Modified from an email sent to folks back in the States.
Shall I describe what I am doing right now? Yeah sure. Why not?
Sweating profusely with my feet in a self-heating foot bath set for 50 minutes – the water the color of tea or apple juice because it is filled with Chinese herbs. Recommended by a highly regarded local doctor.
Oh wait – getting ahead of myself.
Two days ago had the first truly bad experience in China. Arrive in Xian. Friends pick me up and take me immediately to terra cotta warrior museum complex. Oh yeah the terra cotta warriors are uber cool and all that. But the government has turned it into a Tourist Trap™ with a vengeance. Every 5-10 feet someone trying to sell you something. They created a new gate 2 km from the museum. And if you don’t pay for a shuttle ride you can walk. Fair enough. But what is along that 2 km walk? Shops restaurants hawkers and sellers. My personal tour guide (hey life is tough you know?) took me into the museum store where I was very aggressively pressured and manipulated into spending large amounts of money on souvenirs. Obviously all arranged with the tour guide business. So far had not spent anything on souvenirs. In museum store I managed to stop at about $150. At one point I was so angry about being lied(?) to was ready to pack up my wallet and walk out. This is an emerging pattern I see at historical sites in China. Charge premium entry fees that represent small fortunes for the average Chinese person. Squeeze the tourists out of every RNB you can get. Chinese and foreigners alike are fair game. Even our mediocre lunch outside the museum was shockingly expensive.
Then we head out to Yangling. They should put a sign that says “Welcome to Yangling. No you have not died and gone to heaven. But we understand the confusion”.
Yangling is everything Beijing Taiyuan and Xian are not. Quiet university town with wide streets and low traffic. My friends apparently moved me to the best hotel in town. Four stars for 300RNB a night which is a lot in China. But that is only $45. We could hold staff meeting in my room. With our feet soaking in hot water.
It gets better. My friends here so kind and thoughtful and generous they take me to a feet washing place. Can anyone with a functioning brain explain to me why we don’t have such awesome things in the United States?!? Yeah yeah I know it’s because labor is so much more expensive here. But you would pay $100 for what I got for $10 and not regret a single dime. For 80 minutes a highly trained professional rubs massages pulls snaps pounds and presses almost every muscle and joint in your entire body. While your feet are soaking in piping hot water filled with Chinese herbs. At about the 70 minute mark my highly trained professional was teaching my back whole new definitions of the word “melt”. Oh. Yeah.
Of course this is because they were concerned about my ankles which at that point were swollen to almost twice their usual size. Today still some swelling and soreness but significantly better. Thank you for your prayers.
Boy do I have a lot to say about Famen Temple. You know when Jesus entered Jerusalem and was horrified by what he found at the temple? Multiply the scale by about ten thousand change it from Judaism (Yahwism) to Buddhism and you get the idea. What a racket. All in the name of Buddha. With the cooperation indeed involvement and support of the Chinese government.
