We survived Xian at rush hour on bicycles!

...and other adventures in the big world.

So we came to the "economy" hotel yesterday. And, guess what? It's just fine! It, too, has real cotton sheets on the bed. No nice view of the pond and peacocks, it's true...in fact, the view is of a "lane" (we call them alleys) with little food stalls. It's a bit noisy, but colorful. Somehow noise made in another language is never as offensive as that made in a language I understand.

We found a lovely park as we checked out our new 'hood yesterday. People in Xian really enjoy their parks and seem to spend a fair amount of time outside in general. Not much tv here. Lots of Mah Jong and cards and gambling, seated on little low stools set out on the wide sidewalks. In the park, by the lake, there was a group of musicians playing that crazy screechy traditional music, with a lady singing. The stringed instruments are mostly string, with a little bitty sound box. The percussion is sticks (think klavas) and small drums. And then, today, as we rode rented bikes along by the ancient (as in 600-something CE) city walls, again there were many of these groups playing. Some were just a couple of people, but one or two had whole orchestras happening. Also, much flying of kites (by grown men) and the thing with sticks and string and a large top that makes a loud drone.

It's much more fun to travel in a society that lives outside, on the sidewalk, in the street..so much more to see. The brooms, for example..wild things...some are like what I've seen in Mexico: twigs, branches tied together. Others, tho, are huge and incorporate anything swept up, apparently: plastic netting, burlap, wire..they're like found art installations.

The traffic is madness. We've taken cabs a couple of times and I've had to keep my eyes closed almost the whole way. Cal remarked that it's all a mind set and that since everyone is in it, it seems to work out OK. So, today, on the bikes (absolutely the most uncomfortable bike I've ever been on, with the seat set very low and tipped backward and only one gear of the supposed 10 [thank the goddess that Xian is flat!], I obviously couldn't keep my eyes closed and so I had to get into the mind set, which involved just looking ahead..you can't really think about what might be coming at you from any other direction or you would be paralyzed. And you do have to realize that she who has the right-of-way is she who takes it. Very satisfying to have success! Of course, it helps that many of the main streets are boulevards, like the Esplanade in Chico, so you have a riding space (of course you do share it with scooters
(!electric!) and babies in strollers and pedestrians and other bikies and sometimes cars..no rules apply, as far as we can tell)

We rode to the Shaanxi Museum of History where we were able to memorize the first 4 dynasties. The first,the Zhou began around 2000BC, but the pre-Zhou people were quite busy: inventing agriculture and bronze casting and warring and what-not. Of course, what I want to know is how they birthed their babies and what herbs they used and were they all matriarchal like the neolithic village that's been excavated near here, but these things don't leave the same artifacts that warfare does, so we are left to speculate.

Of course, I am also curious as to how the women of today birth their babies (or baby, since the one child edict is still in effect in the cities..apparently overlooked more in the outlying areas). Highly controlled state situations do not result in mother friendly birthing practises in my experience (I've seen it in Cuba, heard about it in Russia). Do city women birth at home or in hospital? Are there midwives? What is the Cesarean rate? Burning questions, all. There is a clever technique regarding toilet training, however: the babies' pants are open along the front/back seam so that the waste can just fall where it may rather than get collected in diapers that then must be washed or discarded. Daddies appear to be quite involved with their children, as do grandparents.

We see the practise of Qi Gong everywhere: an older woman in a shop boucing up and down and grinning, men walking or jogging and smacking themselves rhythmically on the upper and lower belly, an old old man, maybe blind, sitting on a bench, moving his hands in the graceful and unmistakable fashion. I had a free Tai Chi lesson at the fancy hotel with a sefu in a white silk suit..he worked us pretty hard..my thighs are screaming still. He said it was Wu style but it sure was different than what Lin-Yi teaches...I had guessed it to be Chen style..lots of up-and-down and big movements. Since I have been waking up very early (some type of jet-lag?), I may try to go to the local park tomorrow and see if there is Tai Chi at dawn, as is rumored to be the case in all big cities here.

And then, we go to see the Terra-cotta warriors, and afterward, to a hot springs. After the Tai Chi and the bike-riding, I'm way ready
for a nice soak.

Maybe more photos next time (and I'll try to get them right-side up!) I'm liking this big world and all the funny challenges of finding our way around in it.