THE THREE M'S MINUS ONE.

Life is so condensed and exciting. My friend Michal Houston still has a house in Murphys but lives in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. She loves it there. She came to visit old friends for a whirlwind week. Michal, Madelaine Krska,  and I, Mary, Maddie and Michal once called ourselves the Three M's. Maddie is retired and living in Arizona. For lunch, we went to our favorite old haunt, Camps in Angels Camp, and toasted our missing friend. I expect someday, the three of us will find ourselves together once again.
Michal and I had a great time looking over pictures of a trip we took to China. It was such a refresher course to read over my old journal and remember fun things we did, and stuff we saw.


Michal and I with a Chinese woman in a roadside village. What would happen if a bus load of tourists pulled up to your house in Murphys and asked if the people could come in and talk to you and see inside your house, and ask you personal questions about your life and how you live?
She lives in the country and is allowed two children, instead of one. Her boys both graduated college. She lives in her family home where she and her husband grow cotton. They have a hog to butcher, and a pond filled with edible plants shared with neighbors. The tiny house had two rooms a large gas wok in the kitchen with a table;  one bedroom where the bed was in a corner with little room to walk around it.


Michal with the ladies of a small Naxi (Nah-shee) village, all dressed for town to meet with a government official. Everyone friendly and accommodating.


I looked for a picture I had of Michal watching a talented cryptographer showing how to paint Chinese script on a papyrus, but I couldn't find it. Here, in the lobby of one hotel, we are both fastened by an ancient, intricate, carving in jade.
We talked about the places on our bucket list, favorite or memorable experiences on the road. I love what famous travel host Rick Steves said about travel:  "You cannot be a bigot when you understand other cultures." He is so right.

VEGANS AND CARNIVORES UNITE.

I stole this photo by Ross McDonald from Mother Jones Magazine.

And this quote from Josh Tetrick a vegan and founder of Hampton Foods Company:

United States’ eggs are produced by birds pumped full of corn, soy, and antibiotics in giant rows of cages. “Female birds are packed body to body in tiny cages so small they can’t flap their wings, They never see the sunlight. They never touch the soil.”

Tetrick has two engineers, six biochemists, and 11 food scientists  on a single-minded quest to hack the egg and its 22 functional properties.  The goal is to replace all factory farmed eggs in the US market. The team has looked at nearly 1,000 plant proteins.

These entrepreneurs are determined to realign plant proteins into tasting and feeling exactly like meat. After the egg, the chicken, pork, beef.

He asks, when you eat a muffin, do you know, or think about the fact you are contributing to the way animals on megafarms are treated? Since a third of US eggs are used in prepared foods, muffins, pasta, dressings, breads, mayonnaise, that is their first market goal. Then, egg-beaters style eggs that people will use in their omelets.

He attracted venture capital from Bill Gates ,Twitter founder and other rich guys because they tasted and believe in the product. They also believe that most Americans do not like the corporate megafarm way their food is raised. And if they can realign molecules in plant DNA to mimic animal DNA, it won’t taste like tofurkey, it will taste like the real thing. Getting it to mimic hard muscle is still difficult, but they are betting on it. There are many companies who have tried beyond eggs and beyond meat, some failed, but many are improving the quality of fake meat. China is highly invested in creating vegetarian meat. It is only a matter of time.  In 2014, whole foods will begin selling meatless chicken strips. It is 55% more economical to produce vegetarian meat than the megafarm way.

Not everyone will give up muscle meat. It is a choice. But, vegans and carnivores can shake hands on some things and share the progress toward a better planet.

Now,  if I can find the company on the Stock exchange? I’m ready.

THE TEMPLE OF HEAVEN.

It is an early October  morning and our tour bus takes us to the Temple of Heaven, another UNESCO site. We see buses with people on their way to work, like these women catching a cat nap. Vicki, our guide,  tells us Chinese laborers put in long hours for low pay.

This orange hooded stand is a telephone booth, simple, protected from the weather, low-cost.  You have to respect the design. Although, like the US, cell phones are seen  all over China,  more than in my neighborhood.  (Remember this is 2006.)  The street scenes are so interesting here but  I was using a new digital and still taking pictures as though each picture would be developed and being very conservative, not knowing how many pictures would fit on the sandisk. At that time I hadn’t heard of a cyber album where I now keep my pictures.

We entered the complex through a park with many squares. Our first encounter was a group of people doing ball room dancing. We watched for a while.  A single man asked me and another woman from our group to dance. This is very common in China, morning exercise with a huge group.

The next square held a group of people line dancing.  Wanning Determan, in red and my partner Michal joined them. What an enjoyable way to start the day.

This group was performing a kind of fast clapping exercise designed for mental alertness. In between the clapping they make foot figures and turn around and start again, sometimes hands raised above their heads.  Quite tricky and challenging. Like line dancing, they follow a leader in this exercise that also has music to it.

This group, at a distant square,  practices a graceful flag dance.

This group is doing Tai Chi. I’ve tried it since my China visit, and it is harder than it looks. Great for balance and coordination.

This group was doing a type of  Tai Chi with paddles and balls, very difficult Vicki informed us. I was quite taken by the vast amount of people who exercise. It is easy to see why you rarely encounter an overweight  person in China.

We finally arrive at the entrance gate to the Temple of Heaven.

Before passing through the gate,  I grabbed a picture of the ornate decoration under the eaves and you can see the parade of  protective lions on the roof.

The Temple sits on vast square all the way around it.  It is the tallest round building in the world.  At one time animal sacrifices were done here and the meat cooked and eaten  in a great kitchen/dining room.

You enter by way of this huge marble staircase.

Each newel post is carved, each one different.  The rails have decorative carvings. This stairway was meant to last forever.

The unique building is highly decorated with the typical colors of the day. The Chinese people love the color red and you see it in their special places.

Inside, the building is held up by a series of beautifully decorated columns. They all have gold leaf. Magnificent and irreplaceable.

A close-up of the dragon on the roof.  It is no surprise the temple is a UNESCO treasure.

On the way out we passed through the Long Hall which is really long. Without the measurements, I would guess it is the length of a city block.

It is kind of fun to observe the Chinese people.  We are curious about them and they are open and friendly and curious about us, as well though we can’t speak their language, this mother was obviously enjoying all the fuss over her cute little girl. The wooden stroller is unique.

Instead of a cloth sling, this woman carries her baby in a bamboo slat basket.

As we left, a lone woman was practicing her banner exercise.

As we left the temple, we passed the last remaining gate from Mongolian times hovering above the Ring Road that replaced the feudal walls and surrounds the city. Mau was smart enough to preserve it for posterity. It was through this gate the people, dignitaries, and the privileged few passed to have access to their leaders and protection from enemies.

JOB PRODUCING VIDEO

This Christmas, the  three gifts I bought for my grandkids I would have bought no matter where they were made. One was from Japan, the others were from Taiwan. From the giving tree, you choose a name and buy a gift for a  child in need,  which was a request for a robe, I absolutely could not find a robe in any store that wasn’t made in China.
Just before Christmas, I wanted to buy a picture frame. Small town shopping choices  are limited.  After realizing that every frame in every store came from China,  I went to a custom shop and had it made. Certainly not a choice for people on a limited budget.
At the grocery store, I bought an off brand of pumpkin for pies and much to my irritation, it too, came from China.  I’ve received emails about buying in America and then I received this one from my cousin Karen.  This job producing video was a real eye-opener.

http://cdnapi.kaltura.com/index.php/kwidget/wid/0_04vzdsr5/uiconf_id/5590821

Imports and trade are not all bad for our country.  I’m picking on China for a reason. My neighbor, Jan, had two teachers from China staying with her for a short time on an exchange program earlier this year. They bought a camera made in China. When she questioned their choice  they told her it was cheaper to buy it here than in their own country. I’ve read where China is manipulating money,  doctoring dog food, selling knock-offs illegally, pirating music and other shoddy business practices.  So, visit the Made In America Website after watching this video and see how much power our purchases have.

THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA

Yesterday, our goal was to move to Leavenworth on the east side of the Cascades. A change of plans came as Jim studied the book and called Ford dealerships to learn all he could about transmissions. He settled on one of two transmission shops. The fix has waylaid us until we can get the Bronco repaired.  I’m returning to my China Journal and pictures.

We left the restaurant and enjoyed the street scenes as we walked to our bus. This cute family was mobbed by we tourists.  The wooden stroller is unusual to us and the boy in the middle with a bamboo backpack as well. Remember that you can click on any of these pictures to make them larger and see better detail.

This set of orange bonnets is a public phone booth;  I expect, like ours, soon to be obsolete.

I’ve seen pictures of the Great Wall and thought of it as a smooth brick-like roadway.  Up close, it is anything but smooth. Rugged, overpowering, stupendous, jagged, uneven, crooked, weathered. The section we visited is from 1400 A.D. The wall was started in 200 B.C. We are told the Chinese archeologists just discovered 500 kilometers more of rammed earth wall base previously unknown.

The soldiers/laborers who built it had varying  skill.  This rough,crooked stairway leads to one of the “guardhouses” that were built at regular intervals along the miles of wall. I had no idea the wall was manned. I thought just the height and steepness of it kept out intruders. The wall in various forms stretches over 5,000 miles.

The camera cannot take in the unbelievable reality of this wall undulating up and down the surrounding mountains for as far as the eye can see. It graces every mountain crest on China’s Mongolian border.

Numerous gates and exits allowed the soldiers and their families to go for water, tend their gardens, and hunt for food and gather wood.  The guardhouses where they lived had very little privacy, no toilet or washing facilities, no doors and no windows, only openings that allowed the cold air to enter.  Life in the guardhouses  only sheltered them from rain and snow. In many places they were miles and miles from civilization.

Only some sections of the wall are maintained. In places, the bricks have fallen, have heaved and cracked or become overgrown with vegetation. The cost of maintaining the wall is enormous and thus neglected. Here we see the drainage system that carries  water away from the walkway.

Each section has an individuality about it as you can see where one worker differentiated his placement slightly from another worker just 30 feet away.

On the Chinese side of the wall are remnants of fruit trees and gardens. The fruit trees have self seeded. On the enemy side of the wall,  soldiers kept all vegetation cleared for 30 feet out from the wall so no enemy could approach unseen.

Seeing the Great Wall was  worth the whole trip. We walked about a mile from one station to another and another. We met a couple  with two children, all  burdened with  backpacks. They camped and walked the great wall for two weeks and saw many exciting sections that we on tours cannot see during our limited visit.  I had no idea that camping on the great wall was an option.

Visiting the Great Wall was an emotional and unforgettable experience for me. Wikipedia has more precise information about the great wall.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Wall_of_China

THE TEMPLE OF HEAVEN

These first two days in Mt.Vernon, I’ve swam, walked the grounds, rested and re-oriented myself to life in a motor home. Today, we will Ferry to Orcas Island and explore. In the meantime, I’m enjoying my pictures from China that I rescued from my old Mac.

As we approach the Temple of Heaven, we see street scenes like this, mobs of bicycles. From our bus we notice tired commuters trying to catch up on their sleep. The Chinese people work very hard under difficult conditions.

Entrance to the grounds is through several gates; an openness the Chinese people  treasure after the ring of three  feudal system walls, the Mongolians erected, were torn down by Chairman Mau. He replaced them by three ring roads, in all the cities that had the walls.

The grounds surrounding the temple is a huge complex with squares, grassy park areas and woods. The first square we come to is filled with ballroom dancers. This is early morning, and nearly all Chinese exercise in the morning, together, in public areas like this. Our guide invites us to join the dancers if we like. One man asked me to dance and I did. Like us, a senior with gray hair, but  strong and muscular. You rarely see a fat person in China.

Michal joined the single dancers on the next square over.

Part of the joy of visiting the Temple Of Heaven was strolling the beautiful grounds and watching the people. Here exercisers perform a  swirling banner dance with graceful ballet like movements.

At this square the people were clapping their hands and changing positions in a very rhythmic  fast-paced way. We enjoyed several groups of  typical tai chai movements.  One group did tai chai while holding balls and paddles. Amazing. Here houses are small so big body movements are only possible  in the parks. They don’t appear to have gyms as we know them.

And, finally, the temple itself. Everything here is so huge, it is difficult to get a picture up close, at least with my camera. This temple is a UNESCO (World Heritage) site. At one time, animal sacrifices were done here and the meat cooked and eaten in the “great” kitchen. The temple is the tallest round building in the world.

Carved column and rail as on the temple stairs.

In the vast interior of the temple, your flash is almost useless. Instead, we were astounded at the beauty of the building; the priceless labors from ancient times that went into building and designing it.  Some things are enjoyable but do not translate to a camera such as mine.
The outer facade of the temple. Not difficult to understand why it is a world-class heritage site. The Temple of Heaven was the province of the Emperor, his family, consorts and servants. The public did not worship here.

And the long hall is really, really long.

A roof corner decoration detail.

We repaired to a Chinese restaurant for lunch.

No matter where you are, the appeal of little children is the same.

But only in China will you find a roof  like this.