A Temple Hike

Last weekend our school had an unannounced five day holiday.  Before returning home, a group of senior students planned to hike a local mountain together, Shane and I joined.

We took a bus across the bridge that connects Xintang to the neighboring town of Hengshan.  In Hengshan we ate lunch together at a restaurant that somehow managed to accommodate all of us.  What was so touching was that the students insisted on paying for everything, they wouldn't let Shane and I pay a cent.  The hike up the mountain was short and not too strenuous, especially since we kept stopping to take group pictures.  The students were happy and silly because it was their first day of break and they were responsibility-free.  As we walked, one student sang songs for me, another held my hand.

At the top of the mountain was a huge 3-storey temple.  We explored the temple, and at the top floor met the caretaker of the temple.  She gave us all incense to light, and many students prayed.  The woman then took about 50 kumquats, which had been offered to the Buddha, and gave them to all of us.  The students said eating this fruit will bring good luck for life.  The woman was so kind to the students, and the students were so respectful.  It was beautiful to watch their interactions.  The woman then took all the apple offerings and gave them to Shane and I.  While saying goodbye, I held hands with her and promised to return.  She promised to teach me more about Buddhism.

Walking back down the temple, I talked with a girl who is beginning to feel more like a friend than a student.  I think we both felt the temple visit was very special.  She decided she is going to visit that temple over every break to remind her to de-stress, slow down and find peace.  At only 16 and with limited English, this girl was able to summarize why I find myself drawn to temples in China- to slow down and find peace.

Thanksgiving

We had a homemade feast for Thanksgiving here in Hunan, complete with a broccoli casserole, stuffed mushrooms, garlic mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, green beans and Chinese-style chicken.  We had two chickens slaughtered for our meal- my first time buying live poultry in China.  Another teacher and her son, and two of my senior students joined Shane, Shobana and I for the meal.

I took a few minutes to reflect on what I am thankful for this year...

My students
What a fun couple months it has been, full of exploration and discovery, for both the students and myself.  Class is truly a collaborative experience.  We learn together, my students and I, what activities work and what activities totally flop.  They accept me, no matter the outcome, and they do what is asked with energy and curiosity.  Class is full of funny moments, but my favorites are when my students and I both find something amusing and we share a good laugh.

Halloween!

The pace of life
Last June the NY Times featured an excellent piece on America's 'Busy' Trap.  The message resonated with me and I'm now more conscious of how often I tell people I'm busy.  The pace of life here in Xintang is slower and relaxed, and I'm learning to adjust.  I get my work done, but it doesn't consume my whole day and brain.  I have time for long walks into town, blogging and reading.  I'm relatively caught up on emails and sleep.  Playing with students never gets old.  It feels great to take time to enjoy.

Beautiful scenery
The people here, adults and students alike, enjoying spending time exploring the great outdoors.  This has been a wonderful discovery.  A couple weeks ago I joined the local bike group on a 100km group ride through Hunan's countryside.  It was just like long rides I've been on in the US, with water and food stops, the only difference was this group had smoking stops too.  I knew it was going to be a good ride when one of the men rode up beside me playing Gangnam Syle on his bike speaker.

Danic, fellow English teacher and friend who introduced me to the bike group.

VIA blog post

Along with keeping this personal blog, I'm also writing for VIA's blog.  Here's the link to my most recent post for VIA:

http://www.viaprograms.org/blog/2012/11/13/ouyang-yu%E2%80%99s-beloved-community/

Buddhist mystique

Buddhism has really captured my interest this year.  Living in Beijing, most of my exposure to Buddhism was through grandiose temples like the Lama Temple, one of the largest and most important Tibetan Buddhist monasteries in the world.  That temple is beautiful and awe-inspiring, but also, touristy.  Being out in the countryside, my interaction with Buddhism has become more intimate, as many of the temples I've visited are smaller, more modest, and in some ways, more real.

Some of my recent travels have given me a closer look at the role of Buddhism in Chinese life...

(1) Nanyue mountain

China has many sacred mountains.  There is a group of five mountains in China known as the Five Great Mountains or the Five Sacred Mountains.  These mountains are significant in terms of Chinese history; emperors throughout the ages would make spiritual pilgrimages to the top of each mountain.  Buddhism and Taoism have a strong presence on the mountains as demonstrated by the many temples you come across along the hikes.  Nowadays, people make their own spiritual pilgrimages to the mountains.  In fact, there is a phrase in Chinese that actually means "pilgrimage to a holy mountain", 朝拜圣山.

I currently live about 20km from the southern sacred mountain, known as Hengshan or Nanyue, or the "balancing mountain".  A couple weeks ago, Shane and I made our own pilgrimage to the top of Nanyue.  It took us about 4 hours to reach the highest point, but much of that time was spent exploring all the temples we passed along the way- some big, some small, some crowded, some empty.  In one temple a monk took us around and explained the significance of the Buddhas and Guanyins.  That has inspired me to learn some Buddhist terminology in Chinese because I understood about 25% of what he said.

I fully realized the concept of 朝拜圣 at the very top of the mountain.  People come from all over China to climb this mountain, and specifically to reach Zhurong Feng, or Wishing Harmony Peak.  This final temple on the top of the mountain was one of the least impressive, yet it was packed with people.  It was dark inside, paint was peeling, it felt very worn.  Yet, I still felt something, as if I was standing in the presence of something powerful.  People were kneeling and praying, and burning incense.  Outside you would hear sudden bursts of firecrackers.

As my tutor Nancy says, people practice Buddhism to pray to the gods, to find peace and to "store things in their hearts".  I currently have an infant understanding of Buddhism, but that is something I can connect with.

(2) Xintang temple

Nestled at the base of some mountains lies Xintang's own temple (Xintang is the town where I live.  Outside of Xintang, no one has heard of it, it is that small).  The temple is relatively new- just constructed about 5 years ago with donations from local people who wanted a temple in the area.  It is said that Nanyue mountain has a total of 72 peaks and one of the peaks is in Xintang.  The temple is near that mountain.

I took a walk to visit this temple, on a day when it was foggy and rainy.  The temple is about a 30 minute walk from our school, on the outskirts of town.  I think the ultimate goal is for it to bring more tourists and revenue into Xintang, but right now it is just a place of worship for the locals.  I think I passed what is going to be the ticket office- the small booth seemed mid-construction, but I did notice what looked like a ticket window.

I heard the temple before I saw it.  As I approached the temple, I saw people inside, men and women, wearing robes and circling the main deity (I think it was a Buddha?) and doing a kind of singsong chant.  The woman at the front was ringing a bell.  I wondered how long they had been doing that before I showed up.  I stood outside and listened, and as the line passed in front of me, each person would smile and make a slight bow in my direction.  I felt welcomed.  The scent of incense was in the air and the chanting was actually being played over loudspeakers, which is why you could hear it a distance away.  It was a completely captivating experience.  I'm planning on making a weekly visit in the hopes of building relationships with and learning from the people who practice (and live?) at that temple.

(3) Shao Feng

My final recent experience with Buddhism was when I visited Shao Shan, the birthplace of Mao Zedong.  This is another place where people make a pilgrimage, but this time to pay homage to the Great Helmsman.  At Shao Shan you can visit Mao's childhood home, school, and 1966 retreat (complete with quake and air raid-proof rooms).

There is also a mountain, Shao Feng, where you can take a chairlift to the top.  Shao Feng is another one of Nanyue's 72 peaks, so I was expecting more temples at the top.  I was right, there were temples, except instead of Buddhas inside, there were statues of Chairman Mao.  The routine was the same as in other temples- offerings, incense, kowtowing, but this time it was in front of Mao Zedong.  I overheard one woman explain that people come here to ask Mao for happiness, good fortune and success.  Fascinating.  A whole new spin on the concept of a "scared mountain".  Under Mao's rule, tens of millions of people died, and yet he is still honored and glorified for his dedication in uniting China.

 

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon sightseeing binge

After resting from our Huangshan climb, we took a day trip to see Hongcun, a Huizhou village near Huangshan, and the Mukeng bamboo forest.  Both sites were featured in the movie, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

Hongcun was picturesque and beautiful.  Also, very touristy.  When it comes to travel in China, I prefer a more off-the-beaten-path experience, but it was also so refreshing to just be a tourist for the day and meander the streets for a couple hours.

 

Walking through Hongcun, we noticed a high pagoda that would lend itself to an excellent vantage point of the village.  Turns out the pagoda is part of a B&B owned by a family.  We inquired about going up to the pagoda and the owner said we could if we each paid 5 yuan.  He would prepare some tea for us when we returned.  We took the deal.

After Hongcun we drove a couple kilometers to the Mukeng bamboo forest.  Walking through the forest felt like walking through another world.  At eye level you would only see bamboo trunks.  An upward gaze would be met with a feathery canopy of leaves.

 

We hiked around for a couple hours and then zip lined across the valley to a village lunch spot.  Finally, to top off an already awesome day, we discovered a haunted house in the middle of the bamboo forest.  Random?  Yes.  We had to do it.

Huangshan

We arrived in Huangshan Shi (Yellow Mountain city) at about 5am and had to kill some time before we could check into our hostel.  It was still dark out, but we found a little restaurant with warm baozi (steamed buns) and hard boiled eggs.  We spent the rest of the day napping, exploring the town and local park, and preparing for our climb.

New friend, Boni

The following morning we woke up at 5:30am to take a bus to the town near the base of the mountain.  The reality of traveling to Huangshan over the National Holiday became all too clear has we queued up in a 3 hour line for the 20 minute bus ride to the trail head.

Yellow hats = tour group

Once we started the ascent, I had to adjust my hiking expectations because we were surrounded by people for the entire climb.  This was not going to be the peaceful and calming hike that I thought it would be.  We were surrounded by a new kind of energy and once I accepted the presence of my hundreds of hiking buddies, it was cool to feel part of this giant upward climb of China's most esteemed mountain.

Huangshan is huge.  Once you reach the top, you have access to all kinds of trails leading to peaks, view points and gorges.  We planned on spending a night on the mountain so we could cover more ground on top, but even with an extra day of hiking, we had to pick and choose what we wanted to see.  To escape the crowds on the top of the mountain, we headed straight for a trail that seemed less traveled and were pleasantly surprised to have the path mostly to ourselves.

Sunset over the mountains

Fairy Bridge- our destination and turnaround point

We didn't arrive at our summit hotel until after dark; I had to use my headlamp for the final stretch.  At our summit hotel, we slept in dorm style rooms.  My other roommates were friendly and helped me plan out our next day itinerary.  The following morning we woke up at 4:30 and joined hundreds of other climbers to catch the sunrise.  Then we headed straight for the West Sea Canyon hike- a grueling and amazing down and up hike in a gorge.

We finished our Huangshan experience by taking the long and scenic way down the mountain.  Once we reached the base, my legs were completely shot.  The thing about hiking Huangshan is every hike involves stairs.  Our 2 day hiking trip turned out to be a 2 day stair master work out!  Every step was absolutely worth it- Huangshan was breathtaking.

Standing tickets only

The first week of October was China's National Holiday.  Fellow foreign English teacher, Shane, and I traveled to Anhui province to climb China's most sacred mountain, Yellow Mountain.

Traveling by train in China is convenient and affordable, so about a week before we left on our trip, we bought our train tickets.  I learned many lessons while traveling over China's National Holiday to one of China's biggest attractions, one of which was that one week is not enough time to buy train tickets in advance.  The result: we could only buy round trip standing tickets.  That meant for both 12 hour legs of our trip, we did not have seats.

Standing tickets are not uncommon in China, people will often travel long, cross-country distances with standing tickets.  Standing tickets are not as terrible as they sound; there are ways to work the system: (1) Buy a small, fold-up stool that you carry in your luggage and find a free space to set up shop.  (2) Periodically peruse the train cars for open seats, especially right after scheduled stops, maybe you'll get lucky.  (3) Find the dining car and pay money to sit there overnight.  We used a combination of all 3 strategies and were able to have seating for most of the trip.  Both long train rides were overnight, so the dining car option was clutch.  On our return trip we sat at a table with a couple Chinese guys and we played card games until 2am.

Since most of the country has this week off for holiday, the trains were packed with people traveling.  People were sitting everywhere- on the ground, on their luggage, in smoking nooks, on the sinks.  Walking down the aisles, especially with our big backpacks, was a nightmare and I cringe to think about all the people I bumped into with my backpack.  With that being said, the friendliness of people here continues to surprise and impress me.  One Chinese family let me set up my stool in their seating area.  We talked for hours, they gave me fruit and we exchanged contact information before parting ways.  I hope to meet up again.  Another group of men gave up one of their seats for me after they noticed I was standing for awhile.  Not the most comfortable method of travel, but we saved money and made new friends.  All in all, total success.

Happy Teacher's Day!

Last Monday was Teacher's Day here in China.  One of those days that will never be forgotten.

The day began with an early morning ceremony.  The entire school community gathered on the school field for 3 hours of speeches and awards.  Generally speaking, not the most thrilling of experiences, but I did get a decent adrenaline surge when it came time for my speech, in Chinese.  The students were the perfect audience- enthusiastically interactive and attentive.  As no Chinese event is complete without a ridiculous amount of fireworks, the ceremony finished with a rousing snap, crackle and pop.

About half of the student body

During my afternoon classes that day, I received some adorable gifts from my students.  Each class mentioned something about a 晚会, or evening party.  They were all very adamant that I must attend.  I didn't quite understand what was meant by evening party, but I got the impression it was kind of a big deal.

Gifts from my students

After classes all the teachers gathered in the cafeteria for a big dinner celebration.  That meant unlimited food, beer and cheers-ing.  During dinner, more students asked if we would attend their class' evening party.  Our dinner ended with a beer chugging contest with the English Department Head Teacher.

A little buzzed, we then walked straight into the lion's den.  The classrooms had all been decorated with streamers, tablecloths, ribbons, food... it was incredible!  One class had a giant heart made of thank you post-its on the blackboard.  As a teacher, and especially as one of the foreign teachers, it was expected that we make as many class appearances as humanly possible.  I took my first couple visits quite leisurely and stayed for 10 or 15 minutes, but then caught on to the Chinese teachers' technique of only staying for a couple minutes.  So many to see, so little time!

Decorated blackboard

It was a whirlwind evening, but I got into a groove.  It was the same routine for every class- you would walk into a classroom and the students would start cheering and yelling, THE FOREIGN TEACHER!  HAPPY TEACHER'S DAY!  SPEAK CHINESE, SING A SONG, DANCE MONKEY!  ...something along those lines.  I pulled out all the stops: I sang My Girl a cappella, played musical chairs, solo danced to Justin Bieber, attempted (and failed) to sing a song in Chinese, wore a leaf crown, and stuffed down every food item offered.  It was a time to break out of teacher mode, make a complete fool of myself and have a blast doing it with the students.  Apparently Shane did the worm for a couple classes he visited.  Definitely a team effort on the foreign teacher front.

All in all, an excellent day full of celebrations and laughs.  I'm trying to soak in every minute of this experience, including evening playtime...

Ping pong with the crew

First week of classes

We are officially done with our first week of classes!  I'm already enjoying teaching way more than I originally anticipated.  Here's a break down of my students...

Junior 1s are the youngest students on campus, about the US equivalent of 7th graders (but they look much younger).  They know little to zero English and are absolutely adorable.  For my students, I am probably the first foreigner they have ever seen.  As a result, they go nuts when I walk into the room.

One of my Junior 1 classes

Junior 2s are similar to Junior 1s, but with an extra year of OYY experience.  They are a bit more subdued, but still very sweet.  I only see my Junior 2 students once a week (I see the Junior 1s twice a week), so it will take longer to build relationships with this group.

The third level I teach is Senior 1.  Senior 1 students are the youngest students in the high school program.  Their English is decent and they are only just beginning to feel the pressure of the Gaokao.  As these students are older and more mature, they have the most friend potential for me.  I had them write self introductions for me, so I can get to know them and assess their English levels.  It has been such a pleasure reading their responses... except for the boy who wrote, "I come from the moon and don't enjoy doing anything fun."  Clever.

One of the tasks as a foreign English teacher is assigning English names for your students.  I held the English name giving ceremony for my Junior 1 students on Friday.  I called them up, one-by-one, and presented to them a name card with their new English name.  They all waited in anticipation to be called to the front, and then each graciously accepted the name card with both hands.  Then, the fun part- I brought my camera and took pictures of the students with their new name cards so I can attempt to remember all 150 of them.  They LOVED the pictures and were absolutely hysterical.  I'm not sure who had more fun- the students or me.

Next Monday is Teacher's Day.  We will have an opening ceremony at the school where I will give a speech in front of the entire school community- close to 3,000 people.

Who's up for a run?

Shane (other foreign English teacher at OYY) and I went for a lovely run this morning.  I brought my camera and took some pictures to share...

The back gate of OYY

Here we go!

360 degree view of rice paddies and mountains

 

Motorbike coming up the path, complete with umbrella for sun protection

 

Back to the school

One final shot