Blogs from Xi'an, Shaanxi, China, Asia - page 12

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Asia » China » Shaanxi » Xi'an April 23rd 2013

I left Beijing after 6 nights as was lucky enough to take the high speed train to Xian, the old capital of China. This city has so much history and lots of landmarks to hit so I was very excited about getting here. I was also excited about staying with my friend Katja! For those of you that don't know, Katja and I worked and lived together in Mildura, Australia, she is German and currently studying in Xian with 7 others, so I spent a lot of my time trying to understand German! Quite entertaining. It was so nice to be stable for a few nights, not to worry about lockimg my stuff away and being able to do washing! I am very thankful to Katja and her flatmate Julia for being such great hosts, they ... read more
The Terracotta Army
The Muslim Market
The Girls

Asia » China » Shaanxi » Xi'an April 13th 2013

Everything was going so well the next morning. Our planned taxi journey to the station area of Xian to pick up our coach to the Terracotta Army went without a hitch - well there was a minor blip when our taxi driver decided he would stop for breakfast en-route but apart from that all good. And then we saw the queues for the coaches to the Terracotta Warriors! As they say in Norfolk where Lottie Let Loose hails from 'Ooooh moi gard!' There were literally hundreds of people in the queue (the fact that the Chinese were actually queuing warranted a photo!) and it wasn't moving as far as we could make out. Dennis hadn't ever seen it this bad before, but this is where having a fab local tour guide comes into its own. A ... read more
Terracotta Warriors - Pit 1
Terracotta Warriors - Pit 1
Terracotta Warriors - Pit 1

Asia » China » Shaanxi » Xi'an April 13th 2013

I decided to stay in tonight. Ever since i arrived to china it has been nonstop. In no way am i complaining, im just exhausted! This morning after breakfast we went to the wild goose pagoda. Half of the area was under construction but it was beautiful! It was completed in 652 ad to house the buddhist sutras brought back from india by the monk Xuan Zang. He is the one who inspired the book monkey king, which we read last quarter. Its crazy to think i walked around on the same ground as he did many years ago. Surrounding the pagoda is Da Ci'en Temple, one of the largest in Tang Chang'an. Most the buildings date back to the Qing dynansty (my favorite dynasty). I love the smell of incense and all the giant statues ... read more
Art
Nazi?
Goddess

Asia » China » Shaanxi » Xi'an April 12th 2013

The bleary-eyed, sleepless train crew arrived in Xian and stumbled into their hotel rooms for a quick shower before gamely setting off for the city walls for a 9 mile bike ride all the way round this amazingly complete structure, built in 1370, around the older parts of the city of Xian. We were prepared for the hire bikes, for the length of the trip and the sun (sun block applied) but no-one had told us the surface was going to be so bumpy. In many places there were huge pot holes to be avoided so you had to keep your wits about you. What a strange place Xian is. Massive, massive high rise buildings as far as the eye can see all around the outside of the wall but only lower buildings within the walled ... read more
setting off on cycle ride around Xian City Wall
Dumpling overload
Getting ready for another dance

Asia » China » Shaanxi » Xi'an April 12th 2013

Today we went to the woman's history museum at the new university campus. It was such a beautiful campus and the students are very proud to call it their school. There are 24 different areas of study from english, math, and science. We made many students accompany us, my favorite were ellen and mia (everyone chooses there own english name, after their favorite american stars or idols). One interesting fact id like to share.. Back in the qing dynasty, a group of woman started their own characters. It was only used between them to share stories and conversation. Today, no one can read or understand the characters except a few historians. I thought it was interesting, having a secret language, almost like a code, that only the woman could understand. The pictures im posting are of ... read more
Artifacts
Pillow!
Artifacts

Asia » China » Shaanxi » Xi'an April 12th 2013

Today I woke up homesick. I had a dream I was eating dinner with all my friends and family, like a big feast, and we were all planning to go see the fields full of flowers. I don't like waking up without my best friend by my side, its harder then I thought. I feel like I will never get used to it. The sunrise today is beautiful with the thick layer of smog. I naturally wake up right before the sunrises. It also doesn't help that my roommate finds it upon herself to start talking to me the second she wakes up, and she talks a lot, and laughs really loud, and its impossible to fall back asleep after that. Only 3 more days and Joohee and i get to room Together, she is much ... read more

Asia » China » Shaanxi » Xi'an April 11th 2013

First blog entry! I want to pre warn everyone that most of my posts are coming from my ipod! So typing is somewhat difficult! I made it to china! I have been in xi'an for 3 days now (2 full days) and I am really liking the area. The school we are staying at is Shaanxi Normal University. There are 40,000 students here and just under 10 million in the city! I feel safe and welcome. The students here are welcoming and are eager to speak english with us. Sometimes I get weird looks as if I am an alien but it doesn't make me feel uncomfortable. I almost feel famous when they stop to take pictures of us. One of the kids in my class, Bill, is really tall and has blonde hair with sideburns ... read more

Asia » China » Shaanxi » Xi'an February 3rd 2013

Our journey to Xi’an was interesting to say the least. Arriving at the airport in Beijing we were greeted by signs saying all the flights were being delayed due to snowfall. We settled into some uncomfortable airport chairs to wait. Four hours and several gate changes later we ended up being shuttled out to the plane on a bus. An uneventful flight later we arrived in Xi’an. Spotting a tourist information point we decided to find out how we could get into Xi’ans city centre and our hotel. The girl on the reception desk, Suzie, was very helpful although she did try to sell up all sorts of group tours and private taxis. Realising the futility of her actions she pointed in the direction of the bus stop for the city centre but not before giving ... read more
Drum Tower
Bell Tower from Hotel
Street Art

Asia » China » Shaanxi » Xi'an January 25th 2013

I appologize for the length of time between posts. It makes me sad to think back on my travels since I am not traveling right now. I am sure that is obvious that I am not still in China. Although I did stay a year in Australia, I shudder to think of the cost for a year visa in China for Americans. Right now I am in Austin, Texas working to finance more travel. The boring day to day drugery of work can be very disheartning to me. I miss the excitement of constantly seeing new things and places. But money makes travel possible. To continue my story of traveling through China... I took the overnight train from Chengdu to Xian. It was very cheap because it was a hard seat. This entailed sitting up all ... read more
Individual facial details are different for each statue
Terracotta General
Kneeling Archer

Asia » China » Shaanxi » Xi'an December 4th 2012

Decided to take full advantage of my monthly four day weekends and travel to somewhere other than Beijing, so Josh and I made the trek up to Xi'an Xi'an is only a short plane flight away from Beijing - about an hour and a half. By train, however, which would have been a much cheaper way to travel, it takes about 12 hours. I didn't think I could survive on a train, especially in China, for 12 hours, so we splurged and bought plane tickets. Our flight was very early Friday morning. We wanted to take full advantage of the time that we could spend in Xi'an. We arrived around noon after a few flight delays. When we got to Xi'an we checked into our hotel, then hit the ground running. We headed outside the historic ... read more
Wild Goose Pagoda
Love these Signs!
Wild Goose Pagoda




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