The Plan B Adventure

Back in the present-day capital city of Beijing after a wonderful four day visit to Xi’an, the old capital of China. Considered a medium sized city in China, Xi’an is home to over 7 million inhabitants and we walked the streets with every single one of them. The city is reknowned as a jumping off point for trips to Lintong, the home of the Terracotta Warriors and Horses. Xi’an has much more to offer than just the Warriors, from a cultural as well as historical perspective. The people, foods, architecture, and diversity all lend to a completely well-rounded experience that you just seem to miss in the giant metropoli of the other large Chinese cities.

Well, being China and being that it is gigantic, we opted for a flight from Beijing to Xi’an opposed to a long bus or train trip. The flight was only $70 so a very good deal but a lack of the typical Chinese timeliness caused us to miss our flight window and sit on the runway for a good two hours. Uggh….well at least we got there safely. Xi’an, as Chinese cities go, really has it figured out for tourists. A very simple public bus ride, from the airport to the center of town with an ‘actual’ English speaking driver, made our introduction to the city very welcoming. Deciding on using Lonely Planet’s backpacker recommendation of the Lu Dao Hotel was a good (surprisingly) choice as well. From what we discovered during our Xi’an adventures, the city is home to many universities and technical colleges which lends a hand to the part-time worker demand of the tourism industry. Needless to say, we were pleasantly surprised by the “night and day” differences in English-speaking assistance and Western-style customer service that Beijing just can’t offer….yet! Our accommodations were very pleasant with the first double bed in quite some time, quick internet access abound, good restaurant food, and the cozy comfortable environs of the local ‘red-light’ district.

Our first day in Xi’an (being already half over courtesy of our flight delay) was spent settling in, getting an idea of the lay of the land, and blogging our Beijing adventures in a 300-screen computer cafe. These cafes are an interesting look into youth culture in China. We had previous experience in Beijing so we knew what to expect. Imagine 200-300 Chinese teens huddled on comfy couchs (imagine your college couch complete with stains and burns), playing the newest dancing game, mythological mind-thriller, or shoot-’em-up slaughterhouse, while pounding on the keyboard with one hand and chain-smoking multiple cigarettes with the other. All the while chatting with their neighbors at the desk and loading up on the caffeinated drinks…….quite an interesting ‘Petri’ dish! It really reminded Jeff of his good ol’ days in the Bingo halls of Seattle with Ching and Griff!! After feeling the effects of the cigarette smoke we burst through the clouds and opted for a long walk in the fresh (well…except for the Chinese smog overhang) air.

We started Day Two by agreeing that today would be for city sights and tomorrow would be the Warrior excursion. Off to the city center to see the Bell Tower, Drum Tower, and Muslim Quarter. To our excitement all of these sights and many of the cultures have existed since Xi’an was the ancient central capital of China known as Chang’an during the Tang and Han dynasties. It also holds claim to being the eastern starting point for the Silk Road…an adventure which we will begin in a few short days. Exciting history and a great education for both of us. We learned about the differences between Tang and Ming architecture, experienced a brand-new taste in the street-side cooking of the Muslim Quarter, and wandered the over-active streets with the other 7 million inhabitants. Great intro to Xi’an and we have to mention if Beijing is the political capital then Xi’an must be considered its historical center.

Oh yea…..this is what we’ve been waiting for, the Terracotta Warriors. Second only to seeing the Great Wall this was, hands-down, our most anticipated sight-seeing adventure in China. Per the advice of a fellow traveller met months before we opted for a good ol’ tour group courtesy of CITS which is the well-advertised, state-sponsored tour agency. After a look back we were very satisfied with this tour for one reason….our guide, Sally (HAHA!!, obviously not her given name). Sally studied English at one of the local universities as well as Chinese history and thoroughly answered any question or inquiry the group had…..believe us there were plenty! Our tour (the first where we got to follow a flag) started at the Big Goose Pagoda. This pagoda still serves as a functional monastery for Buddhists and is just a short bus ride out of the city walls (yes, the actual walls have been restored in Xi’an). Located a couple of miles south of Xi’an, the Big Goose Pagoda, was first built in 653 A.D. The seven story, gray brick building is completely unique to the architecture we had experienced in China and was a great way to start the day. Back on the bus to be carried off to our second sight, the Huaqing Hot Springs. These hot springs were actually a wintertime oasis for early emporers, tucked away in the foothills of the Lishan mountains, the theoretical dividing line between North and South China. It was quite beautiful in its day but the entire site has been recently restored (the best part still under construction) so we rated it 3 out of 10 on the ‘worth-it’ scale. Fortunately, with all the political (Chiang Kai-shek was arrested here) and cultural history, Sally made it a great learning experience. Well….let’s get to what we’ve all been waiting for the Terracotta Warriors and Horses.

This is really quite a sight…..it is hard to imagine that over 2000 years ago this was constructed. Leave it to an extremely ostentatious (he also commissioned the Great Wall) emporer, a burgeoning population, and creative Chinese ingenuity to construct over 6000 life-sized, fully armored warriors to protect one emporer’s grave! Most of the warriors have been destroyed over the ages but the Chinese have diligently worked to put ‘Humpty’ back together again and have reconstructed almost 80% of the underground tombs. Again, with Sally, it was quite an education and we were both extremely happy with the guided tour opposed to our normal do-it-yourself adventure.

Well, our last day in Xi’an we coincidentally (he was in town for a travel fair) hooked up with Abdullah. He is the general manager of Silk Route Adventures, whom Jeff has been connecting with for over six months and organizing our upcoming journey through Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, western China, and Pakistan. Being the consummate professional, he invited us to a traditional Muslim restaurant (Xi’an style) for an all-you-ca-eat extravaganza. This really ranked up there on the list of all time eating experiences for Jeff and Becca finally got to sink her teeth into the juicy, soup-filled dumplings that Xi’an is famous for. We opted for the night train back to Beijing and it was quite a luxurious experience. From all we have experienced on this trip we can safely say the express trains from big city to big city in China are like 5-star hotels. If you get the chance try to experience it just once….and splurge (we didn’t and wished we would have tried it) for the two-berth private car!!

Back in Beijing to pick up our Indian Visa, check out the Summer Palace, and maybe, get our hands on some more Peking Duck!!! Well, two out of three ain’t bad……..can you guess which one didn’t happen??

(look below)

…you think its the Indian Visa don’t you??..so did we initially but it was just the duck. HAHA!!! Becca swore off Indian food if the Visas (which were promised in five business days) weren’t available at 3PM on Monday, less than 15 hours before our flight left. Well, needless to say we will be enjoying Chicken Tikka Masala many times over….the Indians came through and we are off to Tashkent, Uzbekistan. We are both sooooooo ready for someone else to handle all the accommodation and transportation planning and after China it couldn’t come soon enough. Check back for the start of our Silk Road Adventure!!!