June 28, 2008 Xian, Terra Cotta Warriors

Luxurious breakfast, never knew American breakfasts could taste so good. And this is from a non breakfast girl.

We visited the oldest Mosque in China, dating set up 740 AD during Tang Dynasty from the settlement of the Middle East due to the silk route. Active Hindu’s were inactive during Cultural Revolution... and s not allowed to worship. Over 10% of the population in Xian is Islamic. The Mosque is quite peaceful. Only men are allowed to worship there.

Of course there is a large shopping market. We did some power shopping as time didn’t allow leisurely shopping. Michelle got cursed by one of the shop owners as Jim negotiated for an Abacus. The shop owner saying Michelle sides with the tourists to get too low prices and not help the shop owners make a profit. Letting a tourist walk away from a deal is a exception. They would rather make the deal with little profit than not. So reluctantly the shop owner made the deal, cursing Michelle and Jim as they walked away with the purchase. Michelle says she is used to it.
We drove 90 minutes to a typical farmer’s village and visited a diary farm. This surprised me, because the Chinese typically do no consume milk, most are allergic. But here were a large herd by Chinese standards of 300 cows. Jim found his roots by feeding the calves corn.

At lunch, a mother a Chinese daughter (adopted) from Houston joined us. We ate a farmer’s lunch of fresh vegetables, dumpling soup, and a type of tortilla that you fill with meat and vegetables and my personal favorite, steam pumpkin with dates.
The area is extremely rural with unpaved roads. The farm house contrasted the cave house about 20 feet underground. pleasantly cool. An elderly woman lived there, as she dislikes the air conditioning and spends her summer in the cave house. There is no electricity, thus no refrig, lights, or toilets. The bed is a tall platform made of mud and stone, which converts to a table during meal time. This completely contrasted to a new home we visited, (the farmer’s son and new wife) 3 story house, and brand new costs about $35,000. By Chinese standards this is a luxury home, 3 levels, concrete floors, no a/c, but large. One floor completely empty, the bottom floor housed the bride and groom in one room, and parents in another. 2 new TV’s in the house, electricity, refrig, lights. According to our guide, this is the best home in the village. Jim asked Michelle if there are any arranged marriages any longer, and infactledy she said no, but when questioning the bride stated her marriage was arranged.

Without exception the people in this village have stained teeth- Dental care is expensive and not covered in any medical plan. Only medical is covered if you are employed by the government or large company. There is no concept for family coverage. Only the employee is covered and pays a type of co pay we are accustomed to. Michelle told us about a boy fell from the roof top and had a blood clot in his brain. The boy’s father, a poor farmer, drove the son to the hospital, the doctor refused treatment because the farmer did not have the money to pay for the surgery and the boy died. The mother from Houston we lunched with told us a similar story about a child in the hospital during her adoption trip to get her daughter. This is common practice. We all thought the communist party had socialized medicine. Contrary to ourbelieves, the medical system here is less available than in the US. Only the wealthy can afford medical care.

Michelle also explained the changes to be seen in the next few generations. A child urinating in the street is common practice. Men spitting in the street is common. The younger generation see this as bad manners and unhealthy practices. Not hard to disagree.

Jim and the girls decided to go to the international bookstore and Pizza Hut for dinner. Kimmie has read all of her books, and wanted something to read. Marguerite decided to finish her book and stay in the room and Margaret and I went back to the Mosque shopping marketing.

The traffic here is unbelievable. We almost got hit by a bus and a bike missed me by inches. Our hearts recovered after several minutes passed. Our Pizza Hut dinner never tasted so good. Even me, who eats everything, am getting tired of Chinese food. On the way back to the hotel, Margaret spotted an old woman in a cart that is like a taxi service.
All the girls decided to have a bon voyage party in the swimming pool. Our laughs and games became entertainment for the rest of the hotel guests at the pool. To top it off, yours truly wasn’t thinking and suggested to play Marco Polo, unanimously voted down.
Saying goodbye was hard. M & M has added spark to the trip.