a few days in Xi'an

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Ni hao all...my last blog was about my week in Tibet...now it's a description about my days in Xi'an with the same motely crew of friends.

We always planned to catch the train from Lhasa to Xi'an, for several reasons, one being, hey, it might be interesting! On one of the days I was struck with altitude sickness in Lhasa I felt like saying to my friends 'I'll meet you in Xi'an, sod the train, I'm flying!' however a day later I was feeling better so thought, 'what the hell, the train it is'.

It cost around 600 RMB each, for hard sleeper. If you're travelling more than a few hours, it's advised to get one of the sleepers. Hard seat is what it sounds like, and there was no way I'd opt to sit on a narrow bench for 36 hours. So instead we plumped for the hard sleeper, which is the 2nd best class to travel in. It consists of 6 beds, 2 bottom bunk, 2 middle and 2 top. They are pretty comfortable and bedding is provided, but it's quite, cosy, shall we say, and if you're over 5"5 it's not much room to stretch out in. Also if you had the bottom bunk like me, you have to put up with the other 5 in the cabin sitting on your bed during the day. But never mind.

To be honest I was dreading it as I get bored very easily, even though I've travelled all my life, it doesn't make it any less boring when you're stuck somewhere for over a day with no chance of escape! However it was more than bearable, partly due to the stunning scenery visible from the train. I could just lie back, listen to my mp3 and watch the snow-capped mountains, little villages and houses in the middle of nowhere, icy lakes, green hills and so on pass by. When I wasn't listening to music we played games of cards, read a book or two, tried to find a Western loo on the train (success!), ate lots of chocolate and ventured to the dining car twice to see what they had on offer. A word of warning to those of you about to echo our journey - their meals consist of warmed-up plastic trays of veg, some meat and a dollop of rice, for which they charge you the ludicrous price of 20 RMB. We knew that so stocked up on (junk) food before we left, but still it was pretty boring eating our supplies during that 36 hour period. However, we survived! If it wasn't for the scenery it would have been a hell of a lot more boring, but hey, we were lucky.

So, 36 hours later (last Wednesday night) we arrived in Xi'an. We had pre-booked a hostel on the train. It's called the Xi'an Ludao Bin Guan hostel, and turned out to be another good choice. They pick you up from the station, which turns out to be no big deal as it's less than 3 mins walk from the train station. It's a hotel with a hostel on the top floor, and has a restaurant (Western and Chinese fare), a small internet cafe and a business centre place where you can ask the staff any questions you want, they can book air tickets for you for your next destination, and tours to eg the Terracotta Warriors, which is what we did as it ended up easiest and cost effective.

The first day we had a wander round the Muslim quarter, including the Great Mosque, and then later onto the wall which goes round part of the city itself. The Muslim quarter was my favourite part of Xi'an, and very dangerous for shopaholics such as myself! It's an area which sells anything under the sun, kimonos, Chinese traditional dresses and blouses, Mao memorabilia, jewellery, traditional Chinese artwork and fans, lanterns, lights, T-shirts, you name it, you can get it. I went back again on the last day and spent 15 minutes alone haggling with this woman who originally wanted over 100 RMB for one tiny lantern!!! Needless to say I bargained down! The Muslim quarter also has a large food market and lots of places where you can enjoy a stack of kebabs, which we certainly did! The first evening we wandered around the city walls, however we didn't remember that they closed at 6pm and so we ended up stuck on the wall(s), tried every exit we passed but every one was locked. We were contemplating either climbing over the tall gates or sleeping there! but luckily we ended up passing a gap where they were doing some construction work, so we made it outta there, thank goodness! I was seriously thinking we would have to bed down there for the night....!!!

Another day, we made our way to the Banpo Museum, which was recommended to us by a travelling couple we met at the hostel. They said it was good, but in fact it was anything but. It was a museum, which also had a fake primitive village, which was typically Chinese in that whenever they restore something, they do it so perfectly that it's obvious it's not restored at all, well it doesn't look like it, just completely made over so it is utterly fake. But never mind!

Of course we went to see the Terracotta Warriors! There was a tour organised by the hostel which cost 210 RMB and included a mini bus with a guide to the warriors, plus 3 other sites. During the course of this tour we went to the world's largest tomb, the Tomb of Qin Shi Huang, which guards the Warriors, though they are several miles away; Huaqing Pool and the Hot Springs (where you can't swim in unfortunately, just wash your hands in, but it's quite refreshing); the site of the Xi'an incident where the leader of the Kuomintang, Chiang Kaishek, was arrested (bullet holes are still visible in the grounds); and of course the Terracotta Warriors themselves.

The site of the Terracotta Warriors is pretty big, and you easily spend a couple of hours there. The Warriors were set to guard Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China's tomb, but they were only discovered by a farmer in 1974 while he and his mates were sinking a well. There are 3 'vaults' where you view more and more warriors of different types, their horses and a museum. The spectacle is amazing, they seem to stretch on and on forever, gazing impassively in the same direction, straight in front of them, side by side as everyone else gawps at them. There are the usual hawkers outside trying to flog you mini terracotta soldiers or postcards at extortionate prices, so avoid!

On our last day in Xi'an, we caught the 2 hour train ride to Hua Shan ('shan' meaning 'mountain'). The five peaks of Hua Shan are supposed to look like a five petalled flower, therefore the name, Flowery Mountain. We heard it was a holy mountain popular with pilgrims, but the only people we saw besides ourselves were a few Chinese tourists.

To start with, you can't get a train before 11am. We were told it would take an hour, when in fact it took double that. We were also told there were no seats so we would have to stand, but when we got on the train was practically empty so we had our choice of seats! It costs around 16 RMB on the way, 10 RMB on the way back (don't ask me why). When we arrived at the station in Hua Shan, we got offered a ride by a man with a van (oh yes), who for 30 kwai all together would take us to the mountain. With no other form of transport visible, we agreed and set off on the bumpy ride to the mountain, which took about 15 minutes.

You have to walk about 10 minutes uphill before arriving at the entrance to the mountain itself. We only paid 50 RMB entrance, but that doubles in peak season. We were also asked for our passports, but I didn't have mine and convinced the woman to let me in with my other forms of ID. They do love filling in forms here and having the 'right' documentation. Anyway we made it in and walked uphill for two hours before heading back for the last train back, which left at just before 5pm. In hindsight, had we known just how large and high the mountain was, we would have arrived the day before, stayed the night (or maybe 2) and tackled in the mountain in parts, and that's what I reckon you should do if you want to visit the mountain, otherwise you only get halfway, as we did. But in any case the views were stunning, all you could hear were the occasional bird calls in the trees above, and the huffinf and puffing of you and your friends as you climbed gradually higher. There are no places to eat during your climb, so take a meal with you if you need it. The peaks around us were awe-inspiring, complete with rocks of different shapes and sizes and crystal clear pools of clean, spring water, and the occasional arbitrary Chinglish sign of course! It was really good to get out of the city and be at one with nature, oh yes!

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Photos

incense at sundown
at the Tomb of Qin Shi Huang

terracotta warriors
i took quite a few photos of these...

Big Goose Pagoda
in Xi'an

typical bloodthirsty-ness
...of Chinese paintings!