April 2-3
In contrast to Beijing’s modern world city feel, Xian is more what I expected China to be like. Starting at the very chaotic airport which was overcrowded, inefficient and equipped with only stand-up Chinese toilets where balance is crucial! After finally getting all the bags, the ride into the city was in a bus with no suspension. We drove past countryside with some gentle mounds that are apparently tombs from the Han dynasty. Most have been robbed but the largest was from the Qin Emperor who spent his 4 decades in power 2000 years ago unifying the country from many kingdoms to one empire. He standardized the language, measurements, coins etc. And he also had 750,000 people working on his gravesite for 4 decades. He had them build him a terracotta army which are the famous statues that were discovered in 1974 by 3 brothers digging a well. They are in subterranean chambers and 1000 have been restored.
We stayed in the Hyatt hotel. Previous guests include the First Couple, Madeleine Albright and other dignitaries. Our 1st night, we have a dumpling banquet consisting of 17 different kinds of dumplings filled with pork, chicken, fish, vegetables.
A monk who traveled widely brought back Buddhist scriptures and persuaded the emperor to let him build a temple – the Wild Goose Temple to house them. This bell, engraved with prayers is in the gardens of the temple. By ringing it, you release the prayers into the heavens.
1% of the Xian population is Muslim – about 60,000. There is a beautiful mosque with various buildings including this minaret. We had dinner in the Moslem district – a delicious soup with mutton, noodles and bread.
The streets are very clean of litter but dusty. Pollution is so bad you can feel it in your lungs. The sky is very overcast – partly due to the weather but mostly due to the smog. Coal fuel is used and the winds bring sand from the Gobi desert. Street sweepers and shop keepers sweep like crazy but it just stirs up the dust. The city outskirts are a mixture of mud homes next to brand new skyscrapers. Many people travel by bicycle – women often perch on the back of a man’s bicycle or children on the back of their parents.