Xian

After a week away from Chengdu, Rachel and I are back and settling into the summer routines. It was a great trip. We were worried a little about having to walk too much and how my Dad would do, but it was not an issue at all. Both cities were fairly easy to navigate, and the amount of English spoken was higher than in Chengdu. However, it did not really matter, because Rachel has become such an expert with her Chinese =) There is a lot to report on from our vacation, so I will start with a post on our our 3ish days in Xian.

(This is Rachel in front of the Bell Tower, in central Xi'an)

City: Xi'an
Favorite site: Terracotta Warriors.

This is one of the "must-see" stops for any tour in China, so it is about time that I took my wife the history teacher to see these famous 2000+ year old statues. We toured the 3 pits (though they more closely resembled airport hangars) that contain the remnants of a vast army meant to protect the first emperor of the Qin dynasty following his death. This was the first of several "wow" moments for me, when I had a chance to see with my own eyes something that I had only ever read about. Coming from a country with so little ancient history, it is amazing to see the hundreds of soldiers on display, so long after they were constructed.

Favorite meal: Yang rou pao muo (lamb and bread soup) at Lao Jia Sun.
After a tiring day in Xian, we trekked several blocks looking for this restaurant, stopping every 50m to ask someone for directions. Each time, they kept pointing and gesturing in the general direction but never could tell us exactly where it was. But thanks to Rachel's persistence, we found it - and it was worth the walk! The 5th floor restaurant was packed full of diners, but we snagged a secluded table in a semi-private room. We each ordered the signature dish and awaited further instructions. First, we were each given a bowl and 2 round pieces of unleavened bread. We worked for a good 15 minutes breaking the bread into teenie tiny pieces (sorry Dad - not easy for arthritic fingers!) and depositing them into the bowl. Then, the waitress whisked the bowl away and deposited them into a tasty lamb and noddle soup. We gave the bread a minute to soak up the broth, and ate it up good! Yummy!

Favorite activity: Biking the Xian city wall.
Xian is a very old city - by some reports, the first city in history to top 1 million residents (over 2,000 years ago!!). Back in its heyday, the city was a leading center of trade between China and the west thanks to the silk road. As such an important city, is needed some major protection - and this wall looked pretty effective at that! It was over 10m high, and wide enough for 4 chariots to ride side by side. City walls are such a foreign concept to an American, so it was cool to be on top of it and view the city from that perspective. My parents rented a pedicab to take them around the wall, while we rented a tandem bike and cycled the whole wall.

Overall impression:
A great city to visit for a short time. I am struck more and more about the unique position of China - our costs (hotel and food) are so much less than you would have in North America or Europe (example: 4 star hotel for $60 per night), but it does not have that 3rd world feel of going to Manila or Bangkok. That being said, I think that Xi'an is a good one-time visit for us. It was cool to see the warriors, but I do not feel a need to go ahead. I am happy to live in Chengdu.

-alan