Imperial China, The Yangtze River & Tibet
May, 2007 an OAT Tour

Xi'an Today - A Country School
and Peasant Village

A Country School

Although China is an ancient civilization it cannot be denied that within the past 20 years there have been many changes. Part of the OAT Advent rue is to find out about how the people live today. We traveled north out of Xi'an about 60 miles to a very small village. There we visited a public elementary school. Naturally the kids loved the attention and we were able to see something of modern China. From all our travels the thing that strikes me the most is how some of the Moslem schools still segregate boys and girls in the classroom. China was refreshingly modern.

Enterance to the school yard     

      A third grade class

A course in water conservation     

     

A Peasant Village

After visiting the school we walked through an old peasant farming village. The farmers are slowing being moved out of these mud brick homes into modern housing. The new homes are basically walls and ceilings of poured concrete with conduits for electrical wiring. The floors are cement and may later be finished with tile. There is running water and modern toilets with showers. The kitchen is plain but has running water and an obvious vast improvement over the old village homes. The farmers move in and finish the interior as they can. It appeared that the women were home during the day caring for children and grandchildren while the men were off working in local factories. We saw similar construction in other parts of China - especially along the Yangtze River where over a million people were moved because of the rising water of the Three Gorges Dam.

We leave the school and walk through the old village     

The Two Generals Protect the home from evil spirits - a Chinese Folk Tale      Not everyone has moved from the old farming village

The old homestead     

Children everywhere love to have their photographs taken      Number of passengers only limited by the size of the seat

The new farming village      Our host's living room with a neighbor girl to translate

Clean kitchens with running water, a vast improvement      We are treated to a delicious home cooked dinner

After dinner we go to an outdoor dance on the basketball court of the community center      Twins are always dressed alike no matter where you go

In the morning the villages are out cleaning the streets - pride in ownership      These people are farmers and they raise crops in the front yard

The Two Generals guard the new home      Streets and yards are well maintained

New construction all along the block     

Our Hosts - he works the night shift in a local factory      Chinese potty training

Child being taken to day care - you could tell by the crying he didn't want to leave mom      Farmer stops to watch the commotion

We visit a peasant artist      We purchase a piece of art

We say goodbye to our hosts

  • After staying overnight at the farmer's home we returned to Xi'an and then flew to Wuhan. Join us as we travel Overland by Bus from Wuhan to the Three Gorges Dam

  • Index to all China 2007 Advantures:

    The following pages are still under construction
    so be patient and come back to watch its growth.

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    This page was created by Bob "Belli" Frazee

    Bob at Grand Tetons, 2015
    Belli at the Grand Titons, June 2015


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