It rained most of today, so we didn't do too much. We went to Famen Temple, which is known for having the Finger Bone of the Sakyamuni Buddha. There are only 5 finger bones in the world and this is one of the temples that have it. People come from all over the world to pray at this buddhist temple. Mimi's mom was giving me the history of this temple (with Mimi and Karen) translating, but I didn't quite get the story. Here's what I was able to find on google tonight:
"In 1987, a team of Chinese archeologists discovered the amazing underground palace often talked about in legends while cleaning the pagoda ruins at Famen Temple in Xi'an. They also discovered the real finger bones of Sakyamuni and thousands of imperial treasures of the Tang Dynasty that had been in secret storage in the glistening underground palace for thousands of years.
Walking inside the secret chamber, they felt as though they were in the prosperous Tang Dynasty thousands of years ago. There were tons of priceless imperial treasures of the Tang Dynasty. Inside the eightfold treasure case, a legendary Sakyamuni finger bone (replica bone) was found. The day of discovery happed to be Sakyamuni's birthday in the lunar calendar. People couldn't help but marvel the coincidence of the finger bone discovery. Later, another three finger bones were found in the white jade curtain, Asoka Stupa and the iron case in the secret niche respectively. The finger bone stored in the white jade coffin in the secret niche is the genuine finger bone and it is the only real finger bone of Sakyamuni's remained in the world."
We weren't allowed to take any pictures of the finger bones or buddhist statues, so I don't have alot of pictures to show. There is one buddhist statue where you can pray (regardless of your religion) and you can ask for 3 things and they will all come true. I prayed for my 3 things, so let's see if it comes true!! Karen was wondering if the buddhist would understand me praying in English! :)
Afterwards, we went for a nice relaxing massage. I got a foot and back massage...it was great! My first one in China and this one was also fully clothed. The guy who was giving me a massage said my back was really tight (which I knew) and asked Mimi if I did Kung Fu. That was funny..,I had to explain that my back is just tight like this and that when I get stressed, my shoulders get knots (and the knots have been much smaller since I've been on vacation!). He suggested I use fire to try to heal my back...so I agreed to it without really knowing what they were going to do. Wow...they really set a fire on your back, but they put a small layer of plastic and some wet cloths on you to protect the back. After dousing some alcohol on the cloths, they light it and they keep the fire alive for about 5-10 seconds before putting it out. They repeat this 7-8 times. It was scary at first and I was worried they'd burn my hair, but in the end, it wasn't too bad...I'm not really sure it helped my back any, but we are going back there again tomorrow.
I looked at myself in the mirror today and I can see that I am starting to put on weight!!! This is starting to feel like Europe all over again (for those of you who didn't know me back then, I put on 15 lbs while in Europe for 3 months...TWICE!!!). I guess half of 15 lbs will be 7 lbs...so if I come back looking 7 lbs heavier...don't laugh at me!!! :) No worries though, I dropped the 15 lbs when I got back to the states, so hopefully I will be able to do the same this time.
The food has been amazing over the last 3 days. Mimi's mom has been feeding me nonstop...to the point where I am never hungry and I wake up feeling full!!! She knows all the special dishes for Xi'an and even the ice cream that they only sell here! I'm hoping I will still be able to fit into my jeans before I leave, otherwise, I'll need to go buy some more clothes!!! My favorite meal so far has been at Defachange, a dumpling place we went to a few nights ago. I like it because of the stories that goes behind some of the dumplings. This place is known for these small itty bitty dumplings that was a favorite of Empress Dowager Ci Xi. She came to the city and asked the cook to provide her with a new taste, and the cook prepared this kind of dumpling to please her. She would eat these in 3, 6 or 9 for good luck.
The little dumplings are put into a big pot of soup and then waitress scoops up the soup into a small bowl. Each person picks a bowl and figures out how many mini dumplings they have in their bowl. For each number of dumplings, there is a meaning that goes behind each (I'm going to try to translate it the best I can since it was told to me in broken English):
1 dumpling: Your life will be smooth like a boat sailing on smooth waters
2 dumplings: 2 good things will come together for you
3 dumplings: Your life will just get better, better, and better
4 dumplings: For all 4 seasons, you will have lots of money
5 dumplings: You will get everything you want in life
6 dumplings: Everything you want in life will go smoothly
7 dumplings: Luck will always be with you
8 dumplings: Whatever you do in life, you will always shine like a star
9 dumplings: You will be with your lover your whole life (I asked, what if you don't want to be?!?!?)
10 dumplings: You will have anything you want
0 dumplings: You're out of luck, but the soup is still good!
I ended up with one dumpling, Mimi and Karen ended up with two, and Mimi's mom got 4!! I'm thinking there is some truth to this since Mimi's mother is very well off!!! :) She's been pampering me since she picked me up on Friday, but I'll tell you more about that later. I didn't think these mini dumplings had much taste to them, but I did like the other dumplings. Not only did they taste good, but they were shaped like animals, nuts, etc...very creative!!!
Another favorite of mine is a pumpkin dish that is made with sweet rice. It seems like a dessert, but you eat it as part of the meal. It was so delicious!!! The pumpkin tasted like sweet potatoes and I LOVE sweet potatoes! We went to a BBQ place tonight and had BBQ lamb with some other dishes. Everything was great and I'm still feeling full...almost 3 hours later!
Mimi's mom has been a great host. She booked a really nice hotel room for me in Xi'an next to the house that she has here, so I have a western toilet with a normal shower and tub!!! I would've been ok with having them pick me up at the volunteer house each day or staying at their place, but this is even better! :) She's been driving me, Mimi, and Karen all around to visit and has paid for everything...she refuses to take any money from me (even when I bought some small souvenirs). She's done so much for me....booking (and paying) for my ticket to Shanghai, arranging for Tom (my dad's cousin son) to meet up with me and take me around Shanghai, planning my itinerary for Shanghai (while I am there, she's arranged for two tours for me to visit other cities), and helping me ship some of my stuff to Beijing. She and Tom wanted to arrange and plan for my Beijing trip as well (i.e getting tickets for the touristy stuff plus other non-touristy stuff), but I told them I wanted to keep Beijing flexible since one of the volunteers was meeting up with me. I love being pampered!!!
P.S. Kiwi - This food post was really for you since I know how obsessed you are about the food here!!! :)
Update: I thought I'd explain how Mimi and I know each other. Tom (my dad's cousin's son) is a vendor for Mimi's mother and they are very good friends. When Mimi's mom wanted to send her to high school in the US, Tom recommended Brenau University in Atlanta. They asked my parents to be her guardian while she was in Atlanta and to help her out while she was in the states...so that's how our two families know each other.
