Xi'an

Monday, May 11

This morning we got up early and headed to the airport for a 7 am flight to Xi’an via a small Hainan airlines plane that we had to walk out on the runway to board. The flight was a little bumpy but when we landed a couple hours later, Xi’an was sunny, a welcome contrast to yesterday’s rain. We were met at the airport by a local guide, Lisa, and a driver with a van. They brought us to our hotel within this large (but not as large as Beijing) walled city. Xi’an used to be the ancient capital of China and the terminus of the Silk Road and it has a huge rectangular stone wall from the Ming Dynasty that still stands 600 years later. Of course, the city is all modern buildings inside and outside of the wall where once there were emperors, warriors, courtesans, poets, monks, and merchants.

We had lunch in the hotel restaurant and were introduced to a local dish pronounced “pow moor” which means something like soaked bread. We were given small rounds of unleavened bread which we took back to our seats and had to tear up into a bowl. Then, we ordered a soupish mix of veggies (and meat if you wanted) and broth which was poured into the bowl. It was delicious.

The Wall, Xi'an

We drove to one of the wall’s gates and climbed up onto the wall, looking out into the city. The wall is wide, maybe 4 road lanes thick with watchtowers and ramparts. The outside is surrounded by a moat and one gate has a drawbridge. It must have been quite a guarded city in its time. I tried to imagine looking out and seeing attacking hordes instead of the high-rises. On top of the wall we could rent bikes! With no gears and hardly any brakes Lynn, Rowling, and I rode off thinking we might go all around the wall’s perimeter. Boy, were we wrong! There were maps posted along the way that showed your location. We had been biking a ways and realized we had a long way more to go if we were to go around the whole wall. It would take about 2 hours to complete this rectangle! If we had more time, this would have been fun.

On the City Walls, Xi'an

After we reluctantly parked the bikes (and had an ice cream) we headed out to another section of the city, the Big Goose Pagoda. This beautiful building has a square construction and telescopes up 7 stories. It was built in 652 AD and houses the Buddhist Sutras brought back from India by the monk Xuan Zang whose big bronze statue dominates the entrance to the surrounding courtyard. Inside the courtyard which houses several buildings where monks pray and study, we had (another) tour guide who gave us a lot of interesting information and was very nice (a teacher) but ultimately led us into a tourist shop where sales people pressured us to buy things by bargaining the prices. A little annoying but the money went to support the Buddhist monastery and the items they sold were interesting. Dinner was at a fantastic dumpling restaurant! (So much good food, Jeremy, I’m sorry you’re missing it.)