Xian and Chendu (terra cotta warriors and pandas)

   

Panda preview! Keep reading for more

  Dec 4 (China domestic flight, pagoda, show) The day started early at 5:30 as we decided to get up to work out, mainly because we did not know what type of fitness facility our next hotel would have in Xian (Zhee- Ann). We grabbed another breakfast salad and congee and packed up. We were somewhat nervous as the airline had several clear statements about their strict 20kg rule for checked bags and 5kg rule for carry on. We got picked up by our tour guide Chen and Mr. Wong and they drove us to the airport. It took close to 45 minutes, but we arrived well before our 10:30 boarding time. Our bags weighed 19.8kg and 19.9kg respectively. We passed through security and it was nothing like New Zealand. Metal detectors, pat downs and we had to pull out pretty much every piece of electronics that we had (which is a lot). So some time passed and we finally got to board the plane. Oh and that really strict 5kg carry on rule, more of just a suggestion. We saw people with not just one, but two or three carry ons! So we waited to board the bus that would take us to the plane. On the bus I (Cecil) happened to bump into an guy from India who happened to work in Xian. He happened to work in computers and seemed surprised when I asked him how much mandarin he had learned. "None, I dont have to speak to my coworkers, everything is done through computers, so I just email a memo or an equipment request and it gets translated." So he had been living here for 1 1/2 years and didnt know any mandarin! We boarded the plane which was a pretty modern looking airbus and we were on our way to Xian. The standard safety briefing came on and we were warned about smoking and life jackets. But there was also a part that stated that you could only have small electronics on 20 minutes after take off. Then another warning came on from the equivalent of a Chinese air Marshall who said that people in violation of the the safety briefing would be fined or imprisoned! The plane took off without incident and we both fell asleep because we couldnt use our iPads (and phones are not allowed on during any part of the flight. About 20 minutes later I was woken up by a commotion on the plane, but it was only meal trays being rolled down the aisles. From first class to the end of the plane it took 8 minutes to deploy all the meals. Why? Because there was only one choice. It was a small tray of rice with beef and carrots and a roll. Not bad but not horrible either. About 15 minutes after they gave out the meals, they collected the empty meal boxes. We were able to use our iPads at that point, but as we started our descent they told us to turn off our electronics again, se we went back to sleep. The plane landed without incident and we collected our bags, one of Karens zippers broke, but otherwise they were fine. We then met our tour guide for Xian, Linda and or driver, Mr. Sun.       

Shows the crowd of people lined up to crowd onto the plane, yes we were last. They also had a bucket for lighters.

  Linda was very hard to understand, even I (Cecil) had difficulty understanding her. She was telling us about how Xian was the first real capital of china for over 1,000 years and that the emperors complex was even bigger than the sprawling complex of the forbidden city in Beijing. When one of the ancient emperors in Xian died, his general tried to stage a coup and burned down the massive emperors complex, apparently this fire burned for 4 months! Linda also told us how Xian was smaller than Beijing (8 million compared to 21 million) and how it was one the great capital cities of the world, along with Rome, and Istanbul. It is also considerably smaller than Beijing, where Beijing has 6 ring roads, Xian only has 2. Or as Linda said "like a small pancake instead of a large pizza". The car that we got picked up in was definitely more authentic than what we were transported by in Beijing (called a red flag).  We were quickly escorted to our hotel to drop our bags off. Then we were taken to the pagoda of the wild goose park and museum. It was named because a goose died in front of a bunch of monks (yes, seriously). The park was very nice with trees over a thousand years old interspersed with old Buildings from the one time monastery.  We also had a quick calligraphy lesson where both Cecil and I learned to write man and woman respectively.  Of course they wanted you to buy stuff but we declined. We did try some local candied fruit (like a crab apple) that was quite sweet but tart and tasty.       

This shows the pagoda (center), us doing calligraphy, our car and some of the posts that were used for hitching horses for the temple

   

This was the candied fruit we tried. Quite good.

     Then, We went to the museum in the park to look at the Buddhist relics as well as a lot of pottery and clay work from the Tang Dynasty. Xian once was the beginning of the Silk Road and there were several examples of figures who looked European or Indian vs Chinese. There also was a model of Xian during the Tang Dynasty at the height of the Silk Road trade route. It was 3-4x larger than modern day Xian! Is hard to believe an ancient city was that much larger than its present day counterparts! We went straight from the museum to dinner and a show at the Tang dinner theater. The Tang Dynasty was a ruling class of china for a long time. They had traditional Chinese music and dance in a beautifully decorated theater. They showcased different styles from around china as well. The food was really good as well. It was a dumpling dinner, so about 8 courses of...nothing but dumplings (which would be a great name for a Chinese restaurant). There were pork, beef and chicken dumplings, as well as many dumplings that were in the special shapes, like s goldfish ( for the seafood dumpling) and a duck shaped dumpling. They even had a sweet potato dumpling that was purple! We enjoyed hot rice wine and found we liked it so much we bought an entire teapot! After the show we got driven back to the hotel, and we happened to go along the old city wall of central Xian. It was lit up with golden lights along the wall and every armament along the wall was also lot up with gold and blue lights. It was a great end to a great night.    

The law photo shows the ancient city of Xiani, the surrounding photos show relics from its history.

     

Pictures from our show. The bottom fit shows Cec trying rice wine for the first time.

     

All the city walls were lit up at night. It was more beautiful in the dark but easier to photograph at dusk

 

  Dec 5 (terra cotta warriors and museum) So today started a bit late. Because it was Monday and the traffic was supposed to be really bad, we did not get picked up until 10am. We went to a terra cota warrior gallery. They showed us how the terra cota warriors were made, the warriors heads and bodies were made separately. There was even the option to have your portrait taken and have a clay head made! The gallery wasn't just for terra cota warriors, it had a beautiful selection of Chinese lacquered furniture, everything from coffee tables to dining tables to dressers. They also had some impressive stonework as well as some amazing bronze pieces. We ended up getting a bronze dragon as well as a mythical Chinese creature called a pixiu ( pee-shew). We got them shipped back to the states and they should be there by February (and bronze is super heavy to pack). We then went to a restaurant that was in the complex for the terra cota warriors. The food was mediocre, although they did have buckwheat tea which was a new food for both of us. Our tour guide also recommended that we get some of the local homemade noodles, and they were easily the best thing that we had. The noodles are handmade in house and to order. They call them "bing biang" noodles in English after the sound made by slapping the noodles during working. They are served with a mild chili soy sauce. It may be Karen's favorite thing she ate in China.   

The terra cotta museum held some fun. They were decorated for Christmas (R), had good photo opportunities (UL), and nice art (bottom). The pixiu on the right, is my fav (Karen), they eat money but don't poop so they are supposed to bring prosperity (here is hoping!)                                            

 

(UR,L) the biang biang noodles were in a mild chili soy sauce and fresh as can be. They are bing made to order, and you could watch. They are called biang biang noodles after the tea ping sound made when they hurt he table during the noodle making. Karen's favorite thing she ate in China. (BL) examples of the made to order heads. If you have the money you too could be a warrior! (BR) one of the molds being filled with the wet clay for drying then firing.

 

 

The terra cotta warriors were so close! It was easy to see the individual detail.

        Next it was finally on to the terra cota warriors! Apparently in the early 1970s a farmer, Mr Wang was digging a well and came across a piece of pottery that resembled a soldiers face. Some archeologists got involved and the rest was history. While our tour guide was getting our tickets, we just happened to be left in the gift shop that Mr Wang was working in! So we bought a book about the Great Wall and got his autograph and a picture. Apparently when the poor man got to meet Bill Clinton instead of saying "how are you?" He got flustered and said "who are you?" Apparently Clinton had a sense of humor and responded "I'm Hillary's husband" and smiled. Mr. Wang apparently froze because this answer was much different than what Clinton was supposed to say and poor Mr Wang responded "me too, me too!" The terra cota warriors are considered to be the eighth wonder of the world and they didn't disappoint. The back story is that there was a Chinese emperor who was the first one to unify 7 Chinese kingdoms. He was a brilliant commander, but he was very vain. While building the tomb that contained the terra cota warriors (because he would need an army to help him conquer the afterlife) he was also on a quest for immortality. When he realized he was going to die he became very possessive and ordered a massive cultural purge of books and technology. He died soon after and there was political upheaval and a peasant uprising where they stormed the tomb of the terra cota warriors and knocked a lot of them down and took the weapons. They burned and destroyed the tomb. This destruction as well as the cultural purge led to the emperors legacy and the tombs locations to be lost in time. There are three main areas for the warriors, the Chinese call them pits. We went to pit 1 first which houses the most warriors. It was a long rectangular building that would easily fit 5 football fields. There are 8 rows of warriors, some archers, infantry, even cavalry (including horses). It seemed like each one of the warriors had a different facial expression. Also some were taller than others. Local folklore says that at night the soldiers come alive again. The amount of detail was amazing! We walked around pit 1 and saw the partially excavated soldiers as well as some that were really damaged as well. Apparently the archaeologists excavate after 5pm and early in the morning. We continued onto pit 2 which was much smaller (about 1 football field) and pit 3 (about 3 football fields). Pit 3 did was mostly not excavated and the part that was excavated looked like worlds worst jigsaw puzzle.          The main pit, pit 1 has an estimated 6,000 soldiers and horses in it. I say estimated because there are still a good majority of figures that have yet to be unearthed. Pit 3 still had a good portion of the pit that is still uncovered and has an estimated 3,000 warriors. Although it looked like a big dirt mound, it did still have 4 key figures that were unearthed, a general, an archer, and a soldier. Apparently throughout the study of all of the unearthed soldiers so far, there has never been two that have had identical faces. The attention to detail was amazing. Unfortunately some technology, such as chrome plating was destroyed when the empreror had his cultural purge. The pits are still being ecavated and more relics are being found all the time.     

Us with the farmer who found the pits, the right 4 show some detailed pics from the Warriors. Notably, the upper right shows how they were painted. A lot of the color has worn off but you can see some red on the cost. The bottom 3 show large panoramic a of pits 1, 2 and 3.

      After leaving the terra cota complex, we were taken to the Muslim quarter. Xian was the ancient capital of china and was also the beginning of the Silk Road, which was a trade route for spices and clothing. There was a lot of foreign influence as well. In xian there are churches and mosques, and Buddhist temples. Our tour guide took us to one of the oldest Muslim mosques in the region ( she pronounced it moose-lim) and seemed quite surprised when I told her that I was Christian. The mosque was-built in the early 2nd century and had many different buildings. It was really interesting to see the Arabic and Chinese languages mixed together in the stone carvings of the buildings. We also had a chance to see some of of the famous people who had come to visit the mosque, which included Mohamed Ali as well as many heads of state.     

Details from the great mosque. Nite the mix of Chinese and Arabic/Muslim elements

       

After the mosque, when dec sat down with a pen in his pants he ripped them. He attempted a repair, but they ended up being sacrificed to the travel gods

    After the mosque we were taken to one of the streets in the Muslim quarter. This wasn't just any street, it was packed to the brim with street vendors selling everything from squid to Chinese peanut brittle. To show people that the meat was fresh there were butchers literally carving the meat from a carcass. There were people selling fresh toffee, candies fruit and all sorts of goodies. The only thing you couldn't get on that street was pork! We stopped and got a Chinese pizza (Fried dough with savory filling) The best thing about the Muslim quarter was the atmosphere, signs and people, with the amazing smells of 20 different food stalls, it was downright electric. After the Muslim quarter we had a lackluster dinner at, ironically, a Chinese buffet. It seemed to be a big draw for tour groups and there were about 50 Americans from different tour groups at the restaurant. The cool part was, there were also some Spanish tourists from Barcelona there. Cecil and I both conversed with a few of them to practice our Spanish we've been learning. Both of us found it funny our first Spanish conversations with a native were in China! Then it was back to the hotel and bed.      

Muslim street was a crazy night and mostly food market. Fresh whole squid, spices vegetables, fresh cut meats, fresh made candy/taffy. So many people and smells. Even stuff Cecil considers spicy! See his face in the bottom right trying some chickpea dish?

  Dec 6- (flight, Jingli street, broad and narrow alleys and opera show)   Today we started the day off with a last minute trip down to the Muslim quarter. Linda took us just down the street from our hotel to get some authentic breakfast food. Then it was on to a flight to Chengdu. Because we thought that we would be held to a strict carry on weight, I had my coat with the bigger pockets packed with backup batteries and external hard drives. My coat also had one of my lighter jackets packed inside the inner fleece. My coat probably weighed 20 pounds! Anyway we got through the flight and Jack took us to some of the oldest streets in Chengdu.    On the way we discussed the city itself. Chengdu is the capital of Schezuan province, and has always been very strong in agriculture. Because of the mild can usually get three crops a year. The city itself is close to 1,500 years old, but because of the cultural revolution, not many old buildings survived. It is a city of 7 million people (close to the size of New York). Due to the recent economic boom, it is also home to the Intel factory, as well as an iPad factory. Jack was telling us that 50% of the worlds computer chips are made in Chengdu, chances are that the computer or iPad you are reading this from was made in the city. It is also a relatively environmentally clean city. Volkswagen has a factory nearby and all of the taxis are powered by natural gas. The air quality index around the days that we were there registered around 100-150 (the maximum is 400). We reached the oldest street in the city, Jinli Street. It is close to 300 years old and is very similar to the hutong in Beijing. It has since been converted into many shops and people dont live there anymore. It was a charming little area of town. It had the traditional Chinese architecture, but also had amenities like a Starbucks. It also had many Ginko trees that were turning yellow and were quite pretty.       

Before we left in the morning, we got a picture with the empower statue at our hotel (the one the terra cotta warriors are for), had a "burger" which was like slow roast pork in a crispy bun not like good old USA! We also had a "pizza" which was a handmade flaky fill-like crust filled with butter, veggies and a meat. Interesting breakfast food but an experience. The "burger was better. It was very good with a hint of cinnamon that, oddly, worked.

   

This is jingli street. Probably Karen's favorite market. It had both great shops and nature sources. You literally could buy crazy toys (captain America panda), Starbucks, or fresh ground spices

         

The streets weaved through a lake area with a tea house as well as ginkgo trees over a thousand years old! People put wish bags in them for good street food was great, Cec especially liked the spicy sausage. You could buy so many things, like these panda gloves Cecil is modeling.

 

 

The striking thing was the contrast between where we were and the city. The first two pictures are from the street showing the markets but also tranquil spaces, contrasts by the large metro city

    Afterward we went to another old shopping section of town called Broad and Narrow Alley. Our guide let us explore on our own at our pace, which was nice. It gave us a chance to pop into whatever stores we fancied!  It was full of shops and restaurants as well. One of the things we kept on seeing was people getting their ears cleaned in the street by "master" who charged 60 yuan (9 dollars). There was also people selling all kinds of goods, from sugar cane to sweet rice dumplings, we even found a Chinese game store! After the shops we went to dinner and a Chinese opera. Dinner was at a place that our guide recommended and was amazing. Being in Schezuan province I was expecting some really spicy food and I (Cecil) wasn't disappointed. It was making me (Cecil) sweat! Also the place was absolutely packed by the time we left. We then went to the Chinese opera, which was a recommendation from our tour guide. The opera was held in a open air plaza with an awning over it, traditionally how it was done in the old days. It was quite cold, and they sold portable heaters. Not electric heaters, but a bunch of coals in a metal dish, very Chinese. We could go backstage and watch the actors get ready, and Karen even got to be made up like a Chinese opera performer. I also got to choose between a massage and and ear cleaning like I had seen in the market, and I chose the ear cleaning. It was just like having a doctor clean out your ears, and the guy was disappointed that my ears were so clean (apparently Americans usually have dirty ears). The opera started and it wasnt just an opera. There was an opera portion ( sounded like 100 cats dying). But it was also like a variety show. There was shadow puppets, as well as acrobats, and music. There were two things we were told to pay special attention to during the show. One was an act called the changing faces, these are performers who can change silk masks in less than a second. There was also two performers called soft ear and his wife. There was a couple who didnt get along too well. He liked to play MahJong but kept on losing money. His wife got so mad at him that she made him balance a small oil  lamp lit on fire on his head and do all kinds of exercises. He kept on losing money and became quite good at the exercises. This amazing performer was able to go under benches and jump up and down with flaming oil on his head. It was a great show and night!       

The second area, the broad and narrow alleys, we were by ourselves so we had a lot of time to poke into shops. We got some sugar cane juice and lots of things we looked at. Dragon tea houses, games, odd meats, again you name it it's there. The markets were all similar, but each with its own flair.

   

Dinner at the local place was Cecils fave, schezuan style. Then, it was time for our show

     

Details from the show. You can see he hand shadows, the fire head monk, the silk masks, the opera singers, cecil getting his ears cleaned, fire breathing, my traditional makeup, and the traditional musicians.

    Dec 7- (panda day and museum) The day started as had become our stereotype: workout, breakfast with salad, then meeting our guide at 8:30. We were heading to the largest panda research and breeding centers outside of Chendu. We arrived at around 9:00 am and the fog/smog was very very thick. You could barely see 200 yards in front of you. That didn't stop the pandas though. They liked the chilly weather. We took a tram up the large hill to the end and walked back through the park. The pandas were kept in very nice enclosures. It was like a large zoo with nothing but pandas and red pandas in it. The highlights were the two panda "kindergartens" which had the month to 2 year old pandas. After 2 they are to aggressive to be kept together. We spent a long time watching a set of 5 panda cubs which were playing, learning climbing and chasing their handlers in the pen. Its hard for me to emphasize how cute this is. The neatest fun fact We learned that the pandas only snacked on bamboo and that they were fed special "panda cakes" made up of eggs, rice and wheat twice a day. This keeps them healthier and have a lot more energy for breeding. They apparently really like apples. The pandas at the center can breed up to twice a year and live up to 25 years old. Wild pandas struggle to have enough energy for one a year and usually live for 15 years. Wild pandas usually have to eat 40 kg of bamboo EVERY DAY. panda breeding is very much a big deal, so it's a good thing that 50% of every pregnancy ends up with twins. Apparently the main reason why pandas have survived for so long is because they do not taste good and their fur is pretty much useless other than for decoration, also wild pandas can be quite aggressive. Red pandas on the other hand were almost hunted to extinction because they did taste good, and their fur was prized for its warmth.     

Look how close we got to the pandas!

       

Pandas! No explanation needed

       

One of our favorite moments was when this little guy was practicing his climbing. He climbed to the top of the tre, then when he tried to get back down IMMEDIATELY regretted his decision. The face says it all!!

   

This shows the pathways, signs, and beauty of the park. It was spacious both for pandas and people. It was also very well marked and manned by keepers and staff. There was also a red panda enclosure you walked through like an aviary.

      After the panda center (and an ok lunch at a place in the park) we drove 45 minutes to the sanxingdui museum. It had 2 main displays. The first one was about the really really old sections of Chinese history (pre Neolithic). There were pottery pieces and photos of walls and building found. We also saw the first Chinese character ever created (looking like a silkworm) and bone scripts (pre writing). There was an emphasis on how cultures meshed due to trade/ the Silk Road. The bottom line is this was a midsummer dedicated to a Bronze Age city (12th century) lost to time. I was struck by the similarity between the jade weapons and the Maori weapons as well (although the shin ones were more ceremonial can Maori). The bronze bells and other metal works (like gold) and decorations were quite impressive considering they were thousands of years old. There were "cosmic trees" which are talked about in Chinese culture and usually was used to facilitate ascension to heaven (the trees connecting earth, gods and heaven). The second building we found more entertaining. It started out with several dozens of both huge and small detailed bronze masks (used for rituals). From there we saw dozens more of human figures. They are thought to represent shamans who were worshiped because they could communicate with the gods vs representing the gods themselves (although the Chinese believed there was a god for everything). Finally, there were tons of miscellaneous Bronx artifacts, most of them for rituals. Things like staffs, carvings, wine bowls and other stuff. Pretty neat given how old it is. Still, pandas were cooler.    

(uR) the largest cosmic tree, (middle 2) carvings of eagles and masks (BR) the oldest calligraphy symbol that looks like a silkworm