The city of Xian, located in the Shaanxi province, was the capital of China 1200 years ago. At that time, 80% of the people were farmers. Today only 47% of the people are farmers. The Chinese people place great emphasis on education. Big cities provide a much better education than rural areas so many parents try to move to cities for their child’s education.
Today we visited a primary school which is located on the campus of The Shaanxi Normal School, a university for future teachers. We spent an hour and a half with a class of 6th grade graduates. Since Julie just finished 6th grade, it was fun to see how 6th graders are similar no matter what country you are in. However, the children here have a much longer day that our kids do. They begin at 8, have a 2 hour break from 12-2 , and are mostly finished by 5. They then go home to study some more. Their summer vacation is July and August.
At the school, the children played games together, performed for us, and exchanged gifts. All of the children were able to speak to us in English.
We had lunch today in a famous dumpling restaurant, one of the two main places people visit when they come to Xian. The other is the site of the Terra Cotta Warriors which we visit tomorrow.
After lunch, we visited the Muslim Quarter and the Xian City Wall, both located in the center of the city. The ancestors of the Muslim people came here 1300 years ago. They helped the Chinese people keep the invading Mongolians out about 700 years ago and are considered minority Chinese. The city wall was initially built during the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and is the most complete city wall that had survived in China. It is also one of the largest ancient military defense systems in the world.
Today we visited a primary school which is located on the campus of The Shaanxi Normal School, a university for future teachers. We spent an hour and a half with a class of 6th grade graduates. Since Julie just finished 6th grade, it was fun to see how 6th graders are similar no matter what country you are in. However, the children here have a much longer day that our kids do. They begin at 8, have a 2 hour break from 12-2 , and are mostly finished by 5. They then go home to study some more. Their summer vacation is July and August.
At the school, the children played games together, performed for us, and exchanged gifts. All of the children were able to speak to us in English.
We had lunch today in a famous dumpling restaurant, one of the two main places people visit when they come to Xian. The other is the site of the Terra Cotta Warriors which we visit tomorrow.
After lunch, we visited the Muslim Quarter and the Xian City Wall, both located in the center of the city. The ancestors of the Muslim people came here 1300 years ago. They helped the Chinese people keep the invading Mongolians out about 700 years ago and are considered minority Chinese. The city wall was initially built during the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and is the most complete city wall that had survived in China. It is also one of the largest ancient military defense systems in the world.
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