Multiple Event Week in and out of Xi'an

I discovered something important about China Post after Karen and Elaine headed out in their taxi for the airport: You may not mail an item that is fragile or that looks like it might possibly be an antiquity. On amount of my pantomiming—as good as it is—can sway a postal worker in Xi’an to bend his rules. Not only was Karen’s vase fragile but I didn’t have the right kind of receipt to prove its being new. It was a good thing Karen didn’t carry it with her to the airport; she’d have been stuck there with it.

I decided the best thing for me to do was to first sort out the problem of the receipt, then figure out what to do with the vase after. Doing so necessitated a return to the West Market and the Shaanxi craft shops where Karen bought the one-of-a-kind item. After an hours wait, the manager finally produced two official looking documents. Mission accomplished on my way back I was figuring how to talk the postal clerk into now shipping the box when I remembered that Karen and Elaine were returning to Xi’an with their tour on Thursday evening. I decided to pack Karen’s box with some small, fragile Terracotta Warrior figures and a few other delicate items in a small suitcase we were anxious to get home and meet the gals at the hotel and have Karen take them with her. It seemed the best solution.

Thursday evening saw John and me at the Golden Flower Hotel to await the arrival of the Fun For Less groups coming in from the airport. We arrived early and had dinner in the restaurant while we waited. It was such fun to see them again for a few minutes and to learn that they had made it to the airport after our late start Monday morning still went just fine. Oh happy day! Karen willingly agreed to roll the bag along with them and I was relieved to turn it over, promising her one of our two Terracotta figures if they both made it home ok.

Elaine was glad to head for bed after their big day of traveling, but Karen was game for another outing to the Muslim Market. We sent John back to JiaoDa to attend English Corner and conference with his students as well as to make my apologies for missing. Karen, I with Julie & Dave Monson, Julie’s friends and cousins all hopped in cabs and headed out.

We had fun once more poking around the shops. Karen was able to get her cloisonné Christmas stars and both of us bought more jewelry bags. It was a fun outing. Getting them all back to the hotel was tricky. Finding taxis is never easy at night and on top of it, none of the travelers had picked up a hotel card with the hotel information on it. All I could do was point at the location on the map and send them off, hoping they would make it.

John and my next few days have been spent getting our mission papers filled out, the medical forms scanned to doctors back home requesting that they fill them out for us, in hopes that the mission committee members will recognize that if we could survive a year in China, we would be able to handle a mission as well. John also called and talked with Mark Woodruff who works in the missionary department, and was assured that he would walk them through for us after we alert him they have been sent in.

By Saturday morning we had received the medical and dental forms signed and scanned back to us as well as statements about John from Dr. Richard Schmidt in SLC and Dr. Jack Bennett at NIH. I then scanned the entire packets and send them on to President Toronto in Beijing.

Like many things that are feared, the filling out of the forms as not as daunting as at first it seems. It is good to have them send. We also heard back from President Toronto and have our interviews scheduled with him, over SKYPE, a week from Sunday at 5:00 pm. We are grateful to have that mode of communication so that we don’t have to take another trip to Beijing for them.

Friday in the afternoon, I met Elaine and Karen at their hotel and headed out for Kung Fu Lu to explore. It was not far from their hotel and gave them the chance to experience it. We poked around in shops of jade and the strands to string it with, found my belts, and added embroidered Christmas, fish, ornaments for Karen to take home. After a couple of hours of wearing us all out, we returned to the hotel for a good visit. It has been such fun to have them here for a brief time. Tonight they attend the Tang Dynasty dinner and show before heading out to the airport once more. (They won’t return to Utah until June 3, going first to Wuhan, then by cruise ship to Chongqing.) They assure us that the best part of their trip has been their time in Xi’an with me. It makes me happy to know they feel that way.


Saturday was a lovely cool morning and I got up early to hop a bus to XISUs south gate to meet Monsons, Karen, and the Phillipis, along with their students who were going to tour us to their home town of HuXian, also the home of the farmer artists. Over the two hour bus ride I got a lot of my evaluation papers graded—a useful outing!

Once in HuXian, Vivian and Melissa guided us to the small Bell Tower they have and then took us to the artist’s village. Previously the girls had made arrangements for a luncheon place, with foods grown from the proprietors’ gardens. It was very yummy. Following our luncheon we visited a display hall which housed many, many of the artist’s award winning work. I was so glad to have come to see. I bought only a book of the history of the artist and one small painting. The experience was awesome.

It was interesting getting out of Xi'an to see how other outlying areas in China look. It makes such a contrast with modernity when we encounter they Chinese still doing what they have done for centuries.

On our way home, I feel asleep and was unaware of much of anything until we arrived back in Xi’an. My last stop for the day was a quick trip to Metro then another bus home. It was so good to get home but I was so soooo glad to have gone.

I am trying to fit a lot of things in that are close by Xi’an before leaving. John is generally not up to going out on long distance bus trips but looks forward to my returning with a bunch of pictures and details about the outing.

When Monday arrived looking cool and a little rainy I decided it was to the day to go to the huge Xi’an Expo for which our university gave us 100 yuan tickets. After a couple of false starts I finally found the right place to go to catch a bus, arriving about 9:30 after leaving at 8:00.


It was fun to see all the provincial sites—each was really lovely with gardens and buildings to represent the best of that location. I rented a bike there to cover the massive grounds and made a quick circuit of the major sites, but skipping those with long, long lines—like the panda and golden monkey houses. I’m sure Brent Gledhill would have gotten a lot more out of the horticultural aspects but I was there as his proxy and it was fun to have gone. I would not have liked to have missed it, but was glad John didn’t try to walk or ride through it.

The time is fast slipping by before the term ends and we leave China—at least for now. It has been and continues to be a wonderful experience.

Arrivals in Xi'an and Ogden

We were home from Beijing just three days before we had two very important, happy events in our lives—both occurring on May 19. The first one we had known about, and had been looking forward to, for months—the arrival of Elaine Harris, my cousin, and Karen Tate, her daughter (and my sister-in-law), who were coming to stay with us in Xi’an before joining their FunForLess tour in Hong Kong and other points in China. We were so excited to have family come for a visit for the first time since we came to China.

I went to the airport to meet the two adventurers due to arrive at 5:00 pm. Typical of many Chinese flights, theirs was delayed, but only for 90 minutes, just time enough to indulge myself with an $18 foot massage at the airport.


Finally they arrived and we gathered their luggage onto the airport express bus, arriving in Xi’an just as the lights were lit on the city wall making their welcome magical. John was waiting at home to greet us. After a quick tour of our happy hovel, we enjoyed dinner and a visit together.

Just before leaving for the airport, we received an email from David alerting us that Chi had gone into labor--five weeks early--and was now at the hospital. Kymora Joslin made her appearance at McKay-Dee Hospital in Ogden, arriving at 1:29 am, May 19 (Utah time), weighing in at 5 lbs 4 oz, 19" long. We were delighted that Chi was able to have her naturally after her C sections with her last babies. Mom and baby both were doing well though Kymora was kept in the hospital a couple of days for observation to make sure she was okay. We were excited to get the pictures that David sent.

Meanwhile back in China, it was fun to have Karen and Elaine stay with us. This was the only time we have had guests and things worked out just great with Elaine in the guest bed, Karen on the couch, and all of us juggling around our one bathroom.

Friday morning our early-rising guests were up and ready to go, not giving jet lag any attention at all. I had assumed they would stay home and rest while I went to teach my early oral class but they chose to come with me and it was fun to have them included in the discussion with the students, who each asked them a question before we began the topic for the day—a focus on process and giving instructions.

After class our next stop was the police station to register their passports before we headed out on our adventures. I had promised to show them parts of Xi’an tourists don’t generally get to visit—avoiding the Terracotta Warriors and the Xi’an city wall that they would see when they came again to Xi’an with their tour. Because of the drizzle, we began by hopping a crowded city bus and heading for the Drum Tower, and the Muslim market and mosque at Beiyuan Lu.

We wandered the alley ways with their brightly colored wares of Pashima scarves, Chinese clothing, and other Chinese and Muslim souvenirs until we came to the side street leading to the 1,000-year-old Chinese mosque. There we left the bustle of buying and bargaining and enjoyed walking the quiet paths and seeing the unique architecture with its blend of two cultures.

Back in the market we arrived at my favorite shop—a jewelry store with its designer owner. There we enjoyed seeing the jade, lacquer, and porcelain pieces she so tastefully puts together. Elaine found treasures to take home as gifts for her daughters. It was such fun to bargain with the owner to capture really stunning pieces for very reasonable prices.

While we were out playing, John had his full load of classes but we did get together at home for lunch before we headed out once more to see the Beilin antique market—to poke around in dusty old shops to see what antique items might tempt us further. We pretty well wore Elaine out and all of us were grateful to head home to a walnut chicken/shrimp and rice dinner and a good night’s rest.

Saturday dawned cool and again a little rainy—we all agreed it was much preferable to a hot summer day though I was a little disappointed that we would not see as much along the park by the wall. Still we enjoyed our stroll and seeing the hearty souls who were exercising despite the drippy day. We even tried using some of the equipment along our route.

We all loved one of my favorite Xi'an snacks--fry bread, Chinese style--while wondering in our market street to buy fresh veggies and fruit.

Just as we arrived at the park we encountered Bethany Britton—our redhead in China— (daughter of our former branch president) who had just completed running around the entire 14 kilometers of the wall. What an intrepid soul. She had promised herself she would do so before leaving Xi’an. She has been accepted at BYU--Hawaii for next fall. Bethany has been attending our university, JiaoDa, where she studies Chinese.

After we walked along the park outside the wall we went just inside to see the Forest of Stone steles which displayed hundreds of years of stone tablets.

I had not been there myself, though Bethany and her mom, Elise, had pointed its entrance out when they took me to the artists’ street.

After our visit to the steles we moseyed down the artists’ alleyways to explore the crafts and art there, where Karen bought gifts for Andrew and found a jade piece she liked along the way before we headed back home for lunch.

After the big day Friday, Elaine chose to stay home for the afternoon to recoup a bit and work on her talk for Sunday.

Karen and I gathered up all the jade pieces that still needed to be strung and headed out for the West Market, the location where the Silk Road is supposed to have begun and which has now been built into a stunning Tang Dynasty style series of buildings, to see the Shaanxi craft displays before browsing the blanket “pawn” shops in the basement and getting her jade strung.

I love the sculpture outside the museum, even though the Chinglish spelling is a kick. It was fun to share this favorite place of mine with Karen.

We enjoyed seeing how some of the crafts are made. It is wonderful that such a beautiful facility is available to try to preserve the old skills so that they will not be lost. Among other things, we watched leather puppets being cut and pottery being thrown, before seeing the displays of the Shaanxi wares from this province.

Best of all we found the ideal gift for George—a beautiful black vase with humanity calligraphy characters of music, poetry, painting, etc. carved into it.

The manager of the shop had it packaged beautifully for Karen, promising also to email her the exact translation of the characters and a picture of the artist who made the vase and carved the characters. Finally we headed home, planning for me to mail it off at China Post on Monday, after the two left for the airport.

At home we relaxed, ate dinner, and watched Blindside, which Karen had never seen, before being glad to climb into bed.

Sunday came with rain and cool still in the air. John left for his presidency meeting early and the three of us followed in another cab an hour later. John had asked Karen and Elaine to speak in our sacrament meeting—we were both delighted to hear from them, knowing they would have wonderful things to teach us and also delighted to have a change from hearing from our own branch members, since we all get frequent opportunities to speak.

Their talks were really wonderful. Elaine spoke about learning from children and Karen about the scriptural accounts of living after the manner of happiness. They were delightful. After our meetings we went to the Village Café for lunch and then

took a taxi to the Small Blue Goose Pagoda where we spend an hour or two seeing the grounds and a little of the museum before heading home for a quiet evening while the two repacked suitcases to get ready to leave Monday morning.


After breakfast the next morning, not realizing just how big a rush hour Xi’an has, we left a bit late to get to the airport bus at the Bell Tower. It was very difficult to catch a cab and I was getting more than a little concerned that they would miss their flight. Finally we got a cab and headed for the Bell Tower planning to take the bus from there.

A mile into the trip we all decided it would be better to stick with the cab and forget the airport bus. The cab stopped and I jumped out and waved them off before finding a bus going back to my home. I did a lot of praying over the next hour that they would make it to the airport in time.

It was such fun having Elaine and Karen come to be with us. Being able to share Xi’an with family we love was a real highlight of our year. Add to that the happy, safe arrival of our little Kymora, we had a wonderful week to remember.

Beijing and Back

We've enjoyed three very busy, happy weeks full of special happenings. But I think I'll report on them in three separate entries so they can be properly highlighted!

We finally took a much looked-forward-to trip to Beijing leaving Xi'an on Friday evening May 13. We dashed to the airport right after John got out of his last class. After a two-hour flight we landed in a very different China than the one we live in. (One of our fellow BYU teachers here, after her return from Beijing, aptly said Xi'an is China's Tooele--not that Tooele isn't good. It is just Tooele by comparison.)

After our earlier visits to other very economically up-and-coming Chinese cities of Shenzhen, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, I had expected to find Beijing cleaner, more modern and generally more cutting edge than Xi'an. What I hadn't expected was to find that I felt so at home there! Beijing, like Xi'an is an ancient Chinese city, laid out like an ancient Chinese city. I'm guessing that that is the source of my comfort. Perhaps Brigham Young would have approved the layout of these two places with their grid-like logic. That said, Beijing was bigger, brighter, and faster paced than Xi'an and for us was a delightful three-day adventure. We loved even our trip into town on the airport express train.

I had booked us through the internet a well-located reasonable Chinese hotel very close by the northern entrance to the Forbidden City and also made arrangements for a bus tour to the Great Wall, Ming tombs, Jade and Silk Factories. Both bookings turned out to be great successes.

The Red Wall Hotel was certainly not posh but was clean and convenient and had a wonderful concierge who spoke English well and helped direct us to subway stations, bus lines, sites, and even an international China Post location. He was as useful to us in Beijing as Mr. Chen has been in Xi'an.

Saturday morning our tour leaders picked us up at our hotel and for 100 kuai ($15) each we with five others tourists--an Italian couple and a family of three from Taiwan--were given great value for our few dollars.

We were first driven to the Badaling Great Wall site where we took the cable car up to the wall before climbing on up to the top, where we could see some 28 kilometers of the amazing ancient wall.

We had two delightful tour guides who taught us along the way and helped us out all day. We couldn't see how they could pay for the gas for the bus for the journey, let alone for the included lunch and entrance fees.

The Great Wall was at the top of John's want-to-see-in-China list and right up there on mine. The day was beautiful with a blue sky, which stayed clear and sunny without being hot. The crowds weren't too bad and the people, both Chinese and foreign visitors were friendly and happy. Some who again wanted their pictures taken with these two Americans. We were happy to oblige them delighted with their friendliness.

I especially enjoy it when older Chinese seek our company. It isn't surprising that the young people want to talk to us--they want to practice their English on us. But the older folks who grew up with no contact with the world beyond their own and who suffered through the Cultural Revolution, wars, and famines--while we enjoyed those same years attending college, meeting, and marrying, beginning our family. These were people who suffered great hardships, yet who reach out to us with such warmth; they never cease to touch my heart.

From the Great Wall we drove to the Ming Tombs, not far from Badaling, where we saw the first and biggest of the tombs. The site was chosen by the third Ming Dynasty emperor Yongle (1402–1424), who moved the capital of China from Nanjing to the present location of Beijing.

He is credited with envisioning the layout of the ancient city of Beijing as well as a number of landmarks and monuments located therein, one being the construction of the Imperial Palace (the Forbidden City) in 1420. The Yongle Emperor selected his burial site and created his own mausoleum. The Ming tombs of the 13 emperors of the Ming Dynasty were located on the southern slope of Tianshou Mountain. From the Yongle Emperor onward, 13 Ming Dynasty Emperors were buried in this area.

The actual burial place is not known, only on the mountain beyond the mausoleum but the stones proclaim it to be his place and, our guides told us, use his special "temple name"--A name given him by his father but never used until his death, as he goes forward into the world beyond.

We always get a kick out of the odd "Chinglish" signs we find throughout China.

From the tombs we drove to the jade factory where we learned a little more about the quality and value of the diverse stone from which many beautiful things are carved by men who have devoted their lives to the art.

Jadite is the hardest and most costly but often included in this family are agate and lapis. It is all beautiful and very meaningful to the Chinese. For thousands of years, Jade has been the most sought-after jewel in the Orient. In China, people treasure it more than any other gem. There is a Chinese saying that everything has a price, but jade is priceless. It has certainly become my favorite memento to look out for in China.

We enjoyed our included lunch upstairs from the factory and display areas before leaving again--this time with the destination of another Chinese treasure--the silk factory. For some 2,000 years the Chinese kept the art of making silk to themselves until the silk road opened up and the secrets of the process made its journey to the known world beyond China. (Much later, of course, our own family history tells of Andrew Hunter Scott's being part of the early Utah silk industry.)

One of the products made of silk is a light-weight but very warm quilt composed of all silk fibers. Of course other types of linens are readily available as well, at very low prices. In addition to those is silk cloth by the tons. Seeing it makes it easy to see why the Chinese love their silk.


After our full day we were glad to get back to the Red Wall and turn in for the night. It had been a most memorable day.

Sunday we had our usual yogurt and fruit breakfast and began with a quick call home to wish Pop Laing a happy 95th birthday. His actual birthday was on May 11th but the family was together to celebrate today (Saturday May 14, in Utah).

We were so pleased that both Adam's and Chi's families were able to attend in Springville and have that chance to see Grandpa and Grandma, hear Grandpa's testimony and listen to his songs and stories. We found him in good spirits, though tired from the events of the day. He hadn't been sure he would make it to this birthday. Now he says his goal is to live until we get home in August! Who knows what his timetable will be but we are content to leave it in the Lord's hands.

After our call we headed out to the subway to find the building were the three Beijing Branches meet. We went early since we had interviews with Pres. Rogers, first counselor in the district presidency, in order to get our temple recommends signed. Ours weren't due to expire until November but since it is unlikely that John will be released as Xi'an's branch president until some time after we return home and therefore we would not be able to have those interviews with our Salt Lake bishop and stake president, we thought it the better part of valor to have our interviews now.

As branch president, it is always an interesting experience for John to interview himself and sign twice on his own recommend. It is pretty special to have him interview me as well. As in all priesthood functions, he dressed the part and performed his office with great dignity, standing in as he is for the Savior. We were delighted to have our new recommends all ready to go for the future as opportunity presents itself for us to attend the temple.

We also met with President Toronto and discussed our desire to serve a temple mission. Though at that time we didn't know whether or not we would be required to fill out missionary papers, we learned that in China everything is done on paper--no online applications as is done every where else in the Church. Just in case we would need them we made arrangements to pick up blank missionary packets the next day from Pres. Toronto's office, where he works as legal counsel for China's NBA.

After our Church meetings we went with Kyle and Mary Latimer's to their home directly behind the US Embassy, where Kyle works as legal counsel. They had invited us to dinner. It was delightful to visit with them and enjoy the good food and company.


After dinner we took the subway to the Temple of Heaven to walk the grounds of the beautiful park. It was too late to go inside but we were still glad to see it.


Monday while John worked on some editing he was doing, I picked up our tickets to the Forbidden City, took our silk quilt to the international China Post office and shipped it off home, and tracked down the NBA office to collect the packets.


When I got back we went together to wander through the massive Imperial Palace grounds that are the Forbidden City.

Built in 1406 to 1420, the complex consists of 980 buildings. From the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty--some 500 years--it served as the home of emperors and their households, as well as the ceremonial and political center of Chinese government. We spend a good portion of our remaining time in Beijing seeing just a tiny glimpse of all there was there to see.

Worn out with walking we finally arrived at the south gate looking out toward Tienanmen Square. What a place!

Our last stop before the airport was to run through Beijing's pearl market. It too got only a moment of our attention--long enough to know we would not do it any justice, or the knock-off shops housed in the other floors of the building. But we got a feel for what was there before we took the train back to the airport, glad for the hour's trip to rest our walked-off feet.

We arrived home by about 9:00 pm, put the final touches on our ppts for our classes the next morning and turned in for the night, happy that we had experienced Beijing. We feel that the sands of time for our China adventure are fast slipping away from us and we are trying to crowd in everything possible before it is over.