Lina in China

The earthquacke of Mai 2008 in the Sichuan province of China also partly destroyed the famous Qiqushan-Temple on the Qiqushan mountain in Zitong, Sichuan, China.

The temple of Zitong is in the official list of China’s historical monuments in Sichuan. During the earthquacke in Mai 2008 in the Mianyang are of the Sichuan province of China Zitong was badly hit by the earthquacke. Some halls of the Qiqushan-Temple got partly destroyed by the earthquacke.

In September 2008 when I visited the temple on Mt. Qiqu (Qiqushan) much repair was taking place. But in some halls rubble of ancient stones from collapsed ancient stone walls could still be seen.

Wooden hall of the Kuixing God, not destroyed

The Hall of the Kuixing God is very famous and ancient. It is three stories high and was build on 46 wooden pillars. It is 33 meters high.

The Kuixing god is the god of students and pupils in the Buddhist belief. Even today school students still go to pray in the Hall of the Kuixing God before exams. This historic room was luckily survived the earthquake almost undamaged. This is probably due to the fact that it was build in the historical way as a wooden structure. Wood proved to be more flexible when hit by an earthquake then stone.

Zitong temple earthquacke destruction

The Qiqushan-Temple lies in an ancient Cypress wood containing more then 20 000 ancient cypresses. The temple was build during the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. It contains 23 halls covering more then 13 000 square meters.

1996 the Qiqushan-Temple was asses to the list of Chinese national important historical sites.

During the earthquake several of the halls got partly destroyed. When we visited the temple repair had began but in places walls had collapsed stone railings broken and only the most ancient wooden halls had survived almost undamaged.

This morning I was to be taken at 8 am to a city called Zitong. I did not really understand what it was about all I understood is that my friends in Mianyang have to work during the day. So as it is I just followed someone with broken English because the friend of a friend had said in broken English that I should do that.

By German standards it was a long drive to Zitong, Sichuan. We where driving for maybe 1 ½ hours through Sichuan. Due to the earthquacke parts of the street are still destroyed. Whenever the driver crosses these it can really give you a startle.

I did not sleep much since the Karaoke in Mianyang the night before had taken us so long. So I kept falling asleep, and was awakened by cracks in the road and sudden stops.

After we arrived in Zitong I got the feeling that we are hurrying somewhere. Just I did not find out where. We ate a hurried noodle soup and I finally achieved to get some hot water for my morning coffee. Then we hurried on.

Suddenly the 3 men I was travelling with brought me to a preschool / kindergarten that had been partly destroyed by the earthquake in Sichuan and was rebuilt.

They brought me in the office and communicated that we would play some with the children and take pictures. None of the employees of the Chinese kindergarten, not even the director of this preschool had ever seen a foreigner. So the excitement about my visit was great.

Playing with the Sichuan children

I was lead on the court for playing and singing and picture taking on the kindergarten courtyard. I soon got the impression that this is probably one of the best preschools in Sichuan. It was clean, colourful, the classes not to great and everything done and planed with a heart. Even they toilets were very clean for Sichuan standards where even luxury restaurants usually have unbelievable dirty toilets.

I was given a wolf mask and should catch children and there teachers. I was asked to sing an English song (I believe none in this Chinese kindergarten understood that I am no native English speaker). Happily I knew “If you’re happy and you know it clap your hands!” And this was very good since the clapping, stamping of feeds, shouting and so on the children could take place in.

The school even had an English teacher even though her own English was hardly sufficient for communication.

Then I was brought to a preschool class of children about 6 years old I guess. I was asked to play a game with them and was really at loss as I had not expected such a thing. So I tried to play “Montagsmaler” the Chinese kindergarten children. In this game the Chinese children should guess what I am drawing. Then they asked me to teach “some English sentences to the children” I tried: “The dog is on the house” which proved to be too hard.

Sichuan Preschool Class

Then came the picture taking. They tried to place crying children in my arms and I did not know how to hold them. Chinese preschool children are carried in front of the breast one hand under head or shoulder the other under the legs and never on the hip like German children. Trying to carry a Chinese child in the German way does scare them as they do not know it.

After this class I was sweating and tired and it was opened to me that 5 more classes were to come…

So they decided to make it shorter. In the second class I taught some English words and pictures were taken, in classes 3 and 4 just a general greeting and picture taking, classes 5 was just greeted, in class 6 I volunteered to sing the “If you’re happy” song once more. Then came class 7…

Rebuilded Sichuan Preschool

After we were done they lead me back to the kindergarten office and offered me some bottled green tea. So I took my chance trying to communicate weather I may see the school. They showed me the dining room and the kitchen, a sleeping room and the dance room. Of course they selected to show me the best. But I also peeked through some windows and in the whole school the hygiene standard was high enough that I would have sent my child to this school with no worries.

All was prepared with love. They showed me one sleeping room (Seems like they are also a boarding school. I asked if the children have parents, they said: “of course” so it is no foster home). Children where sleeping on two stories in the room. There was something build like a giant two stories bed for the Chinese preschool children of the boarding school. Everything was need and tidy, the same for every child though. The children sleeping upstairs had a slide to leave the bed in the morning. They had paper stars and moon hanging from the ceiling and everything smelled like fresh wood.

Lunch in the Preschool

The dancing room had a projector, every class room a computer (I don’t know if they have internet) and a TV. Most rooms had air conditioning. All together a very need school.

Back on the school yard there was some more greeting and some more singing. In almost all classes except with the little ones the children where able to say “good morning teacher”, “hello”, “thank you”, “we love you” and “good bye” so I guess these Sichuan children are prepared for the international world or at least for a good school.

After walking around some in the city we returned to the Chinese kindergarten once more in order to have lunch there. The food was good, clean, and diverse.

Today we went to the Panda Research Base in Chengdu. In order to get there we had to take a bus from Chengdu Centre for about 30 minutes.

Once we arrived for a log time we saw no life Giant Panda but pictures instead: Pictures of Panda Babies and Panda Mothers, of newborn Pandas and old Pandas. Every picture came with some facts written in Chinese and English, some facts about the Giant Panda whose natural habitat is around Chengdu in Sichuan, were even written in Japanese.

Then we came in a room with some video installations and some signs telling about the history of the Panda Research Base in Chengdu. It was founded in 1987. But since I was there with Xiaoping, his wife, her parents and aunt and his daughter we were hurrying along and I had no opportunity to read the rest of the story.

Giant Panda Feeding lazylz on Bamboo

Then we finally saw the first real life Panda. It was lazily feeding on Bamboo. But no matter what a Panda does somehow it is always sweet. Here I was also taught what to call a Panda in Chinese: “Chengma” and to make it sweet for the little daughter of Xiaobing we called Chengma Mi Miiiii….

Then we wandered on. The next life we saw some goldfish. Wherever in China there are Goldfish in a lake or pond you can see people see feeding them. Feeding Goldfish seems to be as irresistible to the Chinese like feeding ducks to us.

We came onto some bamboo woods and for me the Panda Research Base was the first time I wandered through a free land bamboo wood. One time I sneaked of the main path to stand between and under the bamboo. It was almost dark between the bamboo stalks and I could here strange sounds, maybe made by insects.

Sichuan has also very big butterflies. They are so big I thought at first that they are small birds. I also saw many other strange insects in the Panda Research Base.

Then we found some more Pandas, I believe they where the young adult Pandas. Berlin used to have one Panda and now has two. But I have never ever seen the Berlin Pandas do anything but eat and sleep, eat and sleep. Maybe these Pandas in Chengdu were more agile since they were young.

The two young Pandas where playing with each other, climbing up and down the Panda Playground, yes these Panda bears were even running. I did not know that a Panda can climb and run and all…

Unfortunately it began to rain now. So we stayed under a tree. The Chengdu family I was in the Panda Research Base with probably assumed it would be a short rain. But rain kept falling and so we covered our heads with plastic bags. Xiaoming even took his whole shirt of to cover his little baby daughter. Chinese men are so caring with there children like I have never seen in Germans.

So anyway we ran for shelter into a nice restaurant. After we had eaten we headed home.