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Published: February 8th 2008
Happy birthday to my coolest, most favouritest sister!
Arrived in Xian yesterday after an easy trip from Pudong airport in Shanghai. On the way to the city centre I saw my favourite Chinese roadsign again- "Rear end collision: keep distance". A look at the main streets yesterday revealed an alarming number of designer shops in what is otherwise a much less affluent city than the Shanghaive of activity we left behind. Nevertheless Xian has some lovely features, such as a restored city wall with Chinese-style towers, a magnificent bell tower positioned arc-de-triomphe-like in the middle of a killer roundabout, and a bustling Muslim quarter. Of course Xian's claim to fame is its proximity to the burial site of the first Qin emperor, who decided he needed a colossal terracotta army to help him to rest in peace. We hopped on a bus tour this morning (after a full Chinese breakfast), which took us first to a hill outside Xian where the Communists bravely looked behind a rock in 1936 to find their hiding foe, Chang Kai-Shek. After that excitement we proceeded to several terracottish sites and sights, including the as-yet-unexcavated and unbelievably huge area encompassing the tomb of the Qin
emperor, before arriving at the authentic terracottage in the afternoon. Despite being one of the most famous tourist attractions in the world it is in fact a little difficult to find from the bus stop, and we, like many others before us I'm sure, arrived at the exit first, and had to take a horse and cart to the entrance. Well, we didn't have to take a horse and cart, but the chancers waiting for us with open arms assured us that it was much too far to walk and happily took our 10 yuan (1 euro) to carry us the 300m or so to the carefully concealed entrance. Once inside, however, we discovered a most worthwhile attraction. I had to keep reminding myself that these exquisite forms are more than 2200 years old. Most interesting were the horses (I'm sure that's the only time you'll ever hear me write that!) and carts: so detailed and advanced. The bus back to Xian cost a whopping 7 yuan (70 cents) each for the one-hour journey. In the evening we took to the Muslim quarter, where the food is delicious and the people are everywhere. We had a 5-dish dinner for 26
yuan (2.60) and then sampled some street-cooked snacks, usually about 10 cents each and mouth-watering.
What else? Oh, THE COLD!!!! This blog is coming to you through cold-stricken, meteorologically assaulted fingers, lovingly but I fear uselessly tended to with moisturising cream, and I can hear your sympathy flooding in through my delicate but recovering ears. Full marks to the thermal underwear and the feather coat, which kept my body as warm as toast, and credit too to the scarf, hat and gloves which really did their best but Oh My God it is essential to fill up with hot food and liquid regularly! Which we did. Back now in our cosy hotel room and about to hop into my cosy bed in my cosy pyjamas. Strange place to have a bed, as the old joke goes.
That's the craic in Xian.
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FUMIE
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The Warriors! I herad they are quite big and good looking men... is that true?? City hall looks really beautiful!