Yuangang Grottoes
Wow. We went yesterday. So amazing. I got so many great pics. I also bought a great old wind-up alarm clock that has a Red Party member waving Mao’s little red book of quotations. It kicks ass. I overpaid at Y50, ($6.00), and was offered one later for Y30, (san-shr), but that is what I get for buying the first one I saw. Jed bough a switch-blade for Y10.
The bus ride back was the most amazing ride I may have ever been on. Loud techno dance music blaring while the driver weaved through traffic. Not just the traffic going our way either. If there is no oncoming traffic, (or doesn’t appear to be as we barrel around corners), all lanes are open for traffic. We had Bai tell him that he drove it like he stole it and he said it was okay because his relatives were police officers. So pretty much just like America. I was hoping that his relatives were doctors. It is unbelievable the way they drive. You never see an accident or even dented cars as they are always riding the horn and the brakes as much as the gas. Yesterday, near where we stay they had a public service display of photos of people killed in traffic accidents blown up to 3′x4′ in the park square to warn people of the dangers. Really seemed inappropriate since it was very near a school and many kids were checking it out. Far too graphic.
We spent a couple of hours in and around the grottoes. The dedication it must have taken to have made these is mind-boggling. There are 45 caves and some of the Buddhas are so large that to take a picture does no justice as there is nothing to give it scale. Easily three or four stories high. All carved by hand. Very glad we went. There are only three grottoes in all of China. We might try to head to the Nine Dragon Screen today as it is in or near downtown.
It is bizarre to describe what it is like to be here. You get stared at all the time. If you speak, (Ni hao!), they often crack up amongst themselves that you spoke. America is such a melting pot that if we haven’t already seen it we still aren’t surprised when we do. We are a very culturally aware society. The closest Jed and I could come up with for a metaphor is to imagine that two huge celebrities walked down the street. Everyone would stare. It is kind of like that but maybe better. Well, a groupie or two wouldn’t kill me. Carlos is Spanish and they have almost no knowledge of his culture and in fact he is often confused for a Chinese.
Scott has a website/weblog over at http://www.ericandscottinchina.com/ as he came here on the buddy system with his pal Eric who now works in Beijing. I’m adding pictures of Scott and Carlos and if the one of Carlos makes you wonder, yeah, he is. S’all good. He was posing to show off the bracelet that Bai got for him out at the grottoes. It is a regular swapmeet out there. Scott has an incredible Chinese vocabulary. He has only been here ~60 days but he is a quick study. He is also fluent in Hebrew so maybe a third language is easier than a second. I’ve observed them both in the classroom and they are both great with the kids. I’m looking forward to being placed somewhere but I’m also enjoying not for now. I must have adjusted to the time as I can now sleep until 9am, something I couldn’t do back in the states. Oh, no daylight savings. In fact check out the size of China and consider it is all under one time zone. They are doing it their way.
Dan, it would seem, is such the world traveller that he showed up in China with no pages available in his passport and is on a mad dash to Beijing to try to get, I don’t know, more pages or something so he can get his work visa. Time is ticking as he has been here for 27 days on a 30 day visa. The heat is on.
I miss you all and you need to email me more. (Not you Carlos, Scott and Jed), but the rest of you. Someone asked me if the Kings/Rockets were a big story here. It is hard to explain but Datong is a ‘rural’ city of 2.6 million and I haven’t seen anything outside of the updates I’ve hit ESPN.com for. I brought my Bibby jersey too. Wish I could go to Beijing on Sunday but the odds are against it. Maybe an impulse trip.
- O