Road Trip

This weekend we hired a driver to take us to the Hakka earth buildings. The road took us into the mountains, through bamboo hillsides, tea farms and rice terraces. From a distance this hill appeared to be covered with giant ferns. Upon closer inspection, they were a variety of bamboo. We caught a farmer out working his field with a water buffalo. The views were lovely and lacked most of the constant haze we have in Xiamen.

The Hakka are an ethnic group geographically based in the mountains west of Xiamen, spanning several provinces. Their rammed earth buildings, called tulou, are unique architecturally. Our driver first took us to the tulou complex known as "four dish and one soup". As we approached the first tulou on foot, a man holding a baby was standing outside. We made conversation with him and he immediately invited us in for tea. Together, we walked into their kitchen. His daughter joined us in conversation. They served tea in the tiniest cups I have ever used. They were even smaller than a child's tea set. Thankfully, these folks spoke Mandarin, because we would have been dead in the water, if we had to speak Hakka. We established that there were ten families living communally in this tulou. Each family had its own kitchen on the first floor. We had found an ancient form of co-housing that has stood the test of time! An English-speaking visitor from Shanghai joined us for a quick cup of tea. After a brief exchange with our hosts, she explained to us that this tulou was built in the 14th century. WOW! These structures had withstood strong winds and earthquakes. My guidebook indicates that the juice of glutinous rice and some lime were mixed into the earth for strength, and that sliced bamboo, reeds, and sometimes pieces of wood were also used. Due to the thick earthen walls, the kitchen where we were sitting was reasonably cool, even on this very hot day. They even invited us for a meal.

We climbed up to the second floor to check out the bedrooms. I could see that some of the construction was fired brick. The interior framing, pillars, and walls were made from sturdy-looking wood. Each room had a door and a window facing the interior courtyard. This provided natural lighting and some ventilation. The bedrooms were all locked. Everybody was hanging out downstairs. The next tulou we visited had more activity in their courtyard All of the tulous we visited had converted part of their ground level open areas to vendors selling souvenirs. The largest tulou we visited had a thriving market to take advantage of the busloads of tourists coming through. All of the tulous we visited had one large, thick, wooden/metal door to get inside the structure. Most had no windows facing outside on the first couple of floors. They had a well somewhere in the open courtyard - complete with fish. This made for a defensible structure that had everything they needed to survive for short periods of time. We had lunch at a picturesque river village inside a destroyed and partially renovated tulou. They were using their interior courtyard to dry medicine, beans, and laundry. Our lunch included one vegetable they grow locally that we could not identify. (Hint: it's not the green onions or the carrots) The village is home to a temple that honors the ancestors of the Zhang clan. A plaque explains how the stone dragon carvings used to be erected to honor their high ranking ancestors. Now they erect stone dragon carvings to honor overseas Chinese donors.

At this point, our wonderful journey disintegrated. At lunch, our driver indicated that he had never heard of the tulou I had originally asked him to drive us to. Instead he had brought us to the tulous pictured above. Then after lunch, he claimed there was a landslide between this village and all the tulous we had told him we wanted to visit. He refused to stop at the entrance/exit to ask about an alternate route. He refused to drive us on the proper road, claiming that all the roads led back to Xiamen, except for one very narrow motorcycle route, which was too narrow for a car. After the driver spent a slow hour not following the directions given by the local people, we realized that we really had no leverage to force him to drive anywhere. Our weekend trip to the Yongding tulous had turned into a long day trip to the Nanjing tulous.

Amazingly, when we asked local people for directions, if they were near their home, they would immediately invite us for tea. It truly is part of their culture, not just a show put on for the tourists visiting the tulous. Here are some more pictures to give you more of a flavor of our day.

English Quest

On our second day here, Hilda and I were trying to find a bus stop for Bus 31 to return to our apartment. We found one bus stop, but it did not list #31, so we needed to find the proper bus stop. As we reviewed our map, a woman approached us and asked if either of us might be interested in tutoring English. She had a friend who was looking for a tutor for his daughter. Yes, we were standing there speaking English, but surely there was a better way to find an English tutor (?). As it turned out, it was a great way for us to find a bus stop. This woman dialed 114 on her cell phone and with one quick question, and in less than a minute, we were directed a couple of blocks west, where we had no problem locating the bus stop.

Teaching experience was not a requirement for the tutoring gig, so Calliope signed on. The upshot was two tutoring sessions per week from 6:30-8:00pm for two eight year old girls in our apartment. This seemed a bit ambitious for children so young, so late in the day. But in China, this is not an unusual setup. Success and achievement are paramount. Success is so important that I have been told there is a significant upsurge in suicides during exam periods.

A couple of weeks later, we met a woman from the United States, who has been teaching English in China for nine years. There were very few native English-speakers in Xiamen, when she first arrived. People would follow her home on the street to see if she would teach them English. If they got her phone number, they would call her morning and night trying to hire her. All of her protests were generally ignored. I have noticed an intense single-mindedness amongst some of the Chinese people we have met, so her stories did not sound at all exaggerated.

Most universities around China have an "English Corner". This is a time and place where students of English can connect with others to improve their English speaking and listening skills. Xiamen University is no exception and we finally had our first chance to attend today. When we arrived, there were two native English speakers, each surrounded by five to ten Chinese people. A couple of people in the vicinity joined us and we split into two groups. By the time we left, we each had about fifteen to twenty people around us.

What did we talk about? Calliope found the subjects introduced in her group to be uninteresting. They wanted to know what she thought of Paris Hilton. Neither she nor I think anything about Paris Hilton, so it's hard to know where to go with such a question. But I find it to be of cultural interest. Either they think Paris Hilton is an interesting topic, or they think we think Paris Hilton is an interesting topic.

On the other hand, my group was entertaining. First off, they all assumed that I was a teacher. As each newcomer found out I was a student, they struggled to find the questions to put my student status in an understandable context. One participant insisted that I looked like a principal and he explained to me the defining characteristics. All-in-all, the demeanor of these up-and-coming English-speakers was so friendly and sweet. Even the twenty-something, tough-guy rebel was adorable.

Here's an amazing statistic. I asked the first five people I spoke with how long they had studied English. Two of them had studied for twelve years. The other three had only studied for ten years !!! They are shy about speaking English, but there must be far more people who know English than let on to it.

One undercurrent of our conversations was the feeling that Chinese culture was the best. The first time I kept moving with the conversation. But the second time I heard this, I asked why they were all wearing Western clothes. One woman in the group replied that she was wearing a traditional dress. I could not tell, because the dress was black, she was standing toward the rear, and it was already dark out. Perhaps I will use a different example next time.

An interesting question that surfaced was how I would compare traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine. I started to give a little history of Western medicine, with its traditional roots that include Western herbalism. Unfortunately, I was interrupted by the mosquitoes mid-stream. The mosquitoes found English Corner to be quite tasty. Additionally, Calliope was not enjoying herself. I, on the other hand, plan to return at least once.

Mandarin Intonation and Homonymity

There are four tones in Mandarin. Here's a word I learned in my first class - shí. It means ten. We didn't officially learn it in our first class; we officially learned the numbers 1, 5, and 8. But I asked about the other numbers, since I could not truly exercise my bargaining abilities with only 1, 5, or 8 Chinese yuan to choose from.

The little accent mark over the word shí means that it is pronounced with the second tone. Another common word we learned in our second or third class was shì. It is the verb "to be". Actually shì, by itself or with a supporting verb someplace else in the sentence, is used for all conjugations of to be - am, are, is, being, was, were, etc. Sweet! But shì is spoken with the fourth tone. I do have to remember to use the proper tone or a listener might not have a clue what I am trying to say.

And I do have a little problem with the tones. First let me say something about how I think we use tones in English. Nobody taught me this and I have never studied the subject, so this is clearly Diane's-theory-of-how-tones-are-used-in-English.

• The main function of tone is to convey an emotion or attitude. When I'm angry, shocked, bored, light-hearted, or using sarcasm I use different tones. If I wish to convey a sense of superiority, an air of vulnerability, or a feeling that the listener is absolutely right, I will change my intonation accordingly.
• The second most important function of tones in English is to help the listener know whether the speaker is asking a question or making a statement.
• I, personally, also use intonation to make myself clear as I wind my way through long run-on sentences, to distinguish the beginning and end of phrases and clauses.

Calliope taught me how to say the fourth tone by saying the interjection "Darn!" I can see why she says this. When I hear the fourth tone, I think someone is mad. When I say the fourth tone, I feel mad. Yes, I FEEL mad. Even when I say "Darn!", it does not come out as a fourth tone, unless I am actually mad or frustrated. I find it next to impossible to say (and mean) the sentence "I am so happy!" with solid fourth tones. I can do it, but it takes concentration. I have trouble separating the tone from the emotional content. I also have trouble using the fourth tone at the end of a question. In English, our tone goes up to indicate a question, but the fourth tone goes down.

Last week I came up with a new strategy. Whenever I come upon a fourth tone, I put it in my head that I am very angry. Then I say whatever I was going to say. Amazingly, this works like a charm. But it is emotionally draining, because I feel like I am lying. As a result, I rarely use this effective strategy, unless I am desperate.

I have trouble distinguishing between the second tone and the third tone, but even the Chinese have trouble, so I don't worry about it too much. For one thing, the two tones are similar. And for another, many syllables that are normally third tone change their tone based on what tone follows it. Aagh!

Luckily, I can say the first tone easily, when I remember to do so.

Just to round off this post, I looked up both shí and shì in the dictionary. Much to my amazement and depending upon context, shì might also mean yes, right, thing, accident, trouble, responsibility, or job. And shí might also mean hour, time, fashion, opportunity, tense, solid, true, or reality. And I just remembered that the shí in Wanshi Botanical Gardens means stone. Which just goes to show that I probably have no idea what I am saying most of the time.

Don't spread this around, because I don't think I have it exactly right, but the following is a lovely example that a friend pointed out, where Mao is a surname (e.g. Chairman Mao)

The phrase ==> Mao's hat has cat fur
translates to ==> Máo de mào yǒu māo de máo

Add a few meows in there and we have the makings of a great doo-wop song!

Taking the Bus to School

I have mastered the bus system at this point. The bus stop near our apartment is at the end of the line, so we pretty much have reserved seats waiting for us in the morning. Additionally, the route for each line is posted. This is what it looks like -
When I first looked at it, I couldn't even tell which way to read it. Left-to-right or top-to-bottom or both.

Many buses here are air conditioned. Instead of 1 RMB, the fare is 2 RMB - double! - now that the air conditioning is running. I think that amounts to a carbon tax. Way to go, Xiamen! I doubt they are implementing any international global warming standards. No quantitative measurements are used to deduce how much pollution this extra air conditioning is generating. I think they just charge more, because it costs more.

This all sounds good, but it is, in fact, irrelevant for us. We take Bus 87 to the Xiamen University campus every day, which uses older buses that are not equipped with air conditioning. We'll see how we fare with all this humidity as the temperature climbs. The buses have quaint looking wooden seats. I like them, but Hilda has black and blues on her bottom from our daily bus travel :-(. A close inspection of the photo above reveals a television screen, above and to the right of the driver. The traveling public is treated to the daily news as well as such choice cartoons as "Tom and Jerry".

We travel some of the main streets of Xiamen. One of the first landmarks we pass is the municipal auditorium with its sweeping grass lawn and flowers. On one side is a huge "statue", which I have dubbed the "Municipal Flower Pot". We pass colorful and busy street corners. Each bus stop is covered. Nobody waits too long at a bus stop as buses run very regularly. In addition to advertisements, there is generally one poster dedicated to either a public interest campaign, such as water conservation, or to a place of natural beauty. There is a recorded announcement made as we approach each bus stop. Until I can make out some of what is said, I won't feel that I've made much progress with my Mandarin study. The bus is a good place for cultural observation - a.k.a people-watching. I am so impressed that the Chinese still try to make the world a little more comfortable for their elders. Adults, children, and teenagers of all ages get up immediately so that older people coming aboard will have a seat.

Since Hilda's mother and nephew are visiting with us now, Hilda thought they might like to take the bus to the University and join us for lunch at one of the school cafeterias today. As it turned out, neither of them had ever ridden a public bus. They both grew up and live in Manila, in the Philippines, which according to Wikipedia is the world's fifth largest urban area by population. Manila has plenty of buses, and as I remember, flamboyantly decorated jeepneys (example of a jeepney). Hilda's mother had no desire to take her first public bus now, so they came by private car.

Our bus route takes us through a tunnel that winds underneath the Wanshi Botanical Gardens. A unique feature of this tunnel is the existence of a few solitary, landscaped areas that spring up unexpectedly from the florescent darkness - primarily cactus and palm trees, complete with painted sky and sand. They look totally fake, since the surrounding tunnel could not possible support such vegetation.

The bus passes some memorable sites on the University campus, including my favorite - the book fountain.

We get off at one of the seaside entrances to the University. Basically, we're at the beach. There are usually beachgoers and at certain times of day, there are a few swimmers. Since there are always large commercial vessels anchored at sea, I wouldn't hazard a swim in the water. There are also some islands that are usually shrouded in haze. The day after a rain, we could actually see them.