Carter China Trip 2001

We quickly cleaned up and headed out for more tourist attractions. But, first we had to visit another place to see if they could get more of our money. This time it was a silk rug factory. We were shown how they make rugs and watched three young women working at their looms. We commented among ourselves about the absence of older women. Were they hidden away because they are less attractive or do they burn out early and retire in poverty? Spending years weaving one carpet did not seem to be very appealing.

They then showed us how to evaluate carpets, based largely on the number of knots per inch. The really fine carpets have 600 knots per inch. It was interesting that they used inches as their standard and not centimeters. Indeed, we did learn to distinguish the differences in the quality of carpets. I truly enjoyed the experience of looking at these carpets. Many of the carpets were hanging on the walls and you could see the entire piece. Some were small throw rugs and others were large pieces. Many were designed more for hanging than for lying on the floor. I felt like I was in an art gallery.

I didn’t buy a carpet but I came away with pleasant memories. However, I did find another part of the store where they had painted glass. My wife and I have a number of pieces of glass so I was looking for a glass souvenir. They had spherical balls of crystal that were hollow in the middle. They then painted scenes on the inside. Although they were very heavy I decided I needed one of these. There were a great variety of scenes to choose from, including a scene with many nude women cavorting in what was probably a classic image. In finally selected a ball portraying a portion of a classic Chinese painting entitled Scenery Up the River at Qing Ming Festival. It came on a wooden base so that it can be spun around.

Our guide John told me to find out more about the festival and the painting by going on the web. Indeed, there is information about the Qing Ming Festival. At this site there is a discussion of the work by the 12th Century artist Zhang Zeduan. You can also click on an image to see a small portion of the painting that is inside my glass globe. A larger view of this image is available as a JPG file. Another image of this artist's work is available in a collection of works in a museum.

Later I decided to purchase small glass spheres of this type for my four grandkids. The designs I chose were paintings showing the of the animals of their year of birth, in this case a horse, a pig, a goat and a tiger. I was born in the year of the rat and I did not go out of my way to get a symbol of that year. When I bought these I had the young artist write their names on the inside of the glass. He did this with a fine angled paint brush while I stood there. Obviously, there are a number of very talented artists and illustrators in China, but they are not getting rich for their work. I paid $25 US for the four personalized glass balls.

I must confess I enjoyed the visit to the commercial shop to see the silk rugs and the glass.

We became tourists again as we headed off to visit the 7-story Big Wild Goose Pagoda in the Ci’en Temple This is a Buddhist monastery.

The Pagoda was built in the late 600’s in an Indian style after a local monk spent 16 years in India on pilgrimage and returned with new ideas and images. The site is a mix of old and new. We saw a number of monks among the tourists. There is now a new museum on the site. We paid 15Ą to climb to the top of the Temple, to prove we could do it and to take photos. From on high I saw children playing in the residential quarters of the monastery.

As we were leaving John noted the head person in the monastery has a new Buick. These Buicks look just like an American model, but are called the Shanghai, where the cars are manufactured. Our guide noted that owning a temple is a good business in China. Temples charge an entrance fee for admission, sell souvenirs on the site, and charge extra to climb the structure. That the chief has a new Buick supports his argument.

I note that Tiger Woods is now the spokesperson for Buick. I think Buick made a wise decision in picking Tiger for their image because Tiger has Asian blood and is well known in this country of many potential buyers. Later, as we were leaving China I saw a large billboard of Tiger promoting a golf tournament. I am certain Tiger is well known in China.

After dinner in our hotel I set out to find an Internet café where I could catch up on things. Our hotel had one connected computer but it was quite expensive. I started asking about for a café. In the nearby Friendship Store I was shopping for possible souvenirs and gifts, as well as photo books. I struck up a conversation with a charming young lady clerk. She spoke quite good English. I asked her about a place where I could connect to the Internet. She knew about a place but was quite surprised that an old person like me would want this because this is where young people go. She said there was a place nearby and she would take me there.

I knew she was working in the shop so I told her I would be content to go there on my own. No, she insisted on taking me there. So, she walks out of the shop, didn’t tell anyone that she was going, and leads me through the complex of roads and circles to a row of shops near a university. Mike and Theo from Germany were following me. Soon my young friend leads me up a dark stairway.

Mike and Theo ask where this woman is taking me. On the second floor we enter a room filled with about 20 computers. She says something to the young man sitting at the desk at the front of the room. All of the computers in this room are occupied so we go to a second room, again filled with 20 computers. Most of these computers were in use so we go to a third room with another 20 computers. Here there were a few empty machines so we logged on and connected to home.

My young friend stayed with me. I got her email address and sent her a message from my account. I showed her my personal web pages and a few things about my home area. I found out that she is 22 years old and a senior in HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) at the nearby university. She wants to complete her masters in HVAC and then head off to Shanghai, the center of the great boom in China. The Internet connection was quite good that evening. After about 30 minutes we signed off and paid 1Ą for the time we were connected. Cheap by any measure.

We escorted our new friend back to her job. We tried to tip her for her time and help. She refused any compensation. We said our goodbyes. I tried to find her the next day but she was not in the shop when I went there. I have had some email correspondence with her since I got back to the States. At many levels, I appreciate having met this young person. Later many of us went back to the Internet site to read email. The connections were not as fast the next day, but the price was right. Only when I got home and studied my photos did I see the ADSL on the building -- asynchronous digital subscriber line, just like I have at home.

Because I was getting soft I went to the gym in the hotel at about 10:00 PM. They had a few pieces of electronic exercise equipment but it was not in good working order. I worked out with some dumbbells, like I use at home. I thought it was interesting that these weights were stamped Golds Gym. I also worked on some equipment similar to Nautilus machines. I shared the facility with a middle-age Chinese fellow. Obviously, tourist hotels around the world are very similar.

While I was exercising, some of my colleagues found that groups of people had gathered in the paved areas under and between the highways. There was music and many of the people were dancing. The next morning there were still small groups dancing.