Tuesday, July 29, 2014

We Be Jamming. Chinese Horns, Drums and All Things Loud

Yongcheng Town has more than 70 folk percussion bands. They fashion themselves "Home of Percussion Music."

 We got off the bus in this charming town nestled high in the mountains.  Walking across this soccer field and up the stairs to the buildings you see was stifling hot.  You could feel the intense warmth permeate the feet.  My hair by the time we reached the building was hot to the touch and I was covered yet again in sweat from head to toe.   #sweatfest2014

What we saw inside made the unending journey from the parking lot totally worth it.  We met and heard the Liujia Band.  There are 20 members in the band, among whom the oldest is 87 years old and the youngest is only 16.   The band has over 300 years worth of history behind it, knowledge of playing the instruments has been handed down over 18 generations.  

The band plays a combination of Chinese horns, drums and cymbals.  It is intensely loud.   I loved every minute of it as I am a musical instrument junkie.  I already brought two instruments to bring home from China.  I looked for one of the gems below, to no avail.  

The horns are known as suonas or labas in China.  They are a sort of Han Chinese shawm, or oboe.  They have distinctively loud and high pitched sounds that will leave the ears ringing if listened to in close proximity.  This has been tested and confirmed.  It took awhile for my ears to recover.   The laba is an important Chinese folk music instrument.  It has long been used for festival and military purposes. Often they are also used in wedding and funeral processions.

Chinese drums are called Taggu.  Percussion in China is associated with celebration and pomp.  Chinese drumming, like most things Chinese, is a group activity, often involving 10 or more percussionists in a group.

In order to pass on national cultural heritage, members of the Liujia Band teach a special course to train teenagers in Yongcheng who have interest in learning how to play.  The members of the band teach skills in schools every week.  Check out the video below.



Drumming groups and bands like this often follow a very prescribed and choreographed routine.  Due to the celebratory nature of drumming, both instruments and musicians wear really ornate cloth and attention grabbing colors.  During the show the drummers chant, and move in ways to engage the audience.  

Usually performances like this are given outside due to the intensity of the sound of the band.  But due to today's heat, we were in an auditorium with all windows wide open.  We walked in and were told that we "might want to sit at the back."  The students however were up front and center.  This did not seem to bother them a bit.

Here is a clip for you.





Chairs and stands are used to balance the big horns.

Our artist Margy has an audience from the oldest member of the band.  He plays the Chinese cymbals and is 87 years old.

I love the excitement of these kids.  They love to play.  Really loud.

Did you think for one moment I would not try this?  Ya, right.  

Monday, July 28, 2014

Dear US Teachers With Less Than 50 Students In A Class, You Have Nothing To Crab About. Sincerely, Your Chinese Counterparts With Over 50 Kids In A Class.

Oh sleeping hotel watchman guard. I love how safe I feel with you on the job. I know no one could ever get past you coming through the wide open door at any time of night. I love the way you party down and smoke butts late at night with the guests and carnivorous mosquitos that gather in the lobby, the only place for available spotty internet. I also love the way you yell at me in Chinese and our relationship has grown into something so beautiful as my reaction to you is oh, so kind in return. The way you spit onto the clean lobby floor and clear your throat is mesmerizing and epitomizes cleanliness. Thank you Chuck. It was only appropriate that I named you this after muttering so many times to myself - 

What the F#@* Chuck!!


This day was truly one of the most special of the whole trip.  Besides hanging with Clara (she added this and I do have to agree), we also got a chance to go into schools.  Students, although most are out for the school year now, came in to hang with us.

Education in China is compulsory grades 1-9.  Students may or may not attend a pre-school voluntarily until age 6 depending on family preference or financial availability.  Parents pay.  Students move onto or start primary school covering grades 1-6.  They go onto middle school for grades 7, 8 & 9.  At this point depending on the student, about 50% of students will go onto an academic high school to help them prepare for China's national exam, The Gaokao, and hopefully after that, college.  The other 50% of students go onto skills based education and vocational education high schools specializing in arts or trades.  High school is not compulsory here although the government is taking steps to ensure that it will be by 2020.

The Gaokao is everything to students trying to get into colleges here.  It is a huge test.  9 million students take the test annually.  It is modeled after the historical Chinese Civil Service Exam System advocated by Confucius.  The idea of an exam like this was to afford everyone equal opportunity to improve themselves and their status in society if they worked hard enough in school and achieved a high enough score.  For students today, it is the only way to change their lives.  A good score is a ticket to prosperity.

The test is 3 days.  Students are tested on Chinese language and literature, a foreign language (often English), one or more of the student's choice depending on college aspirations (for example, Social Studies/Politics, Physics, History, Biology, or Chemistry). Students wait 20 days for their scores.  The best of the best scores get to choose where they want to go to college.  The government assigns colleges for the rest of the passing students. Students who fail the Gaokao can re-take the test after one year.

Many students do not have a choice if they fail and will return home and start jobs that require manual labor, sales, etc.

We were welcomed to Chongqing Municiple Qijiang High School with a large banner.  This high school was founded in 1910 and has over 110 classes offered to its 7000 students.  It is massive.
Part day school and part boarding school, it has a track and field stadium, academic buildings, science laboratories, and advanced IT teaching equipment.  The educational philosophy is centered around student research and innovation.  Problem solving strategies are emphasized.  Students here have made about 3,000 applications to China's National Patent Office.  388 have gained a national patent as a result of their work here.

I was told by one student that their day typically starts at about 5 am.  They get up and do some morning reading.  They eat breakfast at about 7:30.  They go to school and get out about 3-4pm.  Students will study some more or go to after school enrichment activities or clubs.  They eat dinner.    They go back to classes for another 3 periods until about 10 pm.  Students will go home or return to their on-campus apartment and many will study some more.

This campus is way older than the school I teach at and the conditions here are absolutely stunningly beautiful.   Everything is very orderly and everything is very well maintained.  Education is extremely important in this society and it shows in physical appearance.


This area is for the students to relax and gather and sit.  They use geography to promote communication, socialization and relaxation on campus.

These students were gathered on campus and welcomed the teachers of our delegation.  All Chinese students study at least one foreign language and many study more.  English is one of the subjects on the Gaokao.  The students practiced their English with us and were quite good.  We talked about music, sports, what they like to do for fun, summer activities, and Gaokao.  They kept apologizing for their "lack of English"which in reality, was quite good.  It is hard for anyone to speak another language and practice when not confident yet.  It takes an incredible amount of courage.  I have the highest level of respect for all of them.

 Teachers also joined us.  Their relationships with their students are just like ours.  They were helping them, laughing with them and offering information and translation to students when needed.

All meetings and briefings run the same way here.  We are welcomed in, and the speaker introduces themselves.  At this meeting our delegation was asked to give an introduction.  Our leader, Harold, Professor of Chinese History Extraordinaire gave it his best in Mandarin.  He did splendidly.

Time for lunch.  Along the way we got to see some of the campus.

This is student housing with a court yard for ping pong.

The lunch spread was impressive.  Typical dishes that are served to students were served to us too.  Although this day we had many more choices.  I could not help but wonder what providing lunch for 7000 students each day looks like.

I have eaten more watermelon here than at any time in my life.  I have it every single day and at almost every single meal.  It has been a lifesaver because when traveling for this long from home, it is nice to have at least one thing on the plate reminiscent of where you came from.

This is the Dean of Students.  He was our host for the entire day.  He accompanied us to our next site which was the Qijiang No. 1 Experimental Primary School.  We were going to see a performance.  This school is a private school for gifted students in the area of the arts grades 1-6.

Again, the facilities were beautiful.

Inside were students who had prepared to give us a performance.  The title of the performance:  The Story of Mulan.  This is a famous Chinese story that also is famous in the United States.  

The costumes were all handmade.  The students performed in English.  Their poise, pronunciation and fluency were spot on.





Individual students then stepped forward to show off individual talents.

This girl made her entire costume out of recycled materials.  China is notorious for its overly polluted huge cities of Beijing and Singapore.  However, I was surprised to see the extent of recycling within their society.  There is a very low amount of waste.  One bag of garbage for an entire week comes out of some family homes, especially in the cities.  The US environmental footprint is twice that of China's.

Below is a clip of girls playing the Guzheng, or Chinese harp.   The girl on the right is doing calligraphy, which is a high form of art in China.





At the end of the performance were given the chance to converse with the students.  They were very sweet and very enthusiastic.

Now when traveling of course you are introduced to the best schools and most innovative of programs. These schools are not reflective of all schools in China.  In many ways schools struggle with the same things as schools in the US.  Funding, feeding hungry kids,  resources, student motivation and conflicting philosophies about educational pedagogy.

Chinese teachers we spoke to wished their students were more creative.  Their students were prepared for years to simply give an answer.  There weren't a lot of opportunities for individual thought.  But then again, individual thought is not part of the Chinese psyche.  This is a collectivized society.  They think according to groups, they live in groups and they socialize in groups.  That is the way it is.

The Gaokao is a point of contention in Chinese education.  Some teachers I spoke with raved about it offering equal opportunities.  Others don't like it as it takes away from creative thought and students often miss out on other things like art, music and physical education due to the time it takes to prepare them for the test.  Their entire senior year is dedicated to nothing else and they test much more than US students in preparation.

The average teacher by the way, in Beijing, makes about $1500-3000 per month depending on credentials and experience.   That is city salary.  Teachers in rural localities make much less but the cost of living is much lower.  It was explained that teaching is a good solid job and that they make a comfortable living able to pay bills and afford some luxuries.   Chinese teachers think that US teachers work very hard, much harder than them.  They teach only a handful of classes everyday - but their load in classrooms can reach as high as 50 students per class!!  And to think there are some days that I think I have issues with 19 students.  Please!  #loveyourlifeitisallgood






Friday, July 25, 2014

If You Are A Culinary Fan Or Your Name Is Kristina Stewart, Nicole Thomas Or Allison Stiles, Read This.

I developed a fondness for cooking only recently. My cooking reputation was not a good one. I once burned water. Who knew that was even possible? Well I can tell you it is. And my poor son can also attest to my lack of mad cooking skills. But now I am on the upswing. Maybe I will beat Bobby Flay. Probs not.

Our group was invited to dine in the country and it was actually out in the country. Eat a few of these and sweat pours out of your face. Our friend from Texas on this trip, Thomas, has done it. And his face was sweating. True story.

The colors and smells of a Chinese kitchen are awesome. It is a mix of steam, garlic, cilantro (colander here), and hot spices of all kinds. 

Bright reds, whitest white rice, and the greenest of green are everywhere the eye looks.

Sticky rice pancakes drying out almost ready to bake. Sometimes they are breaded and fried. I have also seen them pressed between green tea wafers and fried. Sesame seeds cover the edges before they are served. 

Tea isn't an event. It is a way of life. The end.

Some sort of fruit was drying here. They tasted like huge California golden raisins. 

Big chopsticks are used for cooking. They are usually pretty long. About 1 & 1/2 feet or so in length. 

Rice, rice and rice. That is what breakfast, lunch and dinners have. Only it is served well into a meal. Not throughout. 

There are small woks in family kitchens. And industrial sized ones for school cafeterias. 


Spices for cooking include tons of sea sesame oil, garlic, garlic, garlic, colander, green onion , hot green and red peppers of every kind, sugar and soy. 


Yes children, there are others that suffer the task worldwide of doing the dishes. 

This lady is making soy milk. She puts a few ladles of soaked beans in the top of this contraption.

Then she uses muscles and physics and milk pours into bucket. It is strained and served hot. All drinks are warm or hot. Nothing like steaming hot beverages on a 110 degree day. 

Our bus driver helped out beating rice into a sticky oblivian.

This rice will be taken and partitioned into pancakes, or breaded and fried then rolled in sugar for dessert. Not a huge fan of this. Sort of like a cross between a fried donut, gummy candy and a hash brown. 

We took in a game of the Mahjong. Very different from virtual versions available online. The whole crowd around us had advice. We had no idea what the heck we were doing until the end. 

Dinner is served.






The people of this neighborhood gave us the warmest welcome and were generous beyond words. Our groups picture now hangs in the mahjong Game Center 'a wall. So fun.