Thoughts and Dreams of an Old City

Crispy Crunch in the Muslim Quarter

A few weeks ago, Andrea, Joey and I decided to spend a day-off Monday downtown. We wanted to seek out a few gifts to send home for Christmas, but our main objective was to head down to the 'Muslim quarter' and buy up some of the delicious, sweet peanut bars that we had discovered a month or so earlier. They are so good! They consist of ground peanuts rolled up into big tubes with this strange sugary, crumbly toffee. They taste exactly like the inside of Crispy Crunch bars!! Andrea and I searched and found a few quaint little home-made candy and brittle shops along one of the side streets, as the prices and courtesy are much more obliging there, than throughout the main tourist avenues. We decided to lead Joey back to the same place, this time buying in bulk!! We caved and bought 3kg. This purchase was obviously made without too much thought, as we have eaten so many the idea of eating another piece often makes me feel ill! The trouble we have now is that we still have another kilo to go!!

A Cautious Customs

I'm very disappointed in the customs service here right now, as they have caused me considerable annoyance. Of the Christmas presents we purchased on this day, and as well on a few other days, not all of them were permitted to make the journey home. Everything we sent was fine except for those gifts directed to my father and sisters. The reason for this is because it is art! I never thought a country so famous for tourists purchasing art through vendors to be so strict when it comes to mailing them out of the country. The export company we delt with warned us that customs officials would very likely confiscate the art, mistakingly (or perhaps intentionally) accusing it of being something of a national significance. Ivy (a Chinese colleague) told me that the customs departments are very protective of their national culture and therefore souvenirs such as art are perhaps the most vibrant expressions of culture. I fully understand there concern, yet I'm still frustrated because the art (although beautiful, thought-provoking, and all-originals) were in fact vendor-bought, and I was able to bargain basement (I hope) prices for them. In a dollar value, they are worth very little when converted to CDN dollars, yet the best values we place on art such as this are never monetary. I'm excited about our purchases, I'm just sad they won't get home until next summer...when we bring them. I've been told many times that if you carry the art through customs yourself, the sailing is smooth as you are quickly able to discuss the circumstances in which you paid for them. I just hope they don't ask for receipts because if they do, we're done for. We have never been offered a receipt for any of the art so far...and so far that has made up the bulk of our purchases. We have some enormous originals that we have discovered. Ever since mailing that package we have learned our lesson and from now on we are going to ask for receipts. I'm not too worried though. But we will have a lot of art coming home, especially when we hunt for some more pieces in Thailand next August!!

Lianhu Park Ponderings

Back to our day. After we had grabbed our enormous bag of 'crispy crunch', we decided to walk north a few blocks to find a bit of greenspace named Lianhu Park. Thankfully we were happy to find it very easily. Some places in Xi'an (even big places such as parks which are clearly labelled on tourist maps) can prove mind-numbing when you're looking for them. This after all, is the land of 'walls', and many times in order to find the greener grass, you need to cross a guarded gate first! Surprisingly, this particular park did not require any money to enter, all though we all agreed that it was in dire need of some serious funding. The place was falling apart. This old spot in the middle of this busy downtown is rotting right before the city's eyes. The only thing it has going for it now is the trees and shrubs themselves, which have managed to somehow retain their beauty...perhaps this impression comes simply because the rest of the place is so dreary and dusty. The children's amusements are old and rusty (although in full operation of course), the food-stand tables need paint, the inner pond needs cleaning and the old architecture inside needs both paint and supports. This was like the cemetery of parks. In the northwest corner of the park there was an old building which must have been a restaurant in the previous decades. The structure was abstract yet traditional and it was evident that this place was at one time very famous. Looking upon this, all I could think of was the old Goderich train station back in Ontario, and all of the times Andrea and I had talked about how elegant and classy of a restaurant it could be with a few dollars and TLC added. The rear of this building also overlooked a large cement pad, equiped with a bandstand and a cheesy old backdrop. No doubt a relic from years ago. My immediate impression was that of the old Riverview Restaurant beside Wonderland Park in London, Ontario. I could see the live dances and music shows in my head. It screamed 1950s and 60s. I don't think this place has been used for a long time. The surroundings have been left for dead. Still, with all of our pessimism that was growing concerning such a waste of a surely formerly glorified meeting place, we still have to respect the fact that the locals still love it there. In this neighbourhood, this place is everyone's back yard and lots of people were strolling the walkways...however, sadly no one here has the money to 'hire a gardener'. Men gathered around for friendly (yet incredibly serious) chess games, lovers took a moment alone, and grandmas kept a slow pace with their grandchildren. People were laughing, smiling, playing badminton, reading, playing ancient instruments, you name it. It was used for every reason that day. Perhaps they have resigned to the fact that this is the fate of the park, but I shouldn't believe this is true. These people respect the beauty of their lands, they have 5000 years of history describing how beautiful it was, it is, and can be again. I do however, acknowledge that maybe China has much more pressing issues to deal with right now than a tiny park in the heart of the city, yet sometimes all it takes is a community project such as this to revitalize the hopes, dreams and grace of a whole city. If only I had money to invest in that old rundown restaurant....

Remembering the Silk Road

After our interesting 'jaunt' through the park, Joey decided to head off home with his equally big bag of treats, while Andrea and I chose to take a bus deep beyond the borders of the western wall. The western portion of the city was much dirtier than ours on the east side. The air was soup. Dense, grey and tasting like chemicals, we choked on it for more than an hour. Our visibiliy was reduced to just a few blocks in some areas. The western side is much more heavily industrialized than any other region in the city, and the pollution levels attest to its presence. Our adventure this time was taking us to find the historic beginning of China's Silk Road to the west. Pictures we had seen displayed enormous stone statues commemorating ancient travellers and their animal transport companions. I was excited to stand in a place of such importance considering the impact Chinese trade had in the ancient Middle-eastern and European worlds and visa versa. The Chinese introduced silk, paper, gun power and spices to the west. This establishment of this trade route forever altered the economics and desires of the wealthy in the western lands. The Chinese in returned sought out new crops, farming methods, weaponry, literature and religion ?helping to bring Islam and Christianity to China. As the bus stopped and we walked towards the site, we were slightly disappointed to see that not much of a site existed at all. For such an important piece of ground, all that stood signifying it were those same statues we had seen in pictures. We were hoping for much more. This tiny spot of land surely requires a grand museum with artifacts, stories and artists renditions of life along this world-famous route. Sadly, we were left with little beyond the statues in front and our thoughts of what could and should be in our heads. But don't get me wrong, this didn't take away from the significance itself of just being there. I imagined myself setting off on a journey to a far-off place a thousand years ago, knowing that with just a few people, some camels and horses, and limited supplies, anything might happen along the hundreds of kilometers of open spaces that divided civilizations back then. If you can escape the air and the traffic noise to ponder this spot for a moment, you might really find appreciation for it. I tried my best. Damn smog.

This wasn't the most interesting day we have had in Xi'an, but like always every day outside of our own neighbourhood is an adventure in itself. And often our own neighbourhood can be more adventureous than anywhere! Look out for crazy old men riding giant tricycles that sound like chainsaws, because chances are they aren't looking out for you! Our streets are Indy tracks but everyone is driving something different!! Crazy, crazy...