China -2

China – Somewhere between Xian and Yicheng – 20^thMay

Another train and I have just consumed a pot noodle. Actually quite tasty. Outside the hillsides are crawling with pumpkins, cabbages and runner beans. Wheat is being harvested. We are whizzing through tunnels, new ones are being constructed and I am alternating between Paul Theroux’s Riding the Iron Rooster(a book about his train journeys around China in 1986) and The Golden Lotus or Jin Ping Mei which he was reading whilst doing what I am doing now. I downloaded the novel on to Kindle and now I too am reading the sexually explicit novel written in the 14^thcentury and banned all through the Ming Dynasty and is still very hard to access in China today. Here is the description of when the hero, Xiamen Chin, has his first glimpse of Jin lei-men:

Her hair was black as a raven’s plumage; her eyebrows mobile as the kingfisher and as curved as a new moon.  Her almond eyes were clear and cool, and her cherry lips most inviting … Her face had the delicate roundness of a silver bowl. As for her body, it was as light as a flower, and her fingers as slender as the tender shoots of a young onion…..  etc

In another chapter, Xiamen Chin is beguiled by the sight of another woman’s bound feet – the so-called ‘lily-feet’.

Old woman Hush found an opportunity to lift Mistress Meng’s skirt slightly, displaying her exquisite feet, three inches long and no wider than a thumb …

 Xian was a huge sprawling city, we ate the speciality pulled pork burgers and dumplings, and we admired the city wall. This city wall is the only complete structure standing in all of China. Each city has only crumbling remains but Xian is fortress-like in its defence. Frank told us that the wall is constructed of bricks cemented together with a combination of sticky rice and kiwi juice. Who knew! A phenomenal glue apparently. The overseer would test the strength by getting a soldier to try and thrust his sword through the cement and if he succeeded then that worker would be killed. The wall is 15 m wide and 13 km around. Our two young lads, Terrence and Dijon from South Africa took an hour to cycle round in the hot midday sun.

John and I loved wandering through the Muslim market, a throwback from the silk traders of centuries ago. Many married and stayed and now there is a grand mosque, veiled ladies and men wearing the white caps showing that they have been on the Haj.

We bought cushion covers, T-shirts, and fruit, and admired brass and bronze relics and fake antiques. Best of all was looking at the barbequed squid on sticks, seemed strange considering we were so far from the ocean.

On a rainy morning we joined hundreds of other tourists and made our way to see the Terracotta Army. It was beautifully set out, and the pits where the warriors stand are massive. The rare quality of the warriors is that they are exactly as they were originally made. They were vandalized by rebellious peasants in the year 206 BC but after that they lay buried until in 1974 a man digging a well hit his shovel against a warrior’s head and unearthed it. Thank goodness it was after the Cultural Revolution.

We snapped and clicked and dodged elbows and after the initial shock and wonder at the sight I felt strangely moved. Was it the different expression on each of the warrior’s faces? Was it the eternal standing, the eternal waiting? For 2,200 years these life sized figures have been buried. Who were they modelled on, real men from yesteryear? It was sad – ghost like.

The mighty Emperor Qin She Huang, who ordered for his mausoleum to be built, with a high mountain behind him, like a pillow and a gold mine and jade mine at his sides, and at his feet the Yellow River. Everyone who took part in the army’s construction was killed, thus the secret of the entombment was kept until 1974.

The farmer who had been digging his well became very famous. He shook hands with many VIPs, and was groomed to speak to President Clinton. He had no English at all, but was taught to say, ‘How are you?’ and a suitable possible reply, ‘Me too’. He practiced and practiced.

The big day came. He was tonguetied with nerves. There was a lengthening silence. Behind Bill and Hillary the officials were mouthing, “HOW ARE YOU?”. Our man quickly remembered and shouted out “WHO ARE YOU?”

Bill put his arm around Hillary and said, ‘I am this lady’s husband,’ to which our terracotta founder shouted, ‘Me too!’

A good story and true.

Frank told us if anyone dared to steal a piece of the terracotta army, and was found out, they would get a bullet in the back of the neck, and his family would have to pay for the bullet.

Our group are gelling. Stories are being exchanged, the episode of the rice wine has been quietly forgotten and Marcus is quite subdued. Instead Janet is revealing herself to be a lady with a past. At 74 she is planning to give belly dancing and fire eating classes in the autumn. She has been in several TV shows, including Crossroads, and some police dramas. I rather suspect she might have been an extra. I did marvel at her account of belly dancing in Helsinki with what sounded like a chandelier on her head. She has also performed with a 13ft python. She is tiny so God knows how she held it up as well as manage to gyrate.

Walking along or sitting down to lunch you just never know what you are going to hear next.

Yesterday we went to a tea tasting event, the best teas in China apparently. There were 11 varieties. I quite liked the lychee and the ginseng oolong. John said no to everything. The thought of swishing and sieving and swishing just was too much. A tea bag is just fine!

We did buy a red mug, beautifully decorated with pomegranates,

and a greedy dragon cup. Cute little thing. An emperor had a concubine who was very fond of rice wine and was always drunk. So he devised this cup which could only hold half the amount of liquor. Too much and it syphons down the dragons mouth and spills.

We managed to leave Xian with only a few small mementos. Not so for Rich, from America. He bought a huge chunk of translucent jade, worth $4600 and he is having it shipped to NY. Such an odd guy. He wanders about staring at us eating yet he buys nothing to eat for the long train journeys. Happy to accept snacks from others though.

Last night, ‘rice wine’ Marcus called me over in the lobby of the hotel. He had downloaded the Royal Wedding pictures for me, so I looked at 96 photos of Prince Harry and Megan. Good to keep up to date!

The train trundles on. The loudspeaker system is belting out Greensleeves at the moment. I shall read more of the Golden Lotus.

Helen has just told me that her squat technique is improving. Good to know!