Weekend Trip to Xi'an

I arrived in Hangzhou on the 9^th of September, but I didn’t stay in town long. We had an extra day off of the Mid-Autumn Festival, and since long weekends are limited, I decided to take advantage of the time and fly to Xi’an. I teamed up with with Robbie, the football coach who started at our school this past May, and we planned it all two days before the flight. We had Thursday and Friday off (15-16 of September), but had to be back for work on Sunday; our flight out departed Thursday afternoon and returned Saturday evening.

Xi'an is circled in red; although it's east of the geographical center of the
country, most would consider it western China (the character Xi actually
means "west" in Chinese), since the vast majority of the population
lives to the east; west of Lanzhou and Chengdu is a whole lot of nada.

Xi’an is one of the oldest cities in China and was the capital of several Chinese dynasties. Most people visit to see the Terracotta Army, a collection of thousands of sculptures dating to the third century BCE. The sculptures include chariots, horses, and various ranks of soldiers buried with Emperor Qin, the first ruler to unify China. Although the Terracotta Army gets most of the attention, Xi’an boasts numerous historical sites, including the old city wall, Bell and Drum Towers, Wild Goose Pagoda, and the Grand Mosque.

Most tourists come for the warriors, but there's more to Xi'an than sculptures

Nearly all the cities I’ve seen in China—Hangzhou, Shanghai, Nanjing, Suzhou, Xiamen, Guangzhou, Beijing—are near the Eastern seaboard, which is the most developed area of the country. Economic development trumps aesthetics, and old buildings are often bulldozed to make way for high rise apartments and gaudy shopping malls. The Japanese invasion, followed by the Chinese Civil War, also destroyed countless historical buildings and cultural heritage in the world’s oldest continuous civilization (not to mention the millions of civilians and combatants who were killed).

Long story short, this destruction and subsequent economic revitalization have created bland cities. Sure, Shanghai has The Bund, and Beijing the Forbidden City, but get outside the center, and many cities look the same—high rise apartment blocks, wide avenues, mega shopping malls, and lots of construction. (side note: there is still lots of history worth visiting in Beijing, Suzhou, and other Chinese cities; most of it is reconstructed, however.)

The point to this ramble is that Xi’an is both the furthest west/inland and most historically intact big city I have seen in China. Sure, most buildings in Xi’an were constructed within the past 20 years, and if you leave the center its character fades. The metro area, home to over 8 million, has long expanded from the confines of historical Xi’an.

But the old center, still completely surrounded by a city wall built in the 14^th century, has plenty of history. Within the city walls, standing prominently at major intersections, are the Bell and Drum Towers, also erected in the 14^th century. Also within the wall are the winding alleys, food stalls, and Grand Mosque of the Muslim quarter.

View of the Bell Tower the night we arrived

You can cycle or walk along the city wall, which we did the second day.
Unsurprisingly it was renovated many times (the most recent in 1983).

Robbie and I left school early on Thursday to catch our two hour flight to Xi’an at 3:20 pm. The airport wasn’t connected by metro to the city center, but it was fairly easy to get a shuttle into town; once in the center though our cab driver struggled to find the hotel, but using our navigational prowess, Robbie and I managed to locate it after only 30 minutes of wandering. That evening we strolled around the old town, checking out the Drum Tower and Muslim Quarter. For locals the Muslim Quarter is synonymous with street food, and the place was jam-packed.

The food street in the Muslim Quarter was just a tad busy...

...and nothing is left to the imagination!

The following morning we joined an excursion to the Terracotta Army alongside a dozen other foreigners and our Chinese guide. Luckily she could do more than usher us to and from in English; she actually never shut up! Lady Jaja (a self appointed nickname) entertained us for the hour long journey and explained the history behind the tombs, which are divided into three separate archaeological pits. After free-time to wander around we watched a dated, and according to Ross, the history major among us, historically inaccurate short film on the Qin Dynasty and the first emperor.

The terracotta Army struck me as one of those famous sites that deserve a one-time visit, but no more. Stone sculptures of ancient warriors are intriguing, but once I saw one I felt like I’d seen them all. Information signs are few and far between, so if you're on your own you won’t have much to go off of. Plus, as is the case seemingly everywhere in China, famous destinations are crowded; over 2 million people visit the Terracotta Army every year, and tourists seem to permeate every nook and cranny of the exhibit.

That's me (if you were unaware), with those Terracotta guys in the background

The largest burial excavation pit is massive; good thing, because so are the crowds.

I was most impressed with our lunch just after the visit. The food itself was tasty, but the memorable part was meeting the man who first discovered the Terracotta burial pits—he was at the restaurant signing books. In 1974, while digging a well, he unintentionally stumbled upon one of the most significant archaeological finds in history. To show its appreciation the Chinese government duly rewarded him a 10 Yuan finder’s fee (less than $1.50 in 2017 dollars) and uprooted the entire village to make way for excavations.

This is the guy who discovered
the warriors back in 1974

After we arrived back in town Robbie and I went cycling along the city wall with Ross and Yuki, two other travelers we’d met on the tour. At a leisurely pace it took us 2 hours, and we caught sunset on the wall before handing in our bikes as night fell.

We managed to ride the circumference of the wall before the bikes
needed to be returned at 8 pm.

Even I gotta take a cheesy photo or two

We dropped off our bikes and quickly hopped in a cab that proceeded to snail though traffic, taking half an hour to go a few miles to the Wild Goose Pagoda, which had a fountain light show on at 8 pm. We did manage to catch the show, but to no surprise, the viewing area was rammed with onlookers. Following the show we devoured nearby street food, stopped at a local watering hole for a few beers, and walked back to the hotel, after which I feel asleep before my head even hit the pillow.

On Saturday our flight was due to leave at 7pm, so we had the day for sightseeing. Robbie and I were both in need of a solid night sleep, so we made it a late morning start, after which we ran into Ross and Yuki at the Bell Tower. The four of us meandered through winding alleys of the Muslim Quarter and found the Grand Mosque, known as the first of its kind in China, and a fascinating mix of Islamic and Chinese architecture.

Entrance to the Grand Mosque

While Ross and Yuki decided to let fish devour their dead skin cells, Robbie and I made a street food run and then studied the willing victims at a safe distance. Both Yuki and Ross had earlier flights, so they bid us farewell soon after. Robbie and I continued our walking tour through central Xi’an, checking out a street of bird sellers and a cricket fight betting ring, but mostly just ambling though town and soaking in the atmosphere. By the time we made it back around to our hotel it was time to collect our bags and get a move on to the airport. Overall it was a nice weekend getaway; not that I really needed one after six days back in China, but hey, I should take the opportunity to see all that I can while I’m here!