Shanghai. Debbie arrived in Shanghai and I met her at the hotel that we booked for the weekend. We ate wonderful food. I even sneaked in a couple of Western meals, which was awesome! We also toured the city, had foot massages, saw an acrobatics show...AH! Below are some pictures of our time in Shanghai.
Xian. Xian, one of the oldest cities in China, is located in the western part of the country and served as the capital of several dynasties. The rich history of this city makes it an interesting place to visit. One of the most famous sites is the Terracotta Warriors ('bingma yong'), which date back over 2200 years. The first emperor of China demanded that an underground army be built for him. Following the the emperor's death, the army disappeared and no one knew it actually existed until its discovery in 1974 by farmers digging a well. The life-size statues are each unique, and current estimates suggest there are over 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses and 150 cavalry horses, the majority of which are still buried. An online quote sums up the first emperor well, 'Ample evidence demonstrates the first emperor’s ambition: not only to control all aspects of the empire during his lifetime but to recreate the entire empire in microcosm for his after life.' It is said that it took over 720,000 people and around 40 years to build this amazing underground empire.
Cupping. You may wonder, what is cupping? An ancient Chinese practice...already reason for concern... in which a cup is applied to the skin and the pressure in the cup is reduced (by using change in heat or by suctioning out air), so that the skin and superficial muscle layer is drawn into and held in the cup- YIKES! It is thought that this technique removes toxins from the body and balances good and bad energy, among other things. Debbie wanted to try this having heard about it and the benefits it could incur. She really had no idea what she was in for (neither did I), as we did not have the nice definition of the technique that I have given you above. For some strange reason, I opted out and just got the massage- someone was looking over me. THIS IS ACTUALLY DEBBIE'S BACK! By the way, I was laughing hysterically, because it was the craziest thing I had ever seen and I honestly did not know what else to do. I don't think it would have been appropriate to say, 'that looks like it hurts like hell!'
Teaching. Aunt Debbie helped with a couple of my classes at the university. The students were thrilled to see another 'laowai' besides myself. They clapped, hooted and hollered when I announced that I had brought a special guest. The lesson that day focused on the pronunciation of sounds that students often find difficult like 'th', 'r', and 'l'. One activity I had the students do was tongue twisters. I had groups of students practice the tongue twisters and then present them to the class. Debbie judged each group and the group with the highest score won a prize. Debbie brought postcards from her home state of Florida to give away. The students loved it and so did I!
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