Stele tour - some things ARE written in stone

I was a little anxious about my arrangement to meet Qiu Li at 3 pm.  First of all, she speaks no English.  Secondly I wasn’t at all sure I could get myself to wherever she wanted to meet.  This had mostly been arranged by Alice who doesn’t see language as a huge barrier.  After all, she speaks both English and Chinese quite fluently.  Turns out that the Wechat app is able to translate messages must fine.  

       Qiu Li sent a taxi which actually found me on a street corner.  The driver took me to her and accordingly she conducted me into a time a serene corner of Xi’an – a museum complex called the Beilin forest of Stele.   The one on the right, I was told, is an ancient hitching post for horses.

At first it just seemed like a regular series of temples.  A Stele is a large vertical stone slab covered in calligraphy that usually celebrates the life of an important person.  The slab is perched on the back of a large and patient stone turtle.  At Beilin the stele often date back as far as the 7^th century and the heyday of the Tang dynasty.  Much of the calligraphy is very beautiful and represents a number of different styles.  The detail and precision of the writing is extraordinary considering its all carved into solid stone.  I refused an English speaking guide having bad experiences with these so-called experts in the past, but we had great assistance from a young student whose English was up to the task.  They had plenty of fun testing me on the meanings of characters. Xi’an (or Chang An as it was called)  was the capital city of 13 of China’s dynasties and many of them are represented in these halls.  My performance was poor; however the calligraphy is of such high quality it’s a joy to examine it.  The characters on the stone below offer praises to the writer.  Some inscriptions were created by the Emperor himself at the time.  How wonderful to get this authentic glimpse into the Tang through authentic artifacts!

       We then headed for Xi’an’s famous Muslim quarter.  On the way we stopped by at Qiu Li’s fitness centre where she works out every day.  The Muslim quarter surrounds one of China’s most famous mosques.  Chinese Muslims are called the Hui.  They love to cook and produce a huge variety of delicious food.  The street was crowded with tourists and wreathed in smoke from cooking fires.  In spite of this the air seemed no worse than anywhere else in a Chinese city.  It’s a bit like an upscale nightmarket with all the vendors and the crowds.  We ate very well at a number of different locations known to Qiu Li. 

Photos of the Xi'an Muslim streets will have to wait.  My phone ran out of power.

Perhaps the best aspect to the whole evening was the opportunity for language exchange.  Communication between Qiu Li and myself gradually improved as we felt more relaxed.  The student helped us out whenever we got stuck.  For me its important to focus on content rather than language; the language stops being a barrier and becomes a tool box that I rummage around in with things in it that come to hand when they’re needed.  Sometimes I pick up the wrong implement but x make it work anyway.  Its essential to let go of the fear of making mistakes.  An additional element of fun is how random strangers seem to enjoy my efforts.  Of course they know what I’m trying to say and are usually surprised if I’m anywhere close to making sense.

       I am reminded of the principles I learned in Taiwan – stay in the present moment, expect nothing, withhold judgement and be open to what is happening.  We are all guests at a picnic.  Anything might happen at any time and I don’t want to miss anything.