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Bringing You The World to Your Desktop!! Enjoy the ride and remember above all - You never get old until your memories become greater than your dreams!! http://picasaweb.google.com/milligansstew2205/ "Let prejudices and local interests yield to reason. Let us look at our national character and to things beyond the present period." - George Washington.... http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=198.. http://www.pgpf.org ; http://www.concordcoalition.org
About Us
- John and Debi
- DC, Washington D.C., United States
- Welcome to Milligan's Stew!! Coming to you from beautiful Glover Park in Washington, DC!! Bringing in the World - Travels, Politics, Family, Friends, Items of Interest!!
Golden Pavilion - Kyoto, Japan
John Debi at Golden Pavilion
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Journey to the Orient - Travels with John and Debi – May 1997
We finally did it! After years of dreaming and talking about it my wife Debi and I carved out some time from our busy work schedules in May and made a 22-day trip to China and Japan. We were totally impressed by our first visit to the Far East. Our vacation to Beijing and Xian in china and Tokyo, Kyoto, and Yokohama in Japan was wonderful and incredible beyond belief. We saw, did, and learned so very much. China and Japan are two amazing,fascinating, and dynamic societies. The people were so friendly and courteous to us wherever we went. Debi and I simply fell in love with both countries and their people and would return in an instant. Debi and I were surprised and amazed at every turn whether it was the back alleys of Beijing or the bright neon billboards of Tokyo. We saw great cultural and life contrasts everywhere we went ranging from the hustle, bustle and fast pace of the booming cities to the beautiful meditative refuges of religious temples. We visited more Buddhist, Taoist, Zen, and Shinto shrines temples in both China and Japan than you can shake an incense stick at. Also, staying with and having great relatives (Deb's sister's family -The Gogertys) in Tokyo to clue us in on the local Japanese ways really made our trip complete. Our weather was great and we didn't get sick! What more could you ask for! It was truly an invigorating and transformational vacation for the Milligan's
Impressions of China
We highly recommend visiting China. Debi and I were totally enchanted with China and her people. China is really promoting tourism big time now. We saw CHINA '97 signs and buttons everywhere. Our visit lived up to the advertised hype. Except for some perilous cab and pedicab rides, we felt so safe wherever we went. Things are so inexpensive in Beijing and Xian, even at the higher-grade hotels close in to the center of the cities major tourist sites. Our 4-Star hotel (The Capital Hotel) in Beijing overlooked the Forbidden City and was 3 blocks from Tien An Men Square. It was cleaner, bigger, and better than anything we've stayed at in the U.S. The prices for six days in Beijing at the Capital Hotel were very good -under $1,000 for 2 including all you can eat breakfasts, 2 full day tours (Great Wall, Ming Tombs, Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Temple of Heaven, Lama Temple, Confucius Temple), and all taxes. Three days in Xian (China's Ancient capital) at the Grand Hyatt was under $500 for two and included all breakfasts, a one day tour (to the Terra Cotta Soldiers, Hua Ching Hot Springs, and the Big Wild Goose Pagoda) and an exquisite Tang Dynasty dinner show.
You can find some incredible modular packages on the World Wide Web and elsewhere to both China and Japan. We found that Japan Orient Tours had some excellent very inexpensive packages. The flights over Alaska and Siberia outbound and the North Pacific and Southern Alaska and Western Canada inbound were beautiful indeed.
We were extremely impressed by China. We got a distinct sense from our short trip that China is truly a civilization of longevity. Despite the recent Communist past, the Chinese very much revere their long and varied history. Their 3,000 years of continuous history, culture, and traditions gives one the real sense that the U.S. and the West are "Johnny-Come-Latelys" in a cultural/historical/civilizational terms. Our first day journey to the 2,200 year old Great Wall drove that sense of civilizational longevity home to us. It was as if I had been there before.
Traversing on top of the Great Wall one can almost sense the Hsiung-nu barbarians riding their horses through the mystical mountains encompassing a wall that stretched to the horizon.
Debi and I were awestruck by the imposing colossal size (1 mile by 1/2 mile) of the Forbidden City, the imperial palace of China's emperors. The massive courtyard you see in the movie "The Last Emperor" is just one of nine courtyards. The Forbidden City has over 2,000 rooms, mini palaces, shrines and temples inside its massive walls and moat. It is bigger than anything in the West and anything you can conceive of and a monument to China's long history. We soaked in the accumulated splendor on Chinese history and culture on visits to the Ming Tombs, the Summer Palace, the Temple of Heaven, the Lama and Confucius Temples, Bei Hai Park (former site of The Great Khan's Imperial Palace), Jing Shan Park, the National Art Museum in and around Beijing. Thousands of children of all ages were everywhere on field trips at these national shrines especially in the Forbidden City. The school kids were so cute in their uniforms, smiles, and laughter as they waved and greeted us in English. I would talk Mandarin with them while we posed for pictures. They were so surprised and curious about us and America. It was a real special moment.
Located 1,500 miles to the southwest of Beijing, our 4 days in Xian (China's ancient capital) was truly an adventure and an unbelievable journey through a time warp. Our visit was highlighted by a tour of the Terra Cotta Army (7,000 plus clay, life-sized figures) of Chin Shih Huang Ti (The First Emperor) buried in ancient pits located 30 miles outside Xian. This ancient burial ground is surrounded by the dozens of burial mounds of ancient emperors as well as the still unexplored First Emperor's legendary mercury-filled necropolis depicting the geographical features ancient China. Signs said pictures in the Terra Cotta burial tombs were forbidden, but like everything in China, if it is done discretely the guards tend to turn their heads away and let you get away with it. Besides the Terra Cotta tombs outside of Xian, we visited the following: the Hua Ching Hot Springs where Emperors and Generals throughout Chinese history summered; the Big Wild Goose Pagoda where Buddhist texts from India were first translated into Chinese; and the Banpo Neolithic Village -the archeological site of China's earliest organized civilizational beginnings 6,000 years ago. Debi and I also had the chance to attend a Tang Dynasty dinner show as well as walk on top of the massive ancient walls (16-mile long 35-foot tall, 30 foot wide) encircling Xian. We came across a platoon of People's Liberation Army raw recruits exercising on the walls of Xian under a hot sun. Some of the young troops would smile and giggle at Debi and me while they were suppose to be standing at attention. The PLA drill sergeant didn't seem to mind much. He was too busy swilling beer and barking orders to the troops. So much for military discipline of the PLA!
All of our English-speaking tour guides in China were really excellent, funny, sometimes somewhat irreverent to the present and recent past Communist regime. One of our tour guides ("Danny”) said he was the one in the pictures who stopped the tank on Tien An Men Square during the 1989 protests. He said he still had that tank in his back yard. All China tour guides technically work for the China International Travel Service and thus technically work for the government. All seemed to have sideline private business concerns on the side. The guides enjoyed talking to me in Mandarin and loved talking freely with us about movies, politics, and uses of American idioms. My Chinese improved tremendously as a result. They were very inquiring and open to our views and how we and America feel about China and the present situation. We met a wide range of people on our tours in China. They included an older couple from the Washington State, a young couple from Holland whose next stop was Tibet and Nepal by jeep over the Himalayas, and some crazy and fun Brits, Aussies and French. One Frenchman lost his way in the Temple of Heaven but eventually found the bus after a frantic search by "Danny” the Chinese tour guide through the temple grounds. The Brits wanted to leave him behind. Oh those Brits!
Our China trip was made extra special by seeing our long lost Chinese professor friend Zhu Gui Sheng after 7 long years and meeting his wife Li Liu. Zhu Gui Sheng is a professor at Beijing University and The Chinese Academy of Sciences. Debi met him at our local bus stop back in 1989 while he was doing research on World War I1 at George Washington
University. We all became fast friends then and had him over to our place for meals and to
practice my Chinese. In Beijing, over drinks Zhu talked about his book on World War I1 released in Taiwan and the PRC in 1995 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of World War 11. He was as sweet and friendly as ever. His wife works fairly high up in the Jardine Fleming Investment Group and was very interesting to talk to her about her business ventures. She's a very articulate hard charging woman and interested in our views on all sorts of topics. It was so much fun seeing them and talking with them. Zhu called every night we were in Beijing to ask how our day went and to emphasize that "China wants peace, and not conflict with the U.S."
Debi and I went anywhere we wanted to in Beijing and Xian on our six free non-tour days. Since we were in Beijing during the May Day Holiday Beijing's 12 million people population was estimated to have ballooned to 22 million! Still, it didn't seem bad at all in getting around. My daily very early morning jogs past Mao's Mausoleum, the Hong Kong countdown clock and around Tien An Men Square under the gaze of the People's Liberation Army guards as well as Mao's Gate of Heavenly Peace portrait was all like a dream especially for an old dilettante China scholar like me. The masses of over 5 million people biking their way to work on the wide avenues was truly an incredible site to behold. It all seemed so natural -as if I had finally returned to a place I was well acquainted with long ago. We saw numerous pictures of the Dali Lana at the Lana Temple although we were told in travel publications that no pictures of him are allowed in Beijing. Go figure.
China was so inexpensive and her people so incredibly friendly and fascinating. The Chinese tourists on their vacations were always trying to touch us, pose in their holiday pictures with us, and speak Mandarin or English with us. Debits blonde hair was a big hit with the Chinese. We were treated like Emperors and treasured guests at every turn. Debi and I ate like royalty also and were constantly stuffing ourselves - carbo loading actually for all the walking (about 10 miles per day) that we did. The price of a fantastic Peking Duck meal at the best and oldest eking Duck restaurant in Beijing went for under $20 dollars for both of us. In Xian, an exquisite Shannxi dumpling dinner with giant 20 ounce bottles of Tsing Tao beer went for under $25. In department stores as well as on the streets the products were very inexpensive and all prices appear to be negotiable. Dickering with the street vendors in Mandarin was fun. The sales people showered us with attention to our every consumer need and product whim. If you expressed an interest in one item, they would immediately bring over four or five other similar items and commence the price negotiations. You can take a cab ride all the way across town in Beijing and Xian for under $5 dollars. Tipping is frowned upon officially, but we did anyway and the drivers seemed to appreciate it. Nine days in China boosted my Mandarin proficiency by about a years worth of regular study -bargaining with the street vendors and pedicab drivers will do that to you.
Traffic Rules of the Road
There seem to be rules in China, but the people and government tend to look the other way and don't let rules interfere in getting things done. The traffic reflects this a bit I think. I suspect traffic might be a microcosm for their society at large. There are traffic lights and traffic cops, but that seems to be a facade. In fact there seem to be no rules when it comes to negotiating traffic in China. It's every person, bike, taxi, and car for themselves in reality. Traffic is a din of constant honking and weaving with every one trying to find the smallest opening or advantage. The traffic cops just seem to be there to make sure things don't degenerate into total chaos. The Chinese seem to know when to stretch the rules to the max and when to stop or pull back a bit when they get stretched a bit to far. Taxi drivers seem to be born with their car horn attached to their hands. Debi and I took one ride in Xian courtesy of a Mongolian cabby (aka The Mongol Hordesman) in a revamped Russian Lada. We were literally on two wheels most of the time in thick evening traffic as “Genghis Khan” ran scores of traffic lights and cut off dozens of fellow cabbies - all with a satisfying smile on his face. This was sport to him as we stumbled dumbstruck out of our cab in front of the hotel.
On The Verge of Something BIG
Debi and I got a real sense that China is on the verge of a BIG boom and traversing pell-mell into the future. We had a real sense of 1.2 billion Chinese frantically pushing, clawing, and striving to reach the next level of development and improve their own individual lot. Everybody, I mean everybody, has cellular phones and pagers. The pace of life is frenetic and very business-oriented. The Chinese are always doing business deals on the side with their many cell phones -even while riding their bikes. Knowledge and information about the latest prices, products, and competitors appear to be held at a premium -as a valuable resource in itself. Advertising is everywhere. Every price on everything appears to be negotiable. In our walks around Xian we came across several impromptu neighborhood stock markets right along the street with lighted big board stock quotes tied into the Shanghai stock market. There local neighborhood brokers were wildly buying and selling stocks of all sizes and shapes. In the surrounding stalls, people were buying and selling all sorts of perishable and nonperishable wares. It's the wild, wild west - unbridled capitalism - where everyone is scrapping clawing for anything they can get and at the best price the market will allow. The Chinese seem to take nothing for granted and waste nothing. There are buildings going up everywhere. Everything exudes energy and a push to advance. China really seems poised for a takeoff and ready to make up for lost time since the old economic and informational veils have been lifted by Teng and others.
Debi and I also clearly saw that China is still very much an emergent third world country with many pockets of poverty along side the modern structures and conveniences. Many of the street scenes were right out of "Blade Runner" though. Sweet potatoes were cooking on makeshift metal garbage cans everywhere we went in the city. There were rare instances of pan handlers and homeless street people. Outdoor pool tables next to run down shacks in rural hamlets near Xian were real popular for some reason. Almost every shack had one as well as tarpaulin to cover them in event of rain storms. Housing just inside the tall walls of Xian was fairly dilapidated. But the little neighborhood stores and markets were relatively clean and well kept and there seemed to be ample food and produce for sale wherever we went.
The Color of Money
In Beijing and Xian the marketplace seems to be king. At least at the lower levels, the Chinese truly appear to have more capitalism than we do. The Communist government seems to be riding the capitalist (or whatever you want to call it) tiger. There appears to be "one country and two systems" now in China. It's not something that will be foisted upon Hong Kong. 1t seems to -us to be very alive and well now in the PRC. Hong Kong can only accelerate the free market tendencies already firmly entrenched in the rest of China. My sense is that Hong Kong's transfer may in long run affect China more than China will affect things in Hong Kong. Nothing is for sure and history teaches us above all that nothing is inevitable until it happens. We should always be aware that political xenophobia and regression to the old days and the old ways is a theme in modern Chinese history, but I feel it is highly unlikely in present day China. They've come too far. The "toothpaste is out of the tube so to speak. People in Beijing and Xian publically seem to comply with the Communists and go through the motions, but privately the masses (as well as many Communists) appear to be very much in the pragmatic capitalist and pro-foreign contact mode. Chinese are great emulators of models of success in agriculture and industry. In the 70's the great saying was "In Agriculture, learn from Ta Chai”; In Industry, learn from Ta Ching." Much the same way the Chinese will probably take Hong Kong as a model and say "In commerce and business, learn from Hong Kong".
Teng Hsiao-ping get rich philosophy is now king. Although Teng has won over the hearts, minds, and pocketbooks of the Chinese masses, Mao is still revered as the one getting the ball rolling and throwing off the yoke of the old political/colonial order. According to one of our travel guides, Mao was
considered by the Chinese "70% correct and 30% wrong in his policies. Capitalistic-oriented cab drivers still have Mao pictures and ornaments hanging from their rear view mirrors. That probably won't change, but one thing is clear. The Chinese are ready to catch some serious economic "mice" and they don't care what color the political "cat” is. "Tengism" rules the day, but Mao is still respected. We in the West may see a contradiction, but the Chinese really don't seem to. We also got an indication from our tour guides that the government line on the 1989 Tien An Men "incident is in flux and may someday change as well.
China the Bucking Bronco
We also got a definite sense that the Communists are just trying to keep this tiger-like bucking bronco of lower-level unbridled capitalist economic development under some semblance of control. The Chinese authorities seem to be just trying to keep the lid on the enormous economic and social changes that have swept China in the last 15 years or so with the advent of Teng Hsiao-ping's policies. Some of the Communists leaders may want to put the clock back to the pre-Teng days, but in my view it's too late. The Communists cannot control access to information like they once did -not with millions of cellular phone, computer/internet savvy, profit-oriented Chinese floating around. As I have said before, "the toothpaste is out of the tube". The people probably still seem to see a use for the Communist party as an authoritarian moderating influence on this lower-level capitalist tiger's excesses. Even the most avid closet capitalists (many of whom are probably Communist Party members) in China don't want to let things get too far out of control so as not to kill the latent capitalist goose that is starting to lay their golden eggs and strengthen their country. One seems to be feeding off the other and propping each other up in a strangely synergistic way. Maybe it’s the old Chinese tendency to find balance and moderation and above all avoid chaos and excesses that have devastated their country in past. With 1.2 billion people pushing for better lives and with the cultural/economic/political/social rules changing daily, the consequences of things getting totally out of control is very great indeed. This is not something that we in the West should take lightly.
Political Digressions of a Dilettante
Despite the cavalcade of changes and frenetic pace, the Chinese people genuinely seem very happy and confident as well as very proud of their -country. Most surprisingly all the Chinese we met seemed to sincerely love America, Americans, and anything American. They are so willing to learn, read, listen, and gain knowledge about anything and everything about America. At the same time, they are still respectful of their own history and how far they've come in recent years. I feel that as Americans we also should acknowledge and respect how far the Chinese have come in recent years. I hope we forgo the inveterate American tendency to moralize our values onto their changing and very different situation. We have had our share of warts certainly throughout our history as we have extended America from sea to shining sea. We should take the long view with China and not hover nervously over the Chinese by applying litmus tests daily to their unique political complexions to find out whether they answer to our concept of "democratic”. Our moralistic public protestations surrounding the Most-Favored-Nation trade debate may make us feel better about ourselves, but they won't really change things on the ground over there one iota or make things better for the dissidents. They may even make them worse.
In short, give the Chinese time. Let them be Chinese. Let them work out their own internal problems in their own manner to overcome their very unique situation. Let them make their own mistakes. Let them learn from those mistakes. The ways in which peoples advance toward dignity and enlightenment in government and society are the things that constitute the deepest and most intimate processes of national life. The Chinese are going to do what they want to do despite public American moralizings. Firm, consistent, private quiet American diplomacy and engagement with the Chinese at all levels will go a much longer way to change things for the better in China. Above all we must remember that the Chinese are very conscious of face. The Chinese will change. They already have changed so very much in the last
20 years and will continue to change. But they will change in their own way and at their own pace. Our publically trying to make the Chinese jump through hoops of our own making and make them lose face for things that strike us as unseemly in their present situation may make us feel better about ourselves, but it will not advance the pace or modalities of that change. It may even act to set back the change we ultimately seek.
Land of the Rising Sun
Now let me turn to Japan. Our first good view of Japan was Mt. Fuji through the plane window on our inbound trip from Beijing. It was quite a majestic site. It is rare to see it in the late spring haze. It was wonderful having such great relatives to stay with on our 9 days in Tokyo. Debits sister Lana, her husband Dan, and their children David and Ellen (the Gogertys) really plugged us in to the Tokyo railway system and all the incredible hot spots in and around Tokyo and Japan. Their 14 plus years of expertise and their royal hospitality in Japan was a godsend and made our Japan trip real special. Through them we became experts at use of the Yamanote and Chuo rail lines and we saw and did so much because of them. Dan teaches English,
Journalism, and coach’s soccer and Lana works in Administration at the English-speaking American Schools International Japan. The David and Ellen go to school there also. We visited the school there several times and got to see and meet Lana and Dan's fellow workers and the kid’s teachers and school friends. We were really amazed to find out that the Gogertys don't even lock their house door when they go to work or school for 'the day. They often keep the keys in their car when the car is parked in their driveway outside the house.
Japan was a stunning contrast to China. Japan seemed very advanced in most of its aspects and much more advanced than the U.S. in many ways. The Shin
Kan Sen "Bullet Train" is beyond compare when it comes to convenient comfortable transport between cities. Our one-week Japan Rail Pass was the best buy you can get in Japan. Otherwise, Japan is very very expensive. The glitz, neon, and lights of Tokyo's Ginza, Shibuya, and Shinjuku are unparalled. It's New York’s Times Square plus Las Vegas all rolled into one bustling, incredible nightlife experience. They offer everything from conveyor belt sushi bars/yakatori shops to pachinko parlors and Love Hotels. The traffic is very thick and hectic in these areas, but what struck us was that you hardly ever heard any.horns blaring aloud. Despite the close quarters, the Japanese are very conscious and respectful of other people's space. Honking seems to show disrespect and is rarely done. The one exception (we were told but did not actually see) is rush hour in the subway and railway where designated people pushers squish commuters into the subway and rail cars. Still nobody seems to panic or get into fights. Even that rush hour crush is done respectfully, cooperatively, and orderly. Whereas the Chinese appear to have no rules or order, the Japanese have nothing but rules and order and respect for others space. In Japan you barely see any police to enforce the rules. Everybody appears to intuitively know and follow the rules.
The Japanese seemed to quietly exude the fact that they have already made it economically and they have to really push to maintain and enjoy what they have achieved. heir people seem a little more stoic and reserved towards us, but that was probably due to our knowing only a few words of Japanese. Still, the Japanese people were very kind to us. They would come up to help us when we looked lost in Tokyo Station or Kyoto. A vendor brought us free green tea while we were resting in the park during a bike ride. In Japan we saw dogs and cats everywhere and people walking their pets proudly. In China we saw very few pets -a luxury probably unaffordable to a developing Chinese economy. Some of the Ginza department store's (Wako, Mikimoto, etc.) are so exquisitely ritzy they make Saks and Neiman Marcus look second rate.
The annual 15-day National Sumo tournament is quintessential Japan. It's their Super Bowl and steeped in 2,000 years of tradition. We were fortunate enough to be in Tokyo right when it was starting. It's sold out months ahead of time except for 900 same day tickets that go on sale outside the Sumo Stadium every morning at 9 a.m. It's first come, first serve and one ticket per person. You must get in line by 5:30 a.m. to be assured of getting one of the 900. We got up at 4 a.m. on our first morning in Japan and now I know why Japan is called the Land of the Rising Sun. The sun was already up at 4 A.M! The Gogerty's, Debi and I lumbered down to the railway line and we were in line by 5:45 a.m. As we stood in line we saw many robed Sumo wrestlers shuffling by us in their traditional robes and wooden elevated shoes. After obtaining the tickets, we ate an American Breakfast at Denny's (They're much better than McDonald's in Japan) and toured some back alley Sumo "stables" where some of the almost completely naked Sumo wrestlers were mingling prior to their matches later that day. There the wrestlers playfully posed and made the woman blush. After a 2-hour tour of the modernistic Edo-Tokyo Museum, we walked into the main sumo arena. We watched Sumo matches for 4 hours, drank Japanese beer and mass quantities of rice crackers and sushi. Although we were up in the rafters, we could journey down right next to the ring to snap some photos of the 300 to 600 pound behemoth wrestlers in action.
Tokyo and Kyoto's many parks, temples and their accompanying gardens, streams and ponds were magnificent, beautiful, and serene. All were wonderful places of quiet contemplation and refuges from the surrounding hectic pace or urban life. By stark contrast, the Tsukuji Fish Market south of the Ginza was awash by 4:30 A.M. with hundreds of fish broker’s frenetic inspecting, marking, buying and selling mass quantities of every seafood imaginable from all over the world. Dan drove us there in the wee hours and pointed out the acres of stalls that prepare the unprocessed seafood for the thousands of sushi bars in and around Tokyo. Most prominent was row upon row of 700 pound plus tunas (frozen and unfrozen) hanging up, laid down on the floor, and transported to and fro by teeming forklifts and the brokers wildly buying and selling. All worked smoothly oblivious to the few scattered early morning tourists of which we were two. After the fish market, Deb and I opened a McDonalds for breakfast. The portions were small and expensive but regular greasy McDonald quality.
Prior to attending a few plays at the National Kabuki Theater, we wandered the Ginza and a beautiful Hibiya urban park adjacent to it. The Kabuki Theater was enthralling. Costumes and design sets were colorful and exquisite. All the actors are male by
tradition but with tons of makeup they play woman in traditional roles. We had an English headset that translated the Japanese in real time. It was fascinating watching the ladies in the audience gasp over events occurring in the traditional plays. They were literally on the edge of their seats and totally engaged in the plays. It seemed to have so much meaning to them in a way the English translation just couldn't transmit.
Our time in Japan was chock-filled with the following great memories and experiences: the temples and gardens of Kamakura including the famous Great Buddha shrine; riding the Shin Kan Sen "Bullet Train" to Kyoto; the winding streets of Yokohama; the luxurious Royal Hotel (the tallest building in Japan)in Yokohama Harbor's new business center; the religious festivals and shrines at Asakusa and Ueno Park's in Tokyo; a Fantasy Island-like magical traditional Japanese dinner at the beautiful Ukai Toriyama in the mountains just west of Tokyo; the wonderful gardens, temples, castles, nightlife, and handicrafts of Kyoto; the immaculately maintained sculptural cemeteries; the bike-rides through the narrow streets and beautiful public parks of Tokyo; visiting the America School International Japan; and, above all, having a great time hanging out with The Gogertys.
We could go on and on about every place and day in China and Japan. Suffice it to say that Debi and I had as perfect and interesting a vacation as we could possibly imagine! We can't wait to go back!
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