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Published: March 3rd 2008
Huaqing Hot Springs
Yes, it was pretty much this beautiful everywhere.OOOOOK. So even though most of you haven't even read through the entirety of my last entry, which was pretty recently posted, I have decided to post my entry about Xi'an. Now, even though I wanted to spend more time in China than I am going to, I have decided it's better to head to Korea and try to WWOOF than to stay here (as cheap as it may be). So, sadly, this will be my last entry in China, for now. I am going to come back because my return flight to the states is from Beijing. But back to the present. I am currently in Xi'an, which is located in the Western-Central area of China, and soon to leave for Yantai, which is close to the coast (about halfway between Shanghai and Beijing) to catch a ferry to Incheon, South Korea. I arrived four days ago, and have since then spent a good amount of time here. Let's get down to the nitty gritty. Oh by the way, I know I said this last time, BUT - thank you everyone for your messages and comments. Keeps me connected and sane.
Arriving in Xi'an
---Arrived early (about 8 in
Huaqing Hot Springs
I'm one for deep reflections. the morning) and didn't feel too particularly good. I don't know if it was the Chinese people who talked all night in my train cabin,
or perhaps the Lays chips and Korean cookies I had for dinner. Maybe both.
Who knows.
---Unexpectedly got a pick up from my hostel. Yes they really know how to treat a guy. Then they made me sit in the van for half an hour while they waited for some "other" people who never showed up.
I want to talk to a manager.
---While waiting
I had the pleasure of meeting three Koreans who were traveling to Xi'an from Beijing as well. They study in Beijing. Two girls and one guy. One of them, Hannah, speaks English very well. We talked a lot about Korean vs. American culture and also about the anguish of Chinese culture. She understand my Beijing frustration rather well, but she is also fluent in Mandarin, and has an easier time thusly, so somebody throw her a parade. The other two didn't speak English as well, but were very nice.
Classic reserved Asians.
---We got to the hostel finally, and then I asked them if they were heading out. They were.
Huaqing Hot Springs
Lose much face, Dan? They were headed to the XXXXX Hot Springs and the Terracota Warriors. I asked if I could tag along, and they said of course. So I did. I cannot stress enough the difference of experience you have here when you are with someone who is able to speak to the people around you. We had no problem getting anywhere or getting anything.
Maybe I'll just take them everywhere I go.
---We headed to the bus stop which is an absolute madhouse. I think it was the way it was almost everyday at anytime. Just thousands and thousands of people in a parking lot waiting for their trains to arrive to board. It looked like the entire population of an airport was transplanted into a ghetto driveway.
---Hopped on a bus and headed out of town to the Huaqing Hot Springs. I learned that Koreans say "Oma" when something surprising happens to them. Similar to the way people say "Jesus" (or "oh my goodness" if you're a good little zealot) in America.
I spent the rest of the day saying "Oma" to shocking happenings and making them burst into laughter at my uncanny timing. I am so super popular.
---Got to
Army of Terracota Warriors
Pit 1, almost 3000 soldiers excavated from here. It was a massive plane hanger. the Huaqing Hot Springs. I was under the impression that it was a functioning hot spring where people just hop into a pool naked together. Seeing as how I had only known these people for one hour,
I was a bit uneasy with dropping my junk everywhere and getting down and dirty with them. This turned out to be a misunderstanding, despite the fact that public bathing in spas is a very normal occurence in Korea.
---The Hot Springs was an ancient Hot Spring which was used by some of the most popular people in Chinese history. It's most famous bather was a woman who was said to have seduced and led a certain emperor to misjudgment, and eventually the demise of the once greater-than-Beijing Xi'an dynasty. She really knew how to bathe I guess. It was a rather impressive place, with a lot of very Asian architecture, open pools, live springs, museums, and fancy pants statues. We spent some time and had lunch.
---We departed and then headed to the Terracota Warriors, which is some way out of town. It took us probably a good 45 minutes to get there.
The bus smelled like gasoline. I kept thinking that
if someone lit a cigarette (it is very common in China to have people smoke anywhere they please) that it would all be over. Hottest 2 minutes I'd ever spend in life.
---The Army of the Terracotta Warriors is a life-size underground army of statues that were left to protect the soul of China's first emperor, Qinshihuang. At the time of his birth and ruler as a king, Qinshihuang lived in a time where states of China lived independently of one another. After taking on a rather tyrannical rule, Qinshihuang decided to start a campaign to combine all of the states into one great nation. He eventually succeeded in this, making him of great importance to Chinese history. He was also a very highly anxious ruler, who feared death to no end. He wanted to live on forever in his afterlife. After taking many precautions to making his rule last forever, he ironically died rather young.
BUT. His legacy lived on because of the army of soldiers he had made to protect his soul. The armies are positioned north of Qinshihuang's tomb, which is still unexcavated, much to the chagrin of archaeologists.
---There are three open excavations at the Terracota
Army of Terracota Warriors
Some of the ones without heads really do have heads, they are just in the statues' stomachs. site.
One of them was closed. WTF, mate? The first pit, is the largest, and holds some 3000 soldiers and countless artifacts. The 2nd was closed. The 3rd was rather small, held about 70-80 statues, and based on the soldiers they found there it's been decided it was a place for the leading officers and high ranking officials of the "army". All of the pits are open, but you cannot get up close to the soldiers, and you walk on railings above the pits. There was also a museum that housed some of the most well preserved soldiers and artifacts they have. Each statue is different than the next, made with lifelike clothing and expressions, facial features, and army ranking. It was all very interesting and rather impressive.
I suggest you make a day trip out there or something.
---We left and made a long drive back to the bus station, and then headed for dinner. We went to the Muslim Quarter of Xi'an, which has a
huge Muslim influence. While 92%!o(MISSING)f the country is Buddhist, the rest is roughly comprised of Muslims and Christians. Xi'an comprises much of that Muslim percentage.
---Chinese meals are eaten family style. Everyone
just digs into dishes with their chopsticks. We went to a very famous restaurant that makes popular steamed dumplings and baozi (like potstickers, but not sauteed). It was delicious. Chinese food can be rather spicy sometimes. And many things are eaten cold (such as noodles that aren't in a soup).
---We walked the night market for a bit then returned to the hostel. We had some drinks, and then I tried to teach the Koreans how to play rummy.
They were confused. I learned that non of them have ever seen any drug before in their life. They had all been raised rather conservatively. Koreans are rather well reserved and innocent.
Also learned that the little Korean gets drunk off of one small shot. Very entertaining. They were also very interested to know what social life is like in America, and were shocked with what I described. I don't know if I was very dramatic or whether they were genuinely surprised. Regardless, Asia is very different than America. They all wanted to know what "club" I was part of in high school, or in other words: how popular I was.
I told them I didn't belong to a club, and lost a shitload of face. Then I told them I was almost prom king, and they all went, "Ooooohhhh!"
---Hit the sack and gave it a beating it truly deserved. Slept well.
Walking Xi'an's City Wall
---Xi'an is one of the few cities left in China that has an intact original wall around it. Most cities of ancient times had walls and moats to defend themselves from one another. Xi'an is lucky enough to have a wall and moat that surrounds it's inner city. It spans about 14 kilometers and takes about 4-5 hours to walk around it.
---There is not much to say about this day. I walked on a very impressive wall and saw a lot of bustling Chinese people going about their daily business.
Fascinating?
---I walked on an empty stomach too because I woke up late and new I needed at least 4 hours to walk it, so I didn't grab any food.
This was a mistake, and I started to mistake the random Chinese person on the wall as Chinese Food.
---Wanted to give up halfway to get some food but learned there is no way down on one of the sides, at least
Army of Terracota Warriors
Pit 3. The smallest, compiled mostly of high ranking officers. right now there is not in the winter.
Keep trekking, Kam. ---Finally made it back to the South Gate where I started and went back to my hostel to count my blisters. Only 3, by the way.
Thanks a lot knock off Cambodian Pumas.
Big & Little Wild Goose Pagodas
---The next day I walked to Little Wild Goose Pagoda. It is about a mile and half outside the city walls.
---The outside areas of Xi'an that are not within the city walls are very industrious, and teeming with Chinese people. You feel as though you are playing some kind of dodge game, because when Chinese people choose a path to walk in, they do not change that course for anything. They just put their heads down, cell phones up, and walk right into you. This gets old after a while.
Very old.
---The Little Wild Goose Pagoda was a little haven inside a spurring metropolis. It was comprised of several large gates, a museum, large artificial lakes, bridges, smaller pagodas, and a lot of foliage. It felt so nice to be somewhere peaceful. There was hardly anyone there except an old woman singing to herself.
---The pagoda's top
Army of Terracota Warriors
Savage golden chariots and horses in pristine condition @ the museum. was shaken off in an earthquake, but you could climb to the opening and peer out onto Xi'an. It was a winding
15 stories to the top, and I realized I need more cardiovascular activities.
---I skipped the museum.
I'm not that big of a fan of museums right now.
---Walked all the way to the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. It was a long walk. When I got there there was approximately 75%!o(MISSING)f Xi'an's population there. I decided not to go in, thinking it best to quite while I was ahead with the Little Wild Goose one.
---Came back to the hostel
---Saw a little boy peeing in the middle of the street while his mother watched him attentively. I thought it was funny and sort of laughed.
She did not think it was funny.
---Got my picture taken with all of the girls that work at the hostel per their request.
They all think my hair is something to behold. Nobody has long hair like mine in China. Everyone looks the same, it's sort of creepy.
---The hostel has a cat and 3 dogs, a mother and two pups. They always want food.
---Went to get my train
Army of Terracota Warriors
Every statue is different. ticket in advance as it is hard to get a sleeper car at times.
---Went out to the Muslim Quarter with the Koreans again. At first we were trying to find a "night market" and then we found out that it was just a street with stores on it. We saw some pretty interesting things though:
live frogs ready to cook in a wooden pail, live crawfish, cockroaches, etc. Chinese cuisine is very wide ranging.
---Had dinner in the Muslim district: chicken, "sheep", and beef skewers, dumpling spicy soup, cold spicy peanut noodles, and green bean sweet cakes. Yum.
Only cost me 2 dollars too.
---Told the Koreans about America vs. Canada rivalry, bad words in English, bad words in Spanish, and how to say "whateva'" and "idiot" in Korean.
It was all grandly educational.
Fountain Show
---Today, I went to
Asia's largest fountain show. It is located in the courtyard that is outside of the Big Wild Goose Pagoda that I went to yesterday. It was rather packed still. The courtyard is set up with 5 large open squares with fountain spouts in them. It starts @ 8pm (
actually just whenever the person who starts the music wants Army of Terracota Warriors
This one is famous, you may recognize him from pictures. to, as I found out while waiting around past 8) and goes for 30 minutes. They play a different array of music ranging from classical to ridiculously cheesy Chinese pop. The show is coordinated to match the music.
It was probably the highlight of Xi'an for me! A lot of people show up for good reason. You sometimes see fountains like these in America but never a show, let alone one that was as big as this. There were incredible colors and mist flying everywhere, I was very taken aback. I took approximately 110 pictures.
I have a problem.
---While waiting to take a bus back to the hostel after the show had ended, I got asked something by a girl in Mandarin. I smiled as best as I could and said, "Sorry, I don't speak Mandarin."
No joke: she let out a gasp, got wide eyed, gawked at me, then slowly backed away, turned around, and started walking in the other direction.
Maybe I'll just be a Korean guy in China for next Halloween.
---On the way back I took the wrong bus and ended out in
The Cuts. The bus driver made me get off at the last
stop. I was a little worried as there wasn't anything in sight. Eventually another bus came and took myself (the only person on the lonely, lonely street) back to the South Gate.
---At the South Gate of Xi'an there was a traditional dance taking place in front of the main bridge to the city walls. The dance was being done by mostly older people to the music of some street drummers, and it looked rather pleasant. The folks doing the dance used large fans and ribbons and followed each other in a snaking line along a pavilion. I stopped to take a gander and to ponder aging.
Nothing like a little late night gerontology.
---Tonight I am going to have some drinks with the Koreans b/c it is our last night in Xi'an, and also the last time we will likely see each other again. Tomorrow I head by train to Yantai, which takes a
grueling 23 hours, and from there another backbreaking 14 hours by ferry to Incheon, South Korea.
Xi'an + Other Random Thoughts on China
Xi'an has been a rather pleasant experience for me, despite all the things that I complained about in my last entry.
It is much more provincial than Beijing, and far more old fashioned. I liked the time I spent here, as I am becoming more acclimated to Chinese culture. For anyone who comes to China, you should make Xi'an and the Terracotta Warriors one of your stops. Some call them the 8th Wonder. For all of you who haven't looked at the pictures yet, make sure you do, because there is no way I can explain the fountain show with words. I would have liked to have moved around more in China, but unfortunately I don't have the means to right now, considering that Korea is much more expensive than China (pretty on par with America) and I want to spend as much time there as possible. Here are some random thoughts about China:
*The thing that makes learning most Asian languages very difficult is the fact that none of them, with the exception of Korea's Hongul, have letters. There are just a bunch of complex sounds combined together in different orders with different tones for any given combination.
*The word "mai" can mean
five different things depending on the way you say the sounds
*Chinese food
here is very different than "Chinese" food in America. There are almost 5 basic schools of cuisine here, each with its own style, some combining styles with other schools. The further south you go, the hotter the food gets.
*Hong Kongians do not think of themselves as Chinese. Neither do Tibetans.
*People pick their noses here.
A lot. Sometimes you will be talking to someone and they will just stick their finger halfway up their nose and start digging around, not missing a word you're saying. Makes you think about where to eat...
*The Chinese, like most Asian cultures, use squatting toilets. They take some practice to master.
*Most Chinese are scared or intimidated by Westerners,
but not me, since i'm Asian but not Chinese, they don't even know I exist really. They will go out of their way to ignore me even if I wave my arms or grunt. This was the experience of the Koreans too, so when they go somewhere new, they start out by speaking English, b/c if people know they are Korean Nationals at first, they don't care as much about helping them.
*There are girls here who
literally look
Xi'an City Walls
Much of the wall is being renovated, such as this part. like anime characters. It's shocking.
*The Chinese government blocks all kinds of websites from being accessed here. For example, Wikipedia.
*Chinese buses do not have some kind of signaling system, so they stop at all stops regardless of whether anyone is getting off.
*I saw 2 black people in China in 7 days. They
did speak Mandarin.
Check in again for Korean adventures! Thanks for reading!
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dneal
Daniel Neal
OMA, OMA, OMA
Very nice pics of the reflections especially the night shot of the Wild Goose Pagoda. And I lost a little face after viewing the pic of the orange light on the wall and the sun rays, but my face is on the ground after seeing the fountain pics. Awesome stuff. And who said you could get all fancy and use a word like chagrin? Who´s in charge here!?! Comeon! - A magician named Gob