Xi'an - the slower pace of China

Last Beijing Pict...post home cooked dinner with Hollis!


Day 20 -

The overnight train ride was really pleasant, 4 people to a car, two sets of bunk beds and they wake you up before your stop so you don't miss it. Train station in Xi'an was organized chaos at best, complete mayhem on the other end of the scale. People everywhere, streaming in and out (generally at the same time, though the same door). In addition to everyone arriving and departing there is the whole group devoted to offering tours, hotels, rides and maps. Pretty sure that is a staple at all transportation points in this country. After clearing the crowds we moseyed to our hostel. Stuff down, it was exploration time, lunch was at a yummy restaurant with zero English on the menu AND no pictures (the saving grace or ordering thus far); between the designated speaker, John's Mandarin book and the food section in Lonely Planet we ended up with two really tasty dishes and one we may chose not to repeat. Post lunch we wandered to see the bell and drum towers and then stumbled onto a grocery. Now those who have traveled with me, know I love a foreign grocery store. After finding what we wanted and braving the lines we realized everyone had bar codes on their bulk items (bananas) and we did not. After being asked a few times in Chinese some questions, the checker sent her friend to get up a bar code so the two in line with blank stares could purchase their fruit.

These are the puppies that live at the hostel in Xi'an:



Day 21 -

Xi'an is known for having one of the longest running Muslim communities in China and is the home to a very active population as well as a Great Mosque. The Muslim quarter was filled with so many smells, sights, and sounds taking it all in was wild. Vendors all over the place selling meat on a stick, meat and onion stuffed in every imaginable bread type (buns, pancakes, dumplings, and croissant type bread), and deep fried persimmons (AMAZING!). In addition to the cooked food, this section appears to be the raw ingredient area any meat, spices, grains and vegetables you need for a meal are for sale here. I'll admit, the meat part gave me the willies.
Enough well places signs let us straight to the great Mosque. One of the amazing things about all these temples it the way the walls block out the hustle and bustle of the city we know is right outside. It was peaceful and beautiful, combining the styles of Chinese grandeur with the middle Eastern styles more traditionally associated with mosques.



Day 21 on our adventure happened to correspond with the 15th day of the Chinese New year. For those of you who are unaware what this means (John & I were on that list prior to this night), it is another chance to show off your biggest, best, longest, loudest, brightest fire works...for hours. We had planned to walk along the Xi'an city walls that evening and when we arrived, it appeared that most of the city of Xi'an along with three neighboring cities had the same idea. There was a massive crowd in the plaza with throngs of people pushing and elbowing to get closest to the booths selling tickets to the wall. John opted to stand guard by a gate (read, get the heck out of the madness), while I attempted to purchase said tickets. After befriending a nice Irish couple, the three of us attempted to get in line, which at this point I've learned means start maneuvering my way to the front with no real regard to who got there before or after me. The ticket line brought back memories of early middle school when a friend and I decided we were going to be grungers and attended one or two shows to prove this point. Somewhere in the middle of one show we decided to try out the mosh pit, who knew years later that would serve as practice for being in line at a Chinese festival? After moshing through the purchase line and then through the front gate, the crowds dispersed quite a bit. The view of all the fireworks from the wall was amazing and lanterns were hung on each light post to celebrate.



My favorite of the Olympic mascots!


Another bonus of the day, we got our waitress at dinner to write the name of one vegetable dish in Chinese so we will be able to order it all over China, woo hoo!

(I'll get some pictures for the fire works as soon as I figure out uploading in yet another city on yet another computer - John)

Day 22 -
Went south of the city walls today to see the Big Goose Pagoda and the Little Goose Pagoda. The name comes from the saying "Bury the goose and build the pagoda". Points if you can better decipher the message in that one. Big Pagoda offered a pretty cool view to look back at Xi'an unfortunately, like many cities in China, this view would work better without the persistent smog.

As you can see, the architecture is also designed for a slightly shorter population:

After some pagoda viewing we actually went to a recommended restaurant. Once seated we pulled out the notebook with our green bean dish written in it and showed it to our waitress. She turned immediately to the page in the menu and pointed to a dish translated as deep fried kidney beans. Not sure who did the original translation, but some how saute has come to be deep fried and green beans have become kidney beans. Ah well, tasted just as good as it did in Beijing!

Day 23 -
We started the day at Starbucks, a local supply of good coffee has been my saving grace because they make Eliza happy. Then we ventured to the train station in order to purchase train tickets to Chongqing. As Eliza previously described, the train station is filled with people who are not so concerned with order or line forming. It took some time to located the English speaking line. If you find yourself in Xi'an, it is line ten. Once you get to within twenty feet of the ticket window there are very rigid steel railings forcing everyone to line up. Which is nice. It doesn't eliminate the pushing, but I have found that I am bigger than most Chinese and can stand my ground with relative success. Upon reaching the ticket window, we are informed that tickets can not be purchased today. They will only go on sale tomorrow. This differs from Beijing, where they can be purchased four days in advance. I am sure there is a sign in Chinese informing us about advanced ticket purchase, because the nice train station employees always give us a "Duh" look when we attempt a purchase.

After the madness of the train station we opted for the relative calm of WalMart. Seemed like a better option for finding breakfast cereal then the local grocery store. It wasn't. We are beginning to think there is no Chinese cereal. There is a lot of oat looking mealy things (probably like cream of wheat). Not the best options for a celiac. Also, apparently Eliza has a moral opposition to Walmart. Something about horrible treatment of the workers and destruction of small town economies. Whatever, they have English signs. Legibility is a small price to pay for ones values.

Following the compromising of values, we headed the Xi'an Forest of Stelae Museum, or Stone Forest Museum, or Xi'an Beilin Museum depending on which book or map you are currently reading. And by "Stone Forest" they mean a collection of stone tablets and pillars covered with engravings, not petrified trees. They are all interesting, but the informative placards are either absent or in Chinese. Either way, not that informative. In one section there is a collection of stone hitching posts. All about four feet tall with animals, gargoyles, dragons, or what ever carved on top. Really cool. Another section housed large carved stone animals. And by large, I think they are life sized. However, I have never stood that close to a rhinoceros, tiger, or lion; so I am going to take the artists word for it.

Upon returning to the hostel, we informed them about our train ticket dilemma. At which point the very helpful front desk lady (as opposed the not helpful front desk lady, where every request is a big hassle and a grave interruption on her personal chatting time) informed us that for a "commission" the hostel can book the train tickets. At this point we are ready to pay anything. One of the many nice parts about China is the relative value of items. $0.85 for a beer, are you crazy? I can get them for $0.35 down the street. $4.00 for a train ticket purchase, where do I sign?

Day 24 -
SNOW!!! Woke up this morning and took a look outside. Unlike at home where we know to anticipate (and hope for) snow, we had zero indicator it was coming! The fact that is snow did not want to stop changed today's plan to visit the terra cotta warriors. We have been willing to get in random cabs and vans for a variety of destinations and just pray they make it there, the snow on the ground was a factor was not going to be added. Will try again tomorrow!

Day 25 -
Terra-cotta Warriors Day. My mother has had a poster of the Terra-cotta Warriors for as long as I can remember. So, for as long as I can remember, I have wanted to see them. The bus ride out there was pretty decent. The nice bus driver's assistant made sure that we knew where the return bus would pick us up; lots of waving, pointing, and eight tooth smiling.

There are three pits which have been partially excavated. And following our trend of finding places under construction, Pit #2 was closed for renovations. However, Pits #1 and #3 were alive and kicking. Pit #3 is the smallest of the three pits and houses about fifteen statues and a couple of horses. Pit #1 is were the action is. The main excavation site has rows and rows of statues. It is contained in a airplane hanger like building, and is about the size of two football fields. You can walk around the whole pit and see the soldiers from every angle. The excavation is still in progress, so you also get to see how they are restoring and cataloging some of the soldiers.

This is a must-see if you have been dreaming about it all your life. And a probably-must-see if you are in China and have a couple of extra days. I would recommend viewing in the off season as it looks like the museum complex is capable of handling hundreds of thousand of visitors a day. And I would not want to be there on that day.

Day 26 -
It was finally time to get a clean start on things, that's right laundry day. When you are traveling laundry day takes on a whole different meaning, sink filled, clothing cleaned and every possible drying surface covered. Problem is, when you check out the next morning and then things are still damp at 7pm we have a bit of a problem. Luckily, John is a thinker and on a departure run to the evil store (aka Walmart) he purchased a hair dryer, slower than a tumble dryer, faster than our current rate. Laundry complete!

Day 27 -
Today we woke up early and caught a bus to Mt. Hua Shan (pronounced Hwa Shan, drawing out the w. Which apparently everyone else knew because we were corrected at least fifteen times). There are three routes to the top of the mountain.
One, a spine-tingling vertical staircase in which some parts are planks and ropes suspended from the shear cliff face. Two, a five hour hike up the front side of the mountain on where there are spectacular vies of the surrounding country side. Or three, aka the cheater way, an Austrian made gondola that takes ten minutes. That's right people, you are looking at two cheaters. In our defense, we did have a train to catch that night. But I still think we cheated.

Once we got to the top, the views were amazing. At the north end of the peak (where the ridge is no more than fifty feet wide) there is a collection of various buildings, shops, and patios. Each located on what ever small section of flat land the owner can find. As one heads south the mountain rises and narrows until you are walking up a staircase carved in to the granite rock no more than three feet wide. On either side is a vertical drop in excess of one thousand feet. But not to worry, some one (who I am sure was following the strictest of Chinese building codes) installed a chain hand rail to help guide you. Very cool, but not for those with the slightest case of vertigo. Due to time restrictions, we were not able to explore further. According to legend, and our map, the mountain top flattens out (relatively) and a you can hike higher to more peaks and even stay in one of the hotels on the mountain.

Upon making our way down the mountain (via the gondola) we found a bus headed to Xi'an. Actually you never need to find you own transportation over here. People will offer to take you to the moon if you need it. The buses (bordering on really efficient or highly inefficient) will not leave until full. After waiting for thirty minutes on a half full bus, a second bus pulls up (also half full). Upon combining the passengers of both buses and waiting the requisite "five minutes" to see if any further customers need transportation, we were off Mt Hua Shan, and on to our overnight train to Chongqing. Or so we thought. Actually the only problem was the return bus dropped us off at the long distance bus terminal, not the train station (where we began our day's journey). This is problematic because, and I don't know about you, but I don't know where the long distance bus terminal in Xi'an is located. The problem was soon solved by hailing and cab, grabbing our belongings, and heading to the train station to make our to the start of the cruise.