We had our midterm speech Saturday morning, which we all not-too-fondly know as the dreaded baogao. This particular baogao had to be 8 minutes long, roundabout, and with only a few notes to help us along. People wrote about different things we’ve encountered here in Xi’an and I, of course, wrote about the Terracotta Army. Given that we had 13 people to go through, the whole morning was filled with the agony of bad Chinese. The teachers seemed to enjoy it in a slightly sadistic, but mostly just amused way. Personally, I feel good about mine, but who’s to say?
At any rate, we had the afternoon off. Some folks wanted to go back to sleep, and who can blame them after pulling all-nighters the night before? However, I had determined to get out and see some cool places around the city, and Chris jumped at the opportunity to come along. So we two, armed with cameras and directions from the Internet, hit the road via the Xi’an bus system (the MTR system doesn’t open until next year).
Like the Terracotta Army, they had actual excavation sites available to view:
We both agreed the most interesting discovery was this ancient tomb:
But the site was truly huge. In some cases, we could tell exactly what we were looking at, but in others it wasn’t so clear. Unfortunately, Shawn (a CLC student with a degree in archeology) wasn’t with us to explain that time:
The miniature model made more sense so us amateurs:
Outside the museum, there was even a reconstructed village to wander around, although I doubt some aspects of its authenticity:
Our last stop inside the museum was to check out the artifacts and (try to) pick apart the science:
It still beats me why anyone would shape a vase like this. Is it actually functional?
Early steamer (a.k.a. ancient dim sum maker?):
The Neolithic Museum was actually quite fun and didn’t take too long, which is good because we stayed until closing time. On the ride home, we passed by the Drum Tower again, only this time it was lit up for the evening:
By then, we were both rather famished, considering it was around 8:30pm. So, we found a nice restaurant, which obviously served Sichuan food according to the overwhelming smell of hot peppers. You’ve got to love the name, though: Joe’s Bar & Grill:
The next day, we spent the morning with a local student from the super-strict translator’s college. She took us around the city center and the historic district, though all kinds of fun markets, and even to her house! We soon ended up at another famous Xi’an district called Muslim Street (Huiminjie) (http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/shaanxi/xian/moslem-street.htm).
Now this is a cool little doodad called the “Cup of Justice.” When you fill it up to a reasonable level, the water stays, but if you fill it to the brim, everything drains out of the bottom. It’s meant to remind you to do everything with moderation:
Calligraphy brushes in all shapes and sizes:
We also ate tons of delicious street food snacks, like glutinous rice with date, peanut, and sesame sauces, persimmon cakes, and dragon’s beard candy. Our main meal, though, consisted of delectable lamb and beef soup buns at the famous Jia San Restaurant. There were 3 brothers from the Jia family, and they all opened restaurants called, respectively Jia Yi (Jia One), Jia Er (Jia Two), and Jia San (Jia Three). Jia San was much better than the other brothers’ restaurants so the first two went out of business. Now, only Jia San is left.
Shawn and our host student, Jiang Zhi, eating super spicy Hui food at Jia San:
And for dessert, more street food…actually it’s more glutinous rice with yummy sauce:
After our morning visit, we met up with another group and had a little coffee. Once we finished the coffee, Shawn, Javi and I wanted to check out another famous Xi’an location called the Forest of Stone Steles (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stele_Forest).
1400 year old horse statue:
1300 year old bell:
With so much old stuff, I know we’re not in Hong Kong anymore! I just adore all the history and culture here.
First, we explored the small museum which housed Buddha relics dating back to 300 AD.
The headless Buddha was a particularly popular image around 500 AD, apparently:
Next, we reached the first of the stone tablets. At first, we were excited because we could recognize several characters:
But later we realized that they were either written in traditional or ancient Chinese, as shown here:
The motifs were particularly enchanting. This one is of the famous Mount Hua (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Hua).
We found another small museum with more cultural relics and, honestly, do you think we could have said no?
Long-lost twins?
We felt especially surprised to see stone caskets, considering that the Chinese traditionally cremate their dead:
And, of course, on the way out, we had a grand view of the old city wall:
Yes, like every other Chinese city, town, or village, Xi’an has an abundance of beautiful temples and pagodas. However, what Xi’an has that many other places simply don’t is history. That’s one great thing lacking tremendously in Hong Kong and, I now realize, lacking somewhat in the USA. To be fair, very few cities in the world have as long a history as this ancient capital of China but, to a history buff, the feeling is tremendous. It’s very simple: if you like culture, history, and language (with a Chinese bent of course) then Xi’an is the place to be. I’m loving every minute!
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