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    Two Flags in China: A Travelogue
    Two Flags in China: A Travelogue
    Two Flags in China: A Travelogue
    Ebook218 pages1 hour

    Two Flags in China: A Travelogue

    By Robert C. Huckins

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    About this ebook

    China remains one of the most misunderstood and enchanting nations in the world along with being the most highly populated. Two Flags in China details a cultural exchange trip taken by a small group of New Hampshire high school students, teachers and administrators, a journey stretching from the urban sprawl of Beijing to the outer rural areas of Xi'an.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRobert C. Huckins
    Release dateJul 14, 2013
    ISBN9781301965182
    Two Flags in China: A Travelogue
    Author

    Robert C. Huckins

    Robert C. Huckins is the author of "This Day & Age", "Two Flags in China", "Flatlander" & "American Dreamland". Huckins owns and manages Chasing Jade Publishing, a company which specializes in publishing independent, creative print and digital content. He graduated from Keene State College with a B.A. in Journalism and Rivier College with an M.A. in Educational Studies. He lives in Milford, New Hampshire.

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      Book preview

      Two Flags in China - Robert C. Huckins

      Two Flags in China: A Travelogue

      Robert C. Huckins

      Published by Chasing Jade Publishing

      Smashwords Edition, 2013

      Copyright © 2013 by Robert C. Huckins

      All rights reserved.

      Cover concept & design by Paul Mason

      Author photograph by Zachary Stone Photography

      No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the express permission of the publisher.

      For information regarding permission, contact Chasing Jade Publishing at chasingjadepublishing@gmail.com

      Table of Contents

      Introduction

      Chapter 1: School Daze: Cultural Exchange Week

      Chapter 2: Searching For Heroes: Myth Building in China

      Chapter 3: A Creative Oasis: Beijing’s 798 District

      Chapter 4: Night Train to Xi’an

      Chapter 5: More Than Terracotta: The Eternal Army

      Chapter 6: Your English Is Better Than My Chinese: E-Mail Addresses and Rice Paper

      Chapter 7: Remnants of a Dynasty: The Temple of Heaven and Summer Palace

      Chapter 8: Pollution in China: It’s Real and It’s Dangerous

      Chapter 9: Not Just One China

      Chapter 10: Walking on History: The Great Wall

      About The Author

      Introduction

      There are several realizations one experiences when traveling to China, and they come in fairly quick succession upon arrival. The sheer size of the nation is staggering when taken even in small bites, such as a walk down a crowded sidewalk in Beijing on an average afternoon or angling through the crowd at the Muslim Quarter market in Xi’an. Most Tianjin shopping centers are teeming with people of all kinds at many of the same stores one would find in the United States or Europe. There are people everywhere. There is very little regard for private space even though you are in a nation where privacy and reservation of self are valued. Another reality is the rapid pace of growth, something easily quantifiable when scanning the landscape from a bus or during a walk around what seems like any location, as various pieces of construction equipment reach for the sky in earnest ambition for modernity. Apartment projects seem to pop up everywhere, in the most unlikely of places, such as a random stretch of highway or smack in the middle of a congested urban sector; the property doesn’t even have to be filled--as long as construction is moving forward. I will always recall the smell and feel of the air in China, especially Beijing and to a lesser extent Tanggu and Xi’an, both large cities in their own right. The sky was almost always draped with a gray, soft haze of a color, as if a light curtain had been placed over the sun.

      My trip to China was part of a cultural exchange between two high schools in Southern New Hampshire—Merrimack and Hollis-Brookline—made up of five adults and ten students. Our first week was spent in and around Tanggu, a coastal city of roughly half a million people located in the Tianjin municipality, a two hour drive south of Beijing. While the students lived with host families and attended the Bin Hai Foreign Language School each day, the adults toured various schools and got a very extended—but still partial—view of Chinese education, including primary, middle and secondary schools. During the second week of the trip, students and adults traveled together to various sites in Beijing and Xi’an before returning to the United States.

      This account is not the definitive narrative of travel to China, but rather an account of what one person experienced over a two week period in the country. These stories are not necessarily reflective to anyone else’s experiences but is but one person’s take on being immersed in a nation which most people I know will never visit during their lifetimes, but one which will affect all Americans over the next few decades. This is not a travel guide by any means but an account of my experiences and impressions during my time in China. No more, no less. Often, it is said that trips to faraway places are life changing experiences, that when one undertakes something like this they will never be the same. In some ways, this is overreaching. I returned to my life after the two weeks were over and was happy to do so for the most part. But I missed the trip as soon as it was over. The experience made me appreciate and love my American roots even more than before. The trip certainly forced me to adapt to a culture where I did not speak even a dozen words in their native language. Any successful conversation was a credit to our hosts and the Chinese people—not me. We visited the Great Wall. We walked amidst the Terracotta Army. We went to Tiananmen Square and strode silently by an entombed Mao Zedong. I walked the City Wall in Xi’an after traveling by overnight train to and from the city and loved every aspect of it despite its inconveniences. I saw young students and fellow adults in a completely different way and learned to love them all and be thankful for their companionship. We had a lot of fun. I still miss traveling with them as you read this. Because of them, the experience was a success and one I will remember for the rest of my life. I would travel with each and every one of them again without a second thought. Mostly, however, I will remember China for one thing—the people. Our hosts and guides were among the most generous and consistently patient people I have ever encountered. They were willing and ready to take care of every need and want which came up, almost to a fault, something that was both humbling and somewhat disarming, as if you gradually discovered just how short of being socially generous you actually were, that the unconditional generosity being shown was almost a mirror to your own self, an evaluation of what should be done in your own life. There are gifts and food and smiles at every turn, even if you don’t want them. Each meal was done for your benefit—not theirs. You had to be careful of what you said you liked; you might be get a lot more of that particular item. To finish your plate of food meant that you did not get enough, which meant that you always left a little bit just to let them know you were too full. The meals I had in China were some of the most enjoyable I have ever experienced. I learned to love chopsticks and divorced coffee for the most part. I struggled to remember even the simplest of Chinese expressions, even after studying my limited list of helpful terms (from my guide book I bought for the trip). For almost two days, I thought I was saying you’re welcome when I was actually telling everyone something which amounted to I like tea. They were polite, nodding their heads and smiling during my error and were always generous to me and the rest of the group. For this, I would rank the Chinese people among the most gracious I have ever met. They always smiled. They always spoke of your own comfort, not theirs. I agreed

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