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Published: September 9th 2010
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The rain came to Xi'an in full force on Monday. We pushed ahead with our plan to see the Terracotta Warriors site, got soaked, but were still amazed. Continuing forecasts of bad weather caused us to cancel the climb of Mt. Hua and our plans to spend a night at the top. Instead, we flew to Beijing a few days ahead of schedule to see some more sights there before our Friday return to Seattle.
The Terracotta Warriors site was predictably touristy and crowded, and also incredible, as most such places are. The constant pouring rain made our visit a little difficult as we had to negotiate getting a bus for the ride out of town to the site. The fact that they make you walk an extra distance from the parking lot to the actual excavations in order to pass as many food and souvenir vendors as possible was especially maddening in the rain. But this incredible place created by the meglaomania of first Chinese emperor Qin Shi Huang was definitely worth the visit.
Since the rain was not predicted to abate, we decided to spend our last few days in Beijing, leaving Jacob to wait for Lynn
and better weather to climb Mt. Wa in a more technical fashion than we had been planning. We will greatly miss his companionship, guidance, and translation. But luckily for us he'll be back in the states in a few weeks for awhile.
We are enjoying a relaxing last few days in Beijing. Having seen the main sites on our last visit in 2003-04, we can just take it easy and feel the pulse of the city for a few days. We have been walking through the Hutongs in the neighborhood near our hotel. Despite the rennovations of great swaths of the city, mainly in preparation for the 2008 Olympics, surprisingly many of these areas of winding alleys and small houses remain. These are the pleasantest places to walk in Beijing away from traffic and right in the midst of the street culture.
We visited the White Cloud Temple where Taoist monks tend the several shrines devoted to the Eight Immortals and various gods. We also found the tea street, Maliando Lu, where there are hundreds of large and small shops selling tea of all kinds. You really need to know Chinese and tea well to be an effective
shopper here, but, even without this knowledge, we had fun tasting some of the green teas and buying a few small packages of different kinds to bring home. We had a great morning walk in the temple of Heaven Park, which was full of people doing Tai Chi, dancing, playing badminton, choral singing, and the many other group outdoor activities that Chinese people do to socialize and maintain their health. This a great time of year in Beijing, in contrast to the extreme heat or cold of other seasons, and we are really glad for the opportunity to spend a few days here.
There are still lots of bicycles in this city, although many fewer than on our last visit. The buses are all new, and there are a number of brand new subway lines, complared to the single one that was here in 2003-04.
Tomorrow we fly back to Seattle and will be back home after a great 5-week trip. I plan to do one more post after that with a map of where we went and a few final thoughts and impressions.
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Linda Jones
non-member comment
Amazing
Kit and Kathy, Thank you so much for creating this blog and sharing your journey with us. It is better than a National Geographic article!!! Travel safely.