Silent Tao » China Trip 2010

Behind the Scenes Tour of a TCM Pharmacy in China

Shawn Cartwright — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 21:06:58 +0000

On our recent China adventure, we took a group behind the scenes in a real traditional Chinese medicine pharmacy in China. They got to see exactly how the herbal prescriptions were filled and were introduced to a bewildering array of traditional Chinese medicine herbs.

This short video gives you an idea of what it is like inside a busy TCM pharmacy.

Turtle Qigong in the Forbidden City

Shawn Cartwright — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 02:38:53 +0000

We did Qigong in Jing Shan park, part of the Forbidden City on recent China trip. While there we saw this old man doing Turtle Walking Qigong and filmed video of his practice.

The turtle is revered in China by the Taoists for its longevity. Several forms of Qigong and breathing are patterned upon the turtle. Wudang Five Animal Qigong includes an entire turtle sequence.

The man’s movement was quite impressive, considering his age and that he did Turtle Walking all over the park, including up and down hills. Can you do it?

Returning

Shawn Cartwright — Sat, 01 May 2010 23:57:15 +0000

Our Healing Journey to China has been fantastic. The adventure began in Beijing on April 16, 2010. Our traveling companions for this trip were a great joy. We saw the China the tourists see and quite of bit of “hidden China.” We took some back roads and detours. We learned about Chinese culture, traditional Chinese medicine, Qigong and Tai Chi. Everyone who took this trip will earn credits for their Qigong certification. Most of all, we learned about each other and ourselves. We hope you enjoyed reading about it.

Today we leave for the US. We’ll fly from Shanghai to Beijing. Then it’s a direct flight to Washington DC.

This China adventure may be over, but new adventures wait!

Visiting the World Expo in Shanghai

Shawn Cartwright — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 23:51:10 +0000

Our contacts in Shanghai secured a pair of tickets to the opening day at the Expo. The Expo was pretty impressive. The Chinese do things big, in part because big is better – an international event is a way to gain “face”. But they also build public things on a grand scale because they have so many people. Everything has to be huge in order to accommodate them!

Shanghai’s Temple Market

Shawn Cartwright — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 23:46:48 +0000

Today we did a little sightseeing. We visited Science and Technology Museum and then relaxed by drinking some excellent tea. Then we made our way across the river to the Temple Market area.

The Temple Market was destroyed in WWII and rebuilt as a tourist attraction. But tonight the crowd was mostly Chinese. Prices are very high compared to Yunnan. It is no secret that no matter what you buy in China, you have to negotiate the price. However, there is big difference between the city and the countryside. In Shanghai’s Temple Market, the prices are inflated to point that is ridiculous. Then the merchants will negotiate down until they are merely crazy. In Lijiang, for example, they simply priced high and then you negotiate them down to something that is fair.

That evening we watched the opening ceremony for the Expo. It was worth noting that China had hundreds of people in their performances. The acts from other countries were much smaller.

R&R in Shanghai’s Pudong District

Shawn Cartwright — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 23:38:02 +0000

Today was a day to rest and relax after the leading the healing journey. We truly enjoyed the company of our students during this trip. It was a great honor to introduce them to Qigong, Tai Chi and Chinese culture in China!

We were invited to visit and tour a brand new hospital in the Pudong area by the director of the hospital. The hospital offers a full array of both western and traditional Chinese medical services at very reasonable prices. All western style hospitals in China now have to offer traditional Chinese medicine services.

In the evening we enjoyed a Shanghai roasted duck, which is second only to real Peking roasted duck, and relaxed with a TCM foot massage.

From Lijiang to Shanghai via Farmer Wong’s Field

Shawn Cartwright — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 23:33:41 +0000

Today we said goodbye to our group of China adventurers. Some of them returned to Beijing for a direct flight home. Part of the group continued their journey on to Tibet.

Yinong and I travelled to Shanghai to visit her relatives. We flew from Lijiang to Kunming and then onto Shanghai via Farmer Wong’s field… Yes we had a stop in some little town where the water buffalo came right up to the edge of the airport. Normally we try to avoid this sort of thing when we travel, but taking this flight was the only way to make certain our group members safely got to their planes before we left.

That night was dinner in Shanghai’s Pudong district. Pudong is a recently developed and fast growing district in the city. The restaurant, the sort of place patronized by locals, served very good Shanghai food. The dishes on the menu reflected Shanghai’s status as a trading port. One of them was an Asian-Portuguese fusion dish which could be simply described as Chinese chicken in a bread bowl. It’s what you get when you mix Chinese, Portuguese and Indian cuisine together. It was quite unusual and good.

Black Dragon Pool and Dongba Priest in Lijiang

Shawn Cartwright — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 23:25:23 +0000

Our group began the day with our final Tai Chi and Qigong class. We closed with a lecture on Nature and Man as One. We covered a great deal of material in this journey: body opening Nei Gong, Eight Pieces of Silk Brocade, Qi Gathering and Replenishing Techniques, External Qi Healing, and medical Qigong. All our students on this trip will receive a certificate for their training which counts toward Qigong certification.

The Black Dragon pool was our next stop. The Black Dragon pool was built as the meditation garden for the Dongba priests. The well preserved site features an amazing view of the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain.

Part of our group was fortunate enough to meet one of the few remaining Dongba priests. He seemed to really like our group and performed a special blessing ceremony. He also gave everyone a piece of calligraphy written by him and his father, the head priest, on the rare Dongba paper. The paper is made with the root of local tree and can last over 700 years. The calligraphy is written in the Dongba script, which is the oldest living hieroglyphic language in the world. Very few people can still use it.

Afterwards we walked in Old town Lijiang, a UNESCO world heritage site. Lunch featured yak meat, a local specialty. We also bought strawberries from the locals. When you do this you have to make certain the fruit is in good condition. Then had the restaurant wash them in water that has been boiled and salted.

While shopping, we stopped at a local tea wholesaler. She prepared a variety of teas for us to taste, using the Kung Fu tea style. We negotiated a very good price for the teas for our group.

We had our farewell dinner at a famous local fish restaurant where we enjoyed fresh fish from the pristine mountain streams.

That night we strolled through the old town one last time. We bought several bought several silver bracelets and a Dongba bell. The Naxi ethnic group is distantly related to the Tibetans. The bells they make bells are very similar to the Tibetan singing bowls in sound, but hang suspended like a normal bell.

Lijiang and the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain

Shawn Cartwright — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 23:11:17 +0000

This morning we said goodbye to our hosts at the center. It was wonderful to stay and study Qigong and meditation in such a beautiful and peaceful setting.

Every Yin has its Yang, and that took the form of a crazy bus ride to Lijiang located in Yunnan, China. The bus driver was a very good, but the road was a narrow two lane path through the mountain. The only guard rail was a set of low stone posts placed periodically along the sides of the sheer cliff. He had some serious bus driving Kung Fu.

Lijiang is a scenic city nestled in the foothills of famous Jade Dragon Snow Mountain and its range. It is considered one of the most beautiful places in China with its pristine mountain scenery and well preserved old city – a UNESCO world heritage site.

Lijiang is inhabited by the Naxi ethnic group. The Naxi are a matriarchal society which they call a men’s paradise! They symbol for women in this group is the tiger, meaning power. The symbol for men is the ox, meaning wealth. The women worry about how to run things and the men enjoy the wealth and prosperity which the women produce.

Marriage is interesting in this society. The man moves into the woman’s house. The children are considered the property of the woman’s family, along with the worldly possessions and land. The men can come and go as they please. Only the men may be priests.

Compared to conventional notions of marriage, this arrangement seems quite unusual. You might think it would lead to a libertine lifestyle, but the reality is that the marriages are very stable and domestic violence is very low. The people genuinely seemed to be some of the happiest we’ve met anywhere.

Our hotel was built on the model of the traditional Naxi courtyard home. It had a beautiful garden in the center and opened up next to an old part of town which had amazing shopping and dining. The goods were not the typical China tourist trinkets, but traditional Naxi and Dongba crafts. They were of very high quality and reasonably priced.

Wei Bao Mountain and Taoist Temples

Shawn Cartwright — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 23:00:48 +0000

Today we travelled to Wei Bao Shan (Wei Bao Mountain), considered one of the major Taoist mountains in China. The drive took a couple of hours and we travelled on a newly built highway through the mountains. This region is home of the Yi people, who wear a distinctive green costume. They sometimes walk their horse down the middle of the new highway.

We stopped in Wei Shan village for lunch. Afterwards, we walked though the center of the old town. This place was remote enough that many of the city’s older structures survived the destruction of the 1960s. On the town square a group of Yi people were playing their ethnic songs and dancing. This region sees little foreign tourism. The people on the square dancing were simply enjoying themselves, not performing for tourists. They did invite the ladies in our group to join them in a dance. Afterwards the old man leading the group proposed to marry one of them!

Wei Bao Shan has a number of temples dedicated to both Buddhism and Taoism. At one time it was a major Taoist training center, but now only a few priests remain in the temples. Our first stop was the ancestral temple of the Yi people. The temple had been recently expanded and renovated. During the renovation, the murals depicting the history of the Yi people were reproduced. The Japanese had looted them during WWII.

We also stopped at one of older Taoist temples on the mountain. This temple was closed as it was undergoing renovation. As fate would have it, we found an open side door. I was reminded of the saying “There are 3600 paths to Tao and 72 more side doors.” Nan Huai Chin said, ‘A side door is still a door.” So we went inside.

Although the temple was small and undergoing renovation, we had the temple to ourselves. The caretaker, an elderly woman, was delighted to have visitors. She summoned the only Taoist priest at this temple to greet our group. They gave us water from their “Dragon Well” which was reputed to have healing properties. We performed a healing circle meditation and a little Tai Chi and Kung Fu.