My third year in China had highs and lows, but I wasn’t going through the tumult alone. And while there was pain, challenge, disappointment, stress and strain – it was all laying a foundation for who I would be in the years that followed.
A well preserved Ancient City with a full city wall built in 1370 – 12m high (40ft) and 6km around (nearly 4mi), with a total of 72 watchtowers – puts Pingyao on the map. Also, by the 19th century PIngyao was the financial centre of China.
Xi’an has over 3000 years of continuous history and is home to 8 million people. We visited Big Wild Goose Pagoda in the Da Ci’en Temple; the Drum Tower; the Great Mosque of Xi’an; Muslim quarter markets; and the City Wall.
Dunhuang is an oasis town in northwest Gansu province surrounded by deserts – Gobi to the East, Taklamakan to the West. It is also ringed by mountains – giant “megadunes”, rocky San Wei mountains, and snow-capped Qilian mountains.
Most Chinese meals begin with cold dishes. They are pre-cooked and can therefore come to the table quickly, giving patrons something to nibble on while waiting for the main dishes to arrive. Sadly, many foreigners aren’t very familiar with liangcai.
The modern hukou system started in 1958 to register citizens and control migration between rural and urban areas. The government has started changes to these restrictions, but many Beijingers are prejudiced against rural citizens.
Imagine you are at a party at someone’s house when suddenly a house plant starts talking to you. Perhaps you would ignore it, ask if the person next to you heard it, or try talking back while laughing at the situation. I am that house plant.
Spring is more than new life – it is hope. Knowing that new life waits under bare surfaces is the hope that sustains through Winter. Life is the same. The knowledge that things will not always be this way keeps us going through hard times.
A large part of cultivating Good China Days is changing assumptions and expectations. Here are a bunch of things that help me adjust my attitude toward China – and create space for days that make me love this country, and its people.
I arrived back in Beijing with NO IDEA how I was going to make this China thing work. There I was, wondering what on earth would come next. It was a year of huge upheaval for me, and it was in many ways the beginning of my adult life.
Qing ming jie was instituted in 732 by Emperor Xuanzong as the only day on which citizens could pay formal respects to the dead at gravesites. Since then, it has been a day for families to get together and clean/decorate the graves of their ancestors.
Bad China Days happen when people do not live up to my expectations for them; Good China Days happen when people surpass my expectations for them. Good China Days have the ability to change me, and change how I experience China.
Stories From Tanya 