Xi'an

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Xi’an
August 31 - September 5, 2006

Thursday

Xi’an is the capital of the Shaanxi province and boasts a population of well over five million people. For two thousand years, from 1000 BC to 1000 AD, Xi’an was the imperial capital for eleven dynasties. The main draw here for visitors is the massive archeological complex of the Terracotta Soldiers outside of the city, but it is a fascinating place to see tangible examples of the rich history of China blending with a prospering modern commercial and industrial city. The imposing twelve meter high imperial wall that still wraps twelve kilometers around the city center has been in place for more or less 700 years (the current form is only about 450 years old) AND adds a touch of charm.

A night spent bouncing side to side on our train bunks was not a restful night so we checked into Xi'an Shuyuan International Youth Hostel and napped until about 2pm. We went out around 3:30pm looking for food. Despite the neighborhood being bustling with commerce nothing jumped out at us fast enough and our hunger talked us into Pizza Hut where we had waffle fries and pepperoni pizza. The salad bar was priced for one trip and we enjoyed watching two girls carefully building their joint salad one cantaloupe piece at a time until it defied the laws of physics in its size and girth relative to the bowl. These girls could have built the Three Gorges dam out of cottage cheese and green beans.

We returned to our hostel to do laundry and found out that we could pay 10Y for a woman at the hostel to do it. The hostel did not have a dryer but they told us they would hang it in the basement to dry. While we were discussing laundry specifics in the office we met a guy from Milwaukee who spoke Chinese and was living and working at the hostel in order to take a break from traveling.

We went out looking for an internet café and it took us awhile but we ended up at one that was 3Y/hour. Afterwards we went to a restaurant recommended by our guidebook called May Restaurant. We thought the prices were a bit high so we only had sugar snap peas and a weird fried shrimp thing. Before returning to the hostel we went to a tea shop where Roger had lavender milk tea with jelly and Amy had some dumplings. We had some serious communication problems with our waitress so Amy used a picture book that we had received for our trip to point to a bottle of water. In response, the waitress brought Amy a mug of warm water. After returning to our hostel we noticed that our clothing was hanging all over the railing in the open courtyard rather than in the basement which made us wonder if it would find its way back to us before someone decided that they wanted it. We realize it may sound ludicrous to think someone may want our wet laundry, but when you own five pairs of socks, four are on the public rail and one fragrant, well-worn pair are on your feet, you get a little antsy.

Friday

Friday morning was the first day where our feelings toward our hostel really started to spoil. The noise at the hostel started every morning at 7 when the Chinese women working at the hostel started to shout at each other across the courtyard, an activity which they took very seriously. After getting out of bed we realized that it was raining . . . on our laundry.

After coffee and unexplainably soggy toast at the hostel, we gathered our sopping clothes from the courtyard railing. Not only was it sprinkling on our clothes but some guy was leaning against the railing (and our clothes) smoking. We asked at the front desk for a laundromat with a dryer and they showed us on the map. We spent forever looking for this place, sack of wet laundry in tow, but never found it. We grew so desperate that we went into a fancy hostel and asked about their rates but they wanted $1 for a pair of underwear and we were not desperate enough yet. Next we went to a mall and asked the security guard if he knew where a laundromat was by pointing at our bags of laundry. He nodded and pointed us upstairs but after scouring the mall it was just clothing stores - maybe he thought we were looking to replace our dirty laundry? Everyone we walked by was fascinated by our bags of laundry. We tried asking several cab drivers but they just tried to get us into their cabs. Finally a Chinese man we thought was trying to get us into his cab pointed down an alley unsolicited and told us there was laundry 100 m down. The prices were high (and probably not what the locals pay) - 90 Y for our 2 bags of laundry - but we didn’t care at this point. It took us 2 hours to find a laundromat and we lost our appetite for sightseeing and the Terra Cotta soldiers.

So instead of history, we went to K Coffee for iced coffee and iced peach tea, an internet café and KFC for lunch (we don’t know if the Mexican chicken wrap “Twister” is available at all KFC locations worldwide or if it is a Xi’an specialty, but we heartily recommend it). After lunch we went to the Beilin Museum (which Amy was not looking forward to at all) which was actually very interesting. The museum contained amazing sculptures and friezes from over China dating from 100 AD and later. The tablets with Chinese characters in the tablet forest (900 years old) represented a range of poetry, epitaph and records that were aesthetically interesting though meaningless to those unable to read the characters. The museum included lots of souvenir vendors, perhaps more selling space than gallery space, selling typical stuff and also rubbings of the friezes. The sprawling grounds of the museum and its gardens, ancient works of art and architecture, and the misty grey day made the experience feel very exotic.

On our way to and from the Beilin Museum, we walked through the artist quarter situated along Shuyuanmen Street just inside the south gate of the city. It was really nice because we could walk around and look at things and everyone ignored us. The quarter is more for the locals than tourists and it contained some really nice art, particularly calligraphy, as well as sculpture, art brushes and jewelry. Some of the buildings around this quarter appeared to be fairly new (early concrete monolithic dynasty) but constructed in the period style of the quarter.

We came back to the hostel and tried to plot out the next few months of our trip. For dinner we went to a Muslim restaurant with the American from the hostel and his young lady friend who is from Xi’an and used to work at the hostel. We had beef and lamb plus bread with spice and it was pretty good. The good thing about going with a local though is that the whole meal plus beer was 40Y. It was a very noisy restaurant much like many of the Vietnamese restaurants we went to with Duc and Thai. Just like in Vietnam, on the way out of the restaurant a big table of men grabbed Roger and the other American to have a drink with them. We walked through the Muslim quarter for a little bit and then we left our companions who we had slowly been realizing over the course of dinner were more than just friends and probably did not like being saddled with others on what was likely a rare night off for the girl. We came back to our room for a little while because Roger’s stomach was not feeling great before we went back out for internet and drinks at K Coffee.

Saturday

We collected our laundry and picked up some street food for Amy’s breakfast before heading through the South Gate of the city. We walked south along Chang’an Lu street, crossing the moat and passing several posh shopping centers before reaching the more typical street side fare of small convenience stores, bakeries, and other small businesses. At the railway ticket window we had little luck with the clerk who spoke no English, but a pleasant and well spoken tour guide in the American Express office attached to the ticket counter made it simple and quick.

From the ticket office we passed the art museum and the “ring road” where the street became much more trendy and commercial as we entered the university neighborhood. Not only were we the only white faces on the congested sidewalks, we suddenly seemed very old. We stopped at a bakery, a chain called Makey Bakery, for rolls before browsing the many fast food and gimmick shops (only one playing the siren songs of pirated movies, and nothing too recent). Our goal, to the east of the university neighborhood, was an outdoors store recommended in our guidebook. As we headed east and passed the Shaanxi Museum the clouds opened up and it started to rain. We slogged along in the rain only to find that the shop, while a treat for a traveler in desperate need of a new tent or perhaps hiking boots, did not have much of a selection to choose from.

We huddled under an awning waiting out the rain much to the amusement of some of the neighborhood’s old men. It is truly amazing what they will stare at. When the rain lifted we made our way back to the main commercial intersection of the neighborhood at Chang’an Lu and Xiaozha Dong Lu, zig zagging around the intersection’s elevated walkways trying to find the best option for a bathroom (ultimately visiting the reliable option in KFC). Heading north on the opposite side of the street as we walked down we found a couple narrow arcades that seemed promising for movies and possible gifts but struck out. Roger did find a record store that seemed to carry nothing but the most obviously pirated CDs, including a curious mix of new releases and classic favorites. While Amy waited outside, exasperated by both the crowd and the heat, Roger picked up four albums, two specifically to deny royalties to the artists (Paul McCartney can stick it. And the increasingly decaying boys of Motley Crue shouldn’t charge $50 for concert tickets at the MCI Center if they want respect from this fan).

Moving north our next stop was the day’s main cultural attraction, the Small Goose Pagoda. The pagoda, built between 707 and 710, is in remarkable condition for its age and tribulations (an earthquake severely damaged it at least once, causing the collapse of the top two floors). We walked around the grounds which are in a massive state of reconstruction. A huge pavilion is under construction and large sections of garden are being remodeled. The pond and marble arch bridges would be much more serene if the grey industrial skyline and roar of traffic weren’t so obtrusive. The pagoda itself was quite a climb but provided a brilliant 360 degree views of Xi’an’s three-color skyline (grey, light grey, and concrete grey).

From the Small Goose Pagoda we walked back to the city center and to Laosunjia for dinner. Amy had passed on the Muslim restaurants of Beijing because this particular place, as well as Xi’an’s Muslim quarter, seemed so promising. The restaurant features a dish that you partially prepare yourself, tearing dense bread into tiny pieces, half-filling your bowl, before it is taken away and then returned with steaming beef and lamb stew. The stew was reasonably tasty, though the service left something to be desired (when ordering drinks we were told the beer on offer was warm, so we refused, only to find later that the cooler less than 15 feet from our table was loaded with cold drinks). The fact that a good portion of the restaurant’s clientele not-so-subtly behaved as if they had never seen white people before was off-putting, too. Not only is Xi’an a well-traveled tourist town, but there were even other white people in the dining room.

After dinner, which left us unpleasantly full but unsatisfied, we walked back to the hostel, stopping at an arcade for two blistering games of pop-a-shot that drew quite a crowd and a stop at K Coffee for iced peach tea. For the record Amy won the first game, 80-76, Roger, warmed up for the second, won 92-62. Look out Yao Ming.

Sunday

Despite a slow start and a leisurely breakfast at KFC for more of Colonel Sander’s “twisters” (think chicken tender burritos) and some coffee we headed out of town to visit the Terracotta Warriors. The archaeological park is the primary reason for visiting Xi’an and we doubt many people spend four nights in town before making the trip.

Most packages offered by the various tourist agencies, hostels and guest houses run from around 160 yuan to 400 yuan ($20 to $50 USD). Most packages include stops at other less noteworthy sites (tombs, reconstructed baths, souvenir shacks) or include lunch, which did not appeal to us. For the price of 1 yuan each we caught a local bus from our hostel’s neighborhood to the train station where we took another city bus the 90 minutes to the park for 7 yuan each, a cool $2 USD for both of us.

The Terracotta Army, their horses, chariots, and weapons were discovered in 1974 when a group of farmers drilled for a well in an unexceptional looking field. At just more than five meters down their drilling revealed chips of pottery that brought scholarly attention to the area. After only minor poking around a vast series of underground structures were discovered to contain a literal army of warriors, fully armed and outfitted, protecting the tomb of Emperor ¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬Qin Shi Huang (the man who first united the Chinese in to a single empire in 22 BC). Vast chambers were cut among reinforced earth walls with floors of cut stone and ceilings of timber and matting. On top of the matting dirt five meters thick was piled completely concealing the chambers. Somehow no record of such a thing existed. By October a museum had been established at the site as the massive excavation began. Today the excavation is still very much alive. The three pits have yielded more than 2,000 unique terracotta soldiers, bronze chariots, and weapons and they believe thousands more will be recovered in the future. Liberally and continually referred to as “The Eight Wonder of The World” the prospect of visiting the warriors raises grand expectations.

The bus dropped us at the fringe of a parking lot the size and feel normally reserved for an NFL football stadium. After crossing the parking lot you encounter the first of several areas that look like a formal entry to the park. These “entry points” are in fact rings of commerce springing up around the warriors, hawkers, guides and drink vendors all camped out between you and the historic site. After a fifteen minute walk the actual gate and ticket counter is in site. Entry is 90 yuan each (a hair over $11USD).

Our first stop inside the compound was the enormous boxy museum. Some of the exhibits are not in English though some computerized kiosks managed a decent orientation. Many of the museums exhibits appeared to be closed and we saw about everything we cared to see in about ten minutes. We decided to save Pit 1, the largest collection of warriors contained beneath a vast, hanger-like structure, for the last.

Pit 2 is oddly shaped and very much in a state of excavation. Some chambers are visible though the contents are largely broken or crumbled. The scope of the dig is very evident here. Steep walls of earth separate the chambers of soldiers. The chambers themselves are either long collapsed, fire damaged, or both (most of the damage is believed to have been done shortly after completion). The pit is surrounded by high walkways on all sides and is very dimly lit. Like many repositories of relics or fine art flash photography is prohibited, though the many signs are almost unanimously ignored by tourists, tour guides and security officers alike. We counted approximately 6 photographers the whole day who did not use their flash.

Pit 3 is a much smaller area and appears to hold the officers of the symbolic terracotta army. In this pit, which has been almost completely excavated, the warriors face one another instead of standing in file. It is considered the command center of the Terracotta Army. Some of the 68 resident soldiers are in remarkable shape and the pit is very well lit, rewarding those who abide by the prohibition on flash photography with crystal clear shots. This pit was discovered in 1977. At the time it was only modestly investigated before being completely filled back in so that a structure could be constructed above it. The structure was completed and digging re-commenced some 11 years later. Imagining a dedicated Chinese archaeologist staring at the opportunity of a lifetime waiting eleven years to get at this pit seems brutally cruel. While some looting of the treasures here did occur, the vast collection is awesome if for no other reason than that most of it was not reduced to bookends in private studies throughout Europe.

Pit 1 is approximately 150 meters wide and 400 meters long and completely surrounded by a hanger capable of simultaneously holding several jumbo jets, a soccer field, and Fruita, Colorado. At the front of the hanger almost a thousand warriors stand in line, orderly and perfect, within their trenches. From the side you can see their heads poking up above the earthen walls in their still parade. The volume of soldiers, each a unique individual, really sets in here. The vast middle section of the hanger appears to be largely untouched, which the back appears dedicated to the assembly of the soldiers and horses from the carefully organized pieces collected from the pit (only about a fifth of the area of the pit has been completely excavated and they estimate more than 7,000 more soldiers remain to be unearthed). The lives of a generation of Chinese artisans and laborers were dedicated to the construction of the warriors and their weapons, the product of their labor then covered in earth and forgotten. Today the lives of another generation of Chinese are dedicated to removing the earth and glorifying the Terracotta Army. The project, on both ends, was and is enormous. While we are not sure about the title “The Eighth Wonder of The World” the park does clearly convey how vast and impressive these efforts are.

Heading back through the newly constructed shopping areas to the parking lot we were bombarded by people urging us to visit their shops. The cleanliness of the park falls away quickly and the commercial area will only become more overpowering as construction is completed on still more shops.

On our way to board the public bus back to Xian we were directed to one of the many smaller buses that run from the city to the park. As the fare was the same and we were eager to get moving we jumped right on. The driver, who had an aggressive lack of understanding of things like double-yellow lines, was supported by a woman who collected fares and rounded up passengers. The woman would hang her head out the window as the bus passed pedestrians and bark for them to board (one stunned kid seemed to follow her direction despite not appearing to need a bus). In one instance the woman left our bus at a bus stop, boarded two other buses, and returned with their passengers in tow. The most breathtaking driving of the day occurred when the bus driver did a u-turn on the highway, drove across the yellow lines and got mad when the other drivers did not immediately let him in.

Having only eaten breakfast at KFC and having not found so much as a morsel within the bales of cheap crap for sale at the Terracotta Warriors dig we were famished by the time we reached the city center. After making a decent sized dent in McDonald’s inventory, including a green bean pie for dessert, we stopped for some time at an internet café and meandered around town.

Monday

We had previously asked the hostel the best way to call America and the staff told us about a phone card we could use at all phones but not surprisingly given this hostel they did not know the rate. After purchasing the phone card and looking at various phones around town it appeared the phone card could only be used at the phone in the reception office. Amy decided to give it a try on Monday which left her infuriated because the reception office was full of loud staff and travelers coming in and out with various questions. In addition, the other line rang frequently which could be heard on the call loudly enough that you couldn’t talk while it was ringing. To top the whole experience off the not inexpensive phone card cut us off at the 15 minute mark which meant the rates were not good.

After the disastrous phone call, we went to K Coffee and then to get our street breakfast but the vendor was wheeling off down the road as we arrived so we decided to try the food court at the mall. We got a few small things that were good - pan fried dumplings, cherry tomatoes, stir fried vegetables and a fried pumpkin dish. We also ended up with a couple of things that we did not like - bean sprouts and some brown gelatinous cubes (surprising huh?). Roger also enjoyed a bubble tea drink that had the color of Pepto and the taste of strawberry milk.

After lunch, we went to the internet café and then headed to the Muslim area of town but when we got to the mosque we decided not to go in because we had heard the entrance fee provided access only to the grounds and not the actual mosque. We walked around the streets looking at all of the goods to buy but nothing tempted us, although Roger did try a weird little steamed food with a variety of colors onto which they rub a brown wet dirt-like mixture of spices. The texture was a combination of old jelly and coconut and the taste pasty and sweet.

There wasn’t much we had an interest in doing or seeing and we were pretty tired of Xi’an so we decided to go to a bar and spend the rest of the afternoon drinking on a comfy couch. The staff was nice and when you’re drinking Tsing Tao (Amy) and Jack Daniels (Roger) while listening to Islands in the Stream and Say You Say Me and other hits by such favorites as Wham, Air Supply and the Carpenters how can your mood not improve?

After drinks, we went looking for a recommended pirated movie place but it was closed. We had seen some little acrobat girls that perform on the sidewalks for money, spinning on a low tri-pod by their teeth, and we spent some time looking for them because we wanted to bring them some food but unfortunately we never found them. Children are often deployed by adults to beg or perform for money. In an effort not to encourage the practice we decided to try and leave food or treats that could be enjoyed by the child but would be of no value to the adult so despicably putting the child on the street to work.

For dinner we ate at a brightly lit and lively restaurant not far north of the bell tower that represents the functional center of Xi’an. The restaurant, tucked away on the first floor of a large building on the east side of Bei Dajie was clearly popular with the locals and you could choose your food by pointing so we tried it. They also had cast iron dishes which were on the pricey side (25 Y) so we stuck to the food up front and also the dim sum-like carts circulating. We got some really good stuff and only one fishy thing that we didn’t like. Beyond the dumplings and noodles, Roger found a couple of sweet things that tasted like fried twinkies that he particularly liked. We would heartily recommend the restaurant though we regret we do not have the name of the place and we hope our description may be enough to help you find it should you be in Xi’an and tired of eating KFC Twisters.

Tuesday

Tuesday was monumental because it was the first day in China where we saw blue sky and sun for any extended period of time. We had coffee at K Coffee as well as our breakfast treat. We were turned away from the first internet café that we went to (no idea why) so we went to another internet café. After internet, we bought two buns and some orange juice for the little acrobat but again we could not find her.

We picked up a couple of cheeseburgers for the road from McDonald’s. While there a woman cut in front of us in line. After all of our time in Asia Amy still isn’t used to this behavior so she took the first opportunity to cut back ahead of her (an affront greeted with stoicism by the other woman). After McDonald’s we checked out of the hostel and took a cab to the train station. It was a zoo getting into the train station through the bottleneck hallways with people pushing, shoving and cutting ahead.

We shared a train compartment with two Chinese women in their 20s who were very nice but did not speak any English. It appeared they bought out Sam’s Club for the train trip and every time they ate something they offered some to us. Before we had even pulled out of the train station they had eaten watermelon seeds, chips (flavored like tomato sauce and flavored like chicken), moon cakes and a cup of soup. The sausage would come later. We of course did not come prepared with any food so we didn’t have anything to share with them. We dug in our bag for the two moon cakes we had purchased earlier to try and gave them to them and they happily accepted them.

The K class train was not as nice as the Z class train we had taken to Xi’an but overall it wasn’t bad (the restrooms are pretty much universally bad everywhere). We spent our time on the train reading and napping. We also had a meal in the dining car which consisted of meat with green chile which was very hot and fried rice with meat and cucumber which was very good. It may be odd that one of our better meals would come from the dining car on a train, but good is good and we enjoyed watching the rugged countryside pass by as we ate.

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Photos

Beilin Museum Grounds
More than 2,000 steles and sculptures are on display here, the largest collection in China.

Traditional Medicine, Soup, or Window Decor?
To us it just looked like a strung up turtle.

Beilin Museum Grounds
The museum occupies the grounds of a converted Confucian temple.

The Small Goose Pagoda
Built in 707, today the pagoda is 45 meters tall.

The Grounds of the Small Goose Pagoda
Perfectly serene and totally overwhelmed by the city outside.