Do you need to be married to travel the Silk Road?

We are Married!

When you come to China as a tourist, you must pay ~$170 to get an L visa, which is good for six months. We upgraded to a Z visa which is good for 360 days. You have 30 days after your arrival in China with a Z visa to apply for your work permit, which we needed to work in China and to travel. We arrived on Thursday, Sept 6, 2012 and started “work” on the following Monday. On Sept 23, our waiban (foreign teacher handler) called us up to say that she would take us to the police station the next day to get our work permit. 

We went to her office and filled out a bunch of papers that were all in Chinese. She told us what to write in each blank. She then attached 4 of our passport photos in different places on the forms and then they received the customary red stamp that everything in China requires. As we were leaving her office she told us to bring 400¥ each, our passports and our marriage certificate to take to the police station the following day. MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE??? No one said that we needed to bring a marriage certificate to China. We said that we didn’t have it with us and could we register as two single people? “Of course not”, we were told, “that would be illegal”. 
We explained that our house was packed up and people were living there. We were left with the prospect of having one of our kids go to the house, look where we think it might be, maybe finding it, scanning it and emailing it to us within 12 hours. Suzanne hit on the idea of Microsoft Office document center.  A few short hours later we were married, complete with the Seal of the State of Utah.  Our “marriage certificate” was rushed to the university translation department. After a few hours of careful scrutiny, it made its way back, complete with the required red   stamp! Whew, that was a close one.  We had a work permit to travel and to continue to teach our classes in China!

Silk Road Trip

Uighur musician

Urumqi International Bazaar

We flew from Xi’an to Urumqi in the far northwest China, near the borders of Russia and Mongolia. Ninety five percent of the Chinese are Han Chinese. This region is inhabited by some of the 5% minority, the Uighur (weiger) and Hui peoples. These folks are followers of Islam. The people of the northwest are closer to eastern Europeans and central Asians than to the Chinese. They have their own language, customs and culture. Since the discovery of vast natural resources in the area, the mother country was concerned with local ideas of separation and independence, so a modern railroad was constructed from China proper to the western regions and millions of Han moved (were sent) to the western province to fill most positions of responsibility. There is still much separation between them to this day.

We went to the Grand International Bazaar, touted to be the largest bazaar in the world. I could hardly wait. Stuff from everywhere, right here under one roof, what a deal! Well, after the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, the bazaars in Cairo and Jerusalem, the Grand International Bazaar in Urumqi was like a yard sale in Snellville, GA.  But it was a lot of fun to haggle over dried fruit prices and see 15 varieties of almonds.  Suzanne managed to find a few more silk scarves to add to her collection.

 

An interesting aside:  In most Muslim countries, you are aroused in the wee hours of the morning by the call to prayers. In China, since the Socialists are not exactly church-going-folks, the Muslims are not allowed to have any amplification to the call to prayers. Therefore, us Christians can sleep right through them. In my opinion, this is Carl Marx’s most significant contribution to the modern world.

Muslim Cemetery

We visited several ruins of ancient cities and Buddhist temples. We saw the Cave of 1000 Buddha’s.  Of course, no photos were allowed. These ruins Date from the 7^th to 10^th centuries. Most of the artifacts of the area were spirited away by European archeology “collectors” in the 1800s. The locals are still upset about that. However, if the artifacts had not been safe in European museums, then they would have been destroyed during the Cultural Revolution of China in the 1960s. 

    

One of the best things about getting out of Xi’an was seeing the blue sky. Our city air is brown, unless it’s the day after a rain. Then it’s a little better.  We’re anxiously awaiting the addition of the coal fired steam plants that will provide heat starting November 15, when the government decides we can have heat. Then we’ll wonder—what sky?



After poking around in the ruins of 13^th century mud huts we had the distinct privilege of an overnight trip in a “soft sleeper” train compartment to the city of Dunghuang. This is in contrast to a “hard sleeper” compartment which costs less. Let me give you an idea of a Chinese bed. Imagine a slab of concrete. Do you have that “firmly” fixed in your mind? If you take a luxurious bath towel and lay it on the concrete slab – that is a typical Chinese bed. Well, the soft sleeper had TWO bath towels under us!  

We rode camels in the Gobi Desert and then visited more Buddhist caves along with half the population of the province (because all the 1.3 billion Chinese take the same week of vacation. The mid-autumn festival was in full swing. As far as we can tell, all Chinese go outside, look at the moon and eat a Moon Cake.  I must take a minute to describe a Moon Cake. We received them as gifts from our students, they were in every store, they were sold on every street corner. They were wrapped in bright colored foil, in elaborate gift bags and boxes. We were gracious as we accepted them and opened them with great anticipation. Unfortunately, the closest comparison to them would be a 5 year old fruit cake. We have been using several as door stops.

Cave of 1000 Buddhas

Satillite Dish and Skylight in mud hut

Moon Cakes in Gift Box

 

Duck dumplings anyone?

Then came a treat-- we attended a cultural variety show that rivals any BYU production (well, maybe BYU Idaho, or possibly a Stake Dance competition!) which included a dumpling dinner. The shape of the dumplings gives a hint of what delicacy is found inside. After this we lugged our suitcases onto the subway of Xian and headed home to our Chinese bed that has a foam pad on top to rest from our vacation! Monday it’s back to the classroom.