Dancing Through the Night

In the morning, I left with the two ladies from Canton to Tai Yuan a major city in Shannxi Provence. I decided to figure out where my next destination would be after that. I had a few options of checking out PingYao the historical town and then go to Luoyang for the Grottos there then to Xian or just do Ping Yao skip Luoyang and then to Xian or just to Xian straight. We left on a chartered bus that ended up taking an extra two hours on a three hour journey. The bus illegally went around to pick up passengers like a local bus. People were running out towards the front door to throw up out the door while the driver continued to drive stopping only to make money.

We finally arrived in Tai Yuan five hours later and there was still plenty of time to do things before the Cantonese women’s flight out in the late afternoon. Being the National Holiday weekend, it was recommended that I get my train ticket first. Liang helped me cut in line. I went for it because the train station was packed with hundreds of people in line. I was stunned, I have never encountered this before. I bought a train ticket for Luoyang however sales lady refused to answer any of my questions. I later learned it was a standing ticket to Luoyang for 12+ hours in the evening. I went to a travel agency across from the station and they reimbursed me the ticket for me. This travel agency had a really nice boss. All the workers there were nice. He was not a shark, but not dumb either, every ethical.

With the help of my friends, I bought the cheapest cell phone possible. I like the Chinese system of calling card style, no monthly plans, contracts, etc…..I decided to go to the airport with my friends to catch a flight to Xian. I only had 60 yuan on me after the cell phone purchase, I figured I could charge the ticket on my credit card. I got to the airport and parted with my friends who spent the whole afternoon hand holding me and helping me take care of my business while sacrificing their own tour time of Tai Yuan. I proceeded to buy a ticket and learned they only take China credit cards. I went looking for an ATM machine but learned there weren’t any there. I was out of cash. I had to get into a cab, with a nice driver to locate ATM. I learned my card only works with Bank of China and most other banks do not accept my ATM card because I have a checking account and most people in China do not have a checking account. In fact some banks don’t even offer such a function. It took a long time in traffic to finally come across the right ATM. I told the driver, I didn’t have enough money to pay him so we must locate an ATM or else I won’t be getting off the taxi. I wondered how I would have spent the night without money for food, shelter, or transportation. Finally, I made it into a bank as the were locking the doors and was able to withdraw money.

I ended back in the travel agency and decided to take a bus to Xian. The owner of the travel agency sent one of his tour guide worker to walk me to the bus station to purchase a ticket for me. This young man was studying to be a tour guide. His main route was to Ping Yao. The earliest ticket available was next morning at 6am. I felt that was too late and wanted something overnight. I decided to wait at the bus station to see if I could trade my ticket in or for no shows. This nice man sat with me for an hour to accompany out of his good will and recommended I stay at a hotel for the night to get a good rest that his boss would be able to set me up for a place for 10 yuan because he is in the business.

I tried to get onto an evening bus to Xian with my next day ticket, I waited for a no show spot as I sat in one regardless. The driver kept telling me how I couldn’t get onto the bus with my ticket. I explained with the no show, surely I could fit. The driver continued to tell me how I need to buy another ticket and I didn’t understand him. He offered a fold out stool for me on the isle but I would have to get on from the corner street and not this parking lot. I didn’t want to sit on a stool in the isle for 10 hours to Xian through the night. I was confused and didn’t sort it all out till later. Well, the no show showed up right before roll off and the bus was sold out. I had to get off. I later learned there were two separate bus companies in this station and I had the bus ticket for the competing company that was why they said I had to buy another ticket even if there was a no show. The whole get on at the corner thing, well, having me sit in the isle on a folding stool was illegal and they are not allowed to do so.

Well I went back to the ticketing area and waited and waited at the station and decided to recited the Surangama Mantra quietly to pass time. Three high school girls next to me decided to move far away from me. In fact, no one sat near me at that point. I quickly took noticed how people are afraid of religion in this country. Lack of exposure and knowledge creates fear among the people. I think I won’t pull out my beads in public in the future here in China or sit cross legged to meditate.

Time went on and the counter closed its windows. People at the station decided to lay and rest on the benches for the night. Then the security came and kicked everyone out because they were closing for the evening. I guess this bus station is not the same as the train station that stays open all night.

I paired up with three high school girls who were also going to stay at the station. They didn't want to spend 10yuan a bed to rest for the evening. It was beyond their budget. So at 11:30pm all four of us teamed up to stick together for company and safety. We walked the street wondering where we could sit down for the night. We went to a park nearby and waited while one of the girls went to check out the all night movie package to see the possibility of sleeping in the movie theatre. It was more than 10 yuan a person and beyond the other two girl’s budget. We sat in the park until some men who had been drinking started to move closer to us. We decided to move on for our safety.

We ended up walking some more and checked out all rehearsals for 10/1 performance. It’s amazing how these people picked 12am to start their rehearsal. It was all very hilarious to me, and the program was not worth staying for.

Finally we ended up in front of a bank next to the bus station. There were too many people sleeping outside the bus station and we didn’t feel safe there. We sat on the steps of this bank for awhile until we shivered terribly. We had to get up and dance to stay warm. We ended up entertaining each other to keep company and to stay warm. It was quite a sight and ended up being fun too. I was so exhausted. At one point, some one from the bus station screamed, “Don’t steal my things!” and a fight broke out. It was good thing we were together and not over there.

One of the girls who aspired to be an elementary school dance teacher advised me to be married because I am in the marriage age and I should when I come across someone to marry, that it would be better for me. It was funny to hear this from her because I just met her a few hours ago, she really cared for me whole heartedly, had no judgments against me, and had no agenda of her own. This combination was hard to come by and was truely worthy of my time to consider her advice with my heart.

All three of the girls wanted to be teachers in the elementary school system. They even had their subjects all picked out. They were very sweet and nice. There was a kind of simplicity in their lifestyle that made them very soothing and peaceful to be with. It’s hard to come across that nowadays I think. They didn’t have any hint of darkness from jealousy or competitiveness. They were hard working people who strived to do the best in their life not at any expense of others. It was fun and completely worthwhile to not spend the 10 yuan for a bed at a hotel, I would have otherwise missed this opportunity of hanging out with them while freezing in the cold wind.

Soft Hail on North Peak

I packed my bags, parted with the monastery and headed to join a car for a tour of 5 peaks. I met up with Ai from Beijing and two women from Guang Dong at the Car For Hire Center in town. We all met each other for the first time and decided to form a group together. We each had to pay 250 yuan for visiting all five peaks. It turned out to be a 12 hour day tour. Ai is an aristocrat, in the family blood line of Emperor Chien Long. The other two women make regular visits to the peaks because they have had real response to their prayers here. It was a fun car trip, even the cab driver was great. He warned us about where not to go, you'd get sick and you'd have to go back to the monastery for a healing, etc...... terrible stuff.

I love the mountain ranges here, they are beautiful to me. I like North peak and East peak the best. I like the energy in north peak. It hailed softly when we arrived. That might have been the last time anyone can enter north peak for this season.

On this peak, Ai and I discussed the subject of immigration. He works for a network station in Beijing. He says he owns a car and because of his job, he has access to many places that people normally don’t. He said he has a friend who can line him up with a job in US to do culinary work in a restaurant and work on his immigration paper work. I think I spoke for an hour straight, questioning whether or not he had his head together to trade in his chilled lifestyle here in Beijing as an aristocrat to go wash dishes in a restaurant and never get to really learn English or move on in life because he was too busy making ends meet on minimum wage. It sounds good when you do the currency conversion. But I reminded him that he’s doing better here in Beijing and that the currency conversion isn’t an accurate standard to base things on. People forget to take off standard of living expenses and then do the ratio and compare.

During lunch, one of the woman asked me why I don't burn incense etc....... The other woman replied for me,” I get it, it’s bad for pollution right!” I told her, syin yi is good enough. They didn't quite compute and I didn’t know how to go about explaining it either.

I stayed with women that night at a hotel. The room was heated and there was hot water for shower. I was happy to and feeling much better. It was 20 yuan a bed, we got a deal somehow, the receptionist upgraded us as soon as I became an addition to their room. In the bedroom, for some reason both women asked me about cultivation and Dharma. I’m not sure why, because I certainly don’t look the part at all. Cheng asked me how to help her mother who has been sick for the past 6 months. I recommended the method of transference. They have never heard of it and could not believe in its simplicity and empowered effectiveness. They felt insecure of such a method and wanted to go to locate a special someone who can do a special something for them.

Four Blankets in the Mirror Tile Room

For the evening I returned to my room at the Nunnery. The room was brand new, Taiwan style, everything tiled, etc.. and it smelled of fresh paint. The materials selected for décor were suitable for the hot humid Taiwan weather and not cold Wu Tai Shan weather. There was no hot water for shower. I learned they are into so called bitter practice. The more bitter the practice, means the more sincere, the more of not wasting blessings. Some how all of this is suppose to impress someone or add up to enlightenment

A nun who kept watch of me, ready to pound me raided my room and ran through my things many times. I didn’t mind and didn’t bother with wondering how life is on Wu Tai Shan that they have to work this way. I was sick, I had a terrible fever, my throat was all swollen, my body ached, I could barely speak or move. My fourth chakra swelled up into the size of a softball. I could only breathe by laying my body in a certain way. And this elder nun who was looking for any opportunity to pound me was not being understanding, I was not warm enough. I used all four blankets in the room and layered it over me. Because they tile everything and glass everything and mirror everything, it's especially cold there and difficult to retain heat. They could have offered me a coat or something for my legs. My jacket was enough for the day, it's just my legs along with this cold that makes it difficult to get up for morning ceremony and do evenings. Well, she didn't offer and I didn't ask.

She implied I was thoughtless, selfish of possible late comers who may join my room. I told her when there are other guests around I will share, now it's just me. She was into telling me, I was sick because I lack merit and virtue. Duah...... A Buddha is complete, everyone else it not. How's that going to heal or make me better. I just played dumb, that I knew nothing about Buddhism etc.....

The Chi on the mountain was good. Meditating in my room was good. But I decided then that I would leave the next morning and not meet their teacher who people revere. It's terrible but yes, it does reflect on my impression of their teacher. They are into saying they cultivate there, they cultivate bitter practice, they hold precepts strictly. But, lots of rules and what's it got to do with wisdom, and the rules aren't even uniform. It's such a circus on the mountain that I'd say they are doing okay, they are trying and so this should count for something, they are Pureland school, of Jing Kung.

Circus in Town

Also went to town where the White Pagoda was. It is said to hold one of Shakyamuni Buddha’s relic. I did the circling of prayer wheel around this pagoda. I paid attention to those who dressed the part but wanted tourist money lurking close by. Some even followed us. Bao as a local, kept me safe and unharassed as his guest. People who we passed by demanded answers to many question, mainly to calculate in their head how to go about making money off of me however, Bao was skillful in dodging every question and I kept my mouth shout while he did all the interface.

Right in this same square was a Chinese Opera Theatre. There were performers singing and a live orchestra too. The whole atmosphere felt like a circus to me.

Magic Water

We also stopped by a running spring that was also very sweet. And the story that goes with this spring water is this. A monk made a vow to recite a particular sutra thirty thousand times. It took him three years. He vowed that when he finished, a spring would come forth from this place. It is said that such a response did result and he retired after that and passed on. This spring still runs today. People believe in it’s healing abilities. I went along with it and washed my face with the water and asked for a healing to help me release the yin, icy chi blocking the channels of my back.

Thieves Who Raided the Dead

We then visited a Tibetan Monastery. Rumor has it that there were two flesh body cultivators who are sealed behind a wall. During the Cultural Revolution, people tried to raid the wall. They succeeded in locating the wall and attempted to remove the jewel that was in their mouths. It was a Chinese custom for those who have passed on to have a jewel in their mouth. The element that was most often used was jade. The story goes, when the thieves tried to pull the jewel out of the mouth, the lips started to bleed and they ran away screaming leaving the jewel in place.

Rebirth Through Lady Maya's Womb

In the morning, the security guard took it upon himself to run me through all the not to dos on this mountain. He also set me up with a tour group that was passing by to make room to take me in. There was no room but they made room, I squatted the whole way. We headed for a cave called Lady Maya's Womb to do the squeeze through. People see it or it was marketed as a place for rebirth, to start over. Those with blessings can make it through and those without it won’t. I think if you were thin enough you can.

I met a monk on the trail who offered me a card, I didn't want it. But somehow it was in my hand and then he asked for donation. I made an offering because I was up for making an offering to a monk not because this card was blessed by 1000 monks. I did one of the security guard’s list of not to dos, take anything offered by monks on the mountain because it would only lead to spending money. So I let this one go by as a warm up. But was able to avoid the ones on the path who called people in to tell them something in secrete and demanded money from you.

On the trail there were caged small animals for purchase to carry out the merit of liberating life. The thing is, these vendors then catch them again to do business with the next customer on the mountain. So much for liberating life, it’s more like a scam.

The whole trek involved climbing 1,600+ steps. I befriended a guy named Bao from Inner Mongolia. He had one working leg, the other he lost during an accident at work 5 years ago. Now he repairs shoes to make a living on Wu Tai Shan to raise his son by himself. I saw in his eyes a kind gentle light that was clear so I felt safe talking to him. I also befriend a mother son duo of Chen from Hubei, Wu Dang Shan. He had light on his face and he was filial. He’s on this pilgrimage to pray for his mother’s well being. He hopes she will become a Buddhist and start taking care of her practices. He's really into blessings, special this and that. He is of Ningma order of the Tibetan School.

It was fun hiking with them. They joked the whole way and told stories to pass time. I learned that the pilgrims were trying hard for a spiritual response and the key to response was sincerity. So the subject of bowing and sincerity was on and most people agreed the Tibetan way of full prostration passes for sincerity because it is more of a work out. It's funny how someone's idea of hardship is somehow better. Why look for hardship when it finds you, is what I think.

Both Chen and I made it into the cave. Bao was on a crutch with only one working leg and Mrs. Chen was in her 80's walking with a cane. They gave up trying. It wasn’t that they lacked blessings to make it through the cave, they both gave up too easily. Their method was off and they didn't turn their hip right to roll through the hole. Chen was very disappointed that his mother refused to make it through the hole after all this traveling in getting her here and the sixteen hundred steps. He had prepared a special ceremony he was going to lead in the cave, it meant a lot to him. Chen is very filial and wants to save his mother from paths of suffering. This trip was for her. He wanted her to acquire some Dharma insurance by getting blessings here and there. The disappointment was on their faces, I can already see how they already classified themselves as lower class, so much fate and deterministic thinking. What's the use of dharma if you can't turn things around is what I think. But I’m not going to impose my idea of what Dharma is on them.

While in Lady Maya’s Womb, I prayed and asked for guidance on how to go about protecting all living beings with kindness and compassion. I repented for past evil harm I have created onto all beings.

On the way down we had spring water that was sweet and really quenched the thirst. Chen decided to celebrate our gathering and brought out tea leaves from Putuo Shan, Guan Yin Bodhisattva’s Mountain and we made tea with Manjushri Mountain Spring water of Wu Tai Shan.. I missed having tea. I didn’t bring any on this trip thinking I would buy some on the tea street in Beijing but I didn’t find it on my last day of stay there. Chen was kind to give some to me for the road.

Chen tells me that the way to learning Dharma is through connections. You know this person, who knows this person, who then knows that person who can hook you up with this person who knows that teacher who can privately pass Dharma to you. I really don’t know what to make of this system. I am just grateful that my teacher Ven. Hsuan Hua made education of the Dharma free of connections and money. He is truly revolutionary, I am so glad I had the affinity to come across his teaching this lifetime.

Five Peaks Mountain

The driver smoked the whole way I lowered the window the whole way and caught a cold after hours of cold wind blowing into my head. We entered Wu Tai Shan, Five Peaks Mountain in the evening, the driver insisted I stay at his connected inn and refused to take me to Bai Yun Shi, White Cloud Nunnery where I wanted to stay. I refused to get off the car insisting this was not our agreement. He tried to peel me away from the seat and I hung onto the dash board. Even the elderly couple tried to convince me to back down and deal with it tomorrow to avoid a fight. I was scared, and had no idea what was planned for me in the inn. I refused to get off the car reminding him how unethical he was and that such acts lacked virtue. The driver yelled at me and then, demand more money from me. I had already paid him plenty but he already had the money so I couldn’t threaten him of not paying him. I finally agreed to the added 20 yuan for him to drive me for another 5 minutes in the cold dark night on this unfamiliar mountain.

I did not make prior arrangements to stay at the nunnery so I didn’t know if I could even get in. The security guard at the monastery front gate was very nice in helping me get in and pretty much took care of me the entire time. I had to meet with the guest prefect and she was nice to agree to take me in. I learned how useful and important it was to have my refuge booklet with me. But I left mine in storage box along with everything else I owned in Fremont. I was glad to have a place to rest in a Nunnery and be done with the driver.

Getting My Facts Straight

At the baggage pick up station I was approached by the same taxi driver who wanted me to put my luggage in his car. He insisted that I agreed to sit in his car to Xuan Kong Si, Midcliff Monastery. He wanted me to pay 100 yuan. I negotiated for 50 thinking I was the only rider in the car and felt I did a good job. But the fact was the car was full of riders and with this combination the entire car ride should have been 60 split by every one in the car. The driver talked big about how he is a Buddhist, showed us his certificate and talked big about what virtues of Buddhist Disciples etc… I confronted him about lying and making a dishonest business transaction with me as a Buddhist. All the passengers sat quietly with their lips closed tight and head turned outward towards the window looking nervously. I realized that confrontation, speaking was not a common thing people are used to doing and they were afraid of possible conflict, argument etc… I may have made my point but this did not matter to the driver who would never see us again. He still charged me 50 instead of 20 yuan.

I was given 20 minutes to see Midcliff Monastery made of wood in mid-cliff because the taxi driver connected me with his brother who had two clients headed for Wu Tai Shan and will be picking me up in 20 minutes. I ran through this visit. It’s quite amazing how the architect made the entire wood monastery hang off a cliff. There is only room for one person at a time on the monastery paths. It’s a steep fall downward.

My poster Buddhist taxi driver pulled me aside and told me I had to give the 100 yuan upfront for my ride to Wu Tai Shan. I later learned what a mistake this was and would never do it again. We parted and I sat in his brother’s taxi. Right away I noticed he didn’t have a meter or any kind of licensing posted. Behind me were two elderly couples on their way to a wedding in Tai Yuan and is taking a tour on their way there. I later learned they prepaid to book the car for a whole day for 200 yuan. That booking a car for 200 yuan was the going rate for locals. Then the money I paid should have gone to them but the driver took it for himself. We stopped at the wooden Pagoda, it was 950 years old, no nails, survived a lot of historical wars and natural disasters. And after all that it still stands tall in the midst of very poor community with two apartment buildings sticking out like a sore thumb painted in pink. I like the color pink, but this really didn’t work. The elderly couple was very nice to me and took good care of me.

A Familiar Friend, Guan Yin Bodhisattva

I had trouble getting rest last night. I woke up this morning with pains in my body at 3:30am. I stayed awake for my early plane ride to Datong. I got to the airport very early. I booked a driver, this driver refused to let me split cost with other riders to the airport with similar flight time. Instead he had me get up very early to drive me solo to the airport. This way he can make maximum amount of money by increasing his trips to the airport. Having arrived so early at the airport, I spent most of my time watching the young workers interact and work with each other. I learned that their job description is very specified. They are individually on a need to know basis and that they don’t have basic knowledge of other aspects of work aside from their very simple repetitive job description.

I flew to Datong and inhaled more pollution. The main source of income for the area here is the coal mine. Not a spot of blue sky anywhere. I went to use the restroom and one of the airport workers decided she would let the public bus go thinking there were no passengers left. I ran after the bus but missed it. So I had no ride because this was the only plane for the morning and the bus is not schedule to return till the next flight lands.

What awaited me were the taxi sharks who wanted an arm and leg and told me everything takes an hour when it only took 20 minutes. I picked the one that had the brighter light in his face, everyone else looked dark and their features were all scrunched up. The sharks all had agreement that they would not drive for less than 100 yuan. I knew that was too much. I looked for the airport staff and she refused to answer any of my questions. She didn’t want to upset the sharks who she deals with everyday all day long. I knew I had to pay more than I need to but I was stuck at the airport otherwise. I ended up negotiating to pay 70 yuan for a 20 yuan 15 minute ride. I am learning how to be smart about my money and also when to use money to make things work for me.

As I landed in Yungang caves more taxi sharks of the same showed up like flies to honey. I told then to go away. One of them wanted me to put my things in his car so I can ride in his car later. I refused and checked my bags at baggage check in. I headed for the restroom again. When I came out, a local dirty looking thug decided to stand there and charge me 1/2 yuan for using the public toilet. I told him he had no permission to do such a thing, he chased after me and I ran and threw a coin at him. He stopped chasing me and strolled away happy at the fact that he was able to bully me into throwing a coin at him.

Visiting the caves, I partnered with a couple from Vancouvor originally from Hong Kong and then we tagged along a guided tour. They took me in like I was their daughter. It was very nice of them to do so. They recommend that I stay with them and that they wouldn’t mind if I followed their itinerary for the rest of their stay in China. I was surprised at their proposal and thanked them for being so inclusive.

The caves were beautiful. I had a great time. I liked how the images were strong, solid, soft, welcoming all in the same time. One of the last images I visited had damaged parts but I like the energy of it and so I drew near it. I later read the caption and realized it was an image of Guan Yin Bodhisattva. I stood their and wondered what is it, how is it I recognize her and like to draw near her?

Forbidden City

With the rest of the afternoon I decided to go to the Forbidden City. It 's really not that big now. It’s only a fraction of what it’s original design. I find it amazing that it even stayed in tact through the revolution. I was a bit disappointed because it seems grander in the movies. There are some very nice artifacts. Just imagine the ones that are lost, robbed, destroyed, must be even better. People fight and die for this stuff,.. stuff, stuff, all stuff. But they were beautiful, intricate and delicate, wow.

The courtyards for the court women were tiny, it looks like a boring life to me to be stuck in a tiny room having only certain access of mobility depending on your status. I guess that's why they have to create their own TV drama to pass the day. I think it's all the foot bonding thing that they can't move around much on their own and do tai chi or yoga to balance their chi. I also enjoyed the functional and artistic designs of the gutter spouts. I like it when things are not only functional but beautiful too.

Cheng the Underground Buddhist

Yesterday I stopped by the bookstore of Fa Yuan Shi and saw a flyer selling tickets for Buddha Tooth Relic exhibition. This event is only available once a year to the public for 5 to 7 days. I am glad I came across the flyer. Guess, I lucked out.

I got onto the metro system for the first time today to go to LingGuang Shi and bowed to the Buddha Tooth Sharira. I stood and waited for a seat to open up and sit down. An opening showed up in front of me, as I leaned forward for the seat, a man one seat over slid over to my seat and blocked my seat by claiming it for himself even though he already had a seat. He strategically performed this smooth act to make sure I couldn’t sit but everyone else could. This grandfather looked away nervously as if he knew nothing of such a maneuver he just performed. I laughed to myself and continued to stand. I wondered what kind of life this person must have gone through to have to develop such a habit in order to make room to take care of his own.

I ended up sitting across from the blocked seat. I watched these elders who have facial feature of abundant blessings. Yet they are unhappy people. Their faces were grey and lacked light. What are blessings without wisdom? It is like having access to a pantry of unlimited top quality baking supplies to bake perfect goodies,
this is blessings. And without the recipe, wisdom, the potential of these ingredients are not able to be put to its full potential use.

As I exited the metro I asked other passengers about what bus to take to get to Ling Guang Shi. A woman who happened to be going to the same place told me to follow her. I told her I was there to bow to the Buddha’s Tooth Relic. She was happy to have met me and disappointed she didn’t know about this, otherwise she would have pulled her son out of school to do the same. She had just decided on a whim this morning to visit the monastery because she really wanted to read the Surangama Sutra and hopes to locate one for her to take home to read. The interesting part was she was illiterate.

On the bus, I told her stories I remembered from the sutra to encourage her interest in continuing to read the sutra all the way through. I quickly realized the entire bus was attentively listening in and decided to invest in this opportunity, so I just kept sharing bits and pieces until it was my stop to get off.

This local Beijing woman’s name was Cheng. She decided on her own to be my tour guide for the monastery. The place was filled with people of all sorts of backgrounds, it was quite a circus scene. They make the viewing possible publicly once a year this time of the year. While waiting in line for the viewing Cheng asked me about my practice. I told her, my basic practice is done twice a day, after waking up and before going to bed. It involves recitation of sutras, mantra, and meditation. To me, the important part isn’t how much, and that more isn’t better. Or even what, every dharma door is the best if it works for you.

She complained of how difficult it is to come across dharma talks, books, etc… It takes special connections just to learn something. She gets her information from friends who know friends of friends of this or that particular province in the south who is able to access dharma teachings from teacher in Taiwan. Oh, what long complicated journeys just to get a tiny access to dharma. I felt so sorry for her. She wanted to share her very special blessed pendant with me if I cared to receive it. Cheng said, it’s limited in quantity because it has to be snuck in and it is of popular demand.

I learned she specifically wanted to request Shurangama Sutra to read and wanted to read commentary by Ven. Hsuan Hua. She was a bit illiterate so I called my friend Victor in Shanghai and he recommended sound files for her to listen to downloadable off the web. I was glad for her because how was she going to read when she can’t? She said she’ll listen while she works around the house.

Cheng had beautiful ears but her face had sharp lines of anger. I think when she gets going, she can strike intense lightening. She envied that I was single. She said if she had encountered Buddhism earlier in her life she would probably not be married with children right now. I reminded her that we all have our life lessons to grow into with the affinities we laid out for ourselves and in the end we all get there. That grass if often seen greener on the other side of the fence.

Cheng insisted to buy me lunch and I think her budget was a bowl of noodles and not anything else. Honestly I really wanted to have some dumplings for $1 more, but since she felt the needed to show me hospitality, I was not going to upset her by paying on my own because dumplings were out of her budget. She also insisted I bow to every image and light incense to everyone. I just politely followed her and smoked myself to death by stepping close to the burner, lovely just lovely. On tope of it all, they blasted these so called Buddhist songs over the intercom but it was more like china slow love song. It was not centering or grounding.

The pagoda for viewing of the relic was filled with people. We were instructed on how to hold the incense and how to bow and what to recite etc… There were so many rules to worry about carried out on military tempo that it was very difficult to enjoy the whole supposedly sacred experience.

Cheng and I parted with her inviting me to stay with her next time I am in Beijing and that if I should have any difficulty in Beijing airport, I should call her husband who works there.

"Not Here"

After an entire evening of stinky muddy rain, I could actually see blue sky instead of grey fuzz. It took me all day to learn that the people of Beijing will not tell me no, they don’t know, when it comes to directions. When asked, “where is this place and how do I get there from here,” I learned the typical answer is, “not here.” This means they don’t know and they are afraid to tell me they don’t know. They are being very polite in taking the time to respond but this creates foggy communication and vagueness in directions means lots of time spent going in circles. As a rule of thumb when it comes down to asking for directions, I always ask three different people and when all three gives me consistent answers, it’s a go. Asking others for directions was easy but the directions given were confusing. I often find myself taking detours. I just have to give myself a lea way of an extra 2+ hours for taking detours. It's a good thing I am not on any time constraint I can adjust my own schedule.

I went to Fa Yuan Shi where they have an excellent collection of Buddhist Images that goes way back. It was such a treat for me. It’s better than most museum displays. I really enjoyed details on the sculptures and stone tablatures. It is interesting to see the old and the new. The new guardians for the doors are a pair of bronze lions of the new modern world. They look like robotech lion guardians. The new fish bell replacing the old also has similar feel of strength and power that screams “Look at me, I am here, hear me roar, better not mess with me.”

As I wondered around taking my time to look at each artifact closely, residents kept a distant close watch of me. A lay female volunteer chewed me out for taking my jacket off in front of a sacred image. She could have used such an opportunity to educate me but instead she decided to use the Dharma as a whip and I ran as far away as I could from her. Knowledge is power, she hung onto it herself so that no one can question her knowledge and no one else can have knowledge to correct, to change, to adjust but to remain stuck, ignorant making the same mistake over and over again. In a monastery of male monks, I guess this was how she hung onto measuring of her self worth through. I didn’t count this against the monastery or the Buddhas. This episode did not tarnish my joy in visiting the artifacts.

I was given directions Tiantan, a.k.a. Temple of Heaven where Emperor Qianlong made sacrificial offerings and prayers for behalf of country's well being. I ended up going in circles. During one of my detours I came across a high school just out on a break for lunch. There were two Islamic veggie wrap stands outside the front gate. I stood in line for a wrap and watched how the students waited in line while school staff cut in front of them without any questions or struggle. It was a right, a kind of exercise of authority without “excuse me, or thank you”. The students kept their eyes on me and their body language closely huddled in around the vendor. They were prepared to let me cut in if I choose to inflict authority based on age, but if I didn’t they weren’t going to give in and offer to let me to go first. They maintained their stance and worked around circumstances. I decided to stir things up by communicating to the female vendor what my order was and putting 1/2 yuan for me order into the coin can. I watched how she being a good business person politely acknowledged my order while repeating the students order to them to affirm their daily relationship. It was all very smoothly handled. It was fun for me to watch this and learn from it. For lunch I had a veggie Islamic wrap without the fermented tofu paste. It was very delicious.

Having eaten my fill, I walked around trying to locate the site. I found myself walking in circles. An hour plus later, I was back at where I started. I came across a street sweeper. He was a nice middle aged man with crooked teeth who helped me locate the right bus to get on and also the right bus stand to wait in. He stopped sweeping and trained me on how to physically walk in a crowd, ride on buses alone as a single female from out of town. He made sure my day pack was in front of me. He tipped me on how to stand in a crowd and pay attention to all my belongings that was on me. I felt the Heavens put me on this detour so I can come across this nice man who gave me a quick training on travel safety. He stayed with me until I got onto my bus. Even through the window he was still running through the drills he just trained me on. It was a heart warming scene to part in.

At the Temple of Heaven, I was told the most important sight was the sound wall which was under construction. I visited the sacrificial offering preparation site, I found it to be odd that the Emperor goes into a fast and then kills all these animals at the end of the fast. Didn’t anyone have the brains to say, “this doesn’t make sense?” Well, I walked all over the site and found myself a bit bored. Having walked so much that day I had to stop to give myself foot massages under beautiful pavilions.

I noticed that native Chinese people like to go to the park to play instruments and sing classical Chinese opera. I can't quite say I enjoy it. It sure is interesting to watch and has a distinct sound. They bring tea, fruits, and seeds to munch on during their performance breaks.

Afterwards I visited the Hong Qiao tourist market. Wow, if Beijing was my last stop, I’d stop at these markets and buy lots of gifts.

On the way to dinner I stopped by a travel agency to buy a plane ticket to Datong, Shannxi to visit the Yungang Grottos. I didn’t check the change that was given to me, it was only later right after I left I realized the young male agent kept an extra 30 yuan to himself. I had wondered why he was going all out to be extra nice to me. He had counted the change correctly back to me except there was the shortage of 30 yuan I didn’t catch. I was paying too much attention to the confusion in trying to figure out what his body was communicating to me and I didn’t understand then but it was all new to me. I later learned it was about, “I am going to keep some of the change for myself and this will be our silent agreement.” I didn’t go back to demand 30 yuan from him. I decided to let this be a 30 yuan lesson of checking my own change in the future.

For dinner I found an Islamic Sichuan Sour Spicy noodle stand. It stood in front of a Islamic eatery that was empty inside and had posting of, “not Islamic, no entry”. I was shocked. This little noodle stand was busy, people ate here and ordered packed food to go. I watched the ingredients for this dish and new I could eat it. I asked for no pungent or meat ingredients incase there were grounds or shredded meat added that I didn’t detect. One of the worker decided to make a scene of it with what I requested by screaming my order out loud. There was only one other worker in this tiny little stand and she was standing right next to her. Then I saw her eyes communicating something to the other worker and at the corner of her lips grew a smirk. I was a bit worried, “What will they add to my food? No, they’re not that lame to take the time to do that.” My order showed up topped with two tiny little pieces of meat. I knew this was made especially for me since this style of noodle is vegetarian. I understood the smirk. I could have request for them to remake my food but with such a sign of pride to not serve anyone who is not Islamic inside, I would give them an excuse for being their entertainment for the evening and their trash can. They both stood and stared at me waiting for me next move. I decided to remove the two pieces of meat off my noodles and ate the noodles. “What’s the sound of one hand clapping.” The noodles were delicious and authentic. I think I will pick up the courage to come back for more tomorrow night and request the same order

Today was filled with lessons in learning how to ask for direcitons and also receive directions from others, it was also a day of physical training in walking on foot with all the detours I took, all and all, I end up running into people who taught me something with their kindness or hardness.

Sharks Swimming on the Great Wall

An hour before I reached the entrance of the trail head, I experienced chest pains on the bus. I recalled a similar experience with my train ride in Italy to Pompeii three years ago. The areas all around my fourth chakra were tight. An hour and half into my hike on the Great Wall I had chest and lung trouble. I was in a lot of pain. I saw in the past I had been a worker carrying a road brick to build this part of the Great Wall. I was a young man, carrying a large stone brick over my right shoulder. I was very tired, over worked and working extended hours. I fell asleep while walking and fell over the wall with the brick I was carrying landing on my neck and head smashing onto the mountainside. I died quietly and instantly in my sleep. I felt no pain.

The chest and lung trouble went away after this and I was able to enjoy the beauty of the trail. The Great Wall is truly magnificent and beautiful. I was glad to be spending hours hiking it. It is to be experienced. I was approached by two local free lance/independent contractors under the hats of travel tour guide, bag carrier, book-post card seller for their services. One was a female of 23 looking like she was going onto 38 and the other a young man in his twenties. They both work on the Great Wall everyday. Their livelihood depended solely on travelers trailing the Great Wall. They were persistent in walking with me offering to carry my pack and trying to convince me that I cannot make it through the 5-6 hour hike and should take their recommended guided short cut off a lone trail. I was offended by their discouragement, I may go slow but I backpack and hike regularly and I make it to my destinations in joy. Smart rule I go by as a female traveling, “never part away from the tourist or busy areas and go off on unclear, unknown, no man trail, streets, areas.” I didn’t know what to do with these polite persistent locals who continue their selling pitches in any way to make a yuan.

I wondered what was our affinity that brought us together? Of all the people why us, together? I noticed this woman was my lady in waiting in the past. She served me. It was her job, she was paid to do, it was all business and she did a good job in taking care of me. This man was her husband in that life who also worked for me. Now they have their separate families but still spend all day together on the job as acquaintances. I continued to let them walk with me without encouraging them or discouraging them or any interest in making a sale. They were good with caretaking details and kind. The lady would give me a hand up some of the steep steps, the man would show me things, tell me bits of history here and there. I learned to enjoy their company.

Because they walked with me, the other Great Wall sales sharks selling, beer, chilled bottled water, etc… stayed away from me. In many ways, it was a nice protection so I could enjoy my hike. They walked as far as the boarder of Jin Ling to the Si Ma Tai section. At this point, they begged for me to buy a guide to Great Wall book to me for 40 yuan. It was over priced, it can be purchased for 10 yuan. I was not interested in hauling any weight and had no intention to make a purchase to begin with and they were clear of this. For old time sake, I handed them 50 yuan and thanked them for walking with me. I told them they will have to share that and divide it however they both saw what would be of equal division to them. We parted, I proceeded toward the second half of my hike and they quickly headed back to the trail head in scout for more travelors.

Chicken Ride

I joined a day tour group run by the hostel to Jin Lin and Si Ma Tai Great Wall. I had done my research the day before like I was advised by the locals to make sure not to get scammed because even the locals get scammed. I have to check details on whether or not the tour takes me to specific part of the Great Wall I intended on, because some tours will just drop you off at any part of the Great Wall and called it delivering what it promised. Yeah, the Great Wall is vast it can be seen from the moon. So some people would spend a day on the mission to the famous Great Wall and got nothing much out of it because not all tour groups have contracts with the famous parts of Great Wall to park their buses or even have access to the entrance tickets. So I found out the only way to get to outskirts where Great Walls are, is to get onto a day tour group. Fortunately, I found out about this trip through my European bunk mate Matt from Sweden who checked in late last night. I didn’t pre register, paid for it all this morning at 5:30am after breakfast. My trip included only the round trip bus ticket for 100+ yuan. It was a 11+ kilometers hike over 5+ hours. There is no turning back once you step onto the Great Wall, this particular trail is all the way or no way. Most of the Great Wall visits included a tour of the Ching Lings, Ching tumbs. But this one being in the direction of east towards the ocean instead of the tumbs on the west by Henan, and due to the longevity of the trail, it stood as a single event on its own.

For breakfast my roommates and I went to the same place I ate yesterday, it was the only place within foot steps, up and fully running at 5am in the morning. The owner remembered me and was proud of the fact I spoke English and brought westerner to her breakfast eatery. All the workers paid attention to me in awe. I watched both mornings on how this female owner took care in dealing with her business matters. She was gentle and detailed. She took her time in taking care of everyone’s orders with courtesy. Not once did she cheat anyone of their money. There was a kind of class and refinement in her that is not often found in the hole in the wall food industry. She was a beautiful person to watch. The workers commented to me how great that I was educated and spoke English fluently. I ordered plain rice buns to go and stuffed them with all you can eat complimentary fresh vegetable pickles. I packed them in with my camera, journal, and 3 liters of water. I knew it would be my only meal for the next twelve hours of the trip. I preferred it over a bag of potato chips.

I got onto a tiny shuttle bus, sold to be luxurious and comfortable. It was cramped with 35 tall strong boned Europeans and me. The seats were lumpy and the motor was loud, it was one rough ride for me. As I starred out the window with busy Beijing behind me heading towards the unknown, I felt like we were all chickens on a chicken truck happily chatting away not knowing if we would be sold for slaughter or not. I am very sensitive to industrial sounds. The loud motor from the bus was difficult for me. I put on ear plugs, ah… my savor, my magic scrunchies. Two tiny little blue things that goes into my ears that helps me fall asleep in cheap youth dorm style bed with anyone coming in and going out at any hour with infinite scales of music of the night being played in unique symphonic form called, the human snore. It also works really well when someone is machine gunning me with their tongue, I would hide my bullet proof secret weapon tucked within my ear underneath my black long hair. I have survived many attacks this way. My other secrete weapon is to remove my glasses especially when someone is giving me a toxic vaporizing nuclear stare down. Yes everything and everyone is beautiful when it’s all a blur like a Monet painting. All the details of prickly tensions are gone, just beautiful soft blurs of color to relate to. Ah…

I folded my legs to half lotus, pulled out my beads and recited the Great Compassion Mantra in my mind. The Great Compassion mantra has been my most dependable, reliable, trustworthy traveling companion ever since I first memorized it over a decade ago. I wasn’t a Buddhist back then, I just heard it, found it to be beautiful, liked it and wanted to memorize it because the vibration felt really good. I found it be a miracle cure for everything from salvaging a terribly cooked meal, to body aches, to relationship problems, to falling asleep, and joy. I highly recommend trying it out. You can go to http://www.dharmaradio.org/ for a download.

Sandy the Tour Guide

On the Si Ma Tai section of the Great Wall hike I met up with Matt and a lady from Germany who is studying Chinese Medicine in WuHan. Matt was into photography. He is a quiet poetic fellow. The German girl was chatty and had to have the last word in everything. This drove Matt nuts, he wanted her to shut up. We kept a friendly distance, far enough to not have her in our ears close enough to watch over her since she was the last one in our group trailing far behind. I later found her vandalizing the Great Wall by happily carving her initials on the stones. Like a bandit, when she noticed I was watching her, she mischievously ran like a raccoon whom had just been caught stealing food.

On the trail, locals thought I was a tour guide since I was translating for both of them. So they didn’t approach me with their sales. I went along with it and played the part. I might was well have been a tour guide.

On the ride back the bus was filled with conversations on travel stories. I met lots of people traveling a week, three months, six months all over Asia, Russia, etc.... People spoke of it like a common thing they did, traveling whenever they have enough money and have it stretch as long as it can. I heard more stories on different parts of Asia, they all sounded fun to visit one day.

When I returned to the Hostel, I met Aki a Japanese new comer to the room just arrived from travels in Thailand. He had a broken strap on his sandal. We went looking for permanent glue at a nearby shop. He decided to take care of gluing then and there. He did glue his sandal strap back on. He also ended up gluing his fingers together in the process. Since I landed in Beijing without a tour book or map, I borrowed Aki’s map of China, he said he’s give it to me but it was in Japanese and he needed it for his China trip. I think I will go to a book store and buy one.

Pollution is terrible here in my opinion. It rained on the drive back into Beijing. The streets smelled like a big old clogged sewage. The combination of the rain and the air created a smell of raising the dead.

I also wondered what is in the lifestyle, the food, the air, that people have so much to spit to hack it out everywhere. This is something I doubt I will get used to.

Dinner with Local Tour Guides

After a day of touring the Summer Palace, I returned to my hostel to drop off my pack and I went in search of dinner at a nearby street with lots of night shops all geared towards western tourist with trinkets and everything for 10 yuan. I spotted a booth with vegetables on skewers and decided to stop and eat. I learned to pick up a basket and load it with anything I wanted and it will be cooked for me. The skewers were .5 yuan each. I was happy and totally looking forward to a real meal for the day full of rich nutrient from such wide variety of fresh vegetables. I requested that it be cooked in water with nothing added.

The then owner asked me to sit. I stood around for awhile and the locals all paid attention to me. I must have showed signs of resistance to sitting on squatting plastic stool over knee high dirty plastic tables. I was too happy to have spotted fresh vegetables that I over looked such details. I noticed how i must have looked uncomfortable when all the local patrons at this food stand had all their eyes on me and indeed I was. All the stools were taken and I really didn’t want to sit with anyone and the locals all took notice of my body language and watched what move I would make attentively. The owner repeatedly asked me to sit down. I finally found a spot and reluctantly sat next to a young man who was lining up his empty beer bottles and ordering more while he puffed away at his cigarette. He looked at me with his inquisitive tired eyes and said, “you’re traveling?” while he handed me his cigarette. I politely refused with my hands and he quickly offered me his beer and ready to order more. I looked at him closely and his fine features, sadden by how grey his face was.

This man Chang, a tour guide was closely looking at me as I was with him when my food arrived. It arrived in a metal plate covered with plastic bag with the hot food poured over it. This was the hygienic service system to avoid washing with water. But one detail was overlooked on health, melted plastic paper mixed in with my food is extra chemical additives I did not order. I looked at my food and wondered what happen to the water part of the water vegetable dish? It was brown looking and had a peculiar smell. During which Chang inquired how I thought of Beijing. He really wanted me to be accustomed to Beijing and like it. It was very important to him, he was proud of his city and his country. I played with my food for a bit and noticed that Chang was concerned that I was not eating my food. He asked,” is something wrong? You don’t like Beijing water cooked food?” I took a bit into the food and it tasted like fermented tofu, bad terrible fermented tofu cooked in water. I felt like a child eating to impress a parent or something. I chewed it slowly trying to decide if I should spit it out or swallow it. I didn’t think spitting was appropriate after both agreeing during our conversation that spitting was a vulgar act that should be removed from Chinese culture. Chang starred at me with deep concern for my welfare. I decided to brave it and swallow it. I must have looked like I was in pain because Chang’s eyebrows were squinted together at this point, his jaws slightly dropped, and his breathe prolonged in inhale. He said Beijing water style cooking are all done this way. I told him I didn’t know, I thought water meant just plain water. He educated me on how water meant nonstirfry and this was universally understood all over China. The food was fine and I continue to try hard to not waste food that I look so forward to but it really tasted,…… difficult to chew and swallow. He had it with watching me try to eat the food this way and told me in a very concerned and protective tone, “if you don’t want to eat it then don’t because you don't have to”. I must have looked really pathetic by this point and so I stopped. It was a relief and I let the guilt of wasting food go.

During our conversation, Chang wondered about how life would have been if he had immigrated to a foreign country like his friends who are now making tons in a flashy career with lots to show for. And now, everyday he returns to this old Hu Tong style neighborhood, run down, and stinky with nothing to show for. During college, he had paperwork all lined up to go, but decided to stay in Beijing with his parents because he was the only child who cold take care of his parents. But I thought to myself, isn’t this true with the rest of Chinese young adults under one child policy. I reminded him how vaste and beautiful China is and how China is possibly the future of all nations. As a tour guide, he has traveled to places that most of his friends won't ever and that family is important and worth investing in.

He told me that his father was assigned to post in Tibet when he was young. His father loved the beauty and the people of Tibet and frequently dreamed of visiting Tibet. Chang recently bought his parents a pair of tickets to Tibet on the new Beijing Lhasa train. They returned just last week complained of how cold it is for their old bodies. That Tibet has changed a lot in the past 30 years. Chang, after a lifetime of hearing his father's stories of Tibet would also like to budget time and money to go to Tibet.

As he continued to unwind from a day of work, he complained of his clients who are filthy rich but ignorant. Chang talked about how little they know of the world and all the people in it. Even basic knowledge required in basic educational system was missing. He wondered how these people even made it possible to acquire all the wealth. He felt the combination of wealth and stupid ignorance in a person should be illegal. We both laughed belly up. In terms of status, his job isn't much but he gets to travel the world and the world also comes to him. That's very unique and no small task.

Chang’s friend Yang showed up to join him after a day of work guiding tourists. I learned 100 yuan per day’s work was industry standard for tour guides in Beijing. They both gave me a load down on China travel and lots of stories from their work. It was great to get some ins and outs from them since I arrived ill prepared without travel guide or a plan. They were a funny bunch and great storytellers. We laughed and laughed and laughed. The stories were funny to laugh at afterwards but I think some stories should remain within circles of tour guide workers, otherwise tourists would all have to think 10 times before stepping onto a guided tour in China.

I also discover they were Buddhist. They knew a lot about Buddhist principles. They all agree that Sutras are impossible to understand and the way is through Chan; think things through, and figure stuff out yourself. They agree that Buddhism is about teaching a person on how to be a good person. Chang feels he is not going to be a Buddha this life time, so he can only respect the Buddha and not really practice Buddhism because to his interpretation, Buddhism is about suffering which is depressing, and he can't get himself to believe in reincarnation, or Earth Store Sutra because that would raise more question than answers he had. His understanding in reincarnation is about being stuck, a victim of the system of reincarnation. He thinks Taoism is the answer because they are about being happy and leaving this world. He also can't stand superficial Buddhist who does all the outside ceremonial things and has no internal basic practice on how to be a person. Chang also dispised the acts of bowing and buring incense at every image one comes across.

I didn't try to say much other than listen. They were working class in the service business, all day long people tell them what to do and how to do it better. All day long they listen to their patrons. I decided to offer the gift of listening. It's amazing enough they are getting scraps of this and that here and there in secret on their own. They don't have easy access to Dharma, or Ven. Hsuan Hua's Dharma, that's a rare thing in the world. They were bright young college educated people. I asked them where they learned Buddhism, they were both uncomfortable with sharing that information. We chatted seriously for 3-4 hours on this subject. During which onlookers repetitively out of fear, cued him in forbidding to discuss religion with me. They had to explain I was already a Buddhist to prove they were not brainwashing me and that I wouldn't report them to anyone either. This last part of the evening made me feel like I was in a particular scene of a movie.

We parted with Chang running down the check list of making sure I had a place to live, that I was safe, happy about the living conditions, and needed nothing. It was only 11:30pm for me but way past his bed time for his early rise of another day of work tomorrow. I really enjoyed this evening of hanging out with locals and the conversations we had. It made it all worth it to stay where I stayed in order to come across this.

Summer Palace

Got up at 6:30am and chatted with the security guard on directions to the Summer Palace. He was a nice man who was very appreciative that I took the time to talk to him. On the way out in search for breakfast, I came across a group of young Chinese girls traveling in Beijing. I decided to follow them since we both had the same agenda, breakfast. I enthusiatically introduced myself, greeted them, inquired where they were from, where they stayed last night, where they were going, and what they were doing for breakfast. I quickly noticed their reservation in talking to a stranger so freely. They just ignored my questions and kept to themselves. I think I scared them with my overkill. One of the girls decided that we would all stopped by a hole in the wall place. I ordered what everyone else was ordering except without the meat part. I ended up with millet porridge for 1.5 yuan and free unlimited help yourself side dishes of fresh pickled vegetables. I also ordered soft silken tofu, it was served with tan vinegar. I noticed all the tables had vinegar instead of soy sauce. The porridge was more like watery soup with a few grains of millet in it than common porridge. I am sure to physically be transformed on this diet.

I thought getting up this early would put me on a head start, as it turns out the rest of Beijing is up and running by 7:30. I walked toward the bus station by the Drum Tower to catch my bus to the Summer Palace. I quickly learned how bus business was conducted. There is a bus driver and a ticket service person on the bus. The service person yells on the bus to find out who is getting off and yells out the door to call for riders. I noticed this system is in place instead of bells on the bus to signal getting off the bus. The positive side to this was, I can get the service person to tell me when to get off so I don't miss my stop. The draw back is, there’s someone yelling on the bus the whole time. You have to be very sleepy to snooze on the bus in my opinion. It took over an hour to get to the Summer Palace. On the bus I watched the working class rush to work. Whether its student or working professional, people on the bus did not get enough sleep at night. They were all dosing off on the bus. They must work long hours. I felt very comfortable and at home touring Beijing on a public bus. People are polite and not pushy, often very helpful. In general, I enjoyed a kind of simplicity in Beijing people. I also enjoy how they carry their energy in their body, it is unobtrusive. They work long hours, they walk a lot, they bike a lot, they are "qin lao"vigours workers. This all helps to ground and center they body.

I made it to the Summer Palace thinking it was early but the parking lot was full of empty tour buses, signs of tour groups having already flocked into the gates. When I got inside it was hard to get any photographs because there were people everywhere in all sorts of languages. I went to the lily pond and tried on court robes for 10yuan, again there were people everywhere and it was difficult to get a clean shot of myself. I had a girl help me snap a photograph of me, but she insisted that I make cheesy poses or else she wouldn’t take the picture. Great, just great, cheezy Sandy is all I need to add to my life.

On the way to the temple, there were people doing tai chi on the trail. It’s kind of odd to come all the way to the Summer Palace to do tai chi in my opinion. After passing through watch towers, with famous poetry inscribed on it I finally came across an old temple, only to find out one wall was left in this court yard. The front was still preserved and had two levels with matching painted artwork and woodwork. I noticed this is the place where people came for relief who had died, were killed or forced to suicide. I saw a court lady who was forced to hang herself and still wonders about there.

I decided to take a dragon boat across the lake to an island where there was a museum. I saw photographs of appointed wives for Empress D’s son. She appointed females from her family lineage to keep the power in her family. I couldn’t believe my eyes. No really, I couldn’t believe my eyes. I’ll leave at that.

People think I am from Southern China because I speak pu-tung-hua, common language, meaning Mandarin. While I was in the area of Jiang Nan-Southern River, a nice policeman from Zhe Jiang on vacation tried to pick me up. He asked me to join him and his friends for dinner. He asked for my phone number, it was a good thing I didn't have one to give him. It just so happened I had to run to the restroom, so I ran away from him and didn't have to come up with creative excuses. This place called Jiang Nan was an area dedicated to look like the actual Jiang Nan with a river, boats, and shops all replicating Jiang Nan. This was designed for Palace Royalties who could not travel outside the palace to get a taste for the outside world. Here is where they can have fun buying things, bargaining, eat local delights, etc…. I found it to be fun, it really felt like a universal studio thing but it’s the real thing.

I spent all day at Summer Palace. I walked and walked and I didn't even cover the entire place. It smells like Venice but a bit better. Watched Chinese orchestra perform, saw ti-wu- palace dance, and Peking Opera Acrobats. As beautiful as the Summer Palace is, it just feels very neatly contained and an air of loneliness still is in the air peering out the window of each beautifully crafted building.

Black Cabs

I left for Asia with a round trip ticket and the remaining thousand dollars in my account for me to stretch as long as possible. I heard it was cheap to travel in Asia. I brought one internal backpack, one day pack, two sets of clothes, gloves, hat, lotion, ear plugs, two journals, one pen, a jacket, a camera, lots emergency of medicine.

I sat on the compact seating arrangements of UA flight direct from San Francisco to Beijing. My neighbors were two middle aged Beijing women in their 40’s. When they speak they prefer to use their broken English than their fluent Mandarin with each other. I found it to be cute and funny. They think I am in my early 20’s. Maybe I look so, maybe I act so, maybe they assume single, traveling means so. They were a funny bunch and chatted away whenever they weren’t napping. They gave me advices on keeping my valuables on my body at all times and how not to get into “hei che”“Black Cars”. Black cars are unlicensed, illegal tricycle motor bike taxi cabs. When I ate the plane food, I told myself that it would be the last western meal I would have in a long time. I did not sleep on the plane, the chair was too uncomfortable in the tight economy class or maybe I am just getting old. This was my first time in China. I had heard so many terrible stories from so many people, I really didn’t know what to expect. I was excited, nervous, scared and way overdue for a fun adventure. I told everyone who bid me a safe and fun journey that they may not miss me too long, they may see me back in a week.

At the airport I exited in search of a bus to drop me off near my hostel. I was nervous, I didn’t know what to expect, what I would get. A young man in his early 20’s was at the post and sold me a ticket for the airport shuttle into HuTong District of Beijing where my hostel was. I quickly noticed how most of the people working at the airport were young professionals and quite new at their job. People were all very polite, helpful, gentle. I hopped onto my bus and starred out the window. I watched the workers interact with each other. I saw in their 20’s there was still a sort of kind innocence preserved within them. It was beautiful to see and I knew I was in Asia. From the outside in, a passerby would find a big smile on my face pasted to the clean window. The other passengers were all local Beijing young adults, dressed fashionably. I quickly noticed how their attentions were all on their cell phones. People had hip new models, no one was carrying a two year old model. Everyone was busy text messaging, something I haven’t grown a habit to because my phone plan charges me complicated charges for this service.

As the bus drives through Beijing the bright orange red sunset illuminated through the air of thick grey pollution in the air. It has been so grey for that even the foliages on the trees were coated in thick grey dust. I felt like I was traveling through a “Dark City” scene but in Beijing. With this pollution there is lack of clarity, it all felt very surreal and beautiful in it’s own way.

I arrived in Beijing on a Friday when the entire city was getting off work. The bike lane is bigger than the car lane. A typical scene is a man riding a bike and a lady sitting in the back behind him side ways with one hand gently place on his belly, not wrapped, not hugged, placed. There is a classical gentleman feel to this model that is not often seen in the west now a days.

I got off at the Xican station and by now after slow Friday traffic jam the night has fallen and all the lights were on. I tried to flag a taxi down with lots of trouble due to my inexperience. While I scouted around, I was approached by sharks of the “Black Cabs” inviting me to get onto one right out in the open. Yes these cabs are black. They were persistent in promoting and selling the cabs to me, but not once did I feel I was physically in danger. I did the no eye contact thing and look off in a distant. I tried to share a taxi with another stranger just to get onto a cab. The man jumped in while I was still standing outside asking the driver if he would drive me to my hostel. The passenger yelled at me, “you’ll never get onto a taxi this way, get in the cab first and don’t get out until he drives you to the place you want to go with the proper agreed price of meter or set price!” The driver didn’t know where my hostel was, this man was kind enough to call with his cell phone to get directions for me. Then he kindly got out of the car and waited to get onto another cab because we were heading in different directions. I later learned where I was staying, the streets are tight and hardly any driver would risk driving through those streets in fear of damaging their car and so they pretended to not know where the hostel was. We approached a dark, old run down neighborhood with streets barely wide enough for the compact car. Then he pointed to the Youth Hostel sign, ah…. after 12+ hours on the plane and 3 hours in Friday night traffic, lots of time spent getting a cab, I have arrived in my Far East Youth Hostel. What glorious light in the dark in an area like a dismal part of the world. I gave the driver 11yuan for the trip. It's a youth hostel with European room standards. It's clean with white sheets. Asian system of shower and squatting toilet bowls, and yes must provide own paper. At least it has free unlimited internet access. It is $8 a bed per night. I think I will stay here for my entire Beijing stay. The exchange rate is good at the airport, even better at the hostel. The shuttle was $2.50 and then the taxi was $1.4 to get here. I bought a map of Beijing and will do ancient architectural tour tomorrow. Being so tired, I found it a hassle to eat out. I ended up locating a delicious Sichuan Spicy Source vegetarian instant noodle from the store next door. My first meal in Beijing was not the most healthy or nutritious, but it was quick and easy, this meant more time to sleep.