10 months of work, a promise of results
10 months of work, a promise of results. Share in the work as you follow along with me.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Xi'an
How does someone start out the biggest journey of his life? You get on the wrong train, of course. Peter, Andy, and I had a soft seat train to Xi'an, but just after we got settled in to our seats with lots of leg room and plenty of space, a gentleman walks up and tells me that I'm in the wrong seat. I was in the right seat, but on the wrong train. The train was just across the walkway (the red one). His train was leaving in 60 seconds, so they held the door which had just closed and reopened for the dumb foreigners who didn't know which train to board. As soon as I left the train, the doors closed and it left for Shanghai (the complete opposite direction). Our train was the usual crowded space with the struggle for sleep - see previous post.
The first stop in Xi'an was the famous Terracotta Warriors site. This ancient burial site was uncovered and is still being worked on to reveal an emperor's thoughts about the afterlife. He set up all these warriors to guard his "kingdom" after he passed away. They uncovered 3 different sites, but these pictures came from the biggest one. The rest of the day was spent in the Muslim Quarter. There is a big influence there and a long history of Islamic influence in the city. Xi'an used to be the capital city of China during several ancient dynasties. It was also the end of the Silk Road - fun fact.
Day 2 in Xi'an brought some disappointment, we went to see a museum and a pagoda, but they were closed that day. So we went to a different pagoda, the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda. It was a foggy/smoggy day so the picture isn't too clear, but you get the idea. It is a Buddhist temple area and we did not go up to the top because it was foggy/smoggy and too expensive. We also spent some time at the House of Helen. She has a shop in the downtown area and she sells Chinese scrolls with passages on them from the Book. She takes requests and writes them out on the spot. I will tell you her full story when I get back.

Our last day in Xi'an was a hike up Mount Li. We wanted to go up Mount Hua (check out pictures online to see why) which is one of the most famous mountain peaks in China. This also makes it one of the most expensive to climb. We saved a lot of money and climbed the smaller one which was still very difficult (see the stairs). It took us a couple hours and we braved the cold and wind just to catch a hazy picture of below. At least we had a nice relaxing train ride to look forward to on the way to Chengdu, right? If I complained about being sleepless in a soft seat, just wait until I tell you about the train ride from Xi'an to Chengdu!