Our next stop was Xi’an . After coming from a
small city in Wales , every
city I have visited in China
seems massive in comparison to Cardiff !
Once again, we weren’t in Xi’an
for long so we had many things to do in very little time.
Our main reason for visiting this
city was to see the Terracotta army of course! I had an idea of what to expect
after seeing some friends’ pictures shortly before I visited there myself.
However, nothing prepared me to realise the vast scale of the army.
Only a small part of the army has
been uncovered. There is a mini sculpture of the area to show the size of what
they believe the army to be. It is gigantic!! I couldn’t believe it! What’s
even crazier is that they will not be able to uncover much of it for a very
long time because our technology today just isn’t good enough!!
There are four zones full of terracotta statues (yet the forth has yet to open).
Many of the statues of soldiers, horses and people they have recovered from the earth so far have been either broken or discoloured. The broken soldiers are still visible for tourists to see. There is also a ‘hospital’ for the statues that are lucky enough to be fixed. It is strange to see the statues wrapped in what appears to be cling film and with holes through their bodies. There are many headless soldiers too!
We know that the figures have
been discoloured after being discovered because on some of the statues there
are vague colours to be noticed.
(Look at the detail!!!)
(There's a hole in the middle of the horse to stop the terracotta from cracking)!
It’s hard to imagine that all
this was created for one man, an Emperor at the time.
The Terracotta army did not
disappoint!!!
Leaving the Terracotta army
however felt as though we were in a theme park. We passed endless stalls
selling junk souvenirs and if we hadn’t have been with our lovely guide, we
probably would have eaten at one of the rip off restaurants there. However, she
took us a short distance by car from there to a local place that she knew well.
I advise that if you go to
anywhere in China ,
you should hire a personal guide. They’re not that expensive and it’s so much
better than following a large tour group!! They are always from the area too
and so they know the absolute best places to go! The food was great. Our guide
asked us what we liked and chose the best suitable things for us! I am so used
to ordering pork, beef or mutton these days in China instead of my favourite
chicken. The chicken is always so difficult to eat as it is almost always
presented chopped up but still joined to the bone. Also, they serve you
literally every part of the chicken possible…even the feet!
My parents were also shocked that
a group of men on a table near by were completely drunk off baijiu in the day
time! One of them was even looking after his young son while drinking shot glass
after shot glass of baijiu!
Our hotel was lovely, situated in
a lovely part of the city. Every evening, six girls dressed in traditional
Chinese clothes played traditional Chinese instruments. It sounded beautiful!!
(Our hotel).
The hotel was next to water fountains and a
square for people to walk around. Every night there is a fountain show. There
are probably better fountain displays to be seen in the world but it was still
very nice to watch. The music was good too and the colours made it very pretty.
It was difficult to see sometimes though with the amount of people there
(obviously since it’s China )!
So we stood on a bench to see it more clearly. A patrol woman came around every
so often demanding everyone to get down. However, once she was out of sight,
everyone was immediately on the benches again!
Walking around in the square
after dinner and the fountain show was the nearest I’ve felt to being back in Italy . What I
love about Italy
is that everyone goes for walks during the evenings and it’s a great way to
spend the night, to people watch and socialise. As we walked around we saw many
people dancing, walking and talking.
What I do love about China is that
in every ‘spacious’ part of a city, there are public dances. Anyone can join
in. It’s like a way to keep fit for city people I guess! The music is always
nice (or interesting) Chinese music and the dance moves can be amusing to
watch. You also see people early in the morning practising Tai Chi in groups or
practising with swords in local parks. It’s really nice to watch!
My father and I were watching
some people dance and I turned to ask my mum and sister what they thought about
it and realised they were gone. I looked around and realised they had joined
the dance party! It was funny to see them as the only Westerners there to take
part!
We were lucky to have more sunny
and hot weather during our stay. We also went to see the city walls of Xi’an , the only remaining city walls still standing in all
of China .
During our stay in Xi’an
we had another lovely guide to help us around the city and to take us to the
best places. She said that the walls were a pain during the busy rush hour
because the entrances into the inner city are small and therefore only a
certain amount of traffic can pass through at the same time. However, she said
the walls are what make the city special. You can walk or even cycle around the
entire wall. My family were keen to cycle around it after the amount of cycling
we had done in Yangshuo. However, it was far too hot, it was the middle of the
day and there was no shade! So next time I visit there I will ride around the
wall!
(Apparently the Chinese believe if you stand under a bell it will give you bad luck...unfortunately I didn't know this until after the picture was taken...oops!!)
Our guide took us to the Muslim
quarter. Before I went to China
I always thought that the whole of China was non religious. But since
being here I have learnt that there are many Christian, Muslim and Buddhist
areas. The Muslim quarter was interesting! There was stall after stall of
touristy things to buy and there was stall after stall of street food! Our
guide advised us to look after our bags to avoid being robbed and to not eat
anywhere unless she advised that it was a good place.
It was nice and interesting to be in a Muslim district and not see the women in strict clothing. At the most, the women wore head scarves.
We ate some nice sweet tasting food (approved and recommended by our guide of course). Don’t ask me what it was though, I have no idea!!
(The drum tower. The bell tower was in another part of the city ear by).
It was nice and interesting to be in a Muslim district and not see the women in strict clothing. At the most, the women wore head scarves.
We went to a dumplings restaurant and we saw a very good live performance of traditional Chinese dances, songs and instruments. It was a really beautiful show!!! Our meal was a variety of ten different kinds of dumplings. My sister had a vegetarian selection for herself. To be honest, having ten different kinds of dumplings was too much and I felt like I didn't need to see another dumpling for a long while after but it was something new and different! Inside the dumplings were many things, from pork to crab to tomatoes to fish.
(I had never heard of or seen so many of the traditional instruments that were used in the performances).
(I had never heard of or seen so many of the traditional instruments that were used in the performances).
Finally, before we left, we
visited the Pagoda right next to our hotel. We were given a different guide
just to look around the Pagoda. He was very good at his job. He knew so much
information about Buddhism. He taught us things like; you should always enter a
Buddhist prayer room from the left and leave on the right and you must never
step on the high plank as you walk into the room. (You will know what I mean
when you visit your next Buddhist monastery). We didn’t actually have time to
climb to the top of the Pagoda as we had a flight to catch in the afternoon but
we looked around the Buddhist temple surrounding it.
Before we left he showed us how
to write some things in Chinese characters. He wrote down our country, Wales , in
Chinese characters and also wrote the characters for Coca Cola for some reason!
After this, he turned into
probably the best sales person I have ever seen! It was strange since he was
meant to be a monk! He did a remarkable job at selling us original paintings
painted by the monks. We ended up walking away with two paintings when we
originally planned on having none! Seriously, he was the best at selling!!!
They are really lovely paintings though to be fair!!
Our last destination during our
three weeks of travelling around China
was my home while in China …
it was time to go back to Zhengzhou …
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