We arrived at our hotel in Xian after 10 o’clock and followed wound up following the news in Japan. Very sad situation there but happy that our kids in Sapporo were alright. My VPN was blocked and that made getting on the blog or Facebook next to impossible. I managed about 20 minutes before I got blocked again. I gave up and turned and turned in for the night.
The next morning we were off for some exercise after a quick breakfast. Xian is an ancient city dating back to the Tan dynasty. The center of the city is the oldest and surrounded by a wall and a moat. At one time there were only four gates into and out of the city but in recent years that has been increased to sixteen to accommodate traffic. Our excursion this morning was ride on top of the 9 mile length of the wall. We arrived, grabbed our tandem bikes and set out. From the top of the wall you are afforded a terrific view of the city. Up until 20 years ago the tallest building in the city was the ancient Drum Tower which stood only a few stories above the wall. Now, this is a large thriving metropolis with high 
rises and an international airport.
Joan, the kids and I went only a third of the way around as opposed frequently to read about the ramparts, weapons history of this beautiful place. We only had an hour and half so we turned around and headed back. Our bikes were a real treat. Flat tires, oblong rims and nice and greasy. Well, at least Keiran’s and mine were. By the time we got back my pants were coated in dirty grease and we were loading up to head to stone tablets museum.
The Stone Tablets museum was founded in 1087 and has over 3000 pieces of stone tablets dating back to 206 B.C. These tablets are amazing depictions of artistic Chinese calligraphy, literary work, and the history of ancient china. As is typical with all these excursions, Keiran and his classmates are with Hong and Frank while the parents have time to wander. Joan and I stopped with Sienna at a tablet and I asked her what it said. I got a confused look in return and was reminded that when the tablets were made there was no simplified Chinese as there is today. Doh! I was amazed though that as we went she was able to read quite a bit of it.
We left the museum and heading off for another great lunch followed by a trip out to the country. Our trip to the country was to a farm community/reeducation camp. During the cultural revolution intellectual and artistic dissidents were sent to these place to be indoctrinated in the Marxist/Communist life. While in these camps they were put to work creating propaganda for the party. Over time the artists began painting about the simple lives of farmers. We were going to learn about life in these communities and the kids were given the opportunity to paint with one of the artist who survived the revolution. The village itself is like a planned neighborhood with single family homes and a park in the middle. You are surrounded by propaganda and at the front of it all is the Party Headquarters. In the parking lot of the headquarters is a sign board that tells you how well the community has done in following the various policies. For example they had a one-hundred percent compliance rate with the one child policy. They also had a one-hundred percent compliance rate with applying for a permit for a second child. The party headquarters is center for all these decisions.
The kids had a great time painting and for the first time they were given a chance to play on the playground in the park with the local kids. It was awesome to see the kids play together. It’s inspiring to see how these kids don’t share some of the cultural biases that adults do. After playtime we were provided dinner at the homes of some of the farmers. This was authentic home cooked food and was flavorful and full of vegetables. We said our goodbyes and headed back to the hotel getting in about 2100. Another long day and tomorrow we visit the Terracotta Warriors.
