China Take 2 - Update #3

 October 30, 2021

Hi all - Happy Halloween!!!!  I know, I know....it has been a looong time since you have heard from me, and for that i am sorry....i had a terrific summer here in china...but it was a bit weird because i was not allowed to actually travel out of country....this past week was my one year anniversary of being here in beijing and it feels a bit weird for me to have been in one country for a continuous year....not something i have done in a long, long time.....i did take the chance to travel all over china this past summer, hence why it was a great summer....but i have decided i need to be able to get to the states this summer to see my mom, brother, other family members and friends....so i have signed a contract for a third year, but if they say i cannot travel to the states come may/june, i will be breaking my contract....my bosses already know this, but i am hopeful i will not need to do that....all that being said...last summer was great and next summer will be in the states....

below are pictures from the first of the four trips i took...i am hoping i do not overload people with pictures, but china is a huge country, with different landscapes, an immense amount of amazing history and lots of fun places to visit and experience...this summer on my first trip i traveled the silk road from xi'an to kashgar....later i also visited datong, which is about 2.5 hours by high-speed rail outside of beijing...i also went to nanjing and shanghai...and finally, i did a food tour in the yunnan province from dali to lijiang.....all incredible trips with awesome people, sights and food/drink....this update will only look at pictures from the first trip and hopefully, i will get another update out soon....each trip just had so many highlights i cannot just pick a few pictures....sorry....so here are the images from trip number one...the silk road....xi'an to kashgar....enjoy :)

This first picture is not from any of my trips, but is from the last day of school with everyone from my cohort...meaning all of us who literally started online teaching for our school in august 2020 around the world, but made it into beijing by winter break 2020....it is a crazy group of resilient folks, who made it through one of the strangest years teaching....most of us have just signed a contract for a third year.....when you make it through a year like we did, you just don't want to look for a job again this soon....here's to us and all of the teachers that started a job in 2020 for making it through the chaos and coming out on the other side....

my silk road trip was HUGE....we started at the beginning of it in china and finished it just 100km from the tajikistan border....about 3800 km of travel...trains, planes, buses and lots of fun...this is a picture from the deserted city wall of xi'an...it was a super hot day and we were there in the height of the heat...but it was still amazing to see almost no one there...the tourism of china has definitely taken a huge hit from covid and keeping their borders shut....we rarely saw other expats traveling...but the chinese are making the most of it and traveling their own country...which is a good thing for the business...but just weird when you are used to seeing tons of tourists from around the world at the different historical sites...the chinese were also shocked to see us everywhere we went....our tour guides had to always explain that we worked in beijing and had been there and had not come from overseas....we also were traveling before chinese schools were out for the summer, which we benefitted greatly from...everything was a lot less crowded....

including the amazing muslim market and area of xi' an....this is bread we had later on the trip, but here is where we started to see it....also tons of fruits and vegetables....a delicious stop on the trip...

of course we visited the terracotta warriors...i had not been here since 2008, and some of it has changed... much more tourist-focused with pathways to follow and some more of it has been put together and cleaned up...but i was surprised at how much really wasn't different since i was last here....and yes, they are still amazing and incredible to experience....

this is a picture of the warriors as they piece them together...it is a complete jigsaw puzzle due to the site having been destroyed by the mongols who found it first...plus, some of the dirt above the burial site has crushed the warriors into pieces in places...but to see what they have put together is incredible, as well as to see how much they still have to go....the emperor qin shi huang really was dedicated to being protected once dead....each of these is full human height and individual for the soldier they were created of...so different hairstyles and facial expressions and jobs....it is amazing....and i am sooooo glad i got to see it again....

from xi'an we flew to zhangye to see the part of china i was most excited to visit....the rainbow mountains....i have taught them for many different classes, whenever i have had to teach about rocks and the rock cycle..so to see them with my very own eyes was a moment of pure magic....unfortunately we were not there on a very sunny day, so what you see is without the sun shining...just imagine what it could look like...the boldness of the colors....stunning.....

what you are looking at is sedimentary rock that is located where tectonic plates collided (55 million years ago)....making the rocks twist and turn and make these amazing layers seem like they are facing the wrong way....the reason you get the colors is because of iron and other minerals in the rock....the main red color comes from iron and it "rusting" but the yellow comes from sulfur in the rock as well....there are other colors here all from different minerals, but due to there not being much sunlight, you can't really see them....it is still a stunning place to visit and yes, i used one of my own pictures this year when i taught about the rock cycle and sedimentary rocks!!!!!

the further west we went, the closer we got to the gobi desert and animals and foods started to resemble things closer to a desert community...including camels...these are actually 2-hump camels - called bactrian camels....i am not sure i had ever seen a 2-humped camel...so i decided to take a picture with this one....nope, i did not ride them....i have been on a camel before and really did not enjoy the ride....

we got up really early one morning on the trip to watch the sunrise at the gobi desert...it was actually a full moon the night before....so the image above is the full moon setting over the desert....the hills you see are all sand dunes....amazing!!!!

here comes the sun over the desert....tons of folks were racing to see the sunrise on a camel...i just wanted to watch the sunrise and see camels....i did not combine them...it was an early, but beautiful start to the day :)

this is shot of me with one of our guides....hassan...he was our uyghur guide in urumqi....the reason we are having watermelon in this spot is because this is where we had to have a covid test along the side of the road....it was really hot and the medical folks running our test site felt bad for us because we were in the heat for about an hour trying to get the tests done.....things here in china are quite regulated and at this point this was my 4th covid test in 36 hours....china has a zero-tolerance for covid and is doing everything its power to not have covid here....has it been successful???? i am not really sure...we are having a slight outbreak again and are up to around 30 cases now...one thing i do know is that it certainly has put a damper on my traveling life....

one of our most beautiful stops on this trip was at heavenly lake outside of urumqi....what a beautiful day and view...we did not climb to the top of the mountains but had a great cable car ride up and down one of the peaks to get this shot....the red messages in the foreground are all wishes people have left there....most tourist stops of china will have a spot where you see these sorts of messages....people leaving wishes and hopes on red wooden cards...or wooden cards with red ribbons....red is the color of luck here in china....

here is a shot of me with the tasty bread at the night market in urumqi....it is a very meat based culture, but the bread more than made up for it for me...yummy!!!!

when we finally made it to our last stop - kashgar, we headed west along the karakoram highway to see the beautiful Pamir mountains....we stopped along this lake by the side of the highway....besides seeing a baby camel! the other side of the lake was sand dunes....the landscape in this area of the world was just so surprising and mind blowing.....at this point we were about 100km from the tajikistan border....

we also had chinese lunch in a yurt by the highway and mountains....we were told this was next to karakul lake, but in the end i do not think that was the truth, as that lake is located in tajikistan, and we definitely did NOT cross a border....we are not allowed to leave china afterall....well....you can leave, but it is super difficult to get back in....so i am actually not sure what lake we saw...but it was pretty....

we were in kashgar the day before the celebration of 100 years of the communist party in china...so this was a group in front of the gate to the old city, recording a song and dance for the big video from around china the day before the holiday....kind of weird when you think about what is happening in that part of the world with the indigenous groups....i am pretty sure majority, if not all, of these folks were han chinese...not indigienous...but you never know.....even though this area of china is mostly indigenous chinese...like the uyghur people.....

walking through kasgar's old, walled city was like walking in a muslim location....the markets and alleyways and people - both in dress and in stature....it was wild...it didn't really feel like i was in china....here is one of the stalls of the market...if you look closely you will see a ton of different types of raisins...it is amazing how many different kinds there are....who knew?????

this is one of the uyghur music stall owners....he was playing a traditional uyghur guitar called a rawap...he took no notice of us and was completely enjoying his day...it was terrific....

another site we visited was the tomb of the fragrant concubine of the qianlong emperor....this was in the afaq khoja mausoleum in kashgar....it was said she was allowed by her father to become the concubine of the emperoroonly if he promised to return her body to the family tomb after she died.....he was so smitten by her beauty that he actually agreed to the stipulation and did return her body to her family mausoleum...it was similar in shape to the taj mahal...but nowhere near the size...plus, it had amazing green mosaic on the outside....we were there before any other tourists and had the place to ourselves....very peaceful....

this had to be one of the final shots of this set of pictures....even if it was not at the final stop....we found a map that showed the length of the silk road and here you have all of us that traveled together on this trip except one friend....you can see me all the way to the right at xi'an and claudia all the way to the left pointing to our last stop of kashagr...approximately 3800km/2361 miles.....it was an amazing trip filled with excellent travel partners, history, interesting people along the way and amazing food and drink....another trip of a lifetime for me and i am grateful for being able to do this trip this past summer......

but of course the last picture of the trip had to be me with a chinese/uyghur beer....rather light in taste, but really cold because our awesome guide hassan called ahead and had the restuarant put the beer in the refrigerator....most times the chinese drink their beer room temperature...but this day was around 39C/102F in temperature and i had already melted once.....the food in the uyghur restaurant was some of the best on the trip.....just amazing!!!!

again....i am sorry i have not been in touch with an update in a looooooong while and hope to get the second installment of summer out in the next few days.....we'll see...hope you have all had a good start to your fall/spring....the colors here in beijing are popping....we have a lot of trees that go yellow and lots of ivy on the buildings in places that go red...so it has been rather nice....we also have had a lot of blue sky days in the past two weeks...for which i am thankful for after some of the rainiest july, august, september and start to october months....thanks again for your patience and if you have any questions, please send them my way....

Happy Halloween and Peace Out...Dani

China Take 2 Update #2 - Beijing

 June 8, 2021

hey there folks....sorry it has taken me so long to get out an update, but i have not been traveling so much....like everyone in the world....plus, i felt really bad posting fun pictures from beijing when many folks were still dealing with lockdowns and such.....so now with many having access and getting the vaccine and with things opening up, i feel a bit better posting images about my life.....and not like i am rubbing it in people's faces....

as for virus news here in china....i have received both shots of my vaccine...it is the sinopharm one produced by china...i felt if i had it and was given an option to leave for the summer, it would be a way for me to get back into china....as that is what is a biggest obstacle about here....you can check-out, but you can never leave....and expect to be able to get back in....easily.....so anything i could do, i did....now, i have been sort of given the green light to travel back to the states....but only sort of...and the plane ticket is about $5000 round trip....so i am not going to be leaving china this summer....if i got stuck in the states, the school might help, but it depends if they gave me the green light as i got on the plane....so i could pay $5000 and they could say no at the last minute and then if something happens, i have no job.....so my mom and i decided it was best i stayed here for the summer.....so i have started making plans and trips here in china...because it is a big place, with a lot to see and do......hoping that by summer 2022 i will be able to get back to the states....

the other issue is quarantine time.....i know in the states it is not mandated, but i would not go to my mom's first...i would get a covid test and make sure i was negative before seeing her....which could take up to a week...and when i got back to china, it would be a mandatory 3 week quarantine....so that could be four weeks of the six i have for break....just not cost effective.....plus, the quarantine here in china is in a hotel and mandatory....which i would have to pay for....so it is a no-win situation....BUT that being said...as of this morning here in beijing, we have had 127 days without any cases....some have popped up recently in some other towns in china, but it is crazy how fast things get locked down and how many people get tested in just a few days time.....the WHO has now accepted the vaccines from China and really, life is quite normal.....i still teach with a mask, and when i am on public transport or uber, or when i walk into a mall or restaurant or bar, i need to wear one....but if i am outside, no mask at this point is needed.....so i am feeling safe about being here and not leaving.....

as for life here in beijing.....things are moving along....just like all teachers around the world, this has been a very challenging year on so many levels.....from not being here at the beginning to going online for a few weeks in the middle to trying to adapt to ever changing rules to not really "knowing" my kids away from their masks....when i see them outside with no masks, sometimes i just do not recognize them...and it's june....crazy....plus, all of the traditions and trying to do them in a space that is big enough...it is has been challenging....but i am enjoying being back in china...i have a lovely campus to work on and i get along well with my colleagues in the science department....plus, i have been made head of department next year, which should be a good challenge and help make the program even stronger than it already is....woot!!! i really like the city and the weather has been weird for folks who have been here a long time...rather cool for may/june...but i am happy about the cool weather....i was missing that in panama and ghana.....so i am loving that....beijing is HUGE and has a lot to offer....i am excited to spend some of my summer here exploring what i have not seen yet.....i am also doing a silk road trip for 10 days and a food tour thru the yunnan province for about the same amount of time....i will also take little excursions to places close to beijing in the middle....a water town...olympic park to see how they are getting ready for the winter 2022 olympics...nanjing to see the historical museum there.....so i have things planned....will probably not hit a beach, but am hoping to make it to a river or two and of course, i have the pool across the street for swimming when i am in town....so lots to do and experience....but it will be weird not to be in the states.....

since i last wrote...i have had some great times here in beijing...this update will take you through st patrick's day and fun things i have been doing.....so on with the pictures....enjoy :)

during the winter break i went with some other newbies (new folks to my school - my teaching cohort) to a quaint, but chilly hotel by the great wall...it was all decked out for the holiday, and even though it really was cold there during that time, we had a blast!!!

these hanging pillars were wild and reminded me of stalactites...made of of zip ties and then they put led lights throughout them....they said they were up all year round and not just for the holiday season.....they were quite cool :)

the next few shots are from our day at the wall....it was amazing!!! and sooooo empty!! i was amazed at how few folks were there....it was winter time and during the week, when most chinese were working, but this shot illustrates just how few tourists are here in china.....zero!!!!

as you can see from my dress, it was a very cold day....but it was also a very clear, blue-sky kind of day....i have also been amazed at how many blue sky days we have had in beijing....they really have worked on lowering their coal usage and their pollution production!!!! again....how crazy is it that there is no one else in my picture....just amazing!!!

one more shot of this incredible human-made creation....this is only one very small part of the wall that was built but as you can see it stretches on for kilometers and kilometers (miles and miles)...it really was a lovely day at the wall...but i have now been about 8 times, so it may have been my last ;)

beijing did a great job decorating for the holiday season - including christmas and then they really decorated for chinese new year....the street behind my apartment was one of the best sets of lights in the whole area....

over chinese new year (year of the ox), we did some fun things as a newbie group and i got to know more of the city i had been living in for 2 months....we did a dumpling making workshop and had a tasty lunch of the dumplings we created....the veggie ones were green!!!! 

i also did an extensive tour of the forbidden city - it was -15 degrees Celsius this day, so just really, really cold....but again, i was stunned when we saw very few other people.....you can see people in the picture above which is taken in the main courtyard of the entryway to the forbidden city - this was actually the emperor's hall...which is why it is sooooooo grand and huge!

in the corners of these buildings you will find a dragon and on the back of the dragon are mythical guard animals....the more of these you see, the more restricted the entry to the building....there are 10 in this image, which means it was a rather restricted building...no commoners or people not related in a direct line to the emperor were allowed in....

there were other people there taking chinese new year photos...like the couple above...these folks were actually taking engagement photos at the forbidden city, as that is considered a way to bring good luck to a marriage.....they were bundled up quite a bit to stay warm.....

these signs are starting to show up everywhere as beijing is getting ready to host the winter olympics in 2022.....rumors are flying around about whether people from other countries, or even other cities in china will be allowed to attend.....but i live here, so i might get to see it all :)  not cool for folks who like to go to the olympics or for the athletes and their families, friends and fans, but i am pretty excited that i might get to see quite a few events!

this is a shot from the hill in beijing that overlooks the forbidden city...jingshan hill...which stands for prospect hill.....you can see the whole forbidden. city from this hill...

the shot above is from my school campus....this is our new playground, that was designed by the students for the students.....the slide on the left is rather high and a bit steep and scary....but the kids love the playground and you should have seen the adults testing it all out ;)

this is the entrance to the middle school....i actually do not work in this building, but i do like the look of it from the outside....very colorful....i work in a building just across from this building and i kind of like being in the arts, design tech and science building :)

after the chinese new year i finally made it to a wet market....i used to always shop at a wet market when i lived in shanghai....but things have definitely changed in wet markets with covid...and many of them have disappeared completely....plus, the floor is no longer wet...and many things are pre-packaged...not the metas or fish, because you pick what you want and can check if it is fresh....this was one of the fish vendors in the big market that is not too far from my apartment....

this shot is also from the wet market...it is soooooo awesome to be back in a land of mushrooms....yummy!!!! but as you can see from this picture...lots of things are packaged and you cannot touch them before you buy them....big changes in wet markets.....

the shot above is one of my very favorites from my time here...i was walking back to my apartment from a  shopping venture when i heard this lady playing her accordion....this was taken through the fence and she lives in the house behind her....this is literally across the street from my place.....she was just sitting there playing and humming....totally reminded me of my uncle tony and when he played accordion for the family, especially at christmas parties...the accordion was the first instrument i learned to play because of my uncle tony...not that i remember any more....

during the chinese new year, streets were decorated with lights and presents to celebrate the arrival of the year of the ox and to hope for better health and wealth around china and the world....

the chinese celebrate for quite a few days, but the fourth and eighth days are quite important....chinese new year goes for about 16 days....the fourth day is a welcoming of the gods day - welcoming them back to earth....and the 8th day is a luck day, because the number 8 is a favorite number of the chinese...and on new year's eve, the night before the whole festival starts, you burn paper money (fake) to the gods to make sure you are starting your new year off with wealth and prosperity....you can see a guy doing this on the street across from my apartment building....

during the spring festival/chinese new year, i finally made it down into the hutongs - which are neighborhoods of old style beijing houses...they are like mazes and each set of buildings has a courtyard with a certain amount of houses around it....you could have 8 families in one courtyard....the lanterns and area was more colorful than where i live....

during chinese new year, everyone has off from work, so you will see many games of mahjong and chinese checkers...plus, lots of different card games....this is definitely not your grandmother's game of mahjong....you should have seen the money flying around this game....including betting by people watching the game...mahjong is big business here ;)

this is one of the hutong doors...many of the hutongs facing the street have had a make-over of their outer walls, like the one above....so as you wander they all look rather new, until you peek into the courtyard....however the government is trying to buy the hutongs, but the chinese folks are having none of that....these are traditional and people do not want to move out....

above is one of my classes....a rare day where i have my mask off...but i needed to work with fire and masks are flammable....this is the old ball and ring demonstration that shows how the ball expands when heated and can no longer fit through the ring it fit through before it was heated...both parts are made of metal and are excellent conductors of heat...kids are always surprised by this demo....love it...

during the months since january, we have had three sandstorms due to conditions being sooooo dry in the gobi desert to the north of beijing....i have been told we have sandstorms every year, but never as bad as this year....this is a picture i "borrowed" from a newspaper to show you what our air looked like...we were up over 5000ppm at one point....on a bad day we are usually at 140ppm to give you an idea of just how bad it was....this is a shot of one of the outer gates of the forbidden city....

of course i had to include my final shot with a beer...this me on st. patrick's day at our local irish bar...this is also the bar i play trivia at most thursday nights.....we had a tasty chinese dinner, followed by a tasty irish beer....yummy!!!!

so there you have it....my time here in beijing from the end of december thru mid-march....i hope to be able to send out another update before i start traveling this summer, but am not sure that will happen....i hope you enjoyed this installment and if you have any questions, please feel free to get in touch....

i hope folks in the northern hemisphere have had a good start to their summer and folks in the southern hemisphere have had a good start to their winter....thanks for reading and looking as always and here's to getting the next update out a bit quicker....

peace out...

dani 😎