The overarching goal is to post, at your PERSONAL blog, four different 300 word + multimedia posts about your China Mojo experience, due by MONDAY, April 11.
PRE-TRIP ASSIGNMENT - HERE'S A REMINDER-->
Assignment: Please answer the following FOUR questions at your personal blog (include each question for the benefit of your readers) - and be prepared to present your pre-trip multimedia beginning on Monday, February 15 in class.
Questions to answer:
1. Which media environments and technologies/applications/platforms will I use in documenting and telling the story of my China trip?
Dr. W's answer: I will be using a combination of words and "video snapshots" of 30 seconds or fewer at the China Mojo course blog.
2. What equipment/gear will I need to bring to capture my stories?
I will be bringing a Flip camera and my Mac Book Pro laptop for editing, using iMovie as a simple editing program. I will share my videos at my YouTube page.
2. How will I capture and "bottle" my stories while traveling in China?
I plan to shoot a wide variety of daily "video snapshots" while traveling, and then edit and upload them to YT as soon as is possible.
4. Please provide a "sample example" of your multimedia approach here.
See above - I shot several video snapshots of our Mandarin immersion class with Jill Madden, and then stitched the together with simple book-ended text and "cross dissolve" FX.
China Mojo. The CORE Course. The Trip. The Adventure of a Lifetime.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Monday, March 14, 2011
FINAL CHINA MOJO Core 330 REFLECTION: Due by Monday, April 11
If you are taking our course for CORE 330 credit, please complete the following reflection below.
THE PROMPT: In a written response roughly two double-spaced pages in length, reflect on how your understanding of China has changed over the course of the semester. In your response, cite specific ideas and concepts presented in the pair of courses that seem especially relevant to how you will live in, work in, and view the world differently as a result of your learning.
Please draw on our readings and films, including ORACLE BONES, CHINA ROAD, LAST TRAIN HOME, GATE OF HEAVENLY PEACE, as well as your nine day CHINA MOJO trip, and post your response at your personal blog, AND e-Port (to both of your CORE professors).
THE PROMPT: In a written response roughly two double-spaced pages in length, reflect on how your understanding of China has changed over the course of the semester. In your response, cite specific ideas and concepts presented in the pair of courses that seem especially relevant to how you will live in, work in, and view the world differently as a result of your learning.
Please draw on our readings and films, including ORACLE BONES, CHINA ROAD, LAST TRAIN HOME, GATE OF HEAVENLY PEACE, as well as your nine day CHINA MOJO trip, and post your response at your personal blog, AND e-Port (to both of your CORE professors).
Day #9: Xie Xie, China - Mojo A’Home We Go (Sunday, 3/13)
After our sketchy late night Beijing cab ride of two nights before, our cab caravan trip from the Green Tree Inn to the airport felt delightfully easy.
As did the 15 hour plane flight to Newark.
As did the slice of pepperoni pizza, Ben and Jerry’s ice cream, and glass of Malbec du vin rouge in the Newark Liberty Airport.
I don’t know about the rest of Mojo.
But for me, this was an incredibly successful trip.
SUNSET OVER BEIJING.
We made it halfway around the world and back, all 21 one of us, without major mishap, to experience one of the world’s most fascinating countries and cultures.
And had some remarkable adventures along the way.
I look forward to learning more about China from our students’ multimedia Mojo projects.
For now…
Xie xie, China, for keeping us on our toes, and for giving us so much to reflect on in the months ahead.
As did the 15 hour plane flight to Newark.
As did the slice of pepperoni pizza, Ben and Jerry’s ice cream, and glass of Malbec du vin rouge in the Newark Liberty Airport.
I don’t know about the rest of Mojo.
But for me, this was an incredibly successful trip.
SUNSET OVER BEIJING.
We made it halfway around the world and back, all 21 one of us, without major mishap, to experience one of the world’s most fascinating countries and cultures.
And had some remarkable adventures along the way.
I look forward to learning more about China from our students’ multimedia Mojo projects.
For now…
Xie xie, China, for keeping us on our toes, and for giving us so much to reflect on in the months ahead.
Day #8: Hoofing Beijing, The Mother Of All Chinese Cities (Saturday, 3/12)
Good morning, Bejing!
After a full day on the Great Wall of China, we slept in, meeting in the Green Tree Inn lobby at 10:00 am for our 1 hour walk to the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square.
CHAMP CHINA MOJO IN FRONT OF MAO AND THE FORBIDDEN CITY.
TIANANMEN SOUTH - OPEN AIR PEARL MARKET, BEIJING'S BIGGEST.
HUTONG BY NIGHT.
FORBIDDEN CITY'S NORTH GATE.
CHINA MOJO'S HUTONG HOTEL.
While more modest than the hotel we originally booked while in Beijing, the Green Tree Inn is in a fabulous location – the center of Fang Zhia hutong just 1 ½ miles from the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square, and full of lively little shops, eateries, and a night club/listening room or three with funky names like Hot Cat and Yes.
The hutongs – traditional Chinese urban neighborhoods first built by the Mongols when they moved the imperial city to old Peking – are one of my favorite things about Beijing: best described as little mini-mazed warrens of private one story apartments with shared communal open air living space. When the CRP ascended to power in 1949, Mao soon declared war on the hutongs, proclaiming them “backward” and a sign of the “old China.” The real estate boom hasn’t helped the hutongs’ fate, but there are still many of them left in this part of the city – and I spent some time while here just knocking around.
We were on the road by 10:00 am, and after a quick cash exchange and McD’s breakfast for some, made it to the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square by 11:30. I oriented everyone, and we bought tickets and then turned everyone loose for the day in downtown Beijing.
HUTONG BISTRO CUISINE: FRIED RICE AND RED WINE.
Kat, Sean, George and I hit the trifecta – touring the Forbidden City (including the beautiful Jianing Park and temple tower that overlooks the city from the north), Tiananmen Square and Pearl Market (where we shopped like barter-seeking westerners) before heading back to the hutong via taxi before 6:00.
Because of the big CRP event downtown, and the fact that it was a reasonably nice Saturday afternoon weather-wise, downtown Beijing was hopping, and hearing their stories later, our Mojo’ers made the most of their day (some even saying they wanted another day to experience the mother of all Chinese Cities.)
A great way to finish off our visit in China.
After a full day on the Great Wall of China, we slept in, meeting in the Green Tree Inn lobby at 10:00 am for our 1 hour walk to the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square.
CHAMP CHINA MOJO IN FRONT OF MAO AND THE FORBIDDEN CITY.
TIANANMEN SOUTH - OPEN AIR PEARL MARKET, BEIJING'S BIGGEST.
HUTONG BY NIGHT.
FORBIDDEN CITY'S NORTH GATE.
CHINA MOJO'S HUTONG HOTEL.
While more modest than the hotel we originally booked while in Beijing, the Green Tree Inn is in a fabulous location – the center of Fang Zhia hutong just 1 ½ miles from the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square, and full of lively little shops, eateries, and a night club/listening room or three with funky names like Hot Cat and Yes.
The hutongs – traditional Chinese urban neighborhoods first built by the Mongols when they moved the imperial city to old Peking – are one of my favorite things about Beijing: best described as little mini-mazed warrens of private one story apartments with shared communal open air living space. When the CRP ascended to power in 1949, Mao soon declared war on the hutongs, proclaiming them “backward” and a sign of the “old China.” The real estate boom hasn’t helped the hutongs’ fate, but there are still many of them left in this part of the city – and I spent some time while here just knocking around.
We were on the road by 10:00 am, and after a quick cash exchange and McD’s breakfast for some, made it to the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square by 11:30. I oriented everyone, and we bought tickets and then turned everyone loose for the day in downtown Beijing.
HUTONG BISTRO CUISINE: FRIED RICE AND RED WINE.
Kat, Sean, George and I hit the trifecta – touring the Forbidden City (including the beautiful Jianing Park and temple tower that overlooks the city from the north), Tiananmen Square and Pearl Market (where we shopped like barter-seeking westerners) before heading back to the hutong via taxi before 6:00.
Because of the big CRP event downtown, and the fact that it was a reasonably nice Saturday afternoon weather-wise, downtown Beijing was hopping, and hearing their stories later, our Mojo’ers made the most of their day (some even saying they wanted another day to experience the mother of all Chinese Cities.)
A great way to finish off our visit in China.
Day #7: A Walk on the Wild Side - On the Great Wall of China with William Lindesay (Friday, 3/11)
I knew experiencing the Great Wall of China would be a highlight of the Mojo trip for our group.
So we didn’t skimp when it came to investing in a full day on the Great Wall with one of the first westerners to ever hike the entire length of the Wall.
THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA (WILD).
CHAMP CHINA MOJO ON TOP OF THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA.
William Lindesay is a tall, rangy, smiling Brit with a passion for telling stories about Great Wall of China.
And having logged more than 1,000 days on the actual Great Wall itself, Lindesay knows of what he speaks.
He's got an amazing story.
As a child, he dreamed of walking the Wall.
In 1987, when China was just beginning to be opened to the West, he decided to act on his childhood fantasy, hiking the entire length of the Wall by himself, carrying 2 passports, tenting out and sleeping in Chinese farmers’ houses and fields, and dodging Chinese police and security along the way.
GREAT WALL EXPERT WILIAM LINDESAY.
He wrote a book about his experience.
He’ll be appearing in a National Geographic special on Saturday, April 30, 2011, devoted to the Wall.
And he runs a nonprofit devoted to preserving the Wall, gives numerous speaking engagements, and leads tours along the Great Wall of China from his home located in the mountains outside of Beijing.
Our bus met Lindesay at the crack of 7:15 a.m. on the outskirts of Beijing (Kudos to our Mojo’ers for rolling out of bed and down to the hotel lobby for our 6:30 am departure), and, as we headed into the mountains towards Lindesay’s home, he regaled us with stories of the Wall, combined with his own insights on Chinese contemporary politics and culture. A deeply engaging raconteur, Lindesay’s passion for the Wall was palpable, even in our sleep-deprived state.
After zigzagging up into the mountains to enjoy a breakfast of Danish, tea and coffee at his modest farmhouse/school/learning center, we donned our hiking shoes and headed across the village farmland and into the foothills towards towards the Wall around 10:45 am.
A Great Wall expert, Lindesay explained that he was fond of showing visitors what he called the “Wild Wall,” rather than the reconstructed and heavily trafficked Great Wall tourist sites frequented by most Great Wall visitors (including most Chinese.)
UP THE OX BOW ON THE GREAT WALL.
A SMALL STRETCH OF THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA.
MOJO YOGA ON THE GREAT WALL.
As we climbed through sun-dappled forests of pine, marked by pockets of snow (we were the very first tour of the 2011 season, I learned later), Lindesay would stop our group every fifteen minutes or so along the trail for a Great Wall mini-lecture on the history, culture, and attempts to preserve the Wall. The Great Wall, he pointed out, is not really one Wall but many, each displaying a specific “look” and “feel” that reflects its own unique geographical and historical circumstances. Four major S’s – shelter, signaling, storage (food) and – counter-siege - help explain why the Chinese built the wall over the centuries to try and repel nomadic invaders form the North, whose lives literally depended on them being able to access (and conquer) Chinese agricultural and other resources.
The hike proved more rigorous than not, but our Mojo’ers ascended without complaint, and the views from the top of the Wall were spectacular. Even more so, to me, was Lindesay’s immense knowledge of and love for the Wall itself. I marveled at how deeply he felt a connection to this “building,” as he referred to the Wall, and how he had literally built his entire life around his connection to this famous epic Chinese structure. In a 21st century China that seems eternally on the go, eddying out with Lindesay to be rooted for just a few hours was incredible. I think the Mojo’ers agreed. As we enjoyed a lunch of delicious dumplings back at his home, they all talked of the remarkable day we had just had.
Sleep was the word of the bus ride back to Beijing. After all, we still had 2 nights and one full day ahead of us on our adventure.
While our students made plans to hit the Beijing night life, co-pilot Kat and I opted for a quiet dinner debrief at a local restaurant. I was asleep by 10:00.
So we didn’t skimp when it came to investing in a full day on the Great Wall with one of the first westerners to ever hike the entire length of the Wall.
THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA (WILD).
CHAMP CHINA MOJO ON TOP OF THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA.
William Lindesay is a tall, rangy, smiling Brit with a passion for telling stories about Great Wall of China.
And having logged more than 1,000 days on the actual Great Wall itself, Lindesay knows of what he speaks.
He's got an amazing story.
As a child, he dreamed of walking the Wall.
In 1987, when China was just beginning to be opened to the West, he decided to act on his childhood fantasy, hiking the entire length of the Wall by himself, carrying 2 passports, tenting out and sleeping in Chinese farmers’ houses and fields, and dodging Chinese police and security along the way.
GREAT WALL EXPERT WILIAM LINDESAY.
He wrote a book about his experience.
He’ll be appearing in a National Geographic special on Saturday, April 30, 2011, devoted to the Wall.
And he runs a nonprofit devoted to preserving the Wall, gives numerous speaking engagements, and leads tours along the Great Wall of China from his home located in the mountains outside of Beijing.
Our bus met Lindesay at the crack of 7:15 a.m. on the outskirts of Beijing (Kudos to our Mojo’ers for rolling out of bed and down to the hotel lobby for our 6:30 am departure), and, as we headed into the mountains towards Lindesay’s home, he regaled us with stories of the Wall, combined with his own insights on Chinese contemporary politics and culture. A deeply engaging raconteur, Lindesay’s passion for the Wall was palpable, even in our sleep-deprived state.
After zigzagging up into the mountains to enjoy a breakfast of Danish, tea and coffee at his modest farmhouse/school/learning center, we donned our hiking shoes and headed across the village farmland and into the foothills towards towards the Wall around 10:45 am.
A Great Wall expert, Lindesay explained that he was fond of showing visitors what he called the “Wild Wall,” rather than the reconstructed and heavily trafficked Great Wall tourist sites frequented by most Great Wall visitors (including most Chinese.)
UP THE OX BOW ON THE GREAT WALL.
A SMALL STRETCH OF THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA.
MOJO YOGA ON THE GREAT WALL.
As we climbed through sun-dappled forests of pine, marked by pockets of snow (we were the very first tour of the 2011 season, I learned later), Lindesay would stop our group every fifteen minutes or so along the trail for a Great Wall mini-lecture on the history, culture, and attempts to preserve the Wall. The Great Wall, he pointed out, is not really one Wall but many, each displaying a specific “look” and “feel” that reflects its own unique geographical and historical circumstances. Four major S’s – shelter, signaling, storage (food) and – counter-siege - help explain why the Chinese built the wall over the centuries to try and repel nomadic invaders form the North, whose lives literally depended on them being able to access (and conquer) Chinese agricultural and other resources.
The hike proved more rigorous than not, but our Mojo’ers ascended without complaint, and the views from the top of the Wall were spectacular. Even more so, to me, was Lindesay’s immense knowledge of and love for the Wall itself. I marveled at how deeply he felt a connection to this “building,” as he referred to the Wall, and how he had literally built his entire life around his connection to this famous epic Chinese structure. In a 21st century China that seems eternally on the go, eddying out with Lindesay to be rooted for just a few hours was incredible. I think the Mojo’ers agreed. As we enjoyed a lunch of delicious dumplings back at his home, they all talked of the remarkable day we had just had.
Sleep was the word of the bus ride back to Beijing. After all, we still had 2 nights and one full day ahead of us on our adventure.
While our students made plans to hit the Beijing night life, co-pilot Kat and I opted for a quiet dinner debrief at a local restaurant. I was asleep by 10:00.
Day #6: Homeless (Almost) in Planet China (Thursday, 3/10)
The unspoken axiom of travel in Planet China?
Whenever you think all is going smoothly, guess again, because something will probably go wrong.
THE HUBEI COUNTRYSIDE, AS SEEN FROM THE CHAMP MOJO BUS.
Case in point.
We disembarked from our Yangtze River cruise vessel at 7:00 am sharp and were on the bus and heading east across Hubei province to Wuhan by 7:30.
So far, so good.
MOJO BUS MAYHEM.
While everyone slept or relaxed on the Mojo bus, I sat up front and read Hessler’s Country Driving and watched the rural Hubei landscape slip past. More than ½ of China still lives in the countryside, and the miles and miles of farms and fields are testament to China’s roots as an agricultural civilization, even with today’s exploding economic growth in the eastern cities.
Then it occurred to me.
I better confirm our Beijing hotel rooms at the Junguo Garden hotel for tonight.
I asked Linda, our fabulous Wuhan-based tour guide, to call the hotel.
Sure enough, the hotel had NO ROOMS booked for us in Beijing for tonight. Or for the next two nights.
WTF?
Very bu hao.
Planet China strikes again.
Linda and I called Steve, who agreed to help us find another Bejing hotel, and I ran our travel budget numbers to see how much money we had to spend.
I confess to being a bit concerned.
Not having a hotel in Beijing for all 21 of our travelers for the next 3 nights would certainly put a damper on the trip.
Extreme understatement.
We then learned that the CRP was holding a big national meeting in Beijing and were commandeering all available hotels in the downtown area for their wingding.
Aha.
I don’t suppose we could bunk in Beijing with Hu Jintao?
The CRP now owes us a favor – not sure we can cash in on that guanxi.
Good news.
Huge Xie Xie’s to Steve Wilmarth (yet again) and his In-China team for finding us another hotel – the Green Tree Inn – by the time we arrived in Wuhan for lunch in the Hancou district of the city. We wire transferred 500 RMB to ensure that we actually had the hotel rooms for the night, and then my heart rate slowed.
MOJO A'PHOTO.
MOJO'ER MAX GETS REVOLUTIONARY WITH SOME CRP ART IN DOWNTOWN WUHAN.
After a hilarious epic Bank of China money exchange dance, in which our awesome Mojo’er Andrew Chung and I cashed 21 different piles of Mojo spending money, he doling out the funds and me running them out of the bank to each individual Mojo member, we headed to Wuhan airport by bus for our flight back to Beijing, saying good-bye to our awesome tour guide Linda, who had proved so helpful and accommodating to us the past several days while we were in Wuhan.
MOJO - GOODBYE WUHAN, ON TO BEIJING!
And one last adventure – when we arrived at the Beijing airport and claimed our bags by 10:30 pm, we learned that the airport train (which we were told ran all night) only ran until 11:00.
RIDING THE BEIJING AIRPORT TRAIN LATE NIGHT.
Sprinting onto the train, we literally caught the last run into Beijing for the night, and then had to hop 6 cabs at the Dongzhemen station one last leg to our hotel. Again, thanks to Andrew, who led the negotiations with our aggressive cabbies, we made it intact to the Green Tree Inn by midnight, completely fried after a full day of epic travel on Planet China.
But we had hotel rooms.
Wen Hao.
Whenever you think all is going smoothly, guess again, because something will probably go wrong.
THE HUBEI COUNTRYSIDE, AS SEEN FROM THE CHAMP MOJO BUS.
Case in point.
We disembarked from our Yangtze River cruise vessel at 7:00 am sharp and were on the bus and heading east across Hubei province to Wuhan by 7:30.
So far, so good.
MOJO BUS MAYHEM.
While everyone slept or relaxed on the Mojo bus, I sat up front and read Hessler’s Country Driving and watched the rural Hubei landscape slip past. More than ½ of China still lives in the countryside, and the miles and miles of farms and fields are testament to China’s roots as an agricultural civilization, even with today’s exploding economic growth in the eastern cities.
Then it occurred to me.
I better confirm our Beijing hotel rooms at the Junguo Garden hotel for tonight.
I asked Linda, our fabulous Wuhan-based tour guide, to call the hotel.
Sure enough, the hotel had NO ROOMS booked for us in Beijing for tonight. Or for the next two nights.
WTF?
Very bu hao.
Planet China strikes again.
Linda and I called Steve, who agreed to help us find another Bejing hotel, and I ran our travel budget numbers to see how much money we had to spend.
I confess to being a bit concerned.
Not having a hotel in Beijing for all 21 of our travelers for the next 3 nights would certainly put a damper on the trip.
Extreme understatement.
We then learned that the CRP was holding a big national meeting in Beijing and were commandeering all available hotels in the downtown area for their wingding.
Aha.
I don’t suppose we could bunk in Beijing with Hu Jintao?
The CRP now owes us a favor – not sure we can cash in on that guanxi.
Good news.
Huge Xie Xie’s to Steve Wilmarth (yet again) and his In-China team for finding us another hotel – the Green Tree Inn – by the time we arrived in Wuhan for lunch in the Hancou district of the city. We wire transferred 500 RMB to ensure that we actually had the hotel rooms for the night, and then my heart rate slowed.
MOJO A'PHOTO.
MOJO'ER MAX GETS REVOLUTIONARY WITH SOME CRP ART IN DOWNTOWN WUHAN.
After a hilarious epic Bank of China money exchange dance, in which our awesome Mojo’er Andrew Chung and I cashed 21 different piles of Mojo spending money, he doling out the funds and me running them out of the bank to each individual Mojo member, we headed to Wuhan airport by bus for our flight back to Beijing, saying good-bye to our awesome tour guide Linda, who had proved so helpful and accommodating to us the past several days while we were in Wuhan.
MOJO - GOODBYE WUHAN, ON TO BEIJING!
And one last adventure – when we arrived at the Beijing airport and claimed our bags by 10:30 pm, we learned that the airport train (which we were told ran all night) only ran until 11:00.
RIDING THE BEIJING AIRPORT TRAIN LATE NIGHT.
Sprinting onto the train, we literally caught the last run into Beijing for the night, and then had to hop 6 cabs at the Dongzhemen station one last leg to our hotel. Again, thanks to Andrew, who led the negotiations with our aggressive cabbies, we made it intact to the Green Tree Inn by midnight, completely fried after a full day of epic travel on Planet China.
But we had hotel rooms.
Wen Hao.
Day #5: The Love Boat? Cruising the Yangtze River @ Three Gorges Dam (Wednesday, 3/9)
OUR STURDY YANGTZE RIVER SAILING VESSEL.
BUYING FRUIT ON SHORE FROM THE LOCALS AT ONE OF OUR STOPS.
Spending an entire day (or two) on a Chinese passenger-focused cruising vessel plying the Yangtze with 20 other Champ Mojo’ers is not nearly as romantic an experience as you might imagine.
Insert laugh track here.
But I will say that our Champ China Mojo travelers made the most of this leg of our adventure.
The big disappointment?
We didn’t get to actually witness the Three Gorges Dam project itself, as we passed through the locks on the late night side of the trip.
But there was much to like about the cruise.
The on-board food was surprisingly delicious.
An aside - our Chinese passengers ate so quickly that the eating area at ship’s stern was vacated in minutes after every meal, leaving us alone and laughing with our steamed buns, rice, and veggie/meat plates.
A YANGTZE FJORD CAVE, ONE OF MANY NATURAL WONDERS ALONG THE WAY.
The views proved spectacular - think Norwegian fjords without the snow and with more of China’s famed smog, but with stunning rock formations and the occasional monkey.
We took two side trips of note, as well.
TU JIA 5 PERSON FARMER/PADDLER TEAMS WITH THEIR PEA POD BOATS.
The first found us on a smaller boat steaming up the Yangtze to a smaller tributary called the Shennongxi River and a floating mini-harbor, where we boarded wooden Pea Pod boats in groups of 18 travelers, paddled by teams of 5 Tu Jia farmers who moonlighted as oarsmen. Our friendly and knowledgable Tu Tia tour guide, Amanda, told us that the Tu Jia people, 8 million strong in this area of China, comprise one of China’s 56 ethnic minority groups. Because they have lived and farmed up high in the fjords of western Hubei, the extensive displacement wrought by the building of the massive Three Gorges Dam project has not impacted their villages and people, in the same way that it has displaced 10s of thousands of other lower lying villagers living down low in the path of the dam-created new flood patterns.
In fact, it seems like the Tu Jia are doing just fine, buoyed by a burgeoning new tourist economy they’ve built on China’s emerging prosperity. At the height of tourist season, from April through October, they run 2,000 paddlers and 150 boats, with each group of 5 spending 5000 RMB on a Pea Pod, and splitting the profits for the paddling they do for tourists.
Another of China’s paradoxes.
THE YANGTZE, AS SEEN FROM THE TEMPLE OF THE WHITE EMPEROR.
In the afternoon, we disembarked at White Emperor City for a hike to the top of a beautiful temple and pagoda area. This place figured prominently in the Era of the Three Warring States.
MOJO YOGA ON THE YANGTZE.
MOJO CHILLIN' ON THE YANGTZE.
MOJO SCRABBLE ON THE YANGTZE (C0-PILOT KAT WAS BARELY VICTORIOUS.)
The best part of the cruise, though, for me, was the Champ chill time we all enjoyed together on the boat. Talking, photo shoots, reading, cards, Scrabble, yoga, and even the glimmerings of a spontaneous dance party on board the Lido Deck – all great vehicles for us to get to know our group a bit better.
MOJO THE MORNING WE DISEMBARKED FROM THE YANGTZE.
Day #4: Go West, Young Mojo – Across Hubei Province by Bus to Yieching and the Yangtze Rover (Tuesday, 3/8)
MOJO'ERS SAYING "ZAIJAN" TO OUR NEW WUHAN FRIENDS.
MOJO'ERS SAY GOODBYE TO OUR HOST FAMILY STUDENTS.
Up bright and early today, on the bus and moving by 8:15 am for our 4 hour journey west to the Three Gorges Dam area, located near the western Hubei city of Yieching.
A good long bus ride across China’s newly built interstate roads is a good way to see the countryside and catch your breath, and a good reminder that, while 400,000 million Chinese have been lifted out of poverty and the Chinese economy is booming at 10% growth every year, give or take, more than half of China still lives in the country as farmers. Farms and fields slipped by, many sporting nifty cylindrical solar collectors on the roofs, and the fast pace of the city quickly flattened out into the quieter rural rhythms of the countryside, complete with the occasional ox and hoop/greenhouse and plenty of open land for cultivation.
MOJO'ERS CONSUMING VAST QUANTITIES OF CHINESE FOOD.
AFTER OUR HAPPY VALLEY GORGE CAVE AND TRAIL HIKE.
After a blissed out bus ride, we arrived at Happy Gorge, a local tourist trap west of Yieching, for a cliffside restaurant lunch and a hike through a local park/cave area, before heading to our Chinese cruise boat, departing for the 3 Gorges Dam at 6:30.
HAPPY VALLEY GORGE/TOURIST AREA IN WESTERN HUBEI PROVINCE NEAR THREE GORGES DAM.
I knew the boat experience was going to be unique. International tourist season here doesn’t begin until April, so we booked a 2-day passage on a Chinese passenger vessel to get ourselves onto the Yangtze for two days. Sure enough, as we boarded, looking around, we quickly realized that we were pretty much the only Westerners on board. This was gonna be fun. The bunkrooms prove modest, with 2 beds, and your typical Chinese “shower/bath” combo arrangement, along with an open-air deck in the back in full smell of the boat’s diesel fumes and a lounge area with snacks and sundries on the second floor.
Our Champ China Mojo’ers, I was learning, were fairly good at adapting - despite the cold temperatures, lack of heating and towels, we settled in OK.
ON BOARD THE BOAT - NIGHT TIME CARD PLAY.
FROM THE STERN OF OUR YANGTZE CRUISE SHIP - GOING THROUGH A LOCK AT NIGHT.
Shortly after leaving harbor, we passed through an impressive lock system (80 feet of water rise in just a few minutes) and settled down for the night, enjoying the stares, chatter and occasional smiles and “Ni Haos” of all the Chinese passengers on the boat. Sadly I learned that we would be going through the actual Three Gorges Dam in the middle of the night, and would not really have a chance to see it up close.
I was in bed and asleep by 9:30, after cracking Bejiing-based writer Peter Hessler’s new book COUNTRY DRIVING: A CHINESE ROAD TRIP. The Beijing-based Hessler is my new favorite China observer, having penned three books on the Middle Kingdom, all of them marked by his insightful appreciation of the many paradoxes and contrasts that define emerging China.
Day #3: Wuhan On Display – And Peeking Under the Hood Of The Chinese Educational System (Monday, 3/7)
STEVE WILMARTH TOURING MOJO AROUND THE SCHOOL.
Champlain Mojo spent our Monday touring Wuhan’s best educational institutions, with our morning visiting HuaZhong Normal University and our afternoon touring at Central Chinese Normal University. After we visited Steve’s classroom of 50 students and played an intercultural “getting to know you” scavenger hunt, we stepped into the role of “honored guests in display” at the school’s daily flag raising ceremony in front of 4,000 students in the courtyard, complete with CRP national anthem and CRP flag-raising.
The school is impressive. The quad alone felt big enough to house our entire Champlain College academic quad – a reminder that few cultures do size and scale and pageantry as impressively as the Chinese. Steve had instructed me to prepare a short speech, and I enlisted the help of the Mojo’ers – we planned to introduce ourselves with a bit of Chinese and then introduce ourselves and our majors – “Ni Hao, Wuhan, Wo Jiao NAME and I am studying XXXX at Champlain College.” Due to a snafu on their end, however, we were not invited to speak.
Dodged that bullet.
As we walked around the school with Steve, I kept reminding myself that this was one of the best high schools in all of China, akin to our elite private academies in the States.
Touting the school’s library largely devoid of books, we were joined by Becky, a CRP member who clearly was assigned to our group to listen in. Only 5% of the Chinese population actually belong to the CRP, but they exercise enormous control over what is said and done, even as China opens itself to the world, and watching Becky observe our group, I marveled at the thoroughness with which the CRP has penetrated every level of Chinese society.
Apparently the school’s students are not allowed to use the library – testament to the traditional “teacher-centered” pedagogy that dominates the Chinese educational system. Steve explained that the Chinese, the world’s best savers of money, pour much of their savings into two arenas: real estate and education. That explains the real estate boom in China right now, which makes the housing bubble in the US look like child’s play. Steve also shared with our group just how difficult it is to challenge the “repetition and recitation” teacher-oriented traditional Chinese pedagogical approach with a more student-centered “ask questions and do research” approach more common on US schools.
Some shots of our Champlain Mojo students working with our Chinese host students in the classroom.
After lunch, we traveled across the city by bus, and, after a 30 minute wait at the Bank of China to exchange dollars for yuan (which an American cannot do without a Chinese citizen to co-sign), we toured Central Chinese Normal University, visiting some Chinese language classrooms where students from all over the world come to learn Mandarin, and then enjoyed dinner at the University’s hotel, before we returned to meet our host families for our second night of home stay in Wuhan.
Day #2: By Bus Through Wuhan, and Our China Host Family Stays (Sunday, 3/6)
MOJO'ER BLYTHE WITH OUR CHINESE HOST FAMILY STUDENTS IN DOWNTOWN WUHAN.
WELL KNOWN HAPPY CHEF STATUE IN WUHAN'S STREET MARKET SECTION.
MOJO BREAKFAST AT A STREET MARKET IN DOWNTOWN WUHAN.
After a few hours of sleep at our downtown Wuhan hotel, we spent Sunday touring greater Wuhan, a booming Chinese city of 8 million people located where the Han and Yangtze rivers meet. Linda, Lily and Steve proved excellent tour guides, teaching us some basic Mandarin (including a few characters written on the steamy bus window), and sharing their extensive geographical and historical knowledge of Wuhan, a city famous for its role in the September 1911 uprising that led to the fall of the Chinese imperial order and the birth of nationalist China under Sun Yat Sen.
A GIANT BUDDHA STATUE AT A WELL-KNOWN WUHAN TEMPLE (OF MANY BUDDHAS.)
Traveling in China is simply overwhelming – the sights, sounds, and smells are legion. We visited a well-known market area for tasty “street food” – fried rice with meat, hot dry noodles, fried potatoes, steamed buns, and the dreaded “stinky tofu” – and then spent some time at a riverfront park by #1 bridge (built by the new CRP with Russian assistance in the 1950s) and the Hubei province historical museum.
DOWNTOWN WUHAN'S COMMERCIAL CENTER ALIGHT AT NIGHT.
We then returned to the school to meet our host families, and divided into pairs for our 2 day immersion into the lives of well-to-do Chinese families, who were spending mucho yuan sending their kids to one of China’s best high schools. The high school students seemed very excited to meet us, and we seemed a bit tired (but why?) but I was pleased by our Mojo’ers’ willingness to reach out through the jet lag and fatigue to engage with our new friends.
MOJO WITH STEVE, LINDA AND LILY AT THE HUBEI PROVINCIAL MUSEUM.
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