Xi'an Part 1 (7-14)

On Saturday I took the high-speed bullet train from Beijing to Xi’an—5.5 hours instead of 11 to 18 hours. Seats were very comfortable—large and padded with lots of leg room. The cabins are air conditioned. The train traveled at 298 km per hour. When we arrived in Xi’an at 5:30, the temperature was 37/98 degrees.

Once I checked into the hostel, I went for a walk to the Bell and Drum Towers and the Muslim Quarter, which are a ten minute walk from the hostel. Since it was 6:30, the towers were closed, 

and the Muslim Quarter was very crowded. 

When I was taking photos of the Bell Tower, I realized that there was hardly any traffic and no noise. Much different from Chengdu. 

I walked down the street checking out the food stalls and looking for something I wanted to eat. Didn’t find much but I sampled a cake-like thing on a stick and a Muslim bread roll. On the way back I found a stew with vegetables that was quite tasty. 

After dark, it was fun to see the Bell and Drum Towers lighted up.

Sunday I joined the hostel’s tour to the Tomb of Jingdi, who died in 141 BC, which had captured my interest. The group had eight other people from England, Germany, Italy, France, and Canada. The Italians just complete a semester of studying Chinese, as they are both Chinese majors. They said it is a fairly popular major these days. They served as our translators, as the driver didn’t speak English.

The tomb, which was discovered in the late 1980s, has archeological relics in several underground pits. The upper level has a Plexiglas floor so you can see the relics from above 

and open windows so you can

get a sense of the size of the pits. From the lower level you can see the relics close up. Since I really like such sites, I enjoyed this one a lot.

The relics are small—about two feet—statues of people without arms, as the arms were made of wood and have not survived. Somehow I liked these small, armless people. 

They were originally clothed, but the clothes also have not survived. Some were painted. Several statues in the museum, which we visited later, still have some paint, but most are now plain. 

Other items are masses of animals: sheep, horses, pigs, cows, goats dogs. There are also remnants of chariot wheels. At the museum we saw a 3-D movie about the history. We were given recorders with an English translation, but, unfortunately, it was difficult to hear and understand. But the presentation was fantastic. This site was especially nice to visit because it wasn't crowded.

When we returned to the hotel, I relaxed in my room for a few hours before embarking on my evening entertainment: a dumpling dinner and Tang Dynasty dance show. Both were wonderful. Since I was the only person from the hostel to go, I had a table of my own. The feature of the meal is, obviously, dumplings—15 different kinds, one of each. In addition, there were cucumbers with the special dipping sauce that I like, marinated beef, vegetable bullion, two desserts, and watermelon. Drinks provided were water (or coffee), tea, and sweet rice wine. It was fun to sample all the different kinds of dumplings. Each was in a special shape, some of which mimicked the contents: a goldfish with abalone, cabbage-shaped filled with cabbage, pig with pork, small duck on top of a duck-filled dumpling.

The dance show was fantastic, as are all I have seen. For an hour I was transported to another place and time. Highlights were long sleeve dances, 

masked warriors, and the finale. In addition to the dances, there were a few musical performances. Since I was in the back of the center section and no one was behind me, I stood for the performance so my view wasn’t blocked by the people in front of me and so I could take photos. I enjoyed the evening and was glad I splurged to treat myself to it.

Monday I joined the tour to see the terracotta warriors. I’d seen them on my previous trip 27 years ago but wanted to see them again, as I knew more had been excavated. At the hostel I met Karen, who is American and Dutch and teaches both English and Dutch languages in the Netherlands, and we hooked up for the day. Since we are both teachers, we enjoyed chatting. She was especially interested in my China teaching experience because she thinks she may want to do that in the future. The bus trip to the site was 1.5 hours. The tour group had 38 people with the majority in our bus (We had two.) being from the Netherlands; others were from Spain, Korea and England. Interestingly, the Spanish man came to China to work to improve his English, which he has accomplished because his coworkers are mostly Western English speakers. He made the interesting observation that, when he lived in Spain and met Irish or German people, he thought about how they are different from him. But now that he lives in China, when he meets other Europeans, he thinks about how they are similar. Living abroad does make one identify with those who are similar—Westerners of any kind.

At the site we walked a kilometer from the bus to the buildings. These famous terracotta figures are a hundred years older than those of Jingdi and are from the 3^rd century BC. Information states that about 8000 figures have been recovered. As excavations are ongoing, the museum is a work in progress. 

First we went into Pit 2, which contains over a thousand—not all excavated—cavalry and infantry figures. Displayed figures in the pit are mostly broken because the roof caved in. It was fun to look at the collections of pieces to see what was there. 

There are also several whole figures that still have paint and are displayed in cases. 

Next was Pit 3, which contains 68 mostly unfinished—headless—figures. Other sources suggest that the figures were vandalized and the heads removed. It is a command post with officers, some groups of which look like they are having a meeting or are casually standing around. Our guide told us that it will take twenty more years to excavate these two pits completely and piece together the remnants. Before we entered each building, she gave us information and told us where and when to meet. I was really glad that we weren’t required to stay together the whole time and we could walk around at our own pace pretty much. The time was adequate, although I could have used about five more minutes in Pit 2 and about ten more minutes in Pit 1.

Pit 1 is saved for last because it’s the biggest one and is famous for its multitude of figures—over 6000 total, with over 1000 on display. This is the one I remember from the previous trip, but it wasn’t as big then as it is now. I think we stood closer to the statues then, too. Now you stand on a high platform overlooking the massive pit. 

One section newly opened to the public has unfinished statues. 

Another has one statue for each of the 56 minorities. It was interesting that it was important to recognize them separately from the main group. 

The main section contains the rows and rows of statues, each with a unique head/face, but it required the telephoto lens to really see the faces well. Different hairstyles indicate different ranks. They are truly amazing. Of course the front platform for viewing them was quite crowded, but it was worth dealing with that. I really wish I could look at my old photos for comparison to see how the site has changed in 27 years. Pit 3 wasn’t open then.

After visiting the museum, we stopped for lunch. Since it was 2:30, everyone was hungry. The meal had ten different dishes. One was local special noodles that are an inch and a half wide. It was fun to try one, but it wasn’t very tasty. Before leaving the area, we stopped to see the tomb of the emperor who had the terracotta warriors made. Because it has a very high mercury level—a thousand times higher than is safe, the tomb was closed in 2000. They plan to open it again in twenty years. So we walked to see the hill above the tomb. Could have skipped that.

Karen and I decided to go to the Xi’an City Wall after resting for an hour and a half. The rest was good, as it was very hot and our energy was low even though we hadn’t been out in the heat much. When we left at 6:15, it was pleasant out again. We walked to the wall (about 20 minutes from the hostel) and then had a leisurely walk on the top for half an hour before turning back. We enjoyed the view of the city buildings on one side 

and rooftops of what looks like a renovated or new shopping area on the other. We also enjoyed the traditional instrumental music coming from speakers along the wall. It was a very relaxing experience.

Back in the hostel area, we stopped for dinner at a place that has individual hot pot. You can choose your food and cook it in your personal hot pot. It was perfect. It was fun to introduce Karen to hot pot, as she wasn’t familiar with it.