Antiquity
I can't stop thinking about how OLD China is. The 400 years that South Africa has been in existence, the 300 for the USA, or even 1000 for Britain... is just nothing compared to a 5000 year old civilization.
Yesterday we had the extraordinary privilege of getting a snapshot of Chinese heritage. As it happens, we are staying in the birthplace of Huangdi, the very first emperor of China. On his birthday every year, hundreds of thousands of Chinese people come to venerate (even worship) this famous emperor who allegedly was
the son of a dragon! We walked among a sea of people, and saw dragons in all their splendour (as well as the funny sight of one dragon being given a ride on the back of a man's bicycle - and then getting his "hair" stuck in the chain so that both of them fell off!)
The crows was full of elderly people: beautiful, weathered faces marked with character borne of much suffering. We saw many little children being carried around: all bundled to the hilt, since the Chinese believe that it is always cold,
and you should 'wear much clothes for your healthy'. These Eskimo-type outfits have one spectacular feature though: they are split from the top of the butt down - so that any little one needing to do its business can just drop it straight out without need of any diapers.... Ahem.... Also, while on the subject of clothes - I should mention that we walked among thousands and thousands of people, and I was the ONLY person whose legs and feet were showing, since I was wearing shorts and sandals. People stopped, stared, and took photos of my legs with their cell phones. Amazing.
The rest of the day was filled with indulgence: I visited a small group with Chinese students, which was wonderful, and after that a friend and I went to go and get our makeup and hair professionally done for a photo shoot! So frivolous, but fun. I dined with another friend, whose Chinese dialogue after 18 months here with the waiters, shop keepers and taxi drivers impressed me no end. We had sweet and sour pork, mixed greens and candied bananas. Delicious. I definitely prefer Chinese Chinese food to American Chinese food!
Our final indulgent stop was at the local masseuse: a parlour of blind massage therapists. For $3, I had an hour long full body massage - the best I've ever had!
A final funny thing to share: some of the teachers were talking about the discussion groups they lead with students about topics like HIV/AIDS and sex. I asked about the level of sex education here. "It depends," came the answer, "Some know way too much, but some know almost nothing. I have many students who believe that you can get pregnant by sitting on the same chair as a boy has just sat on!" Another teacher wryly commented: "well that explains the population problem in China - there are too few chairs!!"
Yesterday we had the extraordinary privilege of getting a snapshot of Chinese heritage. As it happens, we are staying in the birthplace of Huangdi, the very first emperor of China. On his birthday every year, hundreds of thousands of Chinese people come to venerate (even worship) this famous emperor who allegedly was
the son of a dragon! We walked among a sea of people, and saw dragons in all their splendour (as well as the funny sight of one dragon being given a ride on the back of a man's bicycle - and then getting his "hair" stuck in the chain so that both of them fell off!)The crows was full of elderly people: beautiful, weathered faces marked with character borne of much suffering. We saw many little children being carried around: all bundled to the hilt, since the Chinese believe that it is always cold,
and you should 'wear much clothes for your healthy'. These Eskimo-type outfits have one spectacular feature though: they are split from the top of the butt down - so that any little one needing to do its business can just drop it straight out without need of any diapers.... Ahem.... Also, while on the subject of clothes - I should mention that we walked among thousands and thousands of people, and I was the ONLY person whose legs and feet were showing, since I was wearing shorts and sandals. People stopped, stared, and took photos of my legs with their cell phones. Amazing.
The rest of the day was filled with indulgence: I visited a small group with Chinese students, which was wonderful, and after that a friend and I went to go and get our makeup and hair professionally done for a photo shoot! So frivolous, but fun. I dined with another friend, whose Chinese dialogue after 18 months here with the waiters, shop keepers and taxi drivers impressed me no end. We had sweet and sour pork, mixed greens and candied bananas. Delicious. I definitely prefer Chinese Chinese food to American Chinese food!Our final indulgent stop was at the local masseuse: a parlour of blind massage therapists. For $3, I had an hour long full body massage - the best I've ever had!
A final funny thing to share: some of the teachers were talking about the discussion groups they lead with students about topics like HIV/AIDS and sex. I asked about the level of sex education here. "It depends," came the answer, "Some know way too much, but some know almost nothing. I have many students who believe that you can get pregnant by sitting on the same chair as a boy has just sat on!" Another teacher wryly commented: "well that explains the population problem in China - there are too few chairs!!"
posted by Bronwyn at 3:52 am
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