Guilin Exploration Seminar blog is finally live!

...and updated! As Seattle's autumnal weather sets in, please enjoy this collection of the experiences of the UW students who participated in a month-long exploration seminar in Guilin, Guangxi Province, China.

To see photos from the trip, you may visit the seminar's FLICKR page.

Empress Dowager Cixi’s Summer Palace, Beijing

After breakfast Wednesday morning, the students put all of their luggage and belongings in the bottom of the bus and headed to the Summer Palace, which is a UNESCO world heritage site. The Palace grounds are immense and it would take weeks to see everything there is to see of the grounds, let alone the multitude of exhibits and artifacts that have been preserved within the halls of the Palace. The tour was focused on allowing the students to see as much of the scenery as possible and so as soon as the group entered the gates, they hit the ground running. It being the middle of September, the weather was becoming mild and it being morning, it was a cool, lovely day for walking through the grounds.

The students made their way along Kunming Lake and through the sheltered walks, catching glimpses of all of the detailed artisan work that makes the Palace and its grounds so incredible. The group walked through the gate that stands at the base of Longevity hill and ascended the vast stairway that leads to the top of the Tower of Buddhist Incense, which is built on the top of the Temple of Buddhist Virtue. This structure is the tallest in the Palace’s park and at the top, one can glimpse the magnificent expanse that belonged to the Empress Dowager each morning as she reveled in her grandeur.

The students walked up and behind the Tower of Buddhist Incense and made their way back down Longevity Hill by way of a nature path, now filling with a multitude of foreign tourists, Chinese tourists and elderly locals using the park as an outdoor exercise track. The last stop before returning to the hotel for lunch was the Empress’ Marble Boat, which is a two-story sculpture of such craftsmanship that it is usually the first thing visitors approach when entering the Palace grounds. Sculpted to appear docked and floating, the white stone boat is truly magnificent and grand.

The students walked briskly back to the bus and returned to the hotel for a quick lunch before departing for the airport. The students managed to purchase a cake for Yu Laoshi and signed a group card with a group photo and presented these to Yu Laoshi at the final lunch. Final goodbyes were said and reminders were given of items due during fall quarter. Yu Laoshi escorted the students to the airport and once everyone had checked in, everyone said one last goodbye and entered through security to wait for the long flight home.

Across the board, students have spoken of the various skills they learned from this trip. Some felt they had learned to be more independent, to engage in another culture, while others are happy to have seen so many aspects of Chinese culture through the eyes of professors in many different fields. Others still were thankful for the added language learning, which only prepared them for another year of language courses. All were thankful for the friendships and bonds made during the seminar’s three and a half weeks. The students of this seminar will never forget Guilin, China or Professor Liping Yu.

Depart Guilin, Arrive Beijing

On Monday, students met in the lobby, said their final goodbyes and headed to the airport. At the airport, after several students had to pay for extra baggage (Guilin certainly offered this group great shopping options), the group rested until the flight to Beijing. Upon arrival in Beijing, the students were taken to the Pearl Market, a building of seven stories of shops. Around nine at night, the students were picked up and brought to Beijing Institute of Technology’s hotel. Even fancier than GXNU’s “International Student Hotel”, the students were amazed to see their fancy rooms. Exhausted from a day of traveling and shopping, the students went to sleep.

The following morning, students met after breakfast and toured the Forbidden City. After their quick tour, lunch was had at a Sichuanese restaurant. After lunch, the group rode to the entrance of the Beihai Lake District. From the entrance to the lake, it was a nice thirty minute stroll to Madame Sun Yatsen’s Palace, which looks out on a quieter part of the of the lake, well past the tourist bars and cafes. The Palace was to close shortly so the students took a whirlwind tour of the grounds and then walked through the Hutong, Beijing’s famous labyrinth of homes. On the other side of the walk, the students were greeted by the bus driver and just as a torrential downpour began, the driver whisked them away to a famous Beijing Duck restaurant. It was the final night in Beijing, the final night in China. Dinner was delicious and the students were a mix of excitement to be returning home and sadness to be leaving China.

Toasts were made with Sprite and tea, food was eaten, jokes told, and students reminded one another of their favorite moments from the trip. After dinner, all returned to the hotel, the rain continuing, and prepared for the journey home.

Mid-Autumn Festival: Moon cakes and farewell for UW students

The students gathered in the large auditorium of the 2nd floor of the dormitory. Everyone dressed up for the occasion. Originally, the students were told that a small farewell celebration had been planned for their last night at GXNU. But this last night coincided with the Mid-Autumn Festival so Chen Laoshi combined the students’ farewell with the Festival.
The UW students prepared a skit and several songs to perform during the Festival. Other visiting students were also to perform during the night. When students arrived at the auditorium, over two hundred people had gathered for the event.

The UW students opened the Festival, singing the two traditional songs learned earlier in the trip. Afterwards, the dean of the International School handed out certificates for completion of the program. After this, the festivities really started. Moon cakes were passed around, as was fruit and tea. The audience enjoyed all the performances and was very loud, supportive and active in giving their support.

At the end of the night, many of the students stayed to say goodbye to friends and teachers, as well as to exchange email addresses and take photos.

Excursion to Longshen

Early Sunday morning, the group set off for Longshen, a three-hour drive from Guilin. The drive took the group through winding roads, sometimes unpaved and with little room for two vehicles, much less two large buses. As the bus got closer to Longshen, the scenery became hilly and then mountainous. In the distance, students caught glimpses of Guangxi’s amazing terraced hills and mountains. Students marveled at the ingenuity required to build such terraces.

Upon arrival at Longshen, there was still another drive needed to get to the beginning of the hike to the top. This drive was much more windy and several students became dizzy from the twisting and turning of the small bus. At the top, the wind blew, but the day was gorgeous – clear skies and sun and breezes. The group started walking up to the top to see the view of the terraces.

At first the path was wide, paved even. On either side were souvenir stands, manned by relaxed men and women. They smiled and if you said, “No thanks” to their offers of goods, they nodded and left you alone. The path became narrower and split in two. To one side was a village of Yao ethnic minority peoples. To the other side was the narrow path up to the top. The ascent became a literal climb and students broke off into groups to make the journey up. At the top a hut selling cold tea and snacks offered shade to sweaty hikers. The students took several group photos and rested for several minutes before returning to a hut in the middle of the hike for lunch.

Students claimed the lunch served in Longshen was one of the best of the trip. Especially favored were the fresh corn and meat-stuffed hot peppers. After lunch, students were given free time and then toward the end of the afternoon met up at the bus for the twisting and turning trip back down the mountain.

On the return trip to GXNU, the bus overheated and the students stopped off at a gas station to use the restrooms, purchase water and fruit. While the driver tried fixing the air conditioner and added coolant, students tried exotic fruits and stretched their legs.

Upon arrival in Guilin, the students had dinner at a restaurant from earlier in the trip and then they celebrated the birthday of a fellow student with a Chinese cake. After dinner the group returned to campus and had an hour to shower and prepare for the Mid-Autumn Festival.

English Day Festivities at GXNU’s newest campus

Early Saturday morning, armed with notes and flash cards for final exam preparation, the students rode the bus to GXNU’s newest campus, well on the outskirts of Guilin. The campus is so new that there is nothing surrounding it but grasslands and trees. Upon arrival at the Foreign Languages building, UW students were able to see Freshman in uniform participating in the mandatory two-week session of military drills and exercises.

Before joining other Chinese students to celebrate English Day, the UW group was given a virtual tour of Guilin’s newest campus. A large conference room housed a huge bird’s eye view of the new campus and an administrative official explained that the campus was being built in four stages, the first stage being complete and the second stage beginning. Many state-of-the-art features are to be included in the new campus. However, when students were able to talk with Chinese students about their new campus, the major complaint was that it was located in “the middle of nowhere” and didn’t offer off-campus excitement and activities. Perhaps when all building stages are complete, these students, if still on campus, will feel differently.

English Day consisted of two moderators who introduced the UW students and several Chinese students studying English as their majors. There were performances of song and dance and poetry, the UW students sang several English children’s songs and then the students played several games together. Afterwards, students paired off with Chinese students and toured the campus together, or got soft drinks and talked. Just before lunch, the students parted and the UW students returned to GXNU to eat lunch and prepare for the final exam. After the final exam, students were given a free night to finish up shopping, eat out, or catch some of Guilin’s night life.

Excursion to Lingqu Canal

The drive to Lingqu Canal was a long one. The canal sits well outside of Guilin, though it is considered a tourist attraction connected to the city. The canal system is over two thousand years old and has withstood nature all of these years.

Immediately following Dr. Li’s lecture, the students piled into the smaller of the two buses, which had been transporting them for the duration of the trip and set off. Shortly before arriving at the canal, the group stopped for lunch in a small town that has sprung up nearby the canal. Surprisingly, the town subsides on tourism alone, and so it is quite modest. The restaurant seemed to be dormant as the students marched up the stair to sit and wait for lunch. Starving, the students said little and were happy when the food started to arrive.

After lunch, spirits high, the students rode the short distance from the restaurant to the canal. A tour guide led the group up into a building with a large model of the canal and surrounding area. The model had a water feature to illustrate how the canal separated one river into two tributaries, one that continued to feed the Pearl river, and the other which eventually led to the Yangzi, thus connecting these two rivers.

For the rest of the afternoon, the students followed the tour guide and took in the grounds surrounding the canal. The solitude of the place was calming and several students wished to linger further when the tour was finished. But the sun was setting and it was time to return to Guilin.

Cultural Lecture: China’s Environment

Dr. Robert Li gave the eighth and final cultural lecture on Friday, September 12th. He focused his lecture on environmental protection in China and hydraulic works in Guilin, since the students experienced many of Guilin’s unique water features during their visit. Dr. Li is a professor in the school of environment and resources at GXNU. He approaches the topic as a scientist and researcher.

The most important topics for an environmental scientist are the same topics concerning economists, industrialists and the government as well: industrialization, urbanization, population growth, and transportation development have all changed the landscape of China vastly since Reform and Opening in 1978.

In 2002, China developed a standardized system of determining water quality among rivers, streams and lakes. There are five classes: 1. Head waters, 2. Drinking water source areas, spawning areas (Class 1), 3. Class 2 drinking water and aquaculture use, 4. General Industrial water, non-contact recreational use and 5. Agricultural use. Above level 5 has no functional use. In this system, level 1 is the cleanest water and +5 is the most polluted water.

In China there are seven major river systems: the Yangzi, Yellow, Pearl, Huaihe, Haihe, Liaohe and Songhuajiang rivers. The majority of the Yangzi River is level 2 and 3. There are tributaries, however, especially alongside urban areas, where the level is mostly 3, sometimes reaching 4. The Yellow River is mostly level 3 and 4, with some areas reaching level 5. The Pearl River is the cleanest of these three, with a primary grade of 2. The source of contamination in these rivers is industry, especially from mining. Although there are laws requiring wastewater to be treated, the laws are still difficult to enforce.

In terms of lakes, the largest of China’s lakes are mostly in the level 5 grading. The Major pollutant for lakes is domestic wastewater, which is very difficult to regulate. China also set up a standardized system for measuring the Eutrophication index, which is the indication of nutrients found in lake water (Nitrogen and Phosphorous), more than half of China’s lakes are heavily loaded. Also affected by Eutrophication is seawater. China’s major seas, in order of most affected to least are: East China Sea, Bohai Sea, Yellow and South China Seas.

Air pollution classifications came in 1996. Level 1 defines nature preserves, level 2 defines residential, commercial and rural areas and level 3, the worst grading for pollution defines specialized industrial regions. The major chemicals causing air pollution are sulfur dioxide, TSP (total suspended particles), nitrogen dioxide and dust.

China developed a list of 113 critical cities, and will focus on environmental protection of these cities. So far, 60% of the cities on the list are at a level 3 grading for air pollution. Guilin has a level 2 grading. 40% of the key cities suffer from acid rain with a pH of 5.6 and 10% of the cities experience acid rain with a pH of 4.5. Coal power in Guangxi province causes acid rain. The toxic rain causes damage to buildings of various materials, aquaculture and agriculture.
In terms of species diversity, China has 2,619 vertebrates and more than 30,000 plant species, four to five thousand of which are endangered. 4% of China’s land is wetland area, 16% is dedicated to nature preserves, and 18.2% is forest area. 37% of China’s land is subject to soil erosion because of the high amount of development occurring throughout the country. The first step to protection, according to Dr. Li is to designate the most critical areas as “protected”, which means getting several institutions, the government and industry all on the same page. Only then can enforcement and prohibition work to protect the land. Dr. Li also emphasized the need for improvement of the infrastructure dedicated to environmental protection.

The environmental governing authorities in China are hierarchical. At the top is the National People’s Congress, which is similar to America’s parliamentary system. Within this congress there are two environmental committees, one being the state council, which is the highest executive body. This council gets together and discusses suggestions from outside. They do not make up laws on their own.

Next in the hierarchy is the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP). The MEP is responsible for overall environmental management. The present minister is Zhou Shengxian. The MEP is carefully scrutinized because of the high profile of China’s environmental challenges.

The law system in China is also hierarchical, with eight levels. First there is the Constitution. Then there are basic laws, among environmental basic laws there are the Law of Environmental Protection and the Environmental Impact Assessment Act. Next there are separate, specialized laws as with fisheries, animal protection or water and soil conservation laws. Next come the administrative laws, which are ratified by the state council (an example being the Ordinance of Environmental Protection for construction projects). Next in the hierarchy are departmental regulations, which are promulgated by the MEP. Among these five levels, when there is a conflict, the former prevails, ending with the Constitution if conflict continues.

Next are regional environmental laws and governmental regulations. Then come the environmental standards such as technical criteria for executing laws (there are over 500 standards, all available online). Lastly are the international conventions, such as the Convention on Biological Diversity in Rio, Brazil, 1992. When the Chinese government is in conflict with these last, the conventions prevail because they represent a collective intent greater than China.

Dr. Li concluded his lecture with a brief explanation of the ancient hydraulic system that changed the course of two river systems allowing for irrigation of the majority of the Pearl River Delta. This system was built in the Qin dynasty in 214 BCE and the canal, known as the Lingqu Canal, connects the Yangzi River to the Pearl River. The students would go to see the Lingqu Canal later in the day.

Putting it all together

(Written on Thursday 9/11/08, posted five days later...)

The students finished their sixth and final language class today, Thursday September 11th. Because the students are so busy, they sometimes don’t know the day of the week, much less the date. There is one cultural lecture remaining, which will be held tomorrow in the morning, with an excursion following lunch.

The students will participate in English Day celebrations on Saturday and will take the language final that afternoon before dinner. Saturday evening is free and the students will leave early Sunday morning for Longshen, the famous terraced region where the Hongyan ethnic minority lives. Sunday evening the students will put on a show for the GXNU students who have helped make their stay so wonderful these past three weeks. Several skits have been prepared involving scenes from everyday life. Also, students will perform songs in English and Chinese and the children from the high school have been invited to participate in this farewell party.

Monday the group will depart for Beijing. The students will have the opportunity to tour Beijing Monday evening, all day Tuesday, and Wednesday morning prior to departing for Seattle. The China Exploration Seminar Students from Guilin, Guangxi Normal University will arrive at SeaTac airport on Wednesday, September 17th sometime after noon.

Upon returning to Seattle and beginning autumn quarter, students must write a research paper on a topic presented during the cultural lectures. The students must also turn in a copy of a journal kept over the course of the seminar.

In the past couple of outings and lectures, many aspects of Chinese society and culture have culminated to give the students a better understanding of modern Chinese life, especially for a student. The seminar has offered through outings, lectures, language class content, and extracurricular activities, a multifaceted view that is impossible to get from reading books. Sometimes these lessons are hard to learn even if one is willing to do a bit a travel, for the ideas presented are sometimes intimate and accessing such intimate spaces must be done in a delicate way. The seminar instructors and administrators have made this process seem effortless and the UW students will remember their trip to China for many years to come.

Old GXNU Campus and Music School

After the traditional music lecture, the students visited the music school on the old GXNU campus. Several teachers of traditional instruments came together to play and explain their instruments in detail. A flutist performed several songs from various bamboo flutes, ranging from small to very, very large.

An Er hu performer played the “Racing Horses” song that must be a staple when learning to play that instrument. She, along with a Pi pa performer, played “Moli Hua” for the students, one of the songs learned during the singing activity the previous week.

A fourth performer brought her Wulu Si, the instrument known as the “Chinese piano”. She played traditional and modern songs for the students, showing the range of her instrument. When asked how long she had been playing, she told the group she started when she was eight years old, and that she’s been playing for ten years.

Although many Chinese children are encouraged to play musical instruments starting at an early age, many parents hope that this skill will make their children well rounded, a mentality that is certainly a remnant from Confucius’ time and the study of the Six Classics, one of which was the study of music. Only some parents ever imagine that their children will become proficient enough to master an instrument and invest their lives in a career involving music.

Cultural Lecture: Traditional Music

Yang Laoshi, a specialist in “Ming zu Yin Yue” or Ethnic Music, gave the lecture on China’s traditional music and instruments. In China, the term folk music encompasses Han traditional songs, instruments, and music, the other 55 ethnic minorities and their traditional music and instruments.

Within the study of music there are five categories: instrumental, singing and dancing, spoken word and music, opera and folk songs. Yang Laoshi focused his lecture on instrumental music, giving the students an opportunity to hear music using several instruments discussed in the lecture.

Instrumental music in traditional folk songs is composed from four types of instruments: wind, string and bow, percussive, and plucked string. Yang Laoshi chose the most famous instrument from each of these four types to present to the students.

The Suo na is a wind instrument, requiring a great deal of breath control to play. It is very loud and there is a wide range in tone and depth. This instrument can be found in festivals and wedding ceremonies, as the sound is rich and lively. There are northern and southern styles for playing the Suo na. It looks like a mix between a flute and a trumpet’s end and is held like a recorder when played. Yang Laoshi performed “Bird Song” on the Suo na and was able to make the instrument chirp like many different kinds of birds. The students also listened to a recording of “Song to Yellow Earth” a song performed with a large Suo na which is quieter and more mournful in sound.

Yang Laoshi presented the Er hu, which is a string and bow instrument. It has a long wooden neck and the small sound chamber at its base is covered in python skin. The Er hu has two strings and the bow is made of horsehair. The Er hu has a beautiful and expressive sound. The song “Two Lakes Reflecting The Moon” is written by the most famous Er hu player in history and is about the difficult lives of street performers. A much more lively and less mournful song, also extremely popular on the Er hu is the song “Horse Racing”, which was a great hit among the students. It reminded some of the “Flight of the Bumblebees”.

The Gu zheng is a very old instrument among the Chinese. It is a plucked string instrument and is sometimes called the “Chinese piano”. It rests horizontally on two stands and sometimes resembles the sounds of a harp, though the range possible on this instrument is incredibly sophisticated. The students listened to a recording of a Gu zheng in the song, “Romantic Night on a River in Spring”.

The fourth and final instrument introduced by Yang Laoshi was also a wind instrument, the Wulu Si. This is a very popular instrument among Southern ethnic minorities, especially the Dai zu in Yunnan province. Men and women express their love for one another using the Wulu Si. One end of this instrument is a gourd and three pipes extend from the gourd’s bottom. It is also held like a recorder with the gourd top being where the player blows into the instrument. Students listened to “Bamboo Under the Moonlight” a Dai zu traditional song.

Yang Laoshi concluded his lecture saying that a traditional folk ensemble will generally have each of the above-mentioned instruments among many others, all of which are traditionally Chinese in origin. These ensembles never include instruments from outside of traditional China.

Visits to Schools Around the University

Before Monday’s cultural lecture, the group met in the lobby at 8:30am and walked to the Kindergarten just outside of the University’s gates. There are a Kindergarten, an elementary school and a junior and senior high school connected to the University, especially the University’s international school. The University’s intention in developing this relationship is that students will be cultivated from a very early age for specific language capabilities and can get the most advanced start in relation to their peers who will one day compete with them for jobs.

Each morning before the day begins, students march to the central play area of the Kindergarten and march in line, exercise and dance to songs. Teachers lead the children and teach them new steps and dances every couple of weeks. Similar activities are held at each school. The UW group has seen several college students wearing fatigue shirts and pants and marching in line, learning to stand straight and learning military-style walking and marching.

After the morning exercises, the students marched off to various classrooms and the UW students were allowed to walk around and watch classes being conducted. Aside from the large number of students per class, activities and the general feel of the school was similar to a Kindergarten in America, though bigger and with more advanced facilities.

The UW students returned to the dormitory for the education lecture and then had lunch. After lunch they walked to the middle school. At the middle school, several Chinese women talked about their lives as English teachers at the middle school. Classes range from 44 to 56 students and the students attend school from 8:30am until 5:30pm. While all schools in China have a two to two and a half hour lunch break, many of the schools require that students stay on campus during the break. This middle school, however, allows children to return home. Of the 2,000 students, only 150 to 200 stay during the lunch break every day.

One class period is forty minutes long and the students have two forty minute English classes per week. The number increases as the students get older. Though the teachers emphasized that teaching at the middle school level is more difficult than one might imagine, they also emphasized that they love their jobs and enjoy teaching at the middle school level. Before returning to the dorm, the UW group visited the high school. Not wanting to interrupt classes, the students toured the cafeteria, and dorm rooms for boarding students. They visited the sports field and were able to stand in on a study hall for a few moments. The Chinese students sang to the UW students, singing a song, which has become popular thanks to the Olympics.

The students finished up their visit and returned to the dormitory for dinner and were given the evening off to prepare for the fifth day of language classes the following morning.

Cultural Lecture: Educational System

Chen Laoshi gave the lecture on China’s educational system. She began with an overview of China’s historical precedent for education. Confucius is thought to be the most important figure in the development of China’s intellectual and educational theories. The most important event in the development of the educational system was the implementation of the examination system during the Sui-Tang dynasties.

Confucius, or Kong Zi, had three thousand disciples at the height of his career as a teacher. 72 of these disciples were well versed in his theories and could be trusted to properly spread the theories throughout China. Because of his vast following, Confucius was able to dominate the field before his death. A philosopher, he gave up hopes of a court position early in life because he was never regarded as someone worthy of the court.

His theories on teaching, studying, life were three-fold. First he believed that each human being is born into the world with the exact same potential for learning and intellectual thought. Therefore everyone has the same chance at rising in life through education. In the debate, nature versus nurture, Confucius thoroughly supported nurturing. Secondly, he felt the system of ranking should be abolished. He felt that economic background shouldn’t determine who could and couldn’t receive an education. So long as the student was willing, had the desire to learn, he should be allowed the chance.

Thirdly, an education was useless if the student did not also work on achieving virtue. In this way, he hoped to create not only intellectuals, but also gentlemen on the righteous path.

To realize his dream, Confucius adjusted the Classics, or the grouping of subjects that was at the time the preferred training for an intellectual. He removed shooting and horsemanship from the six subjects, seeing these as being too militaristic. The subjects that replaced these were the Book of Changes, known to Westerners as the I-Ching, and the Spring and Autumn Annals, which were written by Confucius.

The following is a description of each of the six subjects. First there was “Shu” or History. Confucius felt that a student had no precedent for thoughts or opinions. Therefore students must learn the ideas of their predecessors. Only then would they have a foundation for their own ideas. The second subject was “Shi” which was a combination of poetry and music. During Confucius’ time, poetry and singing weren’t separate. Poems were sung and they were considered small parables for life. The third subject was “Li” or Rules. These were guidelines for leading a person toward the righteous path through virtuous behavior. Filial piety is one such guideline from “Li”.

The fourth subject was “Yue” or Music. This subject was intended to breed culture in a gentlemanly manner. The fifth subject, as mentioned earlier, was “Yi” or Changes. Also a book of guidelines, “Yi” helped a student deal with external changes through an ability to shift internally. The concept behind “Yi” is that a person can be in tune with the constantly changing environment so long as that person remains flexible and aware of the constant shifting that cannot be stopped or forced in an opposite direction. The sixth subject was “Chunqiu”, literally “Spring Autumn”. Confucius wrote this book to teach communication skills.

A very brief summary of Confucius’ methodology involved the combination of a student’s learning, thinking and doing. Leaving one aspect out or emphasizing one too much threw the methodology off balance. He developed the system so that it later involved a synthesis of learning, asking questions, thinking, distinguishing between information offered by learning and asking, followed by action. This methodology is similar to Socrates’ system in that elicitation and facilitation were key ingredients for teachers wishing to follow Confucius’ system.

Confucius felt that a teacher should be available to help a student when he fumbled for the correct word and that he should also be present at all times when a student was close to understanding but needed a guide to reach the other side. Confucius also strongly believed in method as dictated by the kind of student. In other words, a good teacher would know each student’s strengths and weaknesses and would approach new lessons based on these, as opposed to offering one method and expecting each student to excel under the same style of teaching.

Above all else, Confucius demanded that a student be self-motivated. Without this, nothing could be done to help the student along. Confucius also demanded that students, disciples, teachers all aspire to self-awareness, or a complete well-roundedness. This was attained through the constant application of six aspects: first one should set a goal and never be idle. Then, one must overcome oneself (laziness, wastefulness, etc) being strict with oneself and tolerant of others. Next a person must use self-motivation to practice things learned from book studies, as with taking knowledge into the field and testing it. Then a person was warned to be moderate, avoid extremes and remain in the middle of any situation. Next a person must be self-critical. Finally a person should make changes whenever they noticed a weakness of character, always working towards gaining righteousness.

The perfect role model in Confucius’ mind never tired of studying and remained a student throughout life, and a teacher never tired of teaching. The model teacher showed students that he, too, was a student and worked hard to show students what kind of energy should be dedicated to study and work. A good teacher also loved and protected students and learned from students.

Aside from having significant influence on the educational system itself, Confucius also influenced the way in which people cultivated the intellectual, virtuous life, the one that all students aspire to, as model citizens and family members.

These are all positive aspects of Confucius’ system. As with everything in life, there are negative aspects as well. Though these were the tenets of Confucius’ doctrine, his primary goal was to serve the ruling class. As such a servant, deep in his heart he did look down on the lower classes. He didn’t know anything about agriculture and deemed it a worthless subject for an intellectual to pursue. As a teacher, he felt that his students should leave behind manual labor after finishing their studies, even though many who came to him had no chances of finding work as officials or members of court and their only option was to return to agriculture.

Confucius was an influential figure for the educational system. An influential event occurred between the Sui and Tang dynasties when the recommendation system was replaced by the examination system. Before this time, officials and members of court were chosen based on nepotistic connections and bribery. Intelligent people of a lower class had little chance of moving up in life. The examination system leveled the playing field.

There were the “Chang ke” or general examination and the “Zhi ke” or specialized examinations, the problems of which were generally issued by the Emperor himself. Specialized examinations were for law, accounting, secretarial work, poetry and literary fields.

In order to advance, a man would take the test at the lowest, county level. If he passed he would proceed to the next level. There were many levels all the way up to court officials. The process could take many years and sometimes there were man who had started the process a decade before they finally received a post, especially if they continued doing well on the examinations.

This system was eradicated during Mao’s tenure because it was seen as unfair and lengthy in its process. However, after Mao the system was reinstated. It became a negative aspect of education because teachers focused, at all levels on the information needed to pass the test only and not on independent thought. Rote memorization became a universal process in education. Also, depending on what society is lacking, the system focuses on filling these societal gaps. If there is a great need for computer technicians then that is what is offered as a degree for students. This system is changing very slowly; there are a handful of colleges that do not require students to choose a major before entering college. The system is being changed so that it emphasizes individual interest more and social need less.

In more remotes areas of the country, the system reached mythic proportions. A person who can manage to pass even the first examination is extremely revered. There is a story of a man who took the test when he was twenty and failed. His father-in-law, a butcher, berated and harassed him. Each year, the man retook the test and failed. With each passing year, his father-in-law would treat him more and more harshly. Finally, when the man was fifty-four, he passed the test. But upon hearing the news, he went crazy and fell into a trance. People in his village went to the butcher and said, “You alone can rouse him. He’s been so afraid of you all these years. You go and wake him up.” The butcher replied that he couldn’t possibly disturb his son-in-law, as he was important now, having succeeded. The people continued to urge the butcher along and finally he walked up to his son-in-law and touched him on the shoulder. The man didn’t move a muscle but the butcher lost the ability to move any of the joints in his hand, it was frozen stiff before him. He lost his ability to cut meat and the family sunk into poverty because no one was working.

Chen Laoshi next spoke of the central government’s approach to education today. The main focus is on increasing the 95% attendance rate to 100%. In China, education through ninth grade is compulsory. In the autonomous regions, among many ethnic minorities, this law is still not completely followed. Also, in the cities, among extremely poor families, the parents will keep children away from school, as there are often fees that the families cannot afford. The government is working on these problems. The three goals for future development are making, at least education through ninth grade, accessible and popular, strengthening vocational education and raising the quality of higher-level education since more and more students are accessing colleges. The government wants to make sure that the colleges are competitive so that students will become functioning members of society afterwards.

Chen Laoshi’s lecture gave the students a taste of the very complex history surrounding China’s educational system, as well as a look at the challenges facing such an entrenched methodology.

Family Day

The students met in the lobby at 9am on Sunday morning. Each student was then paired up with a Chinese high school student and his or her family. The high school students are all students of English at the foreign language high school connected to GXNU. The school is exceptionally good, with a very good reputation throughout the province and the students’ mastery of English was incredible.

Each student from the University of Washington got to have a unique experience because even though the Chinese students were told to take their visitors to their homes, many of their families chose to entertain the UW students outside around Guilin first. Some students visited parks that the UW group hasn’t yet been to, others visited other caves like the Reed Flute Cave and still others were treated to steak dinners. Other students had a much quieter experience, visiting a Chinese home. Some students came back talking of family lunches where three or four generations came together to have the Sunday afternoon meal together.

Every UW student returned completely amazed by the work ethic of his or her new Chinese friend. Many of the Chinese students have been working towards a career related to foreign languages since kindergarten. GXNU has an experimental kindergarten, elementary school and high school connected to it so that younger students at all ages can have access to the best opportunities to study foreign languages. These students have no other interest and will study nothing else but foreign language in college. Almost every UW student returned telling of how his or her new Chinese friend wants more than anything to go abroad. The Chinese students are still only 14 and 15 years old and their families are very uncertain about letting their children go abroad at only 18 years of age, but the students are still very determined.

Many of the goodbyes between UW students and Chinese students were somewhat sad, but the high school children will be invited to the farewell party and everyone will have another chance to talk and visit.

That evening the group went to the LiJiang Theater to see a performance of singing, dancing, acrobatics and other tricks all showcasing the great cultural variety of the ethnic minorities of Guangxi province.

Hongyan Cun “Redrock Village” – a Model Agricultural Village

The next morning, students packed and boarded the bus early. Breakfast consisted of delicious buns purchased from a restaurant just opening when the bus pulled up. The buns were steamed flour with various fillings: lotus, sesame seed paste, sugared peanuts and spicy pork to name a few.

After breakfast, the students rode to Hongyan Cun, or “Redrock Village”. The village is built in the center of a huge expanse of persimmon trees and all of the farmers live in the village together. It was built with government funding and is a model village, attempting to be sustainable and environmentally friendly. Students toured the village, seeing all of the various crops grown and keeping an eye out for ripe persimmons. It just happened to be mere weeks too early for persimmons, but the students weren’t fazed. In the end, one or two were plucked from trees and everyone who wanted to try was able to get a taste.

A family in the village hosted lunch for the students after a bamboo rafting trip and a hike up the sloping mountain with its tiny pagoda-like shelter beckoning students to climb up for a quick visit.

The drive back to Guilin was a little under four hours. Students hunkered down and slept most of the way home. Upon returning to campus, dinner was served and the group was given the night off afterwards.

Weekend visit to Gongcheng

After Liao Laoshi’s lecture, the adventure for the day was to venture to a town and visit the Yao zu in Longshen, a town four hours drive from Guilin. However, it had been raining for two days and the roads to Longshen were known for mudslides so the teacher’s changed the destination to Gongcheng.

Gongcheng is also densely populated with Yao zu, but because of their close relation with Han Chinese, the unique aspects of the Yao minority life have all but disappeared.

The students met in the lobby at 11:30am after collecting their overnight gear and set off for Gongcheng. After two hours, the group stopped in Yangshuo for lunch. Because Yu Laoshi had been disappointed in the Mei You Café’s beer fish from the first trip to Yangshuo, she was determined for the students to get a real taste of beer fish. On this trip to Yangshuo, the group ate at a very authentic wooden hutch overlooking the Li River. This time the beer fished arrived on a huge platter and just from the look of it, everyone knew this was the real thing.

After lunch the group continued on towards Gongcheng. Students napped in the bus, chatted, listened to music, read or studied. The changing countryside was flecked with rain and the leafy green fields showed that once out of the city, agriculture is all around. In between the vast, curiously sloping mountains, not a bit of space was wasted. Various kinds of plants made patchwork quilts across the flat plains: sugarcane, rice, grapes, oranges and persimmons. As the rice fields lessened and the orange and persimmon trees increased, the students knew they were approaching their destination.

A quick stop in the Gongcheng hotel was followed by a walk to the local Confucius temple. The temple dates back to the 17th century and is extremely rare, given that such temples were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. A guide informed students that the temple had been saved during the Revolution by a clever man in town who had covered the roofs and walls with slogans praising Mao and his desire to eradicate the “old ways”, which included large portions of Confucianism.

There was a traditional Chinese pond and bridge in the center of the temple, a large stone carp sculpture standing on the water as if leaping up to meet anyone walking on the bridge. The guide told students that while walking across the bridge, a person should think of the thing they most want in the world and the fish will grant the wish. Such superstitions were the victim of Mao’s desire to destroy old culture and old thought. He was suspicious of a person who could put all of his or her faith in such ideas.

The temple was dark and held a wooden sculpture of Confucius, seated and under a curtain, also wooden. Two disciples flanked him on either side. The robes were brightly colored and the paint on the sculptures seemed fresh. In China, it seems, preservation is a less subtle art than in Europe where an original sculpture, no matter how faded, would never be re-painted.

After visiting the temple, students were taken to another, smaller temple nearby. This temple was erected in honor of a great warrior, famous from the ancient Chinese epic, “The Three Kingdoms”. As students were finishing up the tour of this temple, it began to rain. Many students went back to the hotel to wait for dinner, but several chose to explore the small city of Gongcheng. The hotel happened to be located on the main street and aside from small bakeries, convenience stores and restaurants, the city provided little to do or see. As for ethnic minorities, the students themselves were the most different looking people around and several Chinese stopped on the streets to stare curiously after them.

Dinner was to be held outside of the hotel. Students met in the lobby at 6pm and boarded the bus. The driver took the group to the edge of a smaller river than the Li and students left the bus and walked to a small, two-storey boat anchored by the shore. Dinner consisted of various fish dishes brought to the table raw and put into a pot of boiling water in the center. Once the fish was cooked, it was dipped in a spicy ginger sauce. The boat was a little rough around the edges and so some students drank beer to scare the bacteria away. Even with this small precaution, many students became ill while on the trip to Gongcheng. No matter the care paid to preparation, the further and further one gets from large cities, the more and more foreign bacteria there are that weak American stomachs just aren’t used to. After dinner, students returned to the hotel and went to bed, having already seen what Gongcheng had to offer in the way of entertainment.

Cultural Lecture: Ethnic Minorities

A teacher of history, travel, tourism and culture, Professor Liao gave the ethnic minorities lecture for the students Friday morning. Professor Liao began the lecture with a short video clip of a woman singing a song about the Zhuang group, the largest of the minority groups in China, and also the group that Professor Liao is a member of. The Zhuang zu (group) is mostly located in Guangxi province.

There are 56 ethnic groups in China, with the majority being Han Chinese, a classification that evolved during the Han dynasty. Among the 56 groups, 18 of these have a population of about one million, with Zhuang being the most populous of these. There are 15 groups with a population between one hundred thousand and one million. There are 22 groups with a population below one hundred thousand and the smallest populated group in southeastern Tibet, known as the “Luo Ba Zu”, has a population of less than three thousand people.

Although the distribution of minority groups covers the entire map of China, the heaviest populated areas are at the border regions of China and her neighboring countries. There are five autonomous regions in China, which are between central Eastern China and her neighboring countries. These regions form a large “C”. Also important about the border regions is the overlap. Where China shares a border with Korea, Koreans live, and and there are Chinese living on the Korean side. The same is true for Vietnam, Afghanistan, etc.

From the 1950s, it took forty years for the Chinese government to identify fifty-five minority groups. In the 1990s, once the government recognized that fifty of these groups and 75% of their population resided in the West, a government policy was adopted in which expansion and development were sent westward. At this point, the Han areas of China, the central and Eastern parts, were very prosperous and wealthy. The “Great Development of the West” policy hoped to bring this prosperity to the West through, “equality, mutual help and prosperity”.

From 2000 to 2005, the GDP increased by 10.2% with this new policy in place. 969 villages were given electricity by the central government. 32 million people’s drinking water problems were solved by the central government. Liao Laoshi emphasized that the policy has only helped minorities in the western part of the country.

What follows is a list of minorities as presented in the second portion of Liao Laoshi’s lecture. Han zu is the biggest ethnic group in China, and it is the most populous group of people in the world. There are Han Chinese scattered around many countries all over the world. Man zu, known as Manchu in the West, are located in the northeastern part of China, known as Dongbei. The last Qing emperor, the “last” emperor of China, was Manchurian. The dress known as a qipao in China, and known as a symbol of Chinese clothing in the West is not Han zu but actually Man zu in origin.

Mangu zu, or Mongolian, came into Chinese history in the Yuan dynasty when they ruled China. Kubla Khan is probably the most famous Mongolian and is said to have fought in battles all the way to Europe. This group practices Buddhism and had a strong horse culture at one time.

There is a Russian ethnic group along the borders of China and Russia. They are known for excellent singing and dancing. The Uigurs come from Xinjiang province and are also known for excellent singing and dancing. In Turpan you can find the most delicious honeydew and grapes in the world. Uigurs practice the Muslim faith.

The Tibetan minority, although mostly situated in Tibet, can also be found in Sichuan, Gangsu, and Yunnan provinces. They practice Buddhism, mostly live on the Tibetan plateau and also have a singing and dancing culture. At this point in the lecture, Liao Laoshi informs the students that the remaining minorities are much smaller in population and therefore it is important to the central government to work with these minorities to continue to help them flourish.

Qiang zu lives mostly in Sichuan and this group was hit the worst by the massive earthquake this year. This group has a very unique architectural style, living in castle-like structures built from stone and lacking iron or steel. Several of these structures were unaffected after the earthquake and now architects and geologists are studying the Qiang zu building method to learn from their success.

Yi zu lives mainly in the southwest of China in Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan provinces. This minority has a long history, having been written about, along with the Qiang zu in ancient literature and poetry. The Gulan zu and Shui zu live primarily in Guangxi province, though few are also located in Guizhou. Little is known about them, though they are foremost agriculturalists.

Miao zu lives in Guangzi, Hunan and Guizhou provinces. This group likes to wear silver ornaments and jewelry. The women’s skirts are long and have many pleats. This group is also engaged predominantly in agriculture.

Dong zu can be found in Hunan, Guangzi and Guizhou. They also wear silver ornaments and are excellent wood carvers. They have developed a special technique for preserving fish in a special marinade because they live in the mountains and cannot go to market or barter for food very often.

Yao Zu is found in Guangzi, Guangdong and Yunnan provinces. They are also in Laos, Vietnam and Thailand as well as emigrants to Canada, France and the US. They are nicknamed the “nation that likes to go abroad”. In China, they live in the mountains, wear turban-like head coverings and there are five distinct groups within Yao zu, distinguishable from their distinctly different languages and clothing styles.

In Longshen, a terraced region of Guangxi province, live the Hongyao or “Red Yao”. The Hongyao wear red clothes that they dye themselves and the women keep their hair very long, well below the knee. Gongcheng is another area in Guangxi with a group of Yao, known as Pindi Yao, which means “Yao who live in the plains”. This group is much more difficult to distinguish as a different ethnicity. Because they live in the plains, among Han, they have adopted modern dress, Mandarin or Guangxi’s dialect, and in making these distinctions between groups, Liao Laoshi introduced one of the complex difficulties of intercultural mixing, “Hanization”.

Zhuang zu are the most populous of the 56 ethnic minorities, mostly living in Guangxi. There are the North Zhuang and the South Zhuang, who have slightly different dialects, dress and cultural dances and songs. The Heiyi Zhuang or “Black clothes Zhuang” are very famous for their traditional songs and dances. The Zhuang live by the water because they grow rice and catch fish.

Mao Nan zu lives mostly in Guangxi, but can also be found in Guizhou. They are known for their very beautiful bamboo hats, which are a token of love, given to someone’s chosen lover.

Jing zu are immigrants from Vietnam. As fishermen, their lives and work are connected to water and they have a vibrant culture of singing and dance all related to water. They are known for playing a single-stringed instrument called the Qin.

Liao Laoshi finished up his lecture with a reiteration of the central government’s policy on minorities, especially living in the autonomous regions of the country. The government is determined to raise the living standard of the West through mutual benefit. Some students were curious whether this had positive affects on cultures, which were able to thrive primarily because of lack of direct contact with the outside world. The question of Hanization re-emerged.

Liao Laoshi presented his opinion that the benefits outweighed possible costs, especially since the government, in his eyes, is very concerned about maintaining cultural diversity. He gave himself as an example of the benefits of the government’s projects. As a minority person, he lived in a very small county and received a very poor education. When he took the entrance exam for college, he was given an extra 20 points on his score, which allowed him entrance into a university. Even one point on the test can mean stepping in front of thousands of other students hoping to enter a university. Liao Laoshi’s first year in college was very difficult, but he was thankful to the government for giving him the chance and he worked hard and was able to excel in school, doing so well that he was asked to join a graduate program without having to take the entrance exam.

Liao Laoshi’s concluding remarks were a plea for an international synthesis that will hopefully lead to better understanding of the central government’s position on ethnic minorities. He emphasized that among the various players – those being the Han contingent, the central government, the minorities themselves and international onlookers – there must be a mutual respect and cooperation so that the best case scenario can become a reality, and in Liao Laoshi’s eyes, as well as the central government’s, that best case scenario revolves around mutual benefit and prosperity.

Taiji

Heavy rains flooded the fourth day of language classes and so most students stayed close to the dormitory, washing clothes, studying or resting. At 5:30pm, students met in the lobby and walked to the nearby dance studio to have a Taiji (known in America as Tai-chi) lesson. The young woman who taught the students was very fluid in her movements, but also very strong and very alert.

The students lined up in rows facing the front of the studio while the teacher stood on a platform, at times facing the students, at times facing the wrap-around mirror. Students learned various stances within the greater movement of Taiji, such as “white crane showing his feathers” and “playing one stringed instrument”.

The instructor showed students that even though Taiji movements are very slow, the concept behind the movements is constant protection of the body from attack. Taiji is known as a martial art, even though the movements don’t appear to have any aggression behind them.

Midterms and Jiaozi

On Wednesday, the students attended the culinary arts cultural lecture and then returned to the dormitory for the midterm test from 2pm to 4pm. After the test, the students went back to the culinary arts kitchen and learned how to make Jiaozi, also known as dumplings.

Jiaozi are very important for Chinese families during festivals. The families will make as many as they can because the dumplings represent prosperity, so the more a family makes, the more prosperity they can look forward to. The UW student “family” made as many Jiaozi as they could, but still didn’t make enough to satisfy twenty-two hungry stomachs so the kitchen prepared many, many more for the students’ dinner.

After the Jiaozi dinner, students returned to the dormitory to celebrate having survived the midterm after only a week and a half of classes!

Chinese Singing Lessons

The 3rd day of language classes was completed by an evening singing lesson. Although students were concerned about studying for the midterm to be held the following afternoon, they managed to get together for an hour after dinner to learn two traditional Chinese love songs. The first, “Moli hua” – “Jasmine Flower” – is usually sung by a woman to her lover. The second, “Ni wen wo ai ni you duo shen” – “You ask how deep my love for you is” – is usually sung by a man to his lover.

The students were taught to sing the two songs by a music professor at the University. A young man, he made a good impression on the students and they learned the songs very quickly.

After singing the songs several times, the students listened to famous versions and then the music teacher played some other Chinese music that is more contemporary. Even now, a week later, the students enjoy singing the two songs they learned whenever they are together in a large group. For the mid-autumn festival celebration in a week, the students will sing these two songs for GXNU students at the festival.

Chinese Medicine Excursion

The students traveled to a hospital after lunch on the day of the traditional Chinese medicine lecture. Upon arriving at the hospital, the students were taken to a room where they watched an older woman being placed into traction on a hospital bed. The students were told that the woman had arrived at the hospital three days before and couldn’t walk. Having gone through three days of traction treatments, she was walking again and feeling much better. Her husband sat in the room with her while she underwent the treatment.

Students were separated into two groups for visiting the traditional medicine prescription center. A man in a white lab coat explained where the various herbs and plants used in traditional medicine prescriptions came from. He informed the group that the Ginseng used in China mainly comes from fields in the mid-western states of America. It is also the most expensive of the ingredients because of the long journey it must make before finding a home in teas and poultices.

One student asked whether choice of treatment belonged to the patient or the doctor, as the hospital had prescription centers for both traditional medicine and Western medicine. The technician responded that treatment was up to the patient. He noticed that several students were surprised by this answer and used pregnant women as an example, stating that many women don’t trust Western medicine when they are pregnant, afraid that the chemicals will hurt the baby’s development. In these cases, the patients much prefer taking herbal, natural treatments.

After both groups had finished viewing the prescription center, Qin Laoshi hosted another dinner off campus. This dinner consisted of hotpot with mutton and various other dishes, both familiar favorites and new delicacies. Once dinner was finished, the group piled into the bus and departed for the masseuse.

The students arrived at a facility that could easily accommodate one hundred people at a time for massage therapy. Qin Laoshi hosted a foot massage experience that involved reflexology and hot-cupping. Reflexology is a form of massage that, while physically focusing on the feet, actually massages many of the internal organs because humans have pressure points in the feet that correspond to almost all parts of the body.

Hot-cupping is a toxin-reducing procedure where a piece of fiber is lit on fire and dropped into a round, glass cup that is then suctioned to the skin. The suction comes from the fire dying as the oxygen disappears. The sensation is very awkward and though it doesn’t hurt, it can be very uncomfortable the first time. Some students imagined that the hour long experience would be stress reducing, but many felt more stressed out after the massage and especially after the hot-cupping. Several students have returned to the massage facility in search of a more traditional body massage since that first night.

Cultural Lecture: Culinary Arts

The cooking lecture was held in a building off campus and was given by Quan Laoshi. He began his lecture with a lesson in the kinds of cooking styles most common in China, as well as informing students about how to appreciate Chinese culinary styles.

Cooking in China has evolved from roasting, stone cooking, and copper cooking to stainless steel, which is used today. There are 3000 ingredients available to Chinese chefs and over 500 spices and seasonings. China is a vast country and the various regions add their own style of cooking to the options available to Chinese chefs. There are over 100 different cooking techniques and 40 ways of chopping, cutting ingredients.

When learning to appreciate what Chinese culinary arts have to offer, there are six elements to consider: color, freshness, aroma, taste, shape and texture. In order to appreciate Chinese food, a combination of the senses is in order. There is a greater emphasis on the color of ingredients in determining nutritional value and freshness, as well as the best way for preparing ingredients. The simple decision of whether to cook using low versus high heat can amount to whether a dish will ultimately be worth eating or not.

While there are ten cooking styles taught in culinary training, there are essentially for major regional differences. The first comes from Shandong province, the home of Tsingtao beer, Confucius and the Yellow River. This style is called “Lu Cai” and it is known for capability with both clear and creamy soups. The senses are focused on pure taste, thick texture, color, freshness, crispness, softness and purity. It is prized for its eclectic mixture of focuses.

The second style comes from the far Western part of the Yangtze River and is known as “Sichuan Cai”, or Sichuan style. This style focuses on spiciness and pungency. “Su Cai” is the third style and comes from the lower, Eastern part of the Yangtze River, around Shanghai. This style focuses on freshwater fish and seafood, and delicacy in cutting, preparing of ingredients and a light flavor.

The fourth main style is “Yue Cai” from Guangdong and also known as Cantonese style. This style focuses on seafood and a fresh taste and is constantly reforming style and method to continually perfect their art of cooking.

Quan Laoshi repeated to the group that the most outstanding feature of Chinese cooking is the vast number of ingredients used and the endless possibility of tastes created with the number of spices and seasonings available. Once he had finished his lecture, he took the students into his kitchen and showed them how to cut and prepare a number of ingredients for the list of dishes the group had decided on earlier in the week.

He cut up a chicken for the group, as well as small slabs of pork. He cut tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, glass noodles, garlic and ginger (having a special and delightful smashing technique with the side of his cleaver), tofu and onions, celery, carrots, and on and on. The students also watched as the huge cookers were lit and prep chefs used large woks to prepare the food cut and chopped by Quan Laoshi. Once all of the food was prepared, the students were able to sit and enjoy the huge meal prepared with love and care and devotion to the culinary art form.

Cultural Lecture: Traditional Medicine

Chen Laoshi, a professor of traditional medicine with a focus on sports medicine gave the third cultural lecture of the exploration seminar. Throughout his career, Chen Laoshi has focused on and taught courses in massage, physical therapy, and sports medicine. He has written textbooks on sports injury recovery through traditional medicine and injury prevention and diagnosis through traditional methods.

Today’s lecture will focus on Chinese medicine and massage because Chinese medicine is quite complicated, with 36 mandatory subjects and four years of required classes prior to rotations and internships. Students are also required to learn the history of traditional medicine, must read ancient literary works on this topic, and must learn how to perform diagnoses the Chinese way, as well as learning how to perform Western medicine.

The classifications of doctors are almost exactly as they are in the West, with pediatricians, obstetricians, internal medicine doctors, etc. But the most popular classification both within China and internationally is Acupuncturist/Masseuse. Chen Laoshi has lectured on these subjects in America, Holland and Vietnam.

There are three categories of traditional medicine treatments: herbs, animals (snakes, crabs, leeches, and scorpions are examples shown in today’s lecture), and minerals, which are mostly used in external application only and are rarely used today.

There are many common herbs used in today’s medicine applications that have been used in Chinese medicine for millennia. Ginseng or “Renshen”, looks like a human being and is used when one is feeling weak. This herb is too “hot” for a strong, healthy person. “Dangwei” looks like ginseng and is generally used in women’s health applications. “Goji” berries are good for skin and especially for women; you make a tea from them. Dates are good for the brain, the heart and good for women because of loosing blood each month. “Chuifengteng” looks like a small length of wood from a slender tree. It is used by minority cultures, along with “Huangqi” and “Shouwu” for back pain. These three ingredients boiled together will cure chronic back pain. “Jue Mingzi” and “Ludou” (green beans), when boiled together are a good medicine for reducing high blood pressure. “Shouwu” has also been known to turn gray hair “black” again, according to Chen Laoshi, though he emphasized that it will only work in young people whose hair has turned white quickly due to shock; it won’t work for older people.

Chen Laoshi emphasizes using healthy, natural remedies instead of man-made solutions to health problems. He especially comments to the women in the class that makeup and hair dye are no good. Also, he tells the women that the position that the body is forced into when wearing high heels actually changes the shape of the uterus making it more difficult for women to give birth.

Continuing with the herb lecture, Chen Laoshi introduces “Baiguo”, which are a Guilin specialty product. These are Ginkoba tree nuts and are good for dizziness, vertigo. The nuts are peeled and a small black seed, which is poisonous, is removed from the center. The remaining nutmeat is mixed with rock candy, crushed together and mixed with hot water to make a drink. “Tainqi” is an herb used for boosting blood supply and is very useful for those with anemia.

Though many animals and animal parts have a long tradition of use in Chinese medicine, Chen Laoshi only brought a few examples for today’s lecture. For stomach problems, the hard, shell-like piece inside of a squid is crushed into a powder. “Zhebeimu” is a root that looks like a snail’s shell. These are ground together with the squid powder and made into a drink by mixing hot water. Leeches are used in China for sports injuries, especially to reduce swelling. Also, one dried leech and a human placenta taken together are good for stroke victims, to bring back movement. Bear’s gall bladder is used to treat Hepatitis A, fever, pimples and itchy skin. Microwave three small scorpions for hand or foot joint pain.

“Anmo” or massage has a long history in China, examples of application dating back thousands of years. The three uses in today’s application are for curing diseases, preventative massage and sports massage. Because of doping and drugging fears during the Olympics, sports massage was used to cure injuries.

Chen Laoshi showed the students several ways to cure various chronic body pains with massage: neck pain, headaches, back pain, and leg and joint pain. He was also able to tell what students were suffering from by looking at their ears, a technique widely used in traditional medicine. Chen Laoshi emphasized that while Western medicine relies on expensive, complicated machinery, all Chinese doctors are required to know how to diagnose by looking at a patient’s ears.

The final portion of Chen Laoshi’s lecture touched on acupuncture, which is a complicated art form in itself. He showed students the various kinds of needles used and explained that there are two kinds of acupuncture: using needles alone in pressure points, and using needles combined with heat in pressure points. Although he had been using students to demonstrate massage on, he refrained from demonstrating acupuncture, as it is a serious remedy and is only applied when really needed.

Chen Laoshi reiterated to students that almost anything that ails a person has the potential to be cured naturally. He told students that his number one favorite method for curing anything is massage and he asked students to look for natural remedies before subscribing to more complicated methods. He finished the lecture by telling students what was bothering them by looking at their ears. He was correct in every instance.

Fubo Hill and Diecai Mountain

Sunday morning the rain continued from the night before, but the group pressed on. The first stop was Fubo Hill, another of Guilin’s small mountains, also on the Li River. It must be reiterated that the city was built around these mountains and so, when one climbs to the top, one sees a city dappled with sloping shapes rising from the spread of concrete and covered in green.

Fubo Hill is as high as any of the other mountains the group had climbed before Sunday, yet its base was practically hollow, with four wide cave-like paths cut from four corners. The students were happy to escape the rain and walked down steps and through the tunnels to reach the opposite sides of the mountain. Nestled in one cove was a Buddhist temple. Although cameras weren’t allowed, students were able to peek in to inhale the incense and watch as visitors wrote incantations to ancestors or prayed to the Buddha. Several nuns wore robes of mustard or saffron color and smiled benevolently at the curious students.

On the opposite side of the mountain, through the longest tunnel was an opening out to the waters of the Li River. In a cave similar to Seven-star Park, several Buddha sculptures had been carved into the stone walls, along with other inscriptions and texts. One particularly interesting Buddha had a foot worn smooth and shiny from hand after rubbing hand. Yu Laoshi informed the students that this Buddha was the savior of procrastinators, especially students. Several of the students gave the Buddha’s foot a good rub, thinking of the impending midterm examination.

The students climbed Fubo hill, and reaching the top, were able to find the old campus and the hill climbed the previous week. They were able to get their bearings, having climbed several of the mountains up to this point and managed to find the new campus and the international dormitory before climbing back down and returning to the bus for the ride to Diecai mountain.

While no higher than Fubo hill, Diecai is shaped more like a mountain in that its elevation gain is much less drastic than the other egg-drops where one literally walks up an enormous flight of stone or marble steps, as if along a gigantic spiral staircase, in order to reach the top. The group split into smaller groups and climbed the mountain from various directions. One group visited a small bird sanctuary, which housed various songbirds from the region, as well as peacocks. One student purchased some feed and when he tried feeding a particularly aggressive peacock, was surprised to find that the cup of feed was moving and that the peacock greedily eyed the cup and not the feed scattered on the ground at its feet. Suddenly the student became aware that the cup was full of maggots and that what he thought was feed was for the maggots, not the birds. This realization led to a quick departure from the sanctuary and a desperate search for a bathroom and soap and water.

Another egg-drop climbed, the students returned to the bus with growing appetites as the rain started to wane. The students ate lunch in town at a local restaurant and afterwards were given the rest of the day off. Dinner was held back on campus in the dormitory and students shared their various adventures from around town. After dinner, while waiting for the dessert of fresh fruit, a few students sat and talked with Yu Laoshi about Chairman Mao and about China’s current position in the world and society’s thoughts and feelings in this day and age. The students that shared in this special moment were of all ages and are pursuing various degrees. It was an incredible opportunity for all to learn from each other and from Yu Laoshi. Once the fruit had been eaten and all questions had been asked, everyone departed for bed and to prepare for the second week of classes.

Li Jiang Cruise and Yangshuo

Students met in the lobby of the dormitory at 8:20am Saturday morning for the bus ride to the dock where they would embark for Yangshuo, cruising along the Li River. Some people mistakenly call it the “Lijiang River”, which translates as “Li River River” because “jiang” means “river”.

The weather forecast was clear and hot. Early in the morning, the sun was out but the heat hadn’t quite reached down to cause any great oppression so students were quite optimistic about the river cruise. The bus ride to the dock was less than an hour and after going through a makeshift security checkpoint along with almost one hundred other tourists heading for Yangshuo, the UW students had a chance to mill about in the dock’s gift shop before boarding the riverboat.

The riverboat was two stories tall, with a kitchen in its rear. There were about twenty 6-person tables on the left and right-hand sides of the boat and a large deck on the 2nd storey. There was also a small, private room on the 2nd storey for 1st-class passengers. The cruise to Yangshuo takes four hours and one ticket covers lunch as well as fare.

As the boat glided along the Li Jiang, smaller boats selling fish and vegetables would pull up to the boat’s kitchen and peddlers would sell their wares, which were to become lunch for the students on board. Also on the river were several bamboo rafts manned by one or two young men. The men used long poles to move about on their rafts and would do a little dance with the large riverboat as it approached them in the water, eventually pulling along side the riverboat, throwing a rope over a post and using the opportunity to hawk gems, crystals, jade objects, straw hats and other wares. Their rafts put them at the level of passengers inside the boat, and after several cries and taunts for suggested bargains, they would usually find a willing customer.

It is said that long ago, men would raft up and down the Li Jiang, searching for a mate through song. They would call up and down the banks at twilight, and if a woman were willing, she would sing back in response. If the singing seemed a good match to both, the man would pitch his raft to shore and take away his new bride. There was little singing coming from the rafts on this day, save when a hawker had managed a good sale with an easy customer.

Throughout the cruise, a waiter went through the cabin offering passengers various libations. While coke and sprite and beer were the typical fare, he also hoisted a large decanter crammed full of various snakes of different size and color. Swimming in alcohol, the dead snakes are said to excrete a potent chemical that gives vitality to the drinker of this strange mix. One student purchased a glass and passed it around for others to try. Resembling formaldehyde, the potion doesn’t sell on taste alone.

Lunch was served an hour before arriving in Yangshuo. Students returned to the lower level to enjoy various dishes prepared with vegetables and fish taken from along the Li Jiang. While sitting at the table, it was impressive to notice the constant change of the landscape on either side of the boat. The river isn’t too wide and along each bank, the scenery was constantly changing. At times, a field would span out from the bank, water buffalo basking in the verdant shore grasses. At other times a sheer cliff wall leaped from sky to water in one vertical swoop. The egg-drop shaped mountains and hills rose at different heights and from various distances so that no two were the same in color. The greens, blues, purples, and grays changed with every turn in the river and shone brightly when the sun peeked out from behind swiftly moving clouds.

The riverboat arrived in Yangshuo just as several others were arriving and the dash to dock was cacophonous with peddlers approaching tourists and tour guides shouting into loudspeakers. The UW group moved quickly through the streets by the dock and broke into smaller groups in order to shop in Yangshuo’s market streets. Several of the female students purchased clothing known specifically in Guangxi Province as being a local style.

It being noon when the students arrived in Yangshuo, the full force of the sun’s heat had reached the ground and while some students couldn’t be dissuaded from shopping no matter the temperature, others focused on cooling off. These students found their way to Kentucky Fried Chicken to enjoy the air conditioning, the clean bathrooms and the best and cheapest coffee available in China.

Students were given an hour for shopping. Afterwards, several students rented bicycles, some rented tandem bicycles to give the experience of bicycle riding in China an extra, added thrill. Yangshuo is known for its fabled rice fields, tucked away between the sloping, awkwardly spaced mountains, and the best way to visit them is by bicycle. The group tried its best to keep together, weaving through traffic ranging from other cyclists to large eighteen-wheelers carrying huge machinery and loose gravel and sand.

At one point the cyclists crossed a bridge over a small river and paused at its banks for a quick rest. This particular spot was a destination for tourists wishing to take a raft ride up or down a river between rice fields, but the raft trips were excessively expensive and so the group snapped some photos and moved on. Some students returned to Yangshuo’s center while other students continued further out into the countryside. These students passed cave entrances, saw small, seemingly forgotten bridges hung between two mountains, and witnessed the peace of the rice fields and the villages outside the bustle of Yangshuo.

Returning to the town center after the bike ride, some students chose to continue shopping while others enjoyed a quick massage before dinner. Students met at the “Mei You” (Don’t Have) café for dinner and then returned to Guilin by bus that evening. As the two-hour ride approached its end, the rain came down and stayed in Guilin through the next day.