Xi'an vacation.

Xi'an...

Xi'an is a historical Chinese city known mostly to the outside world because of the terracotta warriors. Famous in China because, well it’s pretty much the birthplace of China (depending on how you judge history). Anyway I went there for my annual leave... well the last 2 days of it. My company is use it or lose it... so I had to use it this week. Talk about waiting till last minute.

So I flew out on Sunday... heavy rain in Shanghai and hotter than I’d like in Xian (though upon return to SH, I miss the Xi'an heat.... there it was dry, SH is super humid and hot).

I take a car service set up by my hotel (well serviced apartment). It’s awesome having a person waiting to pick you up at the airport dressed nicely with your name on a placard.

I get to my place.  Nice. Big and relatively cheap in a good location. It’s a hotel apartment deal. It’s a room in an apartment building.  So it’s got a kitchen TV couch bathroom washing machine and a king sized bed. I walk around and explore my hood in the heat. Nice neighborhood.  I buy some small Chinese books from an old street vendor. They are from the 60s and 70s and while I can’t read them... still a neat artifact.

I spend the rest of the evening wandering around exploring.  I don't do anything crazy because I booked a tour for the next day for the warriors and other sights.

I wake up and get picked up for my tour. First we look at a workshop where they make recreation warriors.  They said it’s the same type of process they used to use. From there to the warriors. Then the tomb of the emperor. Then to a 6000 year old housing site.

The warriors... I can't really describe.  I wanted to see them for a long time.  There are not many things or goals I have... but that was one. I have been fascinated with them for years. To actually see them... well awe inspiring.  It sucks I did it with a tour as time was limited.  They gave us ample time but I could have spent a day at the site.

The tomb (mausoleum) was blah. A hill. We were told about the legend of it but still not an exciting sight.

Banpo Village.  The 6000 year old site. I knew nothing about this... but still amazing.  The ruins of a 6000 year old civilization.  It’s something that was hard to wrap my head around. Amazing to see and another place I could have spent a long time at.

At night I went to a Tang Dynasty Show and dumpling dinner. Dumpling dinner was many types and flavors of dumplings.  The show was actually pretty entertaining. It told stories of the dynasty and had dancing for the stories.  As a guy it was interesting to go alone, only to make it more awkward I shared a table with 2 middle aged Chinese ladies that spoke no English.  But oh well.

After that I went walking. I walked to the Muslim district. Famous for... well Muslims. And street food. So I walked and got the Xi’an burger (meat in bread) and a boil goats foot. Yummy. I walked home.

The next day I slept in (actually I did every day... a king sized bed, a dark room, no construction, and walking over 15 miles a day). I wanted to go to the small wild goose pagoda... but it was closed. So my end goal... the big wild goose pagoda. But first I stopped at the Shanxi Xi'an history museum. Very large. Decent English subtitles. Neat to see. But really... it would have been more fun with a Chinese person. While I love history... connecting with something that I have no relation to is difficult. Interesting... but learning excerpts of their historical culture which I am unfamiliar with leaves me with a broken story.

I make it to the big wild goose. I love Buddhist temples and Buddhism fascinates me. This place was built in like the year 500. Before the US was a thought in the worlds eye. And here is this structure that is standing since then. Of course I pay the extra money to go to the top. Delightful. After exploring the temple I go to a mall. Why? To use the toilet. So the mall has an arcade. I play my coin pushing machine and win lots of tickets. I have no use for them so I tell an attendant to give them to a kid. I play for the joy of playing and winning. I need no prize.

After that... there is the international ice sculpture exhibit. I asked how much it was I misunderstood.  It was 55 but I thought he said 5. Oh well. I pay. Cheesy and weird. Yup. It is ice sculptures of mostly Disney things. But still pretty neat. I have many talents.  Ice sculpting isn’t one of them.  Upon entering they tried to get me to put on a coat. The last thing I want when its 95 outside is a coat. So I walk into the subzero room and I felt like I walked into heaven (that is if heaven is a subzero room in hot weather). I think the workers thought I was crazy... which I might be. My favorite part was the sled. You got to sled down an ice chute. Like the luge but slower and shorter.  I did it many times (I think u were supposed to pay per time... but I was the only person there and I think the worker enjoyed seeing a 30 some odd year old foreign giddy like a kid... I even got him to race. I won.

After that I went walking around and found the Xi'an brewery.  Yay for local beers. I had a sampler.  Their beers were good. Unique. But good. The name of each beer was oddly accurate. I put the brewery and my hotel thing in contact.  One of the first things I asked Mr. Vinegar was about local beer. I would pay to have a growler of local beer in my room anywhere I stay. It’s now night... The big wild goose has a fountain show. I stay and watch. It’s entertaining. There is a rumor that it is better than the Bellagio in Vegas. It’s not.  Only the first of fountains moved... the others just adjusted pressure (and color which the Bellagio didn't when it saw them). I mean, I guess I could get into the entertainment value of different fountain shows and what is what... but I won't. Nevertheless it was entertaining. I ate some biangbiang noodles and walked home (then ate some street food after the nearly hour long walk).

Wednesday I was going to take it easy. I went to the small wild goose.  It was smaller but you could stand on top... always a plus. Like the big one it was also a temple and a peaceful walk. After the temple grounds I went to a museum.... this day was kinda like the same as before but in reverse. I went home and took a nap (yay vacation).

I wake up to go to the city wall because I think there is supposed to be a show (which is actually on Thursdays not Wednesdays).  I get there. Pay to get in (even though no show). I explore around the main gate. Then I decided to rent a bike. Biking on the wall is popular.  So I do it. But since its late and dark and I want to take pictures I only bike 1/3 of the wall (then back to starting point so I get deposit back). And since its night I am not melting. Yay.

Well now my out of shape ass just got finished biking several miles I figured I should eat. Back to the Muslim quarter. I eat a few of the recommended Xi'an dishes. When food stalls are finished with their coals they put them on the curb.  I thought this was dangerous... but walking I find some local kids finding trash and putting it on the hot coals making fire.  So still unsafe.  Even super unsafe. Actually I am not justifying it at all. If I was a kid I would have done the same thing. Yay for parents letting (maybe unknowingly) letting their kids do science... boo for an unsupervised dangerous situation. There are better places to let your kid play with fire.

Anyway I walk home

Yay... Thursday... my day to relax. Well I did that better than other days. I watch a movie in my apartment. I then found a way to sneak up to the roof... (My thing).

I walk to the fortress wall. Walk around the park for a while.  I then got to the Stele museum. I constantly debated on going or not...  I actually did not leave with the intention of going. My wandering brought me there. So I went. While it had a steep price and its layout was crap...it was pretty Intriguing. These stone steles are the history of China. Like what is Chinas history, what are its founding tenets, what did rulers envision?  It's all in the museum.  The US's documents are stored in state of the art facilities.  In China they are carved into stone sitting open air in a museum. While Chinese visitors where there reading these and studying these I was just walking through but it still felt relevant.

I walked around the neighborhood and went to a small foreign bar. I got a drink and a burger. The burger was very unique. It was a place called Marley’s. I would actually go back to get another.  I really can’t describe it other than it was not a traditional American burger... but still delicious. I walk home.

I get some beer and go up to the roof as I found earlier. I watch the sunset on Xi'an.  Now I know it may be gimmicky.  But I love sunsets. They are pretty and all... but really that is the only time when we for a fraction of a second can see how fast life is happening.  The colors change and the sun is able to be observed moving. I love the science and beauty of it. Anyway. On the roof I meet 2 other roofers.  They do not speak English and are doing their own thing. It reminds me of me and Keyser.  One of my best friends I met in Korea.  We roofed frequently. Anyway I show them how to get higher. I sit up top for a while and sit in peace.

I decided I should get some food. I head down. There is a kabob shop downstairs.  I get a large beer and some lamb and beef kabobs. Most of the locals seemed to be impressed with my stomachs ability.  I drank as much as a table of 6 and ate as much as a table of 3. After dinner I go back up to the roof. It’s a way I like to unwind and relax and just take it all in.

Go to bed.

Wake up pack shower and get my taxi to the airport. So... Xi'an.  It felt really laid back and easy going there. Too hot for my taste but a nice place. I told a friend it had almost an island vibe, just because the people seemed relaxed and chill. It also didn't seem too crowded. But it was. Over 9 million people live here. It’s hard to grasp. Shanghai has 25 million.  So this is a small city but still more populated then many states.

The people spoke more clearly than Shanghai people. I could understand more and they could understand me more (in my poor broken Chinese). People still used to toilet outside... but the kids seemed to be more self-sufficient than Shanghai kids. In SH someone needs to hold the boys willy to aim it for him... here they could do it themselves. In SH someone has to help a girl squat, here they did it themselves. I don't know if it’s an achievement or not. Being self-sufficient is good. But thinking it’s okay to pee on the sidewalk is not. Though there was a time a girl was getting ready to pee on the sidewalk... instead of letting her, mom picked her up and put her in a flower bed. So that’s good I guess. And I didn't see anyone pooping so I consider it a win.

In all, I could have spent some more time in Xi’an, but for a 5 day visit I did get to do a lot and see a lot. I do wish that sometimes I would be able to take a little more me time on vacations just to relax. It’s tough because there is so much of the world to see and so much to do. Vacations may be the only time I ever get to see these things… but sometimes you end up being in such a rush, you don’t just slow down and relax and take it all in.

I took a ton of pictures, but I need to go through them all and sort them. Hopefully I can get that done pretty soon. I have been super busy for the last week and a half since I got back, and summer camp classes have begun, so I am even busier than normal. But sometime I’ll try to get an album made of some of the highlights.