20 July 2007
Onward to Ping Yao
We left Beijing today. We were feeling a bit sad because we have enjoyed our time here. We wish that we had just a few more days to see just a few more sights. It was during our stay here that we “recovered” the most from the 12 hour time difference... and change in climate, culture, and food ... not to mention the slight change in intestinal flora. But, I think that 
we are both looking forward to the 15th century walled Imperial city of PingYao. It is halfway between Beijing and our next city of Xi’an. It is a relative newcomer to the tourist circuit thanks to UNESCO, which placed it on it list of world heritage sites. Places that have preserved a true cultural identity (among other factors) in various parts of the globe are added to their list. This city was the site of China’s first bank. It is a completely walled in city, perhaps the last one in China. Most walls were destroyed after the Cultural Revolution. We are staying in a family run guesthouse, and comes with excellent recommendations from the Lonely Planet guide book (an almost bible for me and my travel planning.) We take the car to the Beijing air port.... no problem. When we get there Jeff and I do the usual routine... ya know, you stand guard with the bags, I will scope out where we need to go, what line, what area etc. WELL, if I do say so, it was a mad house... 
the lines seemed to go on forever, and there were zillions of people scampering around form place to place. The volume was on LOUD.... and the whole scene seemed a bit out of control. We found out later that all flights from the previous evening had been cancelled due to lightning storms... so all these people were searching for a flight onward. But to us this is what it was always like (my rational... if you are only there once, and it is like this... then it is like this 100% of the time...good logic huh. Anyway, I must say, that the Tuesday “practice lining up” for the people of China is NOT 
working. We were in line for over 30 minutes, and moved not one centimeter. We watched as numerous nationals walked (in frenetic mode) to the front of the line and shoved papers in the face of the agent, (one agent was actually escorted away holding her head and crying from the stress) then walked away with boarding passes. Yikes! I have 
never had to fight to be in line before... but, New York being in our blood, we were up to the challenge! We quickly befriended two other English speaking people from Holland. We plotted and strategized together... Jeff and the Ms. seized the opportunity to run to another line that had suddenly opened. They dared each other ever onward, to more brazen acts of getting ahead. I stayed on the original line, with the Mr. We were more traditional, we just did the best job of “cutting into line,” closer and closer both teams edged to the front of the lines... finally Jeff was up next... this mobilized me to run (while our bags were guarded by Mr.) to help the Ms. Run interference. We worked , literally from both sides of Jeff, to prevent other people from pushing to get ahead... 
and I will tell you, I really had to put my hands up high, and move them, and say no repeatedly to block people. We got our bags, our boarding passes and then we returned the favor! All in all, we were proud of ourselves. 
Hey, we made the flight! When we got to the airport our driver was waiting... holding a paper that said Henry Johnson.... that was the only English he knew. The drive was over two hours, so it was broken up by a stop at the Qiao Family House,
which is a completely intact family residence of a wealthy Ming Dynasty family.
It had many traditional courtyards and temples. It was the primary site for the filming of the movie Raise the Red Lantern (a great film in case you need a recommendation for a rental, we loved it.) 
We were in awe as we roamed the compound for close to two hours. We arrived in PingYao, and found that the place we were staying the Tian Yuan Kui Guesthouse... shared many of the same traditional courtyard features... we felt like we were staying in a 
courtyard home in the movie. (see pic to right)Tomorrow... the city of PingYao. 
This just in... the best picture of the day, my Maui and Kauai on the living room couch : - )
we are both looking forward to the 15th century walled Imperial city of PingYao. It is halfway between Beijing and our next city of Xi’an. It is a relative newcomer to the tourist circuit thanks to UNESCO, which placed it on it list of world heritage sites. Places that have preserved a true cultural identity (among other factors) in various parts of the globe are added to their list. This city was the site of China’s first bank. It is a completely walled in city, perhaps the last one in China. Most walls were destroyed after the Cultural Revolution. We are staying in a family run guesthouse, and comes with excellent recommendations from the Lonely Planet guide book (an almost bible for me and my travel planning.) We take the car to the Beijing air port.... no problem. When we get there Jeff and I do the usual routine... ya know, you stand guard with the bags, I will scope out where we need to go, what line, what area etc. WELL, if I do say so, it was a mad house... 
the lines seemed to go on forever, and there were zillions of people scampering around form place to place. The volume was on LOUD.... and the whole scene seemed a bit out of control. We found out later that all flights from the previous evening had been cancelled due to lightning storms... so all these people were searching for a flight onward. But to us this is what it was always like (my rational... if you are only there once, and it is like this... then it is like this 100% of the time...good logic huh. Anyway, I must say, that the Tuesday “practice lining up” for the people of China is NOT 
working. We were in line for over 30 minutes, and moved not one centimeter. We watched as numerous nationals walked (in frenetic mode) to the front of the line and shoved papers in the face of the agent, (one agent was actually escorted away holding her head and crying from the stress) then walked away with boarding passes. Yikes! I have 
never had to fight to be in line before... but, New York being in our blood, we were up to the challenge! We quickly befriended two other English speaking people from Holland. We plotted and strategized together... Jeff and the Ms. seized the opportunity to run to another line that had suddenly opened. They dared each other ever onward, to more brazen acts of getting ahead. I stayed on the original line, with the Mr. We were more traditional, we just did the best job of “cutting into line,” closer and closer both teams edged to the front of the lines... finally Jeff was up next... this mobilized me to run (while our bags were guarded by Mr.) to help the Ms. Run interference. We worked , literally from both sides of Jeff, to prevent other people from pushing to get ahead... 
and I will tell you, I really had to put my hands up high, and move them, and say no repeatedly to block people. We got our bags, our boarding passes and then we returned the favor! All in all, we were proud of ourselves. 
Hey, we made the flight! When we got to the airport our driver was waiting... holding a paper that said Henry Johnson.... that was the only English he knew. The drive was over two hours, so it was broken up by a stop at the Qiao Family House,
which is a completely intact family residence of a wealthy Ming Dynasty family.
It had many traditional courtyards and temples. It was the primary site for the filming of the movie Raise the Red Lantern (a great film in case you need a recommendation for a rental, we loved it.) 
We were in awe as we roamed the compound for close to two hours. We arrived in PingYao, and found that the place we were staying the Tian Yuan Kui Guesthouse... shared many of the same traditional courtyard features... we felt like we were staying in a 
courtyard home in the movie. (see pic to right)Tomorrow... the city of PingYao. 
This just in... the best picture of the day, my Maui and Kauai on the living room couch : - )
# posted by Henry @ 6:45 AM 
