Space Invaders

(Ryan)

Today was the day we visited Pangliu village. We started out early in the morning by piling into the van and heading towards the outskirts of the city. We picked up Richard on the way. For those of you who don't know, Richard is the amazing person who has coordinated most of our fantastic trip so far. Because of him, we have been able to pack so much into the past few days. On the way to Pangliu, he told us about his life growing up in the village and how hard school was for him and his classmates. Of all the students in his class, only two, including him, went on to University. The testing process had been extremely difficult when he was in school. On the journey into the village Richard explained how the city of Xi'an was expanding and soon even Pangliu would be absorbed by the condo complexes and parks.

When we arrived in Pangliu, it reminded me of the Bai villages we had seen ...
The village had many streets branching off from one another with houses one after another. We saw many farm animals on our journey through the streets. There were a lot more stares here then there was in the city. Most of the buildings were made of brick, but some of the older ones were made of hand made earthen bricks. Eventually, we made it to the school that Richard had helped build.

We walked through the gate into the courtyard as Richard conversed with the head of the school and the town. We then stayed in the office for a while and talked with the teachers and administrators, using Richard as a translator. There were a few laughs when Richard left the room, and we used our broken Chinese to try to continue the conversation. After the conversation was over, we headed upstairs to one of the classrooms. The kids were shy at first, but we soon got them talking, saying their names and favorite colors. They liked the stickers we handed out that had English words printed on them. Some were animal stickers, others were Nice! and Super! stickers. We then played a game where we would draw random things on the board and have them shout out the English words. We were surprised at the vocabulary of the kids. Not only were they naming animals, but sports, vehicles, emotions, and basic introductory sentences too. After a group photo, we bid our sad goodbyes to the students.

After the school, we went to one of the village greenhouses, which was a nice relief from the cold. It was amazing to see just how many greenhouses there were and how vast each one was. After the greenhouses, we made our way to the town clinic complex that also served as the administration complex of the town. Richard had also assisted in the construction of this building. Here, they showed us the village's website, which can be found at www.pangliu.com. We then headed to lunch at one of the villager's houses. It was a newer house with a beautiful mural near the front gate into the courtyard. Lunch was fantastic. My favorite dishes had to be a sort of pancake with scallions cooked in and hot Coke with ginger. We said our thanks, piled back into the van, and headed back to Xi'an.

Back in Xi'an, we visited an ancient Mosque. It was really cool to see a Mosque that combined Chinese architecture and design, with Islamic culture. During our journey through the mosque, we heard a faint whistling that got louder and louder as we approached the man building. What was even more confusing was that it seemed to be coming from the sky. Chris thought the noise sounded like an old Sci-Fi movie's alien invasion. It was not space invaders above us, but pigeons with whistles strapped to them. After the mosque, we spent a bit of time in the local markets bartering (much to Colin's delight). When Colin was finally content, we headed back to the hotel for a quick rest before dinner with Richard. Dinner was great! The pancake dish made a reappearance along with a deliciously sweet corn dish that looked like cornbread Chinese-style. We gave Richard our thanks and headed back to the hotel to end another fantastic day in China.