Blogs from Xi'an, Shaanxi, China, Asia - page 9

Happy Halloween everyone! We had a great time celebrating here, I hope you all had fun, too! On the Saturday before Halloween, we went to a small Halloween party at the Donohoe’s apartment. He is the president of our branch and we have become great friends with them while being here. Every Saturday they teach English to a small group of kids so they did a Halloween party for their lesson. We played the “doughnut on a string” game, bobbed for apples, and Jarek taught the kids a Halloween song! It was great fun. The day before Halloween, Jarek and I taught our English class dressed as zombies, something they had never before experienced in any other class ever. It was a Halloween lesson so we just had to dress up! They thought it was awesome ... read more

A trip to Xi’an necessarily revolves around a visit to the Army of the Terracotta Warriors, although there are many other fascinating sights in the area, notably the Tomb of Emperor Jingdi, the Shannxi History Museum, the Big Goose Pagoda, the Great Mosque and the Muslim Quarter - fantastic street food at the night market! – in addition to some wonderful temples and historical buildings. Do not be deterred by the terrible pollution! Xi'an offered even more enjoyment than I had expected of it, and I would leave an additional few days in your itinerary to enjoy this intriguing city. On a personal level, my traveling partner and I really enjoyed visiting the Taoist Temple of the Eight Immortals. The monks alone were worth the visit, and the temple itself was a treat. Highly recommended. The ... read more

We wake up in our 2nd major city of the trip: Xian (or more properly Xi'an, pronounced Zhee-jann, two syllables), ancient capital of the Qin, Han and Tang dynasties, among others. Breakfast at the hotel, a nice cross-cultural buffet that includes home fries, which quickly attract a crowd. We are on the road by 9:30, on the way to see the terra cotta warriors, one of the most anticipated attractions of the trip. We drive through Xian, which is another thoroughly modern city, with many impressive sleek office buildings and condos, and a great deal of construction going on. JW tells us that a subway is being built, the first stretch of which opened just weeks ago. Once out of the city, we enter a rural area dominated by fruit farms. Most of the route is ... read more

Okay, so it has been a little while. Things are always really busy here - I have worked on this entry for two weeks; sometimes I only had time to write a couple of sentences, but here it is! Everything is an adventure. From merely eating deep fried pig skin to hiking grand mountains, it all has a story. It was our fall break a couple weeks ago so we have been exploring the city of Xi'an. We are so blessed to know such kind Chinese friends who love to take us all over and show us places we have never seen, and on top of that, they never let us pay a dime! We are so blessed! Before I tell of our adventures, let me introduce you to Sean. Sean is the epitome of a ... read more

There are five species of snub-nosed monkeys in the world. Three are restricted to China, one is found in both China and Burma, and the last is found solely in North Vietnam. The golden snub-nosed monkey is the most widespread, with a fairly wide distribution in China but there's not many places to actually be able to see them. The Zhouzhi Golden Monkey Reserve outside Xian should be one of the best as it is home to what is described in one book on Chinese wildlife as “the world's only habituated group”. Researchers have been feeding them here for years, which has allowed visitors to be able to go there and reliably see them. It was, nevertheless, very difficult to find out much information about the place – even though it is on Tripadvisor of all ... read more