Nara to Kyoto

Since we were in the ancient capital of Japan, Nara, the people in charge of our tour decided we should stay in a traditional Japanese inn. Below you see the tatami mats on the floor. At night futons are rolled out onto the tatami and you sleep right on the floor. I actually slept well and woke up refreshed.The inn also featured traditional Japanese baths. They fill up the tub below each night and you are supposed to bath communally. There were separate rooms for men and women. However, I just waited until the next morning to shower by myself. I have not completely drunk the Japanese kool-aid, if you know what I mean.
Since Nara is the center of Buddhism and Shinto in Japan. It is a very spiritual city. For example, long ago it was established that the deer in Nara are messengers of the gods. Thus, they have free run of the place. They lay about in the many parks of the city and cross the street whenever they feel like it, though few die each year from being hit by cars. You can buy deer food and little stands on the side of the road to feed them. If you say "bow," they will actually bow their heads before taking the little cake from you. However, they are just as likely to sneak up behind you and eat the paper bag out of your hand. This messenger below is obviously on his lunch break. I think they have a very strong union.
Before we left Nara, we visited one last temple, Horyu-Ji. This small complex below is the oldest Buddhist temple in Japan. People were worshiping at the main building the morning we were there. The 5 story pagoda (or stupa) in the background is the 2nd tallest in Japan. In Kyoto we will see the tallest.
Kyoto was just a short train ride away. It was rainy day, and slow driving showers followed us everywhere. Luckily, after we checked in to the hotel, the only place we toured was inside. Below is Sanjusangen-do, yet another Buddhist temple. This place claims to be the longest wooden building in th world. It needed to be. Even though we could not take pictures inside, I was blown away by the 1000 golden bodhisattvas in the long hall of the temple. This temple is also has the largest collection of such statues in the world. All these iron goddesses of mercy, as they are referred to in China, surround a much larger Buddha statue. It was a very serene and contemplative place.

Well, it was a rainy night Kyoto, and we wandered the streets. However, they are not great stories to tell or pictures to post. One more day in Kyoto tomorrow. and one day closer to going home.

Chuck Newell
Kyoto, Japan
10/22/08

Nagoya to Nara

We hopped on the bullet train (or shankansen[sic]) to go from Nagoya to Nara. It was a smooth and pleasant ride, though the maglev train in China is faster.
Nara is the ancient capital of Japan. It was constructed in 700's (AD) and was the eastern terminus of the great silk road. It was here also that Buddhism was introduced to Japan. Thus, there are many temples and gardens in this city, which has still has some ancient architecture because it was not bombed during WW II. Below is one of the largest Buddha's in the world. If I remember correctly, it is the largest indoor Buddha. Five men can easily stand in the palm of his hand. There is a column at the back of the temple with a hole in its base. The hole is the same size as one of the statue's nostril. If you can pass through the hole, it is said that when you die you will easily pass into heaven. Mostly young children did this, but one of the male teachers in our group slid through. Apparently he has a free pass the rest of his life.
Here a I am drinking free Hojicha (roasted green tea) in a Buddhist monastery. Life does not get any better.
On the same hillside as the free tea room at the monastery is Kasuga Grand Shrine, the most important Shinto shrine in Japan. Shinto is Japan's native religion. They believe that everything in nature has a spirit or kami. It was interesting to note that the Japanese are not exclusively one religion the Buddhist temple and Shinto shrine are almost one complex. Below is the base of a 800 year old tree at the Kasuga Shrine. The Japanese would see this as the home of spirit, so it is in a prominent place in the shrine.


Wednesday morning, we will tour more sites in Nara and then catch a train to Kyoto. The Japanese moved their capital from Nara to Kyoto because the Buddhist temples became too powerful in Nara. The temples actually had their own private armies, which were more powerful than the emperor's forces.

Chuck Newell
Nara, Japan
10/21/08

Nagoya Day 2

Today was the day we visited Japanese schools. But before we go there, how about a morning view of the ultra-modern Nagoya skyline?

The first school we visited was Nagoya Junior High School. Like the old jr. high in America, it is for grades 6-9. Once students reach 9th grade the must take a difficult year end exam to make it to high school. This school is also a teaching lab for Aichi University of Education, so we saw many students observing classes as we toured. This school also specializes in helping returnee students. In other words, many Japanese work overseas and take their families with them. This school helps students reacclimate to Japanese "lifestyle and behavior," according to the school's brochure.
Like Japanese homes, you are required to remove your shoes in Japanese school. The school let us borrow these fake crocs as we walked the hallways. However, to enter the music room, we had to walk only in our socks. I do not know why that is.

One of the classes we visited was a science class. The students here were more talkative and animated than they were in the Chinese school we visited, but still well behaved and respectful fo their teacher. I do not know the name of the science teacher in this class, but you Notre Dame people out there can just call him Irvin San.

We traveled some distance to visit a Japanese high school. On the way there we stopped at a park, that turned out to be a Shinto shrine, to have lunch. When it is open, local people come to honor the local kami, or gods, and ask them for favors.
Since we were eating on the run, our bus driver was nice enough to provide us with hot water in a thermos so we could eat a Japanese favorite, ramen noodles. The noodles are available in a various flavors at every convenience store. They give you a pair of wooden chopsticks with each purchase, so all you need to do is add water. Here I am slurping my noodles Japanese style.
The picture below is of Aichi University of Education Attached High School. Obviously, it also serves as a laboratory school for the local teaching college. We again had to remove our shoes, but this time we had to wear ill fitting green slippers. We toured the school and met the English club and told the students about life and school in America. Most them understood English well, but they were too shy or hesitant to speak. We then met with a handful of Japanese teachers who have worked with foreign schools over the internet. I am going to try and work with a junior college teacher to help her students learn English. Hopefully, my students will soon be able to communicate with Japanese students.
After we left the school, we came back to the hotel for a fancy 5 course dinner. By the way, one of the courses was sashimi (raw fish). Some of the teachers joined us, and we talked further about electronic collaboration.

Tonight we must pack because tomorrow morning we are taking the bullet train (not as fast as the maglev) to Nara, an old style Japanese city.

Chuck Newell
Nagoya, Japan
10/20/08

Nagoya Day 1

It has been said by many people, but I will say it again, Japan is a completely different country from China. Japan has been in the modern world for well over a hundred years, and everywhere we went today reminded me of a well kept southern city. Sure the cars are smaller and the houses are closer together, but most people are prosperous and the standard of living is clearly much higher than China.

[I have no idea what I hit on the keyboard, so I cannot make the underlining go away!]

Japan is a much "softer" place than China. Sure, China announced its entry into the modern world with the Olympics, but you still feel and see people struggling to survive. China has aggressive street hawkers and poor framers still scratching the earth to survive. Japan probably has a higher standard of living than the U.S., especially at the moment. China has a coarseness to it, while in Japan store clerks bow at me when I buy a bottle of tea. I have already learned not to bow back or they bow again, then I feel the need to bow again and.... You get the picture.

Anyway, our first stop in Nagoya was Nagoya Castle. This was the seat of power of the Tokugawa clan, the samurai family responsible for unifying feudal Japan in 1603. The current castle is a reconstruction of the original since the original one burned down after U.S. bombings in WWII. The castle itself was not necessarily targeted, but Nagoya has always been a manufacturing center, and the medieval castle was destroyed because of its location to important industry.

The top of the castle gives a great view of the city. Nagoya is Japan's fourth largest city, and it is still home to many important industries. Toyota headquarters is just outside of the metro area.

After visiting the castle, we went to the Tokugawa art museum. The old style gate below leads to a very modern museum building. Its collection contains many important scrolls, weapons, and art objects that once belonged to the Tokugawa family. According to the plaque in front of the gate, a descendant of the first Tokugawa shogun gave the collection to the city in the middle of the 20th century.
After the museum, we had even more Japanese culture, a bento box for lunch. Yes, that stuff in the bottom right hand corner is sashimi (raw fish). I had never had this before, but I tried the salmon and tuna. With a little soy sauce and wasabi, it was not too bad. However, I did not try the raw squid; the fried squid I had in Beijing did not agree with me.
After lunch, we toured the Meiji-Mura museum. It is a very unique place. In the mountains just outside of Nagoya, an outside museum has been created by tearing down and reconstructing Meiji period buildings. The Meiji period for Japan was from 1868-1912. This was when Japan modernized and became a world power. The museum features old train stations, post offices, churches, houses, and shops from this period. However, the most remarkable piece of this collection is the entrance to the famous Imperial Hotel,which was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. I thought that the entire hotel was destroyed by an earthquake in the early twentieth century, but the lobby portion of the building somehow survived. I thought it must have been a replica when I first saw it on the brochure, but it is authentic.

It has also been said that the climate of Japan and Tennessee are very similar. I would have to agree. This Sunday, it felt like a crisp fall day back home. Japan can also look like home. Look at the picture below. If I did not tell you this was taken form a hillside of the Meiji-Mura museum, you would think it was a picture of a Tennessee mountain lake. If I had not been surrounded by Japanese, I would think that I was back home.
Tomorrow we tour Japanese schools all day and then come back to the hotel for a "western-style" dinner, surely this means no raw fish.

Chuck Newell
Nagoya, Japan
10/19/08

Beijing ot Nagoya

If I had not mentioned it before, I will mention it now. Everyone in my group enjoyed Beijing more than Shanghai. Both places are gigantic cities, but Beijing has better feel to it. It is not as cram packed as Shanghai. You simply have more room to move and breath in.

Saying that, this is a picture of the outdoor mall just down from our hotel this Saturday morning. The haze and smog from the previous day is still there. Just before I took this picture, I had power walked down to Tiannemen Square, which was about 4 good sized city blocks from out hotel. I had hoped to see the daily raising of the Chinese flag. However, I did not make it in time, and even if I had, they haze would have made it too difficult to snap a photo. I even tried to go a few blocks north of the outdoor mall to get a photo of the big Catholic cathedral in Beijing, but again the haze prevented the early morning sun from shining enough light to get a decent picture.


After breakfast and packing our bags, we headed to the old Beijing bell tower, where the end of the day was signaled by the tolling of a gigantic bronze bell. The tower gives you some impressive views of the city, and luckily it began to rain and the haze started to clear away.

As we entered this bell tower, we were checked with metal detecting wands. This was odd because at no other tourist attraction did this happen. Then someone in our group remembered. It was at this bell tower that an insane Chinese national stabbed the father-in-law of the coach of the U.S. volleyball team. Obviously, we ran into no trouble here. But it is nice to know that America is not the only place that over reacts to isolated incidents.
However, I was finally able to get a picture of a Buddhist monk. I had seen a few before, but they moved to quickly for me to snap there photo. Apparently, their bald heads get quite cold in the damp autumn air.
After the tower, we had to tour a hutong, which is the name for the older neighborhoods in Beijing. Some of them are about 900 years old. Unfortunately, the one we were taken to was spruced up for the Olympics and is something of a tourist trap. My friend David form Chattanooga Christian and I had to ride in this pedicab to the "authentic" neighborhood. Again, I felt like quite the imperialist.



We felt especially odd since the guy below was our driver. How stereotypical can you get! I was not impressed by this part of the tour, especially since it ended at a Starbucks made to look like an old Beijing storefront. I guess the highlight was the man who pedaled his bike up next to our pedicab and tried to sell us a "Rolex" while still keeping pace with our hard working driver.

After lunch, we headed to the airport to make our way to Japan. In fact, we had a brief layover in another Chinese city, Tsingtao. For those of you out there who are over the age of 21, you may recognize the name of the city from the beer of the same name you can order at Chinese restaurants in America. The city of Tsingtao was once a German concession at the turn of the century, so they are known for their beer making. Unfortunately, our time spent here consisted of getting off the plane, going through customs, and getting back on the plane. Sorry, no pictures, but they had a nice new airport as well.

I am now writing to you from Nagoya, Japan. We arrived at 10pm local time, so again, I had no time or light for pictures. The hotel room is small and the neon lights in the city were plentiful. We go to an art museum and other cultural landmarks tomorrow.

Chuck Newell
Nagoya, Japan
10/18/08

Beijing Day Three

Our last full day in Beijing began with a trip to Beijing University, or Bei Da as the locals call it. It is said to be the Harvard of China. Though it has only been around since 1898, it is the premier liberal arts college in China. We attended a lecture by the man below. He is 87 years old and one of the leading experts and practitioners of Chinese calligraphy. He demonstrated his technique for us and showed us famous examples of his work.
If you look carefully at the picture below you can see an interesting juxtaposition. (AP students, do you know what that means?) This photo was taken at a lake on the university campus. If you click on the picture you can clearly see a pagoda that is several hundred years old next to a coal plant smoke stack. More on air quality later.

After lunch at the university, which had many European and American students, we drove to the nearby Summer Palace, a place where the emperor would escape the heat and stench of Beijing during the summer months. In fact, Beijing University is on land that was once part of the Summer Palace complex. Above is the Tower of Buddha Incense. This photo was taken about 2 in the afternoon , and we all started to notice that the air was becoming smoggy. I was ready to praise Beijing and its air quality because every other day has been clear and sunny. However, on this Friday afternoon we had very limited visibility and our throats became irritated because of the bad air.

After we left the Summer Palace, which was a very beautiful but crowded place, we drove past the Olympic sites in Beijing proper. Please notice how bad the air quality is. I was only a few hundred yards away from the Bird's Nest and could barely see it. The Water Cube, of Phelps Arena as we Americans like to call it, was almost impossible to see even though it was right next to the stadium. The Cube was not lit up like you saw during the Olympics, and my view was blocked by the smog and some trees, so I did not take a picture.

Finally, after a Peking Duck dinner, which was pretty tasty, I ventured to a side street market and took the picture all of you were waiting to see. That's right, you can eat deep fried starfish, scorpion, seahorse, or silk worm on stick. They also have so sea snake, or so I am told, but I did not run across it this evening. In case you are wondering, no I did not partake of these rare "delicacies" but a few members of our group munched on a seahorse or two. Salty, tough, and crunchy is how they described it. Someone videoed that particular taste test. If I get a copy, I will post it for you.

Tomorrow, we visit a hutong, one of the old style Beijing nieghborhoods. Then we catch a plane to Japan. I imagine their internet hookups will be even better so I should have no trouble continuing my blog.

Chuck Newell
Beijing
10/17/08

Beijing Day Two

"There's a wall in China , and it's a thousand miles long" Actually, Paul Simon is wrong. The wall is three thousand miles long. The section we went to is just north of Beijing. We had to ride a cable car/ski lift to the base of the wall. The picture did not turn out well, but according to a sticker on its window, I rode in the cable car the President Clinton rode in in 1998. Apparently, the entire Great Wall snakes along the crest of mountains as the section does below. The mountains are a natural barrier to barbarians, and the wall simply helped to fortify this border. As you can see, it is beautiful fall and the short, scrubby trees are beginning to show color
I could not resist. I added a little more graffiti to the Great Wall. I gave a shout out to my children by scratching their names on the wall. If the Chinese government is reading this, do not worry. I used a small stone and it should wash away at the next hard rain.

This section of the wall has been rebuilt so that tourist can walk on it. The open part of the wall ends at the top of the steps below. A few members of our group made it to the top. Normally I would jump at the chance to hike up something. However, last night I suffered from a bout of Chiang Kai Shek's revenge, so I hiked to this point and snapped a picture.
It is amazing how different cultures are actually so alike. The town at the base of this section of the wall has turned itself into the "Gatlinburg of China." There was even a go-cart track a little further down the hill. Even further, there is a pottery factory outlet and plenty of resorts and pick your own fruit farms.
When we returned to Beijing, we visited the famous Temple of Heaven. It was an impressive structure built about the same time as The Forbidden City. It is also a series of gates and buildings. The structure below is where the emperor would offer sacrifices on Chinese New Year to ensure a good harvest.


In the park around the temple. There are several cedar and spruce trees that are several hundred years old. It was a very quiet and peaceful place. A great place to get away from the hot sun and the crowds.

Also, older Beijing residents love to come to this park to sing, play cards , and "jam" with their friends.

This evening, our group went to the Beijing opera. I, however, stayed behind at the hotel. My stomach still has not recovered from last night's mysterious illness. I am feeling better, but I need to rest. I saw some Chinese opera on TV, and I do not think I am missing anything spectacular. There were actors dressed in elaborate costumes and wearing too much make up as the screeched and wailed songs in a very high register.

Chuck Newell
Beijing
10/16/08