Xian

I have been in China a month now and it is time to start traveling. So with a week off and next to no money I decided to head to Xian. This may seem like an odd choice of places to go -- and wasn't my first thought, but as it turns out it makes sense. You see in China not all cities have cheap lodgeings, at least not places that are open to foreigners. So although I could have gone to Chengde which is much closer (4h vs 12h) it would have cost me more because of the difference in the cost to stay a night. Going to Xian I could stay in a hostel for 40-50 RMB per night, in Chengde I would have to stay in a hotel for a minimum of 200 RMB per night. So I decided to head to Xian.

The decision was made, now I needed to figure out how to do it. I had discovered that buses are generally cheaper than trains and do not need to be booked as far in advace -- which is good 'cause I had only made my final decision a few days earlier. So off I went to find the bus station. Thanks to my LP I knew where to look, and I also knew that the subway did not really go there -- so I decided to try and get there by bus. I have done this before. I don't yet have a bus map, so I just hop on a bus and stay on 'till it goes in the wrong direction, then I hop off and try another. Sometimes it works -- sometimes it doesn't. So on Saturday I hopped on a bus to give it a try. But I got a bit of a late start and 3 buses later I was not really that close and night was comming so I figured Id be better off just heading back to my apt. Therefore on Sunday I decided to go the more secure route of the subway and walking -- although I knew it was going to be a lot of walking -- yes taxis are fairly cheap in China -- but I was really low on funds so that was not a real option. So I took the subway and did find my way on foot -- just as I thought I was never going to find the station it appeared on the other side of the highway (I actually think it is a new building and that is why it is wrong on the maps). Buying a ticket was also fun. I had written down Xian in Chinese characters and so I showed that -- plus the date written Chinese style (year/month/day) to the ticket agent. They said no -- but I could see that there were tickets for the next day -- I had written the 1st so I said holding up 2 fingers 2. The ticket guy didn't get it but the girl beside him did and she wrote down the date and showed me. I said yes they told me the price, but it looked like they were overcharging me. I didn't understand. I walked away and tried another agent. This worked out -- I later realized that when I said 2 meaning to change the date the first guy thought I wanted 2 tickets -- the fun of not knowing the language. Armed with my ticket I made my way home first stoping in a nice park. (The park and my fun the next day will go in another post)

So on the evening of October 2nd I again made my way to the bus terminal, at least this time I knew where it was. I bought some snacks along the way -- but not too much liquid as I have enough experience with long distance bus rides. The moment I stepped on the bus I started laughing. It looked like the Knight Bus from Harry Potter. It was full of bunk beds -- we all had to take our shoes off and put them in plastic bags before getting on.The ride was not a bad one. We stopped once and got to Xian around 9 am. From the bus terminal I could not figure out where to find the bus that would take me to the hostel I wanted to go to so I took a cab. At the hostel I found out that they had not gotten my email and they were all booked up. So I asked for directions to another. It was close by and an HI hostel -- which was handy 'cause I still had my card on me -- yea! I got a room, grabbed a shower and headed out to see the town.

My first stop was the enormous city wall. It is about 600 years old, built during the Ming Dynasty. It is by far the thickest city wall I have ever seen -- and I have hiked/walked along many city walls. Of course there was an entrance fee. I am learning very quickly that if a tourist might want to do something in China they will find a way to charge you an entrance fee. In fact I am starting to feel bad about that because I don't think the poorer Chinese people are able to enjoy their own heritage -- which is sad. I think they should have a system like some many of the South American countries where there is a lower fee for locals. But that aside I paid my fee and entered the wall. I climbed up the stairs and started to wander my way around the town, looking down on things from above. There were all sorts of fun things to look at. The views were pretty good albeit a bit foggy and polluted. There were lots of painted watch/guard towers which are always good for some photos and some old weapons. Not old weapons from back home -- but weapons like giant sling shots -- pretty fun.

While wandering the wall I met a Chinese boy -- a 20-year-old student. Since students always want to practice their English he started talking to me. I ended up hanging out with him for the rest of the day. We wandered the streets for a while. Looking at art and buying street food. We also came across a great old temple that was in the midst of being repaired -- it was really neat to see.It was great 'cause with him I could find out what things were really worth. While talking I had told him about hostels and he decided to come to the place I was staying to see if they had any more beds -- he had no idea there were places you could stay for so little. Then in the evening, after taking some night time photos,we went to a nearby bar, where we met another girl who wanted to practice her English. We all hung out for a bit until it we got tired and went to bed.

The next day it was off to the terracotta warriors for me. My new friend had already been there and he was heading home that day so we said good bye. Then I caught the bus to the train station where I caught another bus to the warriors. There was a huge lineup for the bus to the warriors and an endless stream of buses just loading people in. In this lineup I met another 20-year-old student who wanted to practice his English. Then while on the bus a Chinese English teacher came and joined our conversation. She got off earlier than us -- wanting to see some of the other sites, and we waited to get all the way to the warriors.

Once I arrived I was amazed at the number of people -- but hey it was a holiday an there are 1 BILLION people in China -- I do have to keep reminding myself of that. You see Xian is a smallish city in China it is 1/5 the size of Beijing and about a big as Toronto! The warriors complex is made of 5 main buildings, pits 1, 2 and 3, a museum and a theatre. Pit 1 is the largest building and holds the largest number of warriors. Pit 3 allows you to get closest to them, but only has a few and pit 2 is mainly a work in progress. The theatre shows a video that is mainly in Chinese -- but the pictures are self-explainitory and I still had my new friend helping me translate. The video explained that the warriors were made for the burial tomb of the first emperor to unite China. They were made in parts fired and painted. They were then destroyed at the end of his dynasty by an invading army long before they were buried under more than a millenia of dirt.

They are well guarded too.

It is hard to describe seeing the warriors. They really are amazing. Their faces really are all different. People are still working at digging out more and putting them together. And when you go into each pit you have to wait behind people and then push your way to the front. However once there you can stay as long as you like and no one seems to push you out of the way. I will let you see for yourself what they are like:

In the museum they have a few of the smaller things. There were some replicas burried in the tomb and they have some of the iron weapons that the warriors were carrying. Anything of leather or wood has long since desintigrated. They also have one of the horse's harnesses on display.The museum also housed a display of pottery by a well known Chinese potter. His work was really cool.

From the warriors we headed back to the bus, stoping to take some pictures of a pretty fountain on the way.

Once back in town I headed back to my hostel to rest for a bit so that I could go out to the fountain show that night. At about 4 I went to the Little Goose Pagoda, which was the largest pagoda I had ever seen. It had once been 15 stories tall, but the top story and a half fell off during an earthquake. In the complex with the pagoda were several other buildings, and a museum -- the Xian Museum. I enjoyed wandering around and looking at all the carvings, many of which were for sale. They also had some live, traditional music, which was nice. The top floors of the pagoda are a little short.
This is a scale model of Xian at it's biggest during ancient times.
From there I walked to the Big Goose Pagoda where there is a nightly fountain show. I'm not sure what I was expecting -- but it was not the crazyness that I found. I was planning on needing to find something to do for the 1.5 hours until the show -- but what I found was basically a carnival. The HUGE area in front of the pagoda was lined with shops, resturants and stalls selling all sorts of stuff. In the middle was lots of open area and then at the top was a fountain. I grabed a seat by the fountain an people watched, until another student looking to parctice his English came up with his friends (who just giggled). He spoke really well and we talked until the fountain show started. I then realized that although I could only really see the show in the fountain I was sitting by that huge open area was also full of fountains performing the same show -- it was GIGANTIC!

It was also very entertaining. From there I could not be bothered to wait in the huge crowdes for a bus so I took a cab back to my hostel -- by this point I knew I was not going to run out of money.

On my final day I went back to the Big Goose Pagoda -- this time to go in and look at the pagoda. It is really beautiful -- shorter but bigger in area than the Little Goose Pagoda. It is also competely intact and part of an active temple. This is what got to me. I usually like visiting active places of worship. I enjoy seeing people who believe in the act of worship. I like visiting churches, temples whatever and have visited many. However this was the first active temple I had visited in China. I knew it was active when I noticed a number of closed off areas and then started seeing a number of monks around -- even one blessing the pagoda. After noticing this I ended up in a building with a large sign asking visitors to be respectful, quiet, and not to take pictures in this place of worship. Again having visited many this is only natural. I was surprised that we were even allowed to wear our shoes into the building (in Japan and Korea you would never do that). Then I started noticing that everyone was talking, in normal voices and taking pictures, with FLASHES! It really got to me quickly. It is fine to be rude on the street -- but this is someone's place of worship -- argh! So I did not stay too long. However on my way out I did notice these 2 kids being really cute -- in a totally appropriate part of the complex.
Then on my way back to the bus I came across a park with really fun masks and lamp posts.And then just before the bus I discovered that the fountain show has a daytime run and got to see it from the street below so that is just looked like tons of water.
Finally, I saw this water truck doing exactly what Marc thought water trucks were for. Little did we know he was right :)
Once back in the walled part of Xian I went to explore the Muslim district and eat more good street food. There have been Muslims in Xian since 700AD and they have their biggest mosque in China in that city. The mosque is really neat to visit because it is so heavily influenced by Chinese architecture. All in all it was a good day and a great trip. But as always I was happy when I got home, especially after the 17 hour bus ride.