Day 17

Day 17

Today was a tourism day. We spent the day in Xian at a local market, and a street filled with local shops. The market was very interesting to see what foods they eat. I saw more whole fish, and birds and parts of animals that we would not think of eating in America. We also were able to try some of the local “snacks” They have some very different flavored chips. We had some pork flavored ones, and honestly they tasted a lot like some of the pork dishes we had here. We also spent some time at a besun retail store. Besun is one of the only complete pork industry companies in China. They perform and own every part from sows to the packing plant to retail stores. It was very interesting to learn about his company as they play a huge role in the China market. The afternoon was spent in the street market, which was very interesting. Here I bought a stone that is engraved as a stamp with my Chinese name on it. Our translator gave my name to me. Yisha Shibangka. The first name means mountain. I am not sure about the last name but I think that is the generic Spronk name. I am working on learning to write it. Combined they are only five symbols and my first name is extremely simple. We also learned some basic Chinese calligraphy. It was interesting to learn the history behind some of the words. Man has a square that means field and three connected lines that mean power. Supper tonight was extremely impressive. We were taken to the top restaurant in Xian. We were survived like kings. Actually more like the prime minister of China. We had a chicken dish that was served to the actual prime minister. It was delivered in a wooden box that actually had a padlock on it. This was some of the best chicken I have ever eaten. IT was extremely moist and had a very tasty flavor. This was very unique. I also had a few new firsts. I had small scorpions. I had to work a little bit to convince myself to try them for the first time. They had then arranged as if they were crawling up a rock. They were quite delicious. I also had sea cucumber. This was interesting. It was served in a soup and the body had small spikes sticking off it. This also took a little self-motivation. It was an incredible night! This was a great way to end my stay in Xian and Yangling. I hope to have the opportunity to travel back here again! I will miss Art, the translator, as we had a lot of fun learning from him and teasing each other.