Ready for Rugao: Day Five of Tour (Lessons from Jackie and a visit to the Wild Goose Pagoda in Xi'an)

We set off the next day, after another lovely breakfast spread, for the Wild Goose Pagoda. During our ride to the Pagoda, Jackie began to endear himself to us even more, as he showered us with information about Xi’an and its sights. Xi’an, we learned, much like many Chinese cities, has been experiencing rapid growth from an influx of people from the countryside, and general population growth. In the past six years, Xi’an’s population has grown from 5 million to 11 million. Looking at the construction that is EVERYWHERE, it’s quite believable that it’s true. Since so many people are moving to the cities from the countryside for work and better opportunities, the government is starting to offer incentives for farmers to stay in the countryside and farm. It turned out that not only was Jackie a wealth of information, but he seemed to be just naturally chatty and very open to questions and general conversation. We learned a lot about him and Chinese culture.

Jackie was open enough and so direct right away, that we felt comfortable asking him direct questions, like about working conditions for the construction workers who are doing all this building - - um, not so good. He pointed out the on-sight container crates that workers bunk in. We got the impression that there aren’t individual bunks, with every person having their own, but rather that they kinda just swap with each other, rotating in who’s sleeping and who’s on a work shift. Certainly more efficient than getting in a car and commuting out to the suburbs, but not at all up to the standards we’d tolerate. Even Jackie said that, “this is not good.” He also talked about the education system and that the average class size for elementary school is about 40 to 50 students, and that as students get older, it’s not unusual for there to be 80. Yes, 80!! He also, keep in mind, put the status and the pay of teachers here in China in the same category as that of doctors and lawyers, or at least close to it. Those teachers who teach after-school classes (tutoring), definitely make as much as doctors and lawyers and are afforded the same level of respect. Eva had mentioned that her family was sad that she had not become a teacher.

Still in the realm of education, we started talking about Chinese characters and pronunciation and the acquisition of language. Some super basic understandings that we came away with are that each character has four different pronunciations, and that there are all sorts of dialects (obviously, this information is readily available in a travel book or Chinese language book, but talking with someone native to the language was infinitely more interesting to us all), so whereas two people from different parts of China might not be able to understand each other because of the wide variance in the pronunciations, they can still be literate wherever they are (kind of like, perhaps, someone with a thick Boston accent talking with someone with a thick New Orleans or Birmingham accent – Ha!). In order to be able to comfortably read a Chinese newspaper, one needs to know around 4 thousand characters; in order to be quite literate and do something like write a book, one needs to know around10 thousand characters. Ok!?? There’s A LOT of rote and very visual memorization going on in order to learn how to read and write. Certainly someone’s done a study on how language acquisition and the wiring of the brain when learning Chinese differs from the wiring that takes place when learning a Latin based language. We did wonder among ourselves, later, what the implications in terms of education are, just in learning language alone.

We gleaned all of this information in our van rides with Jackie. At one point, we asked point blank about how Chinese people typically describe each other, pointing out that in the US, there are so many differences to remark on, that we often start with hair color or texture, eye color, and skin color. Given what, at least superficially, seems a higher degree of similarity, what is the basic go to for typical Chinese descriptors? Well, Jackie didn’t even hesitate. He said first, whether or not a person has single or double-layered eyelids, with single-layered eyelids being the more desirable. The second quality often spoken of is the depth of one’s eyes, like whether or not a person has deep set eyes or more of a flattish face. The third most often remarked upon feature is the shape of one’s face, that is, whether it is round or oval. And though Jackie certainly must have had his own biases, he said that generally, Chinese people think that the round face is more pleasing.

When we asked Jackie about the ever present lions flanking the entrance to so many of the buildings we see in China, each with a paw resting on something, he told us that the lion, the unicorn, and the dragon-horse are all Feng Shui creatures of protection and signify the auspiciousness of a place. The lion on the left (usually when facing the building) is the female, and her paw is resting on a cub, representing the protection of family. The male lion’s paw is usually resting on a ball, representing joy and fun, offering the yin-yang balance. It’ll be interesting to read more and find out where Jackie’s interpretation fits with what others have said and written about these prolific figures.

He also told us that one often sees three turtles together, and that they represent longevity, as in multiple generations and that “pagoda” means “tower.” That there are five directions: north, south, east, west, and center, and that China was named the Central Kingdom. Seems a bit like the West thinking that it/we were the center of the universe, for the longest time, but it’s maybe a consolation to know that the translation of the US into Chinese means “Beautiful Kingdom.” Not too bad J.

When we set off from the hotel to Wild Goose Pagoda, it was foggy (or smoggy), the air thick with moisture. It even tried to rain a little bit. Perhaps this was a good thing, as there weren’t too many people at this landmark, though there easily could have been. The pagoda was lovely. Jackie called it China’s Leaning Tower of Pisa, as it is indeed leaning a bit, due to age and earthquakes, as contents do settle when shaken. This was one of the most serene spots we’d visited. Despite it being an obvious tourist destination, for Chinese and foreigners alike, the gardens and pathways surrounding the pagoda offered beautiful little pockets of tranquility. Though we didn’t have enough time there, and did not get to go into the library where there are housed the ancient translated Buddhist texts from India, we did catch glimpses here and there of the robed monks who are the caretakers of this beautiful treasure.