On the Town

Ni Hao!
Last Saturday, the American teachers all went to the Hubei (Province) Museum. (See some of the objects are read more about the museum at www.chinaplanner.com/hubei/hub_muse.htm) It's main exhibit is the burial artifacts of a governor from the 5th century BC. We attended a performance of bells and drums that are replicas found at the burial sight. The real ones are on display in a sealed glass case. The bells are extraordinary for two reasons. First, they're huge. The largest bell would take two people to wrap your arms around it. Second, the bells' notes pre-date the modern musical scale and yet can be used to play modern music. They performed Beethoven's Ninth Symphony "Ode to Joy" as their last piece.

Later that same day, we went to the Yellow Crane Tower (www.chinaplanner.com/hubei/hub_yelc.htm). It's reknown for inspiring Hubei province's most famous poets to write their best-known works. At ten stories tall, it provides a spectacular view: the tower itself, and a view of the city when standing on the top story balcony. The murals inside are gorgeous and I spent quite a while looking at the city of 7 million people below me.

I've also visited the Guiyuan Buddhist temple (www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/hubei/wuhan/guiyuan_temple.htm). It was packed with people meditating. I don't have many pictures because cameras are banned in most locations. The most fascinating part was visiting the Hall of Arhats. 500 statues of Buddha-like men, each with a different look, personality, and often objects in their hands, are enclosed in a maze of glass cases. You are supposed to select one, then begin counting them one-by-one until you reach the number of your current age. This is then the Arhat that you pray to for that visit. Mine was a bald man with a slightly maniacal look holding a softball-size gold orb in his hands.

One of my favorite activities, so far, was seeing a performance by the Wuhan Chinese acrobats. It was fantastic to see these performers just a few meters (China is metric, so I'm trying to adapt!) away from our ring-side seats--and the bargain rate of just 44 yuan, about $5. I was quite amazed by their abilities for strength, balance, and gracefulness. Most impressive were the two women who juggled tables, large clay pots and spinning rugs (you'd have to see it to understand, I suppose), all while laying on their backs, using their feet to do the juggling! Oh, and the "monkey men" were fun too. These guys were climbing up 15-foot poles upside-down, or jumping and grabbing onto the poles with just their legs, etc.

Zai jian
Greg