Xi'an Roubaix
Our next train stop was Xi'an. A 3000 year old little burg with only 8 million folks. Our hostel in Xi'an had a very a cool layout. It was designd around three connected courtyards, kinda like the monestaries we have visited, with a little restaurant off the last courtyard. In these courtyards hung birdcages which filled the air with beautiful tunes that can be foreign to city life. Here is the view from our door.
Our hostel was within spitting distance from the old Xi'an city wall which provided our first bit of sightseeing entertainment. We rented bikes on top of the wall and rode around the 8 mile perimeter. Which provided some nice views, albeit limited by the smog. Coming from our Colorado context the smog was unbelievable and the visibility grew worse as our stay went on and you could really start to feel it. Part of 'feeling it' was not helped, I am sure, by the sprint finish we had on the wall. Everyone was all cranked up on the sweet 'imported' Italian single speeds with nice annodized parts and fancy shocks, very much and upgrade from Yangshuo. The kids were once again the content of many an image captured by Chinese folk. Patti even got in on the deal when she waited outside while I took the kids in for a little bio break. The structure in the background is only a half mile away. While I was setting this shot up all kinds of other folks were shuttering.
Here is a mid ride dual tandem family portrait for which we almost paid dearly.
Amongst the pictures you will see various traffic shots. I was trying to capture the feeling one gets when attempting to cross. This guy was looking left while driving right into me. Survival of the fittest is 'alive' and well in Xi'an. It's the big trucks whole rule the buses who rule the little trucks who rule the taxis who rule the cars who rule the rickshaws who rule the motorcycle who rule mopeds who rule the bikes to whom the people submit. But...you and thwart your masters up to the bus size. Or guide says they don't care, they will just run you over.
We had the opportunity to serve in a soup kitchen which is operated out of a Christian church building. This was the first soup kitchen in China and now there are 7 more which are modeled after this one. Only 8 in a country of 1.2 billion people! I suspect the poor in China are more desperate then in the States as by the numbers you can see that there is not a strong sense of charity in China. Ideas have consequences. The majority of Chinese are professing or at least functional atheists, for whom I suppose existence is about self preservation. If in the end there is nothing, then getting and keeping what one can, by whatever means neccessary is just as legitimate a 'moral' position as giving all you can to the poor. One could argue that charity is a function of a populations standard of living. The higher the standard, the greater the giving. The Biblical command is to always give of your first fruits at the time of provision, not once you first are satisfied.
Images in 2013 Xi'an.
Comments
Post a Comment