Winter Vacation II - Xi'an

Look at my photos from Xi'an here: http://picasaweb.google.com/kristin.laufenberg/XiAn2010?feat=directlink

The night on the train passed quickly. I was surprised by how well I slept – the train rocks back and forth quite a bit, but the noise and motion are kind of soothing and I had stayed up late enough that I slept really well. We woke up Wednesday morning with a little less than an hour left of our 12-hour ride. We met our local guide in Xi’an, Amber, at the train station and went straight to our new hotel, the Xi’an Jianguo Hotel. We had breakfast there and then an hour or so to rest and freshen up before heading out.

Xi’an is a relatively small town by Chinese standards, with only a bit more than 4 million people. Even though it’s not as big or famous as Beijing or Shanghai, it’s really important in Chinese history and culture. Xi’an was the political capital of China under several different dynasties; it is also the eastern terminus of the ancient Silk Road trade route that has connected central China with Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and the rest of Asia for thousands of years (you can still travel the Silk Road using rail – the line was completed in 1990).

Our first stop in Xi’an was the Wild Goose Pagoda. This pagoda is the most famous landmark in the city of Xi’an; it sits in the Da Ci’en Temple and was built in AD 652. The reason that the pagoda is so famous is that a Buddhist monk, Xuan Zang, left Xi’an in AD 629 and traveled across Asia to India via the Silk Road, studying Buddhism along the way. He returned to Xi’an 16 years later with hundreds of Buddhist texts and figurines from India. The Wild Goose Pagoda was built to house his souvenirs, and Xuan Zang spent the rest of his life there translating them into Chinese.

Xuan Zang is an icon in China. His translations are still used by Buddhists today, and the notes from his travels were about stuff like politics and sociology as well as Buddhism, so historians still refer to him as well. Xuan Zang’s trip to India was also the inspiration for an epic Chinese novel – one of China’s ‘Four Great Classical Novels’ – Journey to the West. This book, published in the 1590s, and Xuan Zang’s adventures, which happened 1,400 years ago, are still a huge deal in China – they influence books, movies, TV shows, video games, comics, etc. to this day.

Sorry for the history lesson, but you can probably tell that I found the history behind the pagoda more interesting than the pagoda itself. It’s interesting-looking, and the temple around it was pretty and nice too, but I just really liked the story. Several years ago I read the book Ultimate Journey by Richard Bernstein; it’s his account of retracing Xuan Zang’s path along the Silk Road sometime in the late 1990’s. It was a good book that I forgot I even read, until I got to Xi’an and started hearing about this monk again.

That afternoon we visited the Shanxi History Museum. The artifacts and exhibits are organized according to which Chinese dynasty they’re from, so if you’re interested in a particular period you can just look at that. I saw some terracotta warriors and some interesting sculptures that I think were tomb guardians – really intimidating, scary-looking things.

The next day was Thursday, and we boarded the bus and headed east of Xi’an for the Army of Terracotta Warriors. Like the Great Wall, this was something I had been dying to see, and I couldn’t believe I was actually there! Here’s a bit from my guidebook:

“The Terracotta Army isn’t just Xi’an’s premier site, but one of the most famous archaeological finds in the world. This subterranean life-size army of thousands has silently stood guard over the soul of China’s first unifier for over two millennia. Either Qin Shi Huang was terrified of the vanquished spirits awaiting him in the afterlife or, as most archaeologists believe, he expected his rule to continue in death as it had in life – whatever the case, the guardians of his tomb today offer some of the greatest insights we have into the world of ancient China.

The discovery of the Army was entirely fortuitous. In 1974, peasants drilling a well uncovered an underground vault that eventually yielded thousands of terracotta soldiers and horses in battle formation. Over the years the site became so famous that many of its unusual attributes are now well known, in particular the fact that no two soldier’s faces are alike…The level of detail is extraordinary: the expressions, hairstyles, armour and even the tread on the footwear are all unique.”

The warriors are in three different pits; the biggest one is absolutely huge and holds more than 6,000 figures (archaeologists know of more than 8,000 figures total – not only warriors, chariots, horses, and officials, but also acrobats and musicians). The order and formation of all the Terracotta Warriors were planned out very specifically – they are east of and facing away from Qin Shi Huang’s tomb, ready to spot enemies and defend their emperor. There is several lifetimes’ worth of work for archeologists in this area – they believe that there are more warriors still buried in the pits that they know about, and possibly more undiscovered pits in the area. The tomb of Qin Shi Huang would be a huge project in and of itself, if archaeologists could get into it. My guidebook says that

“In its time this tomb must have been one of the grandest mausoleums the world had ever seen. Historical accounts describe it as containing palaces filled with precious stones, underground rivers of flowing mercury and ingenious defences against intruders. The tomb reputedly took 38 years to complete, and required a workforce of 700,000 people. It is said that the artisans who built it were buried alive within, taking its secrets with them.”

Archaeologists haven’t even tried to excavate the tomb, due to the possibility of damaging it in the process (as well as the implications of exposing ‘rivers of flowing mercury’ to the people living around the tomb today).

Sorry but you’re about to get another history lesson, just because I think it’s interesting. So this emperor Qin Shi Huang, “China’s first unifier,” is a very controversial guy in Chinese history. Beginning at age 13, in the year 246 BC, he was the first emperor of China and really vital in the development the country. He unified China by conquering seven other kingdoms; standardized measurements, currency and writing; and built roads, canals, and the first version of the Great Wall, besides his own palatial mausoleum and the Army of Terracotta Warriors to protect it. But Qin Shi Huang did all of this and more at the expense of hundreds of thousands of slaves. So it’s not too far-fetched to believe that he might need defending from spirits out for revenge in the afterlife!

This Army was just an amazing thing to see. The sheer magnitude of this project, and the history behind it, is indescribable. 8,000 of these things were just standing underground for more than 2,000 years, until farmers discovered it in the 1970s. We actually saw one of these farmers at the site – you could buy a really nice English book with lots of color pictures, and have him sign it! I guess he’s a big celebrity in China now (he even met Bill Clinton when Clinton visited the Warriors).

That day we also visited some place that was either a museum or factory about the Terracotta Warriors; I think it was where they made the replicas for other museums and the miniature figurines for tourists. Amber had already given us some information about how the warriors were made at the real site, so I wasn’t really paying attention here. I mostly remember this place because in Xi’an I realized that I was almost out of Chinese yuan (their currency) and I couldn’t remember the PIN number for my American debit card because I hadn’t used it in eight or nine months. There were about two days of panic and several frantic emails, one of which was from my bank informing me that they don’t keep records of PIN numbers and would have to request it from MasterCard and have it mailed to my permanent address, which would take several days. Running out of money in a foreign country is so scary. I’d just like to say here that both Korean cell phones and Korean banking exist within what seem to be an impenetrable bubble – my Korean debit card (which I’ve been using enough that I memorized the PIN number) didn’t work in China and most hotels don’t exchange Korean won for Chinese yuan; a bank would have but I was out with the tour group all day during bank hours. Anyway, I remember the Terracotta Warriors museum/factory because even though I didn’t buy anything, they were able to do a cash advance for me using my debit card and a signature. HUGE sigh of relief and lesson learned.

After seeing the Army of Terracotta Warriors and the mysterious museum/factory, we went back into Xi’an and spent part of the afternoon visiting the Muslim Quarter and Great Mosque. The Mosque is really beautiful; parts of it are off-limits to anyone except Muslims, but in my opinion the best part was the garden, anyway. It was walled-off from the rest of the city, and really beautiful and peaceful. The Great Mosque was also cool because of the mix of influences – it being a mosque, there were obviously Arabic and Islamic designs and script everywhere, but instead of a minaret there was a Chinese pagoda, and the gardens were Chinese too. A unique, interesting mix.

The Muslim Quarter was also quite interesting. It’s mostly cobblestone backstreets and alleys; close to the Great Mosque are mostly souvenirs and tourist junk (my old sunglasses broke before I even got to Beijing, and I replaced them in the Muslim Quarter with knock-off Gucci’s) but there was also a massive, crowded and crazy food market nearby. The food market had not only ready-to-eat street food but also lots of little grocery stores, plus some more tourist junk and crappy jewelry thrown in. It was such a trip – so many people to push through, and so much to see and smell. I got some really good snacks there, little crumbly cake things that I loved, but I don’t know what they were called or even what they were made of.

That evening we had a very fancy dumpling banquet. From what I can tell, the Chinese eat dumplings year-round (and at any time of day) but they are especially popular during the Spring Festival or New Year. Our banquet was held at a dinner theater (staying for the show afterward was optional, and unfortunately I didn’t because of the previously mentioned yuan crisis) and consisted of 18 courses of dumplings! Of course 18 courses is plenty of food, but it wasn’t as gluttonous as it sounds – everyone got one dumpling from each course, and they’re not that big. Each dumpling was different – some meat-based, some vegetarian, some spicy, some sweet, and lots of different shapes, like flowers or ducks or fish!

Xi’an was the one place I visited on my vacation where I regretted not doing more – nights I was usually too tired to go out and see the city on my own, and I definitely regret it now. For example, Xi’an has city walls that date from 1370; they’re almost completely restored and you can walk or bike all around them, and at night they’re all lit up – I wish I had gone! China is frustrating because it’s so close and really easy to get to from Korea; however, Americans need a stupid $150 visa while most other countries are free to us, so I doubt that I’ll go back in the near future.