Xi'an

Day 7- June 15th

We hopped on a flight to Xi’an today. I have seen the difference in the service of American airlines versus International airlines. The nice steward on this Asian airline felt so bad that there were no vegetarian options for meals that he returned with an apple. I was very surprised, after the snippy reaction from the American lady on my original flight over to China. I have certainly learned my lesson to call ahead for a special meal, but at least this man was not willing to let me go hungry, and for only an hour long flight! I’ve noticed that every foreign airline provides some sort of snack, no matter how long the flight, most likely to compete with the train business. But American airlines have certainly become stingier with their expenses; remember when they would give you peanuts!? No more peanuts for us! I even remember Frontier giving freshly baked cookies! *Sigh* Those were the good days…

Xi’an was the start of the Silk Road, the transport passage of silk, spices, etc by camel and horse for the markets. We began our exploration with an eight and a half mile bike ride along the entire city wall. The wall is over 1,500 years old! It was really cool to bike along such an ancient structure, quite an amazing feat that it has survived this long and to be in such great condition! 

We also stopped to watch some dancers rehearsing their number in the middle of the square, I suppose they will be performing for a big festival soon. I like the different style of their cultural dancing, it looks like movements from the martial arts, but with grace and beauty.

We were pretty exhausted after our afternoon exercise so we all headed to bed, excited for more Xi’an adventures in the morning! 

Day 8- June 16th

The next morning we drove to the Terra-cotta Warriors, (Terra-cotta means baked Earth).  They were made in 210bce (before Christ) and weren’t discovered until 1974 by farmers! Over 600 pits have been found so far containing 8000 soldiers, 670 horses, 130 chariots, and they are still in the process of digging them up. While he was alive, the First Emperor instructed he was to be buried between the Great Mountain and the yellow river, with his army to protect him in his afterlife. Historians believe that it took 727,000 laborers to make the army and that the Emperor had them buried alive to keep the project sacred when he died. This certainly explains why there was no record of the statues until they were discovered! Among the soldiers, there were two Royal chariots found; the first was the police car to lead the escort, and the second was the “air-conditioned” chariot for the Emperor. 

The Emperor’s chariot was made of bronze to look like a turtle’s shell, symbolizing longevity. The windows were designed so he could see out while he was in the chariot, but no one could see inside. The horses’ reins alternated between silver and gold.

The pits were organized in a strategic battle assembly; the police cart and Emperor at the head, followed by the archers, the Calvary, the footmen, and finally, the chariots. The pits were covered with a wooden roof, and sealed once all the soldiers were placed in their appropriate pit. But, several of the pits were destroyed in the years following; from an enemy ordering it to be set on fire and abolished (which was thankfully not entirely successful), to the destruction from natural occurrences of the ground sinking and the roofs collapsing. 

Only one soldier statue was found completely intact, the details in his shoe and the red pigment on his suit of armor were astounding to look at. The museum keeps him in a glass case, of course, so everyone can admire the work of art. 

There are three pits open to the public: the first had the roofs still covering the interior, the second was where the high ranking officials were found and where animal sacrifices were performed, and the third was the largest pit with hundreds of statues and scientists busy working on unearthing and repairing even more.

It was interesting getting to see the statues close up and see the various details the craftsmen used so that no two soldiers looked alike.  This was definitely my favorite part of the trip so far because I loved learning about the Terra-cotta warriors in history class and I was so excited to see them for myself! Another UNESCO World Heritage Site to check off from my BucketList! :D

After the museum, we popped in to a jewelry store where our guide’s friends told us how to spot a fake Jade product:

-It should be hard, not easy to break

-You can rub real pieces together and it will not smell burnt or sound scratchy

-You should be able to see flowers and shapes when light is shown thru it

Later that night we headed to tour the Great Wild Goose Pagoda, a quaint little Buddhist temple. I enjoyed walking the peaceful grounds and listening to the chants from the local Buddhist monks. 

There was a lot of beautiful statues and gardens to admire. 

 

 

We were one of the last to leave the area, and headed to a park where Sean knew there was to be a water and lights show, similar to the one at the Bellagio. They played Chinese cultural music as well as other fun catchy tunes and lovely lyrical music. It was pretty funny that the Doherty’s were there to see the water show, but the Chinese wanted to see the Dohertys. I was asked to take pictures with several people, and a few wanted to try out their English with me. I really think I should take my mom’s advice and start charging for my time! 

HAHA ;)

Also, I tried Asian pear which has a pear taste but an apple’s crunch and consistency. Ya, not a fan! But I did like it steamed! 

Some cultural differences that we’ve come to expect here:

-Spitting everywhere 

-Not yielding to pedestrians, or driving lines, or really any good driving techniques and procedures!

-When hosting a dinner; the host usually doesn't eat much, just attends to needs of visitors. It's rude to leave if your host hasn't stood up to go or "dismissed" you

-Squatting everywhere, in the toilets or for relaxation 

-Kids peeing and pooping on street 

-Toilet paper and yes, even soap, are not always provided so always take toilet paper and handsanitizer with you when braving the bathrooms, you Queen of the Squatters, you!

Nanjing

Day 5- June 13th
The Dohertys enjoyed a yummy "American" breakfast of eggs, potatoes, and French Toast while listening to Sean's presentation for his food safety app. It was so cool to see him in his element, and to have witnessed his progress from the original app concept this now developed and approved iPhone app! I'm a proud sista!!! 

Following his meeting, we all headed to the train station to journey on to Nanjing, where my brother used to live. 
Nanjing, originally named Nanking, used to be capital of China until the Japanese WW2 massacre, resulting in the capital change to Beijing. We drove thru the Nanjing wall, which is the largest "city" wall in China. 

Modernized China was established by Sun Yat-sen, the founding father of The Republic of China. This means China was transformed from an empire to a more westernized government before the WW2 attack when, under Mao Zedong's rule, it became a communist country. Here in the 21st century, the age of technology, China enforces censorship of the media, ie. books, movies, and the Internet.

There are the "Three T's you don't talk about in China"

-Taiwan

-Tibet

-Tinananmen Square, which is ironically named after Tiananmen Gate, "Gate of Heavenly Peace", separating the square and the Forbidden City.

Sean showed me Greatfire.org, which lists the sites currently blocked by the "Great Firewall of China", a pretty clever name, tee hee. Sites are blocked when they do not adhere to the restrictions on content set by the Chinese government. The list includes Google, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Amazon, Blogspot (which I'm using right now!), and the NY Times. Interestingly enough, they also block keywords when using a search engine. They block 1989 (the year of the Tinananmen Square massacre), Tank Man (the unknown protestor who stood in front of a column of Army tanks the morning after the massacre), the year 1989, all combinations of the numbers 6 and 4 (June 4th, day of the massacre), and any other connections that would lead to the discovery of this tragic event. The citizens that were killed that day had gathered to protest China's unfair and unchecked censorship of the media venues, a problem that is obviously still present. 

For lunch, I had plum juice (which tastes like sweet iced tea), mushroom soup, red beans and sticky rice, sweet soup, steamed pear (which was my favorite and apparently good for the throat if you are sick), noodles, tofu and vegetables, spring rolls (the best I've ever had!), shrimp dumplings, potato noodle, and some sort of vegetable, only available in China, that has purple juice inside. Sean's previous co-worker joined us for this lunch and she said this vegetable is believed to benefit woman by replacing the iron needed in our blood.

Dinner later that night was with Andy (Sean's boss for baby clothing store), his wife, and Andy Jr. We gave Andy Jr. a fire truck because he loves to play with cars, and he gave me kisses :) He was so cute :D 

The meal was enormous again, complete with the spinning wheel at the center of the table for everyone to share the food.  The egg and vegetable noodles and the salmon were my favorites from this meal.

Everyone enjoyed laughing as Ivan ate too much soy sauce with wasabi and tried to learn the Chinese names for food with his Spanish accent. 
We completed our night with a boat ride around the Confucius temple. 

Though I appreciate the hospitality of the Chinese, they would not stop giving us food!!! Every friend of Sean's that we met insisted on us trying various new cuisines with them, and to be frank, I'm getting fat! LOL. Tonight Andy and his wife bought us sugar glazed cherries to munch on while we walked, they were speared on sticks like shish kebabs and each cherry had at least 3 seeds to accidentally bite into :/ Whoops! They also gave us stinky tofu which everyone despised!!!!! Never again, thank you!


Day 6- June 14th

We ate breakfast at hotel, where I tried green tea cakes and bandor bread, which is basically French toast. Then we headed off to explore Nanjing! The first stop was to look at tallest building in city. It used to be the 7th tallest building in the world but has been  knocked down the list with the new developments in Dubai. Another of Sean's old co-workers from the school joined us on our adventure, and she taught us a lot! She explained to me that when two characters are broken up by an apostrophe, they are spoken separately; so Xi'an sounds like "She" "Ong".

Drivers in China honk for no real reason but then when something crazy happens, like our taxi driver taking up all the lanes to turn around in the middle of the street, everyone waits patiently!! Pretty backwards to me!!! 

Our next stop was the Ming tomb, built over 800 years ago for Zhu Yuanzhang, founder of the Ming Dynasty. The Stone Elephant Road, a 615-meter long road, leads to the tomb. There are six types of stone animals along the road to indicate the glamour and sanctity of the tomb, as well as guard the Emperor from evil spirits. 

The Animals the Guard the Sacred Way: 

-Xiezhi, a unicorn with eyes of a bear, also named Renfashou, is a legendary animal standing for justice. It can identify the evil person in two man fight by hitting him with horn. The Xiezhi is placed in front of the tomb to show uprightness.

-Lion, called "King of all beasts" for its unborn agility and ferocity over other animals. It is honored in Buddhism as a holy beast protecting Buddhist doctrines. Stone lions are placed in front of the imperial tomb to demonstrate the Emperor's unparalleled dignity and power.

-Camel, showing the Emperor's national strength, symbolizing peace in the Western Regions, and suggesting vastness of the territory and prosperity of the nation.

-Elephant, symbol of simplicity and vastness. 

-Unicorn, an auspicious creature of ancient Chinese fantasy, it integrates the features of the tiger, lion, ox, and dragon. Legend states that it appears only in the region of a benevolent and wise emperor. No one had the unicorn before this emperor's tomb. 

-Horse, as the Emperor's mount, the horse is indispensable. The horse was also a part of the Emperor's honor guard during court ceremonies of the Ming Dynasty. With spirited eyes and a proud look, the stone horses seem to be flaunting the merits of their imperial owner before death. 

The Divine Road has 24 total animal guards, four of each kind, with two sitting then two standing. 

The entrance to the tomb has five arches; two for officers, one for house servants, one for horses, and the biggest in middle for the Emperor. On the way to tomb, Sean's friend pointed out  bricks with each bricklayers' name engraved in the stone. There were entire structures of bricks laid with sticky rice, land, stone, etc. Sticky rice! The resourcefulness of these ancient builders is astounding! We passed one temple where virgin sacrifices were held. Thank God we've evolved from that stage...

We also saw the beautiful blue tomb of Sun Yat-sen!

And as we were leaving we saw a ginormous pincher bug! Blah! Maybe it was the spirit of one of the Emperor's come for revenge!!

After touring the tombs, we journeyed on to the office of one of Sean's friends. He taught us a very thorough tea lesson while giving us intricately prepared tea. We delighted in cinnamon tea from a thousand year old mountain, brewed in purple clay pots that can only be found in the Jiangsu province, and served in beautiful, hand painted and burnt porcelain cups.  (As in, he has very expensive tea accessories and drinks only the very best tea of China.)

Lessons:
-If the purple clay pot is over 50 years old, it can only be found in an auction  
-Use spring water not tap water
-Clay absorbs taste so use different pots for different teas

-Loose tea leaves provide up to 7 pots of tea and can be left overnight and reused

-Clay pots have small air pockets to keep the tea fresh

-Allow the temperature of the water to fall below 100 degrees before adding the leaves in, otherwise it damages the tea leaves and you don't get the rich flavor 
-Don't drink the first batch; wash the leaves and pour, unless it is green tea, which you don't need to wash

-Don't steep for too long; pour the tea into a porcelain holder quickly or will become bitter

-Pour slowly to avoid the leaves coming out

-The color of good tea looks like whiskey

-You can keeps bags tea leaves in freezer

We also tried a red tea and then a green tea from the plains.  
- In the springtime, he first leaf of the tree is used 
- It is picked within the first 5 days for its baby leaf freshness, making it a rare and expensive tea 
-It must be drunk in a glass cup to see the color change and watch the leaves dance like needles

-Tea bags should be made with hot water over 100 degrees

-Green tea should be transparent and a light green, not yellow

How to spot a fake teapot:
~Handle, top and spout should all line up if hand made not machine

~Shape, looking at it, it should be perfect

~Belly needs to be 2/3 down from top, or shoulder high up from lid, you should be able to take a quick look and get the feeling that everything is proportioned right
~A good pot will be dry quickly when hot water is poured on top, because the clay will absorb the water. If it is a fake, the water will just sit on top. 

I started noticing as we strolled more and more streets, how odd it is to see families with only one kid. China has the family law of one kid per couple, or they have to pay for permission to have more than one. I can't imagine my life without my siblings, they were such a vital part of my childhood and very important to me. 

Dinner that night with Mr. Tea Man was an assortment of sautéed mushrooms and chopped garlic, best thing I've had yet! I also tried pat noodles with tomato, eggplant that looked like honey combs, and white rice wine- 42 percent!!!! Yikes!!! Now that's a drink with a kick!!!! Our dessert was decadent yogurt with honey. MMM :D 

We ended our night with some Karaoke in an amazing bar full of studio-like, private rooms! I would love to take some friends there for a night of singing and dancing! I had a blast singing songs with my family, the von Dohertys! :D

Shanghai, Part 1

Day 1- June 9th
So after a very long flight for Mom, Dad, and I, we all made it to the Shanghai Airport! Sean and Charlene picked us up, exchanged our money for us, then we headed out for dinner! I tried a delicious yellow curry! We were all pretty drained so we headed straight to bed after our scrumptious meal!!

Day 2- June 10th
The next morning we enjoyed Charlene’s crepes with yummy jams (like a nice mango jam I had brought back from Puerto Rico for Seaners) with fruit and whipped cream! We then explored the  "wet market”, a seafood and vegetable market near to Sean’s apartment. There were lots of strange and interesting sights there for sure, and even some new fruit to try in the supermarkets like the Durian, a prickly fruit that smells terrible but tastes pretty good. Let me tell you, China has a tonnnnn of shopping. I’ve never seen so many stores packed into such a small area, along the streets or in giant malls! Other first impressions of China; crazy driving and questionable sanitation in the local markets-should you really be smoking next to your produce!?! We popped inside the mall for a quick tour of Asian style and tried a “black" (dark) chocolate and strawberry ‘cronut’. Probably not as good as the real ones in New York, I’ll let you know when I try one there! ;) On the other side of the mall was a nice park and we took a stroll around the lake, admiring the skyscrapers. 


Chinese buildings often have two dragons guarding the front door, the female lion has a cub under her paw, and the male has a ball under his, a symbol for power. Hmm….. a bit chauvinistic and sexist in my opinion but perhaps I take things too literally when it comes to gender roles. I’m blessed to enjoy a life free from this oppression (except for pay equality, but that’s a WHOLE other blog subject!) and I am reminded constantly of this right when I experience cultures who are still stuck in the past. We may not be perfect, but I love America and how much we’ve grown as a country! :D 
For lunch we had a variety of delicious pizzas; walnuts, honey, & pear pizza, and red onion & pepper cheese. NOM NOM I love touring in search of the World’s Best Pizza!!! The hunt is not over….
What I am over already is the bathrooms here. Stinky, nasty, dirty. No toilet paper. No soap. I constantly get headaches from the bad ones and the “good ones” are barely tolerable. Like Momma said, “I’m going to kiss my toilet when I get home” HAHA

Speaking of toilets….has anyone heard of this crazy coffee tradition from Indonesia? Ok, have an open mind for this next bit ;) So apparently there’s a small fox/raccoon/skunk looking animal called a civet eats the coffee cherry, then people collect the feces and harvest it for coffee. The civets digest the flesh of the cherry but the beans are passed thru and their stomach enzymes provide an aroma and flavor that people are willing to pay $100 a cup for!!! Luckily ours was not that much, we tried this strange and exotic type of coffee for $23, still the most expensive coffee I’ve ever purchased!!! 

Sean has been inspiring me (and shaming me) with his amazing Mandarin! And to think, I took years of Spanish and I can’t remember a thing! I really need to dive fully into a language, the rest of the world is at least bilingual, and I feel it holds me back from communicating with so many. I will be taking Spanish classes when I’m in New York, and really committing to it. There’s no more excuses, I have a Honduran boyfriend that I can practice with, it’s far past time!

We toured the Jing-an temple in the middle of city. It was pretty cool to see such an ancient architectural beauty amongst the vast modern structures. 

We also made a stop at Chairman Mao’s house, father of the Chinese communist party. They’ve since turned the building into a museum with several “art” pieces created using his face repetitively. 

Later, we headed out to see the skyline lights grow brilliantly in the night. 
We met with Sean’s friend for a traditional Shanghai dinner where I had eggplant, tofu, broccoli and rice, vegetables, crab meat on sesame bread, and the famous thousand year egg. Legend has it that this egg rests in the ashes of a fire for a thousand years before it is eaten. I think they just make it black in the ash and serve it when it is ready though. Our drink was very strong rice wine that reminded me of saki. 


Day 3- June 11th
Today was the tour of the Zotter Austrian chocolate factory on the banks of Shanghai. They have hundreds of varieties from goji berry, and caipirinha to fish or recycled bread! WOW! Sean’s friend is the daughter of Mr. Zotter, who now has one of the top chocolate companies in Europe. She gave us a private tour, showing us how they make the chocolate from the cocoa plant. 

Zotter has several cocoa farms around the world, and I made inquires about if they had any in Honduras but she said that unfortunately, Honduras and El Salvador have severe drug lord issues and that any attempt to establish farms have been met with death threats. They were able to begin a very successful campaign to promote growing cocoa not cocaine in Columbia. The government there sprays poison from a plane on illegal fields, killing all crops. This devastates the farmers, since their produce is their entire life line, so it definitely helps them to have an equally beneficial, legal product to tend to. We sampled all stages from bean, a mix with cocoa butter but without sugar or milk, to chocolate with all percentages of sugar added, even 100% pure chocolate, which is super bitter. I never thought I would need a break from chocolate but after a day of sampling, phew, I needed a few days chocolate free! 

That night, Sean treated us to an amazing acrobat show with motorcycles, tumblers and beautiful contortionists. I am aware of the difference in theatre etiquette for various cultures, having experienced it myself on the cruise ship. But I couldn’t believe the noise that was filling the theater when these talented people were performing. I almost snapped at the person behind me, who kept their phone light shining even though she had found her seat. I gave her a look and angrily said that was incredibly dangerous for the people on the stage. There is just nothing better than performing for an audience that appreciates and understands. After the show, we headed to a little brewery for some salsa dancing. 

Day 4- June 12th
My breakfast to start off another day in Shanghai was eggs, potatoes, and a watermelon-banana smoothie.We stopped at the tallest tower in Shanghai and rode the elevator to the 87th floor for a stunning view of the city below. There was a nice walkway below where could walk perpendicular to the skyline and admire the architectural achievements. 
For lunch, we ate delicious Chinese cuisine with dumpling samplers, a "carrot cake” which was more like a white radish croissant, and a lovely pot of tea. It is Chinese custom to not eat everything, to leave a bit of food on your plate. When somebody hosts a table for you, they will continue to feed you if you have an empty plate, because they don’t want you to go hungry. 

We headed thru the walking streets full of hundreds of shops to have tea and snacks "with" Sean's student Winnie and her mom. Winnie was so wound up, she did not stay for long and her mother sat on the other side of the wall from our table, but popped over to take pictures with her “new friends”. So freaking weird. According to Sean, she likes to host these tea parties with her friends to brag about how much money she has and how much she spends on everything. We were awkwardly stuck there for awhile because it is Chinese custom to stay until your host gets up to leave or says you can go. 

The Doherty clan (and Patinos) walked in a nice garden with a small walk thru cave and along the lily pad lake. We made our way to Tianzifang, a “Pirate” city, for the market and food exploration. This city was absolutely beautiful, especially as the sun went down and the lights illuminated the pond and the floating structures. 

I was able to find my tea set and Sean's great bargaining skills got me a wonderful deal. I’ve noticed a few places have a token Western toilet, you just have to look at the signs on the door. However, the Chinese that use our style of toilet still resort to their squatting ways, despite the signs saying do not stand on the toilet bowl! I remember finding that an odd request when I first arrived, but now that I’ve witnessed the squatting toilets in all their “glory”, I completely understand! 

We headed to a Pirate themed restaurant for dinner, complete with Pirate maps as menus and ship decor. It was quite a random, worldly meal of sweet potato fries, Thai curry, papaya salad, spicy Spanish seafood paella, Persian/Turkish kababs, and Italian margarita pizza. Another wonderful day of touring Shanghai with my family; tomorrow is Sean’s big presentation to his group of fellow avid entrepenuaers about his business plan!


 Avast Ye, Scallywag! Clean up your Chinese kitchen, OR ELSE!!! ARGGGGGGG MATEY!!!!