When I describe where I am going to the curious I always say it is not as you might think when you visualize China. Where I am going, I say, there are no misty mountains, streets packed with bicyclers, no Great Wall or shopping district. Instead I tell them, the Chen Village is like being in the Midwest, it is a small rural farming community sitting in the middle of a vast open horizon. It takes the 12 hour Delta direct flight to Beijing, another 75 minute flight to Zheng Zhou and a 2 hour drive past cave houses and the Yellow River to get here. I say it is not in the bustling city or the Taoist mountain cave region of China, it is, instead, a quiet village of 3000 people situated right in the heart of the middle of nowhere. This is part of its charm and is one of the reasons to suffer jet lag, a foreign language and time off work to get here. But if the person who heard me tell them all that had driven into Chenjiagou yesterday, they would have surely thought me a liar. They would not have been met by the quiet landscape of nowhere at all; they would have instead been met by Market Day.
Market Day comes to Chenjiagou every ten days. The entire Village and its surrounding farming communities meet along Main Street, spilling over into any available space (including that for driving). A sea of humanity is an understatement to say the least; from our bus perch all we could see for two miles was a thick blanket of people. Stalls selling everything from jeans to toilet paper lined the street. Family and friends taking the day off to shop, socialize and gossip were giving the vendors plenty of business. The sellers of skewers of candied fruit, meat buns, and sweet potatoes couldn’t keep up fast enough to feed the happy masses. It took about 30 minutes to get our bus about 2 blocks through the thick of it and under the main gate of the school area. Chen Zi Quan, Chen Xiao Xing’s son, who had met us at the airport, had to get out of the bus and literally move vendors, mom’s with babes in arms and the elderly to the side of the road so we could get through. The moment space would open up though; it would fill up with more people, seemingly oblivious to the foreign students, themselves hungry from a long day of travel. It could not have been a more perfect start to our training adventure.
I have not been to the Village in October and now I feel as though I will only come back at this time. As much as I love the buzz and friendship of the big March seminars, I love the respite from all of that which this time of year, off season, allows. It is just beautiful now, in the way the Midwest is beautiful this time of the year. It is warm, the sky is clear and there are flowers all around. The streets are lined with corn-cobs, their empty husks and their shorn corn kernels that are set out in elegant, wide lines to dry. After they are dry, folks sweep them up or in very rare cases load them on to a conveyor belt device, and fill up big woven storage bags. Kids, like kids everywhere ride their bikes around in circles, laughing, and being mischievous, the elders and their wide toothy smiles slurp bowls of noodles on the front door stoops, all often setting their faces up to the sun, gloriously imbibing in the last of the long warm days of fall. I recognize many of the Village faces, those steeped in the Market, sitting along the stoops, bustling in and out of the school. They recognize me too and we wave and smile.
We arrived at sunset and got ourselves set up nicely in the school. I am number 14 of the group of 14 from the Manchester area of Great Britain. And what a fantastic group they are! Davidine Sim and David Gaffney (check their books out) are the leads and the teachers of the tribe. All have been studying Taiji for at least three years, most much longer, including two other teachers. Most have not been to China before and only 4 of us have been to the Village before. We all came prepared with lots of chocolate and stories and expectations of sore thighs. I did not come prepared at all however to keep up with British wit and humor!!! My thighs and my repartee are going to get quite the workout over the next couple weeks.
It is my first time staying at the main school (I have always stayed at Chen Bing’s school up the road) and I just love it so far. After dinner I set to the outdoor practice commons, stood and practiced Laojia for a bit. All around me students were practicing basics, form and calisthenics and I confess to being less mindful about my own practice than I might have been, simply wanting to drink in the energy around me.
Its 5:30 am now. The roosters, dogs and I have been up for an hour or so. Training starts at 10 am, there is plenty of time for morning practice and to become further situated including finding some Internet service. My body and my soul are quite ready for the days ahead, to fold into the Village here that is all about Taijiquan. And even though the season is new for me, the feeling here, my fourth visit to the Village is definitely more familiar. It sure is hard to get here but all places that sit right in the middle of time, space and psyche are. Yet those are the places worth travelling to aren’t they? Those are the places that may not show up on a map or in a fantasy, but those are the places that truly are right at the heart of somewhere. And that is right where I like to be.
Kim
PS I am posting this later that same day; sitting outside of Chen Bing's place under the cool starry night sky. Its a few blocks up the road but its the only place in town I can get internet. The place just a couple doors down from me has wifi but she cannot remember her password. I suppose I could let the whole blogging thing go but it has become a tradition. Today the training began and it was Village Style all the way. Those of you who know what I'm talking about know what I'm talking about. For those that do not, stay tuned.
Love your blog ;). I am so excited to think this may be the best time of year for me to go to train in the village as well. I plan to go in 2 years for at least a month and a half or more. When you get home I would be so grateful for the information on how your group got together.
Maybe even if I could just meet up with a few people in china at the first airport. I could go the rest of the way with a small group. It make my trip safer than trying to go the last part alone.
I love hearing about your trip, I am so excited to go and I need all the guidance tobe prepared in all ways. You inspire my training, I feel so greatful for you sharing with us. Thank you !!!!
Posted by: Ronda | October 24, 2011 at 01:29 PM