Zeneta makes her exit (from China)

Gao Jing is back. She went with Zeneta to Beijing in order to insure that Zeneta had less problems leaving China. While here, because the dorms were closed, she used the couch in our "den."

Gao Jing came a couple of days before Zeneta was due to leave in order to complete some final paperwork that was necessary for Wa Dou to leave the country. I was surprised at how well that went.

She and Zeneta also tried to mail back some of Zenetas clothing and personal affects, only to discover that the post offices are closed for the month in honor of the New Year. The result of that is that I still have a giant pile of stuff waiting to be shipped once the post offices open again. I am under the impression that they will open in a couple of weeks.


The first step was to take a cab to the bus station. She took a bus instead of a train fir two reasons. First, she had a tremendous amount of stuff, well over the weight limit for baggage on the train. The second reason was that, much like in America, dogs are not allowed on the train. She had hopped that the dog could sit on her lap on the trip, like he has done in the past when traveling to Zhengzhou; however, the driver insisted that he be in a cage. So, he sat in a cage, on her lap, to Zhengzhou.


In Zhengzhou they met with Sunny, one of my freshmen students who lives in that city. She then assisted them in finding their hotel and she also took Wa Dou for the night, as dogs are not allowed in any of the hotels that Zeneta contacted in Zhengzhou.


The next day they met with Sunny and went to the airport in Zhengzhou (cab from Zhengzhou to Zhengzhou International Airport is about 150? in order to fly to Beijing. It was necessary to fly form Zhengzhou both to reduce the length of the bus ride and because, having obtained his exit papers in Henan province, it was necessary for Wa Dou to leave China from Henan province.

It was at the airport in Zhengzhou that Zeneta ran into her first problem of the exit stage (which is different from the planning stage; or, the, still separate, pre-exit stage [the paperwork stage] ) Gao Jing's ticket was no good. Zeneta had purchased it from Expedia and, as such, her name was written as "Gao Jing" in pin yin (roman characters) instead of 高竟, and only Chinese characters are acceptable for Chinese nationals tickets. Instead of having her name in characters, it would have been acceptable to have her ID number on the ticket; but, that was not there either. As such, the ticket was, simply, not valid.

Zeneta ended up purchasing a ticket for her there, at the airport so that she could continue to accompany Zeneta to Beijing. Other than that, there were no big problems. She was permitted to check in her two large bags and her dishes as regular baggage. The rule is two pieces of baggage so she had taped the two large boxes of dishes together tin order to make them into one box instead of two. However, this still left her at three packages. She was still not charged for the excess baggage. This has given me some encouragement as to getting my bicycle back in June. She was charged extra for Wa Dou, we were prepared for that as the China Air website, clearly, says that animals are charged as excess baggage, even if there is no other baggage. The charge was 10? per Kilogram, or, 100? for Wa Dou and his crate.


They then flew to Beijing where they got their luggage and went through the process of checking it again, they do not transfer your luggage for you in China. You have to retrieve it and check it in at each transfer point. Here they charged the 200? that the China Air website said that it would cost for excess baggage to get Wa Dou on the plane. As before, there was no charge for the dishes, which constituted a third bag.


At that point Gao Jing left Zeneta to idle her time away as she waited to fly, non-stop from Beijing to San Francisco.

The concert

Another week goes by. It seems strange that I am preparing to leave China for the last time; or, at least for a long time. I have lived I this, cold, flat for longer than I lived in Sacramento, Redding, Burney, or Alturas. I am not sure if I have lived here longer than In lived in Chico. I doubt it; but, it has certainly been an interesting episode in my life.

This weeks lessons went very well. In general the students liked the movie. As I have stated, I generally do not like showing movies I class, I consider t to be cheating. There just isn't enough time spent talking as it is. The big problem, the same problem as in language classes around the world, is that the students do not spend time working with the target language outside of class.

We talked about the movie and even the students that did not like it were willing to discuss why. The main reason for students to dislike it was the tragic ending. The students like the pollyannic endings that are so common in the movies that they choose to watch. However, I was extremely pleased that they were willing and able to express this.

The, overall, liked to disliked ratio was about 9-1. I asked them to tell me about why it had to have suck a tragic ending, how they would have liked to see it end, all that stuff. Keep in mind, the point is not film appreciation; instead, it is produce speaking. I have learned a lot of lessons about what works, and what does not, in showing films in class for the purpose of teaching English. This may be the last film I will show, I have not decided yet. A lot of that depends on when I am to conclude classes.

I have begun preparing my final exam for the term. I have floated it past some of the students with the question, “will your classmates be able to do this?” They all agree that their classmates can do it; however, they feel that it will be hard for some of them. That is the reason that I decided to have the exam done in groups of three, so that the stronger students can cover for the weaker ones. This works OK if it is a case of one weak student with two stronger ones. It does not work as well when there are two weak students, leaving one student trying to carry the whole group. The worst case, that fortunately does not happen often, is when the groups break out with all the strong students in their own groups and all the weak students in others.

In addition to classes, I went to a large student party on Friday. I have to add that I am seeing some real changes at this school. As many of you know, this is a new school and is still in its formative years. It is establishing it's culture. Toward that, the leaders here at Haurui are making a great effort to make this into a school that students want to be at, instead of a school they are stuck at.

The party was in the upstairs area of the old cafeteria. This gave them a large open room with space for a public dance area. It was much more of what I would think of as a party than most of th student parties I have been to. The people running it even lost control of the event and it self transformed from the usual 'presentation' format into a free party format. The bad news is that I did not know I was being invited and did not take my camera.

All the same, there were some excellent presentations. One of the students did a great solo dance routine. As I have said, most of the girls at this school are good dancers. This girl stood out above the rest. It is a good thing that she went last; because, once she did her routine the solo dance competition was over. There were games of charades, this is the first time I have seen Chinese playing this game at a party.

They pulled me out to dance with them several times. That does reflect a problem at this party. For over 300 girls there were less than twenty guys. That reflects a problem at this school, not just the activity (… problem...? What problem...? I don't see any problem...). It was a mask party; yes, we were to wear masks. I put my glasses on the outside of my mask, they all loved it, it was suitably silly. Other than the lack of beer, this party could have been mistaken for one anywhere in America.

I left well before the end of the party and the next day returned to the student area of the campus for a concert that was being held at the track. In simple terms, it was a loud rock concert. Most of the bands were student bands of varying quality.

A lot of my students were there and they all seemed to be having fun despite the concert being held outside in the cold. One of the students talking to me commented on how orderly the crowd was being. Yes, compared to a similar crowd of Americans, it was a remarkably well controlled group.

I took my pictures and listened for about an hour and a half. Then I returned to drop off my camera and go to meet with Gao Jing for dinner. While I was waiting for her I happened to run into Fish and she went to dinner with us. We went to Korean restaurant that I have gone to before with Fish (the rice rolls are pretty good). With that, another week passes.

Last day in, and leaving, Chengdu

The next day, our last day in Chengdu, Zeneta and I walked to the Bui Hua Tan Park and the Green Ram Temple. We went there by way of Qing Tai Lu (Road). Qing Tai Lu is a conspicuous shopping street and seems a bit oddly located. I say oddly located because there is no real cluster of tourist activities immediately near it. Like most of the official Chinese shopping districts, the shops feature relatively high end, and very expensive, goods.

Qing Tai Lu ended near one of the many entrances to Bui Hua Tan Park. This park was made to resemble the park described in a famous, fictional, book, in China. It features a rock garden and several small resting pagodas.

From there we walked to the, Taoist, Green Ram Temple. I wanted to make sure that I showed Zeneta a typical temple on this trip because I was concerned that she would leave with a poor understanding of the temples in China. The only others that she had been to were the Shaolin temple and the one in Xinyang. The Shaolin temple was more of a tourist attraction than a working, and worshiping, temple. The one here in Xinyang was just plain weird, it is more of a house of horrors, that one would find at an amusement park, than a traditional temple.

We spent quite a bit of time walking and visiting, the various buildings in this temple. A lot of it was under maintenance, as this was clearly the off season.

We then returned to our hostel and waited to meet Helen in order to return to the train station. We had no trouble with the waiting room as Zeneta and I had soft sleeper tickets and we made it clear that Helen, who had a hard sleeper ticket, was with us.

After a very short wait we boarded. Zeneta ended up helping Helen with her ticket and finding her car. This was Helen's first time on a train in China and it eased things for her , a bit, by showing her and talking about the rules and practices, regarding tickets.

On this train they did ask to see our passports, this is something that surprised Zeneta as she had not been asked for her passport on previous train journeys. I was not as surprised because I have been asked for mine, in the past, and it is more common in Soft Sleeper. This is because Soft Sleeper is how foreigners are expected, and supposed, to travel. As a result, the system is in place to ask for the passports. In hard sleeper the system in place only asks for Chinese to produce documents; because, that is all they expect to have in hard sleepers. (before you say that this is imposing, try to get on an airplane without official ID)

I could see this as a problem for a Chinese-American traveling in China. Once the police in the train see us they, pretty much, leave us alone and tell us that they do not need our papers. I could foresee problems with a person who is not obviously non-Chinese, yet unable to produce an identity card and does not speak the language. We, as westerners, often do not have our passport on our person, I think it would be near foolish for a Chinese-American, traveling in China, to not have theirs on their person, or at least a copy of it, at all times.

Zeneta sees the (not) Giant Pandas and an Opera

The next morning we were awaken by my alarm clock and quickly prepared for a visit to the Giant Panda Breeding Research Center. This project is not only a point of pride for the city of Chengdu; but, for the entire nation of China.

On the way we met several other westerners. They were all engaged in short tours of China, ranging from a week to three weeks. One of them, Helen, tuned out to be a resident in our Hostel. In route we talked about various points of interest in P.R. China and places that we, as a group of travelers, had either visited or intended to visit.

I hate to sound negative about the Giant Panda Breeding Research Center; however, I think that the trip that I went on with Michelle was the best of the trips made by Michelle and Myself, Debra, or Zeneta and I. I think that a large part of the trouble was the rain, it rained nearly the entire time we were in Chengdu, the other part of the time it snowed.

The trouble was that many of the Pandas were not out. While they do not hibernate, they were hiding from the weather. Zaneta's other observation was that they were not what she had expected; of course, this is part of the reason that we travel, and do other things to gain authentic experience, to separate truth from prejudice (being used in its proper form, to pre-judge, not as a pejorative). Her observation was that for a species called the GIANT Panda, they were not all that big.

The rain also kept a lot of the smaller, yearling, pandas inside. The worst of it, though, was that there was no opportunity to hold the Red pandas, which is something that Zeneta had really looked forward to. I do feel bad abut her missing this. Hearing me tell her how fun it was served as a poor substitute for authentic experience. All I can imagine is that some people had complained about being handed a lap full of wet panda resulting in that part of the tour being closed in wet weather. That was the biggest disappointment of the entire trip.

From there we returned to our Hostel and had lunch with Helen. After lunch we met with Tray Lee and traveled, with a French couple, to the Sichuan Opera.

The building itself was located in an older section of town and had a slightly rundown feel to it. This look and feel is common throughout China due to a common disdain for maintenance and cleaning (however, the toilet was surprisingly clean, and the floor was dry).

Before the Sichuan Opera began, Tray Lee arranged for, and encouraged us to go backstage and watch the application of the makeup, by the actors and actresses. Gender of the actor did not determine the gender role in the performance and women frequently played in male roles.

At this time he discussed the history, and the present, of the Sichuan Opera. As a public art, it receives no funding from the government and is financed, in large part, by private and corporate contributions. A critical amount of the funding now comes from a single woman, who has an interest in preserving this unique theater art.

He described it as a dieing art. It was easy to see what he meant, there were very few young actors. Even more noticeable, there were no young people in the audience. While the theater was near full, the entire audience, the four tourists excepted, was an older crowd.

The Opera was divided into four parts. Each was a separate scene from classic, full length, Chinese Operas and were not related to each other. So, effectively, it was four separate plays told in a short story format.

While he did not provide full translation, Lee sat behind us and told us the important points of the scenes. The result was that it was quite easy to understand. Injustice, corruption, and bureaucracy seemed to be a recurring theme.

In the first play, which takes place in a court room, a man is wrongly accused of murder. In order to be cleared of his crime the court needs a head. So, his nephew killed himself and left a note that his head be taken and presented to the judge.

The judge quickly determined that the head was not the head that was needed to clear the uncle of the crime. However, in reexamining the case it became clear that the man being held was probably the wrong man. As a result, he, the judge, promised to examine the case and ordered that the man being held was to be treated well, in prison, while the case was investigated further.

In the second act, a dutiful wife is preparing for her mother-in-laws birthday party while her husband, a general, is away. She also presents, what appears to be a part of a continuing series of requests that her mother-in-law consider changing allegiances. However, her mother-in -law refuses to consider doing this because she would risk loosing her status.

At this point, the General arrives home which comes much to everyones surprise. He is at a loss for how, but finally informs his mother that he has lost an important battle. His mother then enters into a long speech where she tells him that he should regain his losses, die trying, or kill himself, a Chinese form of, "return with your shield or on it."

The third act was, nearly, a solo performance telling the story of an agent of the emperor who was investigating a corrupt official and was thrown into the officials illegal prison. In this prison he finds the body of the last agent sent to investigate this official, along with the proof that he needs, on the body of the other agent. Toward the end of the scene he is aided in his escape by a servant woman who he promises to marry.

The final act featured the story of a young man that had been condemned to death because the father of the girl he wanted to marry objected to the marriage and, being wealthy and well connected, arranged to have him arrested and sentenced. This scene use all of the actors, bar one, and ended with the the young man imploring his intended bride to go on with her life without feelings of guilt; to go and find a suitable husband and live a happy live.

From there, we had Tray's driver drop us off at the Woodfish, the restaurant that we had tried to find previously. A quick review of the Woodfish; I didn't really like it. It was expensive and the servings were not large. It was certainly more of a restaurant than a cafe and featured western place settings.

We then walked back to our hostel. I spent some time in the recreation room while Zeneta prepared to nod off. One complaint I have to state about The Loft Hostel, which is similar to the other hostel that I stayed at, in Chengdu, last year, is the lack of heat. Chengdu, being south in China, is not considered a cold city. The result is that the heat does not work particularly well.

Keep in mind that it was snowing. With this picture of the weather, understand that the recreation room had no heating whatsoever; further, the room we were in had a radiator the never, truly, got hot. In general, the Chinese treat heating as an unnecessary luxury.