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How can you top seeing an entire army of clay soldiers ?
Tough task, but Xi’an itself has quite a bit to offer.
Over the course of two days we managed to take in quite a bit at a comfortable pace. What makes Xi’an unique, aside from the warriors is that the entire city center is surrounded by a 40 foot high wall dating back several hundred years. (Then again what doesn’t date back several hundred years in China?) One can walk all of the way around said wall but if you are a touch more adventurous you can pay $2 USD and rent a bike and ride all of the way around.
But before climbing up, we decided to check out some sites within walls, like the Drum and Bell towers at the center of the city and while there managed to bump into our fellow bunkmate from the train.
Meanwhile just a few minutes walk from the towers we found the Great Mosque. Having been fortunate enough to travel throughout Asia it takes a bit to impress M and I these days, but what we came across was a wonderful mix of the Far and Middle East.
Finally on our last day we decided to check out the wall and soon after climbing up decided to rent bikes. 8 miles and an hour or so later we finished our journey having managed to get a great workout while taking in the city from an incredible vantage point.
Though it does get a bit bumpy at times, the ride does give you the chance to see Xi’an from a different angle.
He walked in the room and after taking one look at him I knew. I didn’t know him, but I knew all I needed to know. He looked pretty respectable, nicely groomed and ready to spend an evening traveling. I took one look at him and I knew…I knew he would snore.
And I was right.
In our ongoing efforts to tackle all aspects of travel, T and I decided our trip to Xi’an would be the perfect introduction into the world of overnight train travel. Following this decision we quickly found ourselves on the overnight train from Shanghai to Xi’an with The Snorer and a nice younger man who works in solar energy and was eager to practice is english skills (he didn’t snore). You see, the soft beds on this particular train were in cars which accommodated two sets of bunk beds. The perfect set up for maximal hilarity and awkwardness.
The verdict: Minus the snoring guy hitting on me in Chinese while my husband looked on while the other guy sharing our car watched in horror and blushed…not so bad.
Slight sleep deprivation aside, Xi’an was quite fun.
While there we took the bus outside of the city to see the terracotta warriors.
No, they aren’t all broken.
In fact, they are amazing.
Discovered by a farmer digging a well a few years back, the warriors are all different and were originally created by a king years back to protect him in the afterlife. Years onward, they are quite a site to take in as they are being gradually reassembled and are on display for all to see. Zealots can even pay to take a photo with the farmer who discovered them…at least it might be the farmer, it could also be his third cousin who just wants to make a buck as I doubt anyone would know the difference.
What is perhaps most fascinating about them is the fact that they are all different. Each has a different hairstyle or facial expression..
It seems as if they were each painted at one time as some retain small traces of paint which you can see if you look closely.
After a not so brief search/barter marathon, we managed to secure T his “treasures” of choice from the small souvenir area before making our way back to Xi’an on the public bus (45 minutes for $1USD!).
Make no mistake though…we weren’t done with Xi’an yet.
As M mentioned earlier this week, I returned to Japan and made the mistake of washing my toothbrush with water before I brushed. In short, one of my colleagues commented a few days later that I looked good having returned from holiday with some color and even lost weight. I suppose you do have to take the good with the bad?
Fortunately I have recovered and can now share with you the adventure of simply stepping out the door with M in Shanghai.
Regardless of where we go M gets quite a bit of attention in Asia, especially China. Westerners are rare in some parts, females even rarer, and women with blonde hair and blue eyes…well I decided to take a picture to capture this phenomenon.
China is famous for these moments as the people rarely hesitate to make eye contact and in some cases even strike up a conversation regardless of whether they speak english or not. This is a stark contrast to Japan where M has caught many “glare bears” during our time, but without fail they immediately take great shame in being caught and shift focus to their shoes.
Keep in mind we were simply minding our own business sitting in a park just a few short blocks from the Bund when this crew rolled. Initially they accosted another foreign gentleman who wandered in the park for some quick pics, but after tiring of him one of the girls finally worked up the courage to get a picture with my rare gem of a wife.
In the process they nearly trampled a bunch of kids on rollerblades, but ultimately everyone got what they came for and within minutes the group giggled off heading towards the Bund having met My Favorite Martian.
And we’re back after another successful adventure which included planes, trains and terracotta warriors.
We started out in Shanghai which is really only a quick three hour flight from Tokyo (on which we saw all but the last 15 minutes of Slumdog Millionare – Thanks NWA for all of the in flight announcements about duty free, I didn’t really need to see the end of the best movie I’ve seen in a really long time!- I digress.) and turned out to remind me quite a bit of New York’s East Village. Well, the East Village if you were to replace the hipsters with old men hucking up spit from their toes…that sound, it makes me shudder. Every.Single.Time. One could also argue you would need to cut the prices of the restaurants by 95% but personally I view Shanghai as an upgrade in that regard.
We ended up staying in a small B&B called Quintet in the French Concession which turned out to be a great selection as that part of town was very walkable and lined with small boutiques and cafes. As we ventured around the city we gradually found our way to the Yu Gardens, a bit of a tourist trap on this particular day but the dumpling restaurant we found made up for the crushing amount of humanity and yelling we were surrounded by. Did I mention China is a lot louder than Japan? And that the Chinese are very, erm, passionate in their discussions. Passion of course is proportional to volume.
From the Yu Gardens, we were able to walk to the river front on the Puxi side of town known as the Bund. That is where I found these:
I could tell you the name of the cobbler where they were hand stitched. I could also tell you their website and hint that they deliver globally. I could but according to my mother and husband, sharing is not a strength of mine. If you would like it, feel free to e-mail me and I will ponder the art of sharing.
Our visit to the Bund is also when I was greeted by my own, personal, fleet of paparazzi but that is a story for my husband to tell.
Perhaps if he recovers tomorrow from his bout of drinking tap water, he’ll let you know. That is a big if but I have faith he’ll pull through just fine.
Just a quick note from a Chinese internet cafe where it appears I am the only woman in the entire building surrounded by a sea of geeks.
SO Shanghai.
Thus far, we like it. We’re staying in the french concession area of town where the streets are al tree lined and cafes and small shops are everywhere. It is actually a bit like New York’s East Village in feel except with wet markets (fruit and veggie stalls. you pervs) and noodle shops. All in all the city has pleasantly surprised us and I’ve even managed to collect my own personal paparazzi. Photos to come of course.
We have covered quite a bit of ground already and still have quite a bit to go before we head out Tuesday night on the evening train.
Oh yes, the overnight train.
It is important to note that this time, it was NOT my idea. The Husband came up with this one. I am hoping the sleeper train isn’t so bad but I will admit I have some reservations on this particular venture. That said, we will get to Xi’an on Wednesday morning for a few days of site seeing.
More soon…they just turned off the air conditioning and the geeks clearly don’t know about deoderant.
