We arrived in Xian to wet weather. Not terribly bad, just a light rain. On the ride to the hotel (50 KM or more) we got a brief history of Xian from our guide, James.
All we had time for was checking in, out to eat, then settle in for the night. Xian looked to be smaller by far than Beijing. There seemed to be fewer high-rise apartments, as we approached the city. The downtown area was pretty busy.
9/3/08 Wednesday
Up and at ‘em at 7:00 for our Tai Ji lesson. The instructor, a “master” arrived at 7:15. That’s what our schedule said, but Hui told us to be there at 7:00. I guess she didn’t want to keep the master waiting. Four of our group participated. We learned “the horse” and “the crane” Rather, we attempted to learn them.
Then, following breakfast at the hotel, we headed for the Xian International Studies University for a lecture on Chinese culture and the transition from the Mao days to a capitalist society under communist leadership. After the lecture and lunch in the school dining room, we were paired up with students studying English for a walk around the campus and conversation. My student, name I didn’t get, was a teacher, and had decided to go back for more English exposure. Interesting to talk to. He was as unaware of life in the States as I was about life in China.
Then we went to the Xian History Museum. That is an excellent museum. The exhibits, in English and Chinese, take you from pre-history forward through a broad exposure to the many dynasties of China. Wish we hadn’t been on a guided tour, as I’d really have liked to spend more time there.
For dinner, we took a looooooong bus ride to a famous Chinese dumpling restaurant. It is near the Bell and Drum towers. I have no idea how many different dumplings we had, but 2 dozen is a conservative estimate. And they really were delicious. Certainly not the ball of dough dropped into a pot of boiling broth I remember my Grandmother making. Although, Grandma, yours were pretty good too.
9/4/08 Thursday
Start the day with Tai Ji again. This time we added the “push” and the “backward monkey.” So now we’ve learned 6 exercises if you include the warm-ups. Or, as previously stated, attempted to learn them.
Then, following breakfast of course, we headed out to see the Terra Cotta warriors. They are the reason Xian is on the map, even with the rest of its rich history. The Chinese government had done an outstanding job with the architecture of the preserve. Beautiful, well maintained grounds.
The warriors themselves are a sight to behold. Over 8000 of them, life size, each one an individual. When discovered, they were for the most part nearly destroyed. They have been put back together, piece by piece. If a piece is missing, it’s left that way, no substitutions.
It seems the area was originally excavated by its builders, the army put in place, then covered with a roof of logs, then soil to hide it. The Emperor, who they guard and protect, had a tomb near there, but it as yet hasn’t been opened. This is one more place I wish we’d had much, much more time to explore. I guess that’s one of the reasons I enjoy traveling at my own pace, rather than on a tour. But, candidly, I don’t think I’d be quite brave enough to try China on my own.
Back to Xian and a little free time before dinner. Phyllis and I took a walk through the outdoor market in a long alley across the street from our hotel. Probably a city block long, perhaps longer, and filled with vendors. Seems all the vendors of similar products group together. Maybe 10 stalls of fruits and nuts followed by 20 of more of fish, then 15 of shellfish. I think you get the idea. Seems like it would work well for the customer, as all the booths had virtually the same wares. Negotiate, negotiate, negotiate.
Then we walked 3 or 4 blocks to the Bell and Drum towers. Remember the looooong ride to the dumpling restaurant? Turns out it’s only a short way from the hotel. Why we went on such a roundabout route last night, we couldn’t figure out. The sights weren’t that impressive.
Anyway, we arrived at the Bell tower a few minutes before the scheduled performance. A group with several string instruments, a wind instrument I’d never seen, and a variety of bells performed. You haven’t lived until you’ve heard Auld Lang Syne played by a Chinese string, bell and wind orchestra.
Then on to the Drum Tower. They have it timed perfectly. Their performances are on the half hour, and the bell performances are on the hour. Just enough time to get from one to the other. About a 15 minute performance by 6 or so drummers on a variety of drums. Loud? Yes!
The Drum Tower was used to let the folks know that the city gates were closing, that all was well, and, in the morning, that the gates were opening. The Bell Tower’s function was to announce time during the day. One of the two, can’t remember which, had a museum of old Chinese furniture, pretty intricate and interesting.
Back to the hotel just in time. Head out for dinner, our “Tofu Banquet”. It took forever to get there, not only because of the circuitous route, but also because of the traffic. Yes, it really was bad! Far, far worse than what we saw in Beijing. No odd-even system in play here. The “Tofu Banquet” wasn’t that heavy on tofu. Something was said about western stomachs not being able to handle too much tofu. Oh well, dinner was still good.
Back to the room, no, it didn’t take nearly as long as the trip there, but there was less traffic. I think our local guide, James, took the long way there so he can tell us his stories.
Observations:
Both Beijing and Xian are large cities by US standards. Beijing, if I remember, has a population of around 8 million, while little Xian has only 4 million. We’ve been told that anything less than 1 million is considered a village.
Crime must be more prevalent in Xian. I noticed that the taxi’s all had bars between the driver and passenger compartments. Many of the apartment buildings have bars on the windows, even up to in some cases, the fourth floor.
We haven’t seen anything like out suburbs. As we near the cities, we start to see high rise apartment buildings in large numbers, all looking remarkably alike. And many with the day’s laundry hanging in the window. We’ve been told that nearly all Chinese in the cities own a washing machine, bur no one has a dryer.
That’s about it for this episode.
9/5/2008 Friday
No Tai Ji on travel days. Just breakfast, bus to the airport, plane to Shanghai, bus to the hotel, and here we are. That’s the kind of travel from place to place I like – uneventful. Here in Shanghai, we’re in a really nice hotel, looking out our 11th floor window on a very stormy day. Even heard some thunder a time or two.
After relaxing for a few hours, we left for an orientation meeting and dinner. Orientation because we’re on a new tour and have been joined by 5 more Elderhostelers.
Dinner was at a very nice restaurant above a store specializing in embroidered silk pictures. We found that Elderhostel gets a price break on dinner if we stay after dinner to let us browse the gallery. Hui said she’d never seen anyone buy anything. I can see why. Very, very pricy. Minimums were in the $1000 range and I saw several in the $25K range. Dollars, not Yuan.
Following the dinner, we attended the Shanghai Acrobat show. ! ½ hours of amazing acrobatics. Too difficult to even attempt to describe. Amazing is a well deserved adjective for the performances.
No comments:
Post a Comment