Tidbits From the World

Here are some of the pictures that I took during my journey in Sichuan province (also written as “Szechuan”).

The purpose of my journey was to take part in activities for a summer camp organized by an NGO whose main activity consists in building libraries in high schools in the Chinese countryside.

This library was built just a few months earlier in an empty building belonging to the school.

Before the start of the summer camp (on Monday), I was asked to give speeches in front of some classrooms. In total I gave 8 speeches about travel and foreign countries. (I spoke English and Ying translated into Chinese).

Group photo.

One of the many movies that were shown during the summer camp.

A physical education student. Every night, he and his classmates train outside. Their goal is to be admitted to the physical education program at the University. If they get admitted, they will have good prospects for the future. These guys might, one day, get a gold medal at the Olympics Games!

Ping Pong. (乒乓球 [ping pang qiu])

In the library, these very old books caught my attention… Lenin’s Whole Collection and Marx and Engels’ Whole Collection.

Marx and Engels.

“To our Mother School” – July 14 1974.

One of the favorite activities of most Chinese: 爬山 [pashan] climb the mountain!

Two old men wearing the “Mao suit”.

We met very nice people.

This man is writing his home address so that we can send him his photo.

This woman used to work in a factory in Xi’an, but she decided to come back to the countryside and set up a poultry farm. She told us that her job at the factory paid very little, while selling chickens is a very profitable business!

I stayed at the “best hotel” in town.

I’m not quite sure what this is… from what I understand, you can get a new name there…

This is something that would be unthinkable in Quebec, where all the names of the students would be replaced by secret codes only known by the students themselves and the teachers: the list of the students who passed the tests and were admitted to the University.

Power failures were quite common there, but they would never last very long.

After the summer camp, we went to Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan.

A dog and his master.

A bar.

I recently visited for the first time the Terracotta Warriors, the symbol of the city of Xi’an and one of the most ancient relics of Chinese culture.

The site, part of the Unesco World Heritage, is composed of one museum and three hangars.

In the museum, one can learn about the history of the Terracotta Army, which was created around 210 B.C., and of their discovery, in 1974.

The first emperor of China had ordered that a terracotta army be created for him to be protected in his afterlife. At his death, the army was placed in his mausoleum.

The army was discovered in 1974 by some peasants who were trying to drill a well. They notified the government about their discovery, which converted the place to an archeological and touristic site. Now, the peasants are seeking a compensation. I don’t know if they were expelled from their land that lied over the mausoleum, or if they were relocated. The history doesn’t tell!

As you can see, after more than 2200 years buried underground, the Terracotta Warriors were in very bad shape when they were discovered. They were repaired to their original shape by archeologists.

Some of the statues have no head.

Here is a picture from the main hangar, the one containing most statues.

There are statues of all shapes: slim, fat, tall, short, …

A police officer told us to carry on. When I asked him why we couldn’t stay, he replied 接待, which I originally thought it meant “you have to follow the group in front of you”, but actually meant “we are receiving a VIP”.

But who was this very important person? I couldn’t find out, so I carried on with my visit.

Notice all the details on the horses.

Here are some of the Terracotta Warriors that could not be completely repaired.

Other soldiers…

Suddenly, I was pushed back by some bodyguards. I asked the guy on the left with the suitcase who this VIP was. He replied to me “vice president…” Wen Jiabao? The Vice President of China? Here? “No… not China, Myanmar”…

_{Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Maung_Aye.gif}

I checked on Wikipedia who this guy is. It turns out there is no Vice-President in Myanmar, but rather a Vice Senior General. His name is Maung Aye, he is a ruler in the military junta in power in the Union of Myanmar.

Find Waldo.

When he left, I could freely take pictures without any problem.

No trespassing.

No Photo. Archaeological excavations.

Of course, no touristic activity in China would be complete without someone asking to take a picture of you!

Two friends, from Beijing.