
with a 1699 Stradivarius
violin that he received from the Stradivari Society
of Chicago.
He is a Professor of Music at U Delaware.
His performance was stunning.
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This is a bit more of what it actually looked like! |
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Then Coach Carr gave a nice address. |
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Filled with analogies to football ("That's what I know," he quipped),
he had nice things to say about leadership and teamwork. |
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Anyone who was there will always remember this. For the rest of you...
you should have been there. |
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One of the PKU students who will be spending the summer of 2008 in
Ann Arbor, Yiyang Liu, was able to attend. It was great that he could
meet Rich, also. |
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It is safe to say that we are all quite happy to have set up this
program, and we take a great deal of pride in it. |
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As it turns out, Spencer and Coach Carr are both from the same part
of the country. |
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After the talks, a reception.
Me, Zhaleh, Kelly, and Alisa. |
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Friday, June 6, 2008 - On the last day of language class, our instructor,
Nian Li, collapses into hysterics. |
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Julia (Feng Li) gave a great session in the afternoon on calligraphy
and paper cutting. |
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Everyone really got into it. |
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Kelly is a member of Alpha Chi Sigma, the professional chemistry
fraternity. |
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As is Justin. |
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Xu checks out his creation. |
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Saturday, June 7, 2008 - Last weekend before joining the labs!
Eight of the group stayed in Beijing and checked out the Summer
Palace on Saturday, as well as a great couple of meals. |
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Here is the group relaxing near the Summer Palace. |
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The other six (and I) travelled to Xi'an, location of Emperor Qin's
reign, and so the place where you find the terra cotta warriors. Along
the way to the warriors, this field was covered with white butterfles. |
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Justin in front of Pit #1. |
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I've used this guide, Daniel, 3 times before. He's great. |
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Melody, Zach, and Spencer. |
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Pit #1 is the largest of the excavations. |
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Briefly, the first Emperor of China, Qin, ordered this terra cotta
army to be constructed and buried in the vincinity of his mausoleum
mound, facing mainly to the east so he could continue his conquest
and unification after his death. |
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There remained buried and, to anyone's knowledge, undiscovered, from
the time of their production in ca 220 BC until 1974, when they were
discovered by farmers who were digging a well. |
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It is still a highly active archeological site. |
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These soldiers have been excavated and repaired, and installed in
the corridors where they originally stood. TIme, floods, and earthquakes
has pretty much compacted them under the ground. |
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Went they are first uncovered, they are covered in bright paint.
Exposure to the air degrades the pigments within an hour. |
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The ridges you see here are the remains of roofing logs that covered
the soldiers. |
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Here is the "warrior hospital" where the pieces are put back together. |
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Pit #3 - the war room. |
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Again - an active site of archeology. |
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You can see a bit more of the roof design. |
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A couple of really nice soldiers on display. The metal brace is brand
new (as of June 2008) because there was some tipping and damage done
to these guys during the May 2008 earthquake, hundreds of miles away,
in Sichuan. |
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This one tipped against the glass interior. |
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Chemists in front of the chart outlining the chemical composition
of the ancient bronze found in Pit #3. |
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Right in the same neighborhood as the Terra Cotta warriors is
the Huaqing Hot Spring, which is famed for both its
scenery, the love story of Emperor Xuanzong (685-762)
and his concubine Yang Guifei in the Tang Dynasty (618-907), and the
"Five-Room Hall" (more about that, later). |
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Huaqing, situated over a volcanic area and fed by hot springs, is
the site of the Imperial Pool, which is the only one of its kind to
be discovered in China. The five remaining pools are the Lotus Pool,
Haitang Pool (pictured here, for the concubines), Shangshi Pool, Star
Pool and Prince Pool. |
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The Shangshi Pool was designated for officials. |
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It is laid out in a pleasing setting. |
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And the area is lush with foliage. |
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Marko. |
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Justin and Melody. |
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Allison, Zach, and Marko get the staredown from another visitor. |
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At the low, low (loooow) price of 1 RMB for two people (about 3.5
cents each), you can go into this walled off area with two active fountains
that are being fed by the hot spring water. Even though it is quite
warm, it is still refreshing whether you are visiting in the summer
or the winter.
This is the second photoshopped picture you'll encounter among this
year's diary. |
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The fading remnants of the "Block M" logo that Melody put on the
stone lotus fountain. |
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The Five-Room Hall was built in the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).
It was the shelter of Empress Dowager Cixi after the Eight-Power
Allied Force captured Beijing in 1900, and was also the temporary
residence of Chiang Kai-shek, the leader of the Chinese Nationalist
Party during the world-famous "Xian Incident" in 1936, which led, indirectly,
to the events that established the communist China regime in 1949.
Just before the second Sino-Japanese war, from 1937-1945, China
was in a civil war between the ruling nationalists (Kuomintang, KMT,
led by Chiang Kai-shek) and the rebel communists (CPC).
With the beginnings of incursions
by Japan, two of Chiang's Generals, Zhang and Yang, were fighting
both the communists and dealing with the foreign invaders. |
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Zhang and Yang began to contact the CPC secretly, and began a dangerous
game of appearing to remain loyal to Chiang while opposing his
policies. Zhang and Yang reached a truce agreement with CPC.
Chiang came to Xi'an in Early December 1936, accompanied by KNT
leaders. After unsuccessfully attempting to persuade Chiang to voluntarily
join forces with the CPC to take on the Japanese, Zhang
and Yang took matters into their own hands, and, early on December
12, 1936, took the compound (chasing Chiang, who got half-way up
the mountain in his nightclothes and slippers, before capturing him).
Perceived as a coup, there was confusion for days. There was a great
deal of Western support (esp the USA and the UK) for Chiang, and the
sense that Japan would have advantage over a leaderless China is
he was executed (a move supported by the CPC, including its young
leaders, such as Mao). The Soviets were also not in favor of a destabilized
China and the destabilization of the China-Japanese conflct on its
borders.
After two days, Mao and the other CPC leaders relented to unifacation
talks, pressured in part by Stalin, whose support Mao needed. By
December 24, 1936, Chiang was released to Nanjing after the KMT and
CPC reached agreement to create a united front against Japan. |
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With Chiang reinstalled as the Premiere, Zhang was incarcerated and
remained that way most of his life. He died in 2001.
After being sent abroad, briefly, Yang was returned to China and
placed into a concentration camp.
Japan lost Taiwan in 1945, at the end of WWII. Perhaps because Chiang
honored the terms of the truce, the CPC and Mao were able to strengthen
considerably in the interim, earning the support of the Soviets by
conforming closely to the communist principles. The CPC also won
a great deal of popular support for having been strongly outspoken
on its anti-Japanese position.
The Chinese civil war resumed in 1945, and the KMT retreated to
Taiwan in 1949.
Chiang ordered the execution of Yang, his wife and his son. |
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Xi'an has the only intact city wall in China. Although not the original,
which was 28 km and built in 200 BC, this one dates from 1370 and is
12 km in circumference. It is tall and wide. You can rent bikes and
spend the morning pedalling it (something else I have not done... yet). |
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Xi'an literally means Western (Xi) Peace (An). |
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There are government owned stations at the four main gatehouses.
At the south gate, you can dress up like a warrior or an emperor and
get your picture taken... and then get it put on a plate, a t-shirt,
etc (have not done this yet, either).
Also at the south gate is an installation on Feng-Shui (literally
"wind-water").
One of the important Feng-Shui creatures is the Pi Xiu. |
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According to myth, the Pi Xiu violated a law of heaven, so the
Jade Emperor punished it by restricting its diet to gold, and prevented
the creature from defecating by sealing its... well, you know.
Thus,
Pi Xiu can only absorb gold, but cannot expel it.
This is the origin
of Pi Xiu's status as a symbol of the acquisition and preservation
of wealth.
Pi Xiu is also a fierce creature. The large fangs visible in the
creature's mouth are used to attack demons and evil spirits, draining
their essence and converting it to wealth. |
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What you Spencer doing here is going through the Feng-Shui motions
on a large Pi Xiu. You start by stroking the ears, reach around to
the jaw, then down to the front paws. After that, the wings, then rub
three times on that big butt where the money sits. Finally, you scoop
up the Pi Xiu magic and stick it into your own pockets.
This, I have done.
A few times.
And I have some government sanctioned Pi Xiu in my Chinese apartment,
facing the windows in the living area (good Feng-Shui) so that the
evil spirits can be consumed and transformed into wealth. |
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In the evening, we went to the famous dumpling dinner and Tang Dynasty
show. This is a great event. |
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After a multi-course dumpling dinner, at long tables in front of
a stage, the music and dance begins. |
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So here we were, 7 people from the US, travelling to Xi'an from Beijing
for less than 48 hours. Sitting at our table: a couple that has been
working in China for half a year... from Justin's small home-town in
Western Michigan.
Then, a big family shows up... and we recognize them as having been
on the flight to China with us.
China... a small country in a small world. |
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There are about 12 different numbers in this show, which ranges from
traditional dance... |
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... to acrobats and contortionists... |
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... and some fairly comedic song numbers.
OK, let's review:
5:00 AM pick-up in Beijing
8:00 AM flight to Xi'an
10:30 AM land, pick-up and head to the Terra Cotta Warrior factory
outlet
11:30 AM see the warriors and the Museum
1:30 PM lunch
2:30 PM Huaqing Hot Spring
4:00 PM conquer the City Wall, feel the Pi Xiu
6:00 PM dinner and a show
10:00 PM check -in at the hotel
10:15 PM I collapse
10:15 PM students begin their evening at the hotel pool...
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Continued:
9:00 AM check-out after a nice breakfast buffet
9:30 AM visit the Great Mosque and the Muslim Street (souvenier and
food fair)
11:00 AM Wild Goose Pagoda, park and water show
1:00 PM lunch
2:00 PM head to airport
4:00 PM flight back to Beijing
5:30 PM pick-up at PEK and return home
I set this up using an agent I have used for years. All of this,
pick-ups, flights, private driver and guide, single rooms... is about
$570/person. You
could try to do it on your own for less money... but you would have
to be
Sunday, June 8, 2008 - There is a large Muslim community in Xi'an,
and so this Great Mosque is a unique place to visit. |
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Naturally, the lay-out is architecturally different than anything
you might see elsewhere. |
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t was first built in the Tang Dynasty (reign of Emperor Xuanzong,
685-762), and renovated in later periods. |
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The mosque has neither domes... |
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... nor traditional-style minarets. |
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The grounds and their design are memorable of the other courtyards
that you see. |
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It is still an active place of worship. |
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Although, unless the Buddhist temples, you do not see the constant
flow of people, here. |
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I've never been here when there was a call to prayer. |
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Once you get to the main building, you definitely know where you
are. |
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The Great Wild Goose Pagoda was originally built in 652. |
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Meanwhile... back in Beijing...
The Temple of Heaven complex was constructed from 1406 to 1420 during
the reign of the Yongle Emperor, who was also responsible for the
construction of the Forbidden City in Beijing. The complex was extended
and renamed Temple of Heaven during the reign of the Jiajing Emperor
in the 16th century.
The grounds now serve as an enormous public park, filled with people
relaxing, playing music, exercises, and games, and all the while
inviting lots of communal play. |
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OK, back to Xi'an.
The Great Wild Goose Pagoda was originally built to hold artifacts
from India.
It started with 5 stories of stone and rammed earth (no morter)
construction (652).
After 50 years, part of it collapsed, and it was rebuilt with 5
additional stories.
A large earthquake in 1558 damaged it and 3 of those stories were
lost.
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Impossible to resist joining this photo shoot! |
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Or this. |
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There is a terrific grounds surrounding the Great Wild Goose Pagoda
that is used as a monastery.
I did not get any shots of the water show.
So, that was the trip to Xi'an. |
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There was a lot of this going on in the van, on the way back to the
airport. |
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It's killer to be the middle guy, Zach. |
