Xian
Tuesday, May 18.
My last experience with Xian was not very good-- it was hot (41 C), sunny, and the bus didn't have working A/C. That was in July-- since it was May, the temperatures were much more bearable (28 C) and the air was much drier (we were in the middle of a savannah). Also must mention how much cleaner is was. Our guide for Xian was Ms. Cheng. We got a quick city tour of the walled area before visiting a Buddhist temple / pagoda. We would have gone straight to the hotel ASAP but our baggage was sent to the hotel. The hotel, the JiangQuo hotel, was the same place I stayed back in '92. Truly a classy, clean place. I also got the creepy deja vu feeling that I was staying in the same room-- from what I remember, the decor and furniture had a familiar feeling. We only had time to drop off our things and freshen up before going back into the city.
Prior to dinner, we did a quick tour of the History Museum inside the walled city. Just a bunch of exhibits all glassed in along with a written description. I was disturbed by the fact that I saw a school group following a guide/teacher and those kids were writing stuff down! That means they were going to be tested on what they were being told?! What kind of crap is that?
That night, we stayed in and watched TV-- Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade. The shower was muchly needed that night. I am getting the feeling of being rushed when we go out. Everything feels so orchestrated.
This morning [Sunday] was another typical 7am wake up call-- we got up beforehand though. I was superimpressed by the power of the A/C in this place-- it would have been an icebox if I didn't raise the setpoint before going to bed. Breakfast was in the basement-- another buffet. Food was on the oily side-- I didn't eat that much fearing repercussions if I overindulged. The novel item served was the radish cake (lo-pak-ko to those Cantonese speakers out there). The meal was proceeded by visiting an ancient Sangpo village circa the Bronze Age. We then went to a terracotta manufacturing centre before lunch. Ma purchased some 'masks' representing some of the Chinese zodiac animals.
Shopping was proceeded with a visit to some hot springs used by the
emperors of the Ming Dynasty. Those guys knew how to live it up-- instead
of running the country, these guys would lounge around in the stone tubs
that captured spring water with their concubines. Ed: Honestly, wouldn't
that be a guy's fantasy life? Beside is a picture of my mom enjoying
the warm water from a working hot spring. To be honest, our sightseeing
here was the pits-- none of the baths were the original nor were they filled
with water. We were looking at replicas! Still, it was a nice day to be
out exploring and learning about history... (I have to keep thinking
positive)
Lunch at a government restaurant was surprising once again-- quality was good as well as the portions were large. [Aside: I keep running into this one girl belonging to another tour group-- she caught my eye back at the Xian airport. I have a feeling she's not from North America but some place like Taiwan so I didn't bother talking to her...]
After lunch, we went to where the first emperor was buried.
Discovered in the mid-70's by a farmer, this burial site is larger
than the pyramids in Egypt in area. Taking 21 years to complete,
this emperor had thousands of life-sized terracotta warriors built
surrounded his burial site. Apparently there was a river / moat of
mercury around the place! Future emperors trashed the place, set
it on fire before burying it. So far, there have been 3 sites
excavated. No pictures could be taken there so I couldn't show you
the grandeur of the place. The emperors actual sarcophagus has yet
to be found-- following the inscriptions and folklore, the place has
tons of traps to prevent any burglers to disturb it. I don't know
if the Chinese government has any plans on uncovering the site. Some
times mystery surrounding the place is better than uncovering a
disappointing find.
Ed: My apologies for a lack of photos here-- we weren't allowed
to take pictures here!!! However, check out what the sign behind
me says-- it makes no sense... (you'll have to look at the full-
size version: it says, "Qinshihuang Terracotta Army Museum Commenorative
Certificate Provide"... WHAT?!)
I had a strong feeling that I've been to all three sites, even though a couple caretakers mentioned that site 2 was opened to the public 3 years ago. Since I could not understand the Mandarin descriptions the tourguide was giving, I did the exploring by myself-- there was enough English signs for me to get a good idea of what was going on.
We went back into town to have a special 'tsiow tse' dinner. The restaurant was one of those fancy places where they served everything fresh from the steamers. The work in order to prepare this dinner was extrordinary. The only bad thing about it was it was like nouveau cuisine-- portions were small. Afterwards we were going to catch a show at the Operahouse. We had a 'reserved table' near the front but the place was packed and they tried to give us a back table. In protest, we walked out. I don't know but the tourguide was one tough girl-- totally powerless on our actions, some tour members thought she was going to cry but she did the opposite. On the bus back to the hotel, she sang us songs. (One song in particular had me shaking my head-- My Heart will go on a la Titanic! I did enjoy the Chinese songs.)
Back at the hotel, I stayed up to watch the end of Twister. I didn't look forward to tomorrow's train ride to Luo Yang. Since I am being a bit retrospective on things, I just couldn't believe one feature on our local tourguide. This girl had some bushy eyebrows-- no one taught her how to tweak them?