Xi'an Part 1

I have returned from Spring Break, or rather May Holiday as it is known here. It is hard to believe that I have just under two months remaining in my time here...at least the first installment of my time here. Now that the May Holiday trip was successfully completed, it is time to start making plans on a few weekend trips as well as my travel arrangements home. I start classes again tomorrow. I am ready for the kids again, I just hope that they are ready for me. They have had a long time off and if they are anything like I was in high school, it will be hard for them to concentrate on school tomorrow.

This will be the first of a few posts about my trip to Xi'an. The first time I was in China, I had the privelege to go all over the country, experiencing a new place at least one time each week. This stay has been in stark contrast to last time, with my entire experience occuring in Beijing Province, at least until the trip to Xi'an. After the past week I know that I am going to need to make more of an effort to explore the remainder of this country. With the schedule that I have, I need to take some weekend trips to places that I have not yet seen in China. There is just so much out there, so many interesting places, unique people and experiences just waiting to happen.

Needless to say, the trip was a huge success. I saw a ton of great places, met many new people, had great food, and walked away in one piece...barely. More about htat later, for now, just a rundown of the places I saw.

We got to Xi'an in the morning on Wednesday. We had hard sleeper train tickets for the trip there, which provided a comfortable trip, leaving us refreshed and ready to face the new city. We purchased return train tickets...more on this later, but this was my big fear of the trip. The Train system in China is such that you can only purchase tickets five days in advance, and then only from the city you are departing from. I was worried that we would not be able to get home, leaving us stranded in Xi'an until the May holiday rush passed. With our tickets in hand, we proceeded to our hostel to store our luggage and take a quick shower to freshen up. We were thrilled to find our hostel in a great location, very clean, cheap and with a ton to do. It had a great restaurant, a pool table, internet access, comfortable furniture (except for the beds...but they were cheap so who cares) and a very friendly staff. If anyone is visiting Xi'an I highly recommend the Bell Tower Hostel for your stay. The location alone is worth the cost. Following our check-in we visited the Bell Tower and the Drum Tower before making hte first of many trips to the Muslim Quarter.

The Drum and Bell Tower were ok, but not highlights of the trip. The Muslim Quarter, on the other hand, was AWESOME! In this neighborhood we found great shopping, interesting sights and the best Xinxiang food we have found here in China. My new favorite dish is Yang Rou Paomo, a lamb stock based soup that featured spices, veggies, lamb and small pieces of sweet bread. It was fantastic! We also had yang rou chuan which is a favorite here, but was done very well in Xi'an. We washed these meals down with cheap cold beer while sitting outside watching the streams of people go by...or rather were watched by the streams of people going by since it was so odd to see foreignors outside enjoying the food.

Following this first stop in the Muslim Quarter, we went back to the Train Station to catch a bus to Hua Shan. This is one of the best known mountains in China, located about 130 km outside of Xi'an. We spent the night in a seedy, overpriced, dirty, horrible, (but safe Mom), hotel at the town near the base of the Mountain. We got up early Thursday Morning to start the climb up the Mountain. We wanted an early start since it would be crowded during May holiday, the bus service only ran so long back to Xi'an and we were not sure just how long the climb would take. We were on the Mountain by 6:30 AM which was a good thing, since this climb was epic. There were three ways to get to the top, a climb up a ton of stairs over 4 km or so, a more traditional route of 4 easy km followed by 2 very challenging km or a cable car. We elected to do the stairs over 4km, or rather we elected not to do the cable car, the cheaters way. A few steps in and we were already regretting that decision. It was a long grueling hike that we estimate consisted of at least 20,000 stairs, probably more. We tried to look online to find a verifieable number, but no one seems to know just how many steps it is from the bottom to the top. Needless to say, it was a very long way. The climb to where the cable car let off was about 2.5-3 hours, the climb to and from the peak from the cable car another 3-4 hours and the descent took a bit over 3 hours. All said, we were climbing more or less constantly for about 10 hours. The views that this journey provided were well worth it. I have been fortunate to visit a number of spectacular vista's in my life, the peak of Hua Shan lies toe to toe with all the other members of this list. I am sitting here writing this four days after the climb and my legs are still very tight. I went for a massage today which helped some. There have been times when I have wanted a massage, but this was one of the few times when I felt like I really needed a massage. Stairs are still a challenge physically and mentally. Images of the steep staircases still come to mind when I am facing the bottom of a staircase. Following our descent we climbed onto the bus back to Xi'an where we quickly fell asleep until we arrived back in Xi'an. After cleaning up and getting settled in the hostel we made our way to teh Big Goose Pagoda to see a spectacular light show. There were tons of people that were out for the show, lining the fountain areas. It was a variation of the Musical Fountains in Grand Haven, MI, but perhaps because of the setting it was a far more impressive show. Until the fountains started, we felt like we were the show as much as the setting was. Many Chinese people stopped to chat with the foreigners, or even just to look at us. After the show it was back to the Muslim Quarter for more of our favorite food.

Friday we journeyed to the Terra Cotta Warriors, one of the major reasons for anyone's trips to Xi'an. While cool, this was probably the most dissapointing part of the trip. All of the warriors that are on display have been reconditioned, making for a somewhat less than authentic experience. It was still worthwhile, just not as cool as it could have been. I have now said that I have done it, it was worth it, but I have no need to repeat it, unlike Hua Shan which, even in pain, I would do again tomorrow if I could. That night we, you guessed it, hit up the Muslim Quarter for more good food, followed by a chat with some fellow travellers in the hostel and a late bed. The next morning, our last in Xi'an was spent on the City Wall, some last minute shopping in the Muslim Quarter and a little "western" shopping before headed back to the hostel to refresh ourselves before the journey home.

It was a great time in a beautiful city. There was more to see than we had time for, which in some ways is a good length of a trip. It is always better to be left wanting more than to feel like you have too much time in a place. Xi'an was a great time and recommended to anyone travelling through China, just not for the sites that are most famous. The top three sites would be Hua Shan, the Muslim Quarter and the light show at the Big Goose Pagoda in that order. The warriors of course need to be seen, just not for very long.