(Part one and two were written together, but are too long to post together. Here is the link for part two.)
I’m already at the point where I can’t remember where I’ve left off. Every day seems much longer than 24 hours (sleeping twice a day may have something to do with that). I was afraid that experiencing so much in so little time would make each part less exciting than if I had spaced these experiences out, but in reality, I savor each day like it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity. So far I’ve taken advantage of every opportunity available, made an effort to eat in the smaller restaurants where I can chat up the friendly owners directly, and somehow reserved energy for all of these things. (It’s only the beginning…)
After the camel ride, I got my well-deserved shower and short nap. We left the hotel at 1pm for the Mogao Grottos, which are a cluster of caves dug into the side of some rock terrain, and contain over a thousand year old Buddhist statues and murals. We split into two groups and a tour guide led my group around and spoke in heavily accented English.
The coolest thing I saw was a very tall (I couldn’t give you the exact meter count) statue of Buddhist. I entered the small cave opening, not expecting to see so large a statue. He was so tall that the angle had me looking straight up his nose. His right palm was faced in the “stop” position and his left was horizontal, open, and upturned. Each of these hand gestures are very meaningful in Buddhism. The other caves held paintings that had kept preserved very well. We weren’t allowed to take pictures inside (one reason everything is so well preserved) but I got a few on the outside of the cave openings. It was a very neat place.
Heading back to the Mogao Grottos, I got my first request for a picture. A man started talking to my friend, and asked us where we were from. My friend likes to call herself Korean, though technically she is a citizen of both Korea and America. My other friend lives in Hawaii but is full-blooded Chinese, so when it comes to the three of us, I’m the most interesting American. First the man took a picture with me, then he put his six-year-old daughter in the picture, and then another man who I just assume was his brother. I receive stares in Beijing, but it occurs a lot more in the smaller cities where foreigners are a rare sight. I just smile and say “Hello” back when they greet me in English.
Which reminds me of an interesting observation I’ve made. The majority of signs are only in Chinese, but a lot of times badly constructed English appears below it. It seems that English is the universal language, or at least the Chinese seem to think so. If you are foreign, then it follows that you must speak English. People will often say “Hello” to me—the only white person in the group—assuming that I am an English speaker. I wonder how other non-Chinese/English countries feel about this…
