China Part 2

August 17, 2008

In Xi’an now. This is where the silk road begins and the Terracotta Soldiers, which I am going to see tomorrow, are just outside of the city. Now this will sound odd, but today is the first day I feel like I am in China. Shanghai is so western and modern, and Sanya is so beach town – so far from any major city. Here I am seeing ancient structures. Xi’an is surrounded by a wall with huge gates on four sides (my hostel sits right by one of them). The traffic actually flows through them. Massive multilevel drum and bell towers built in the 1300s. Even the modern building use a Chinese styles and designs. Now one thing that was much better about the first half of my trip – No Pollution. Blue skies in Shanghai – Blue skies in Sanya – Smog in Xi’an. Ah my taste of China.

August 18, 2008
You know the smog thing is really sad. Today I went out on a tour of the Terracotta Soldiers. It is about a 30 minute drive outside of Xi’an. And where it is located would be this lovely green flat plane surrounded by mountains – and it is surrounded by mountains – you just cannot see them through all the smog. As you look out from the museum park, there are these faint, ghostly shadows raising up from the ground.
Now the soldiers themselves – 2,200 years old – each unique – hundreds of thousands were made but only a few thousand unearthed. After the death of the king who ordered their creation, rebellious armies stole the real weapons each had and set the whole thing on fire – remember we are talking about a replica of a whole army – this is s lot of statues, horses statues, chariots – all set on fire and the roof that was meant to protect them collapsed. Charred, bruised, broken but they have managed to put some of the king’s horses and some of the king’s men back together again. A few days ago I was thinking about staying in Sanya an extra day and skipping Xi’an. Oh what a mistake that would have been. Currently I am on the direct speed train to Beijing. And according to the friendly voice, I will be there in 11 hours and 1 minute. I really do not know why the just cannot round to the nearest five. Example: the train left Xi’an at 8:16 PM. 16? Really? Why not 15? or if you really want to be safe, just leave at twenty passed. I think the most interesting thing for me is to look at the dates on things here and compare it to what was happening in the west. What was going on in Western civilizations 2,200 years ago? There is this fortress in Suwon just south of Seoul that was completed in 1776. Hehe.

August 20, 2008
Last day in China. Tomorrow morning I head home. I must say I am ready. Not that this has not been a lovely trip. I have seen many different things – I am currently waiting to leave on the tour to the Great Wall, but I cannot say I would ever make it a priority to visit again. I have seen the main stuff, and I feel satisfied. That is pretty much what I have to say on the matter.

August 22, 2008
Lord I am tired. It is not 20 after 11AM and my ship is sailing – Literally. This time tomorrow I will be back in Seoul. But in order to get here – I got up at 4AM to get a 6:30 train to Tianjin (it was an express train – wonderful thing- I think it was the fastest thing about my day so far – 30 minutes). Then I had the worst cab driver in all of history. He must have been at the end of his shift because he was on the verge of sleep the whole way. He kept slowing down to 60kph on the expressway and could not stay in a lane if his life depended on it. I had 14km of traffic honking for him to speed up and get over. I finally just started yelling – I know he did not know what I was saying, but hopefully it was at least getting through that I was pissed. The he had the nerve to try and short me on my change. Oh no- that was not about to fly. But anyway I am here and waiting for my mandoo to come.

So let me tell you about my favorite thing about China. I was really worried because this trip did not seem to yield the same kind of wonder and stories as my last one. Then I went to the Great Wall. The part I went to is about an hour and a half outside of Beijing – so the result is a much, much smaller crowd. Now the Wall runs along mountain tops – so in order to get up to it, you have two options 1) a 1-2 hour hike – okay or 2) a cable lift much like for skiing, up the mountain over the trees and rocks. Hahahahaha – Oh bless the heart of the Australian guy on the tour who ended up I the lift with me. I kept my eyes closed (except for the few times I opened the just to make sure this really did bother me) and he kept me talking the whole time. We discussed the social tensions between Koreans and Japanese. So there – score one for Jenn – she neither cried nor bent the bar she was white-knuckling. The Wall and ok the amount of stairs that came with it – and the variety of the stairs. From ones as tall as mid-calf to ones only a few inches high. But no matter how you look at it, you are climbing straight up – no gradual slope – vertical. Makes for a good time going back down.

Now who said there are not choices in communism. Just as you could walk or take the lift to come up – you have an additional choice going down – Which brings me to my favorite thing in China. Toboggan !!!!! Ok – yes my friends – if you so choose – and have no doubt I did – you can take a toboggan like scooter (equipped with hand break) all the way back down the mountain – And yes I took pictures.

So there you have it folks – sunburn, many trains, pollution, crowds, great food, a horrible taxi driver, and a toboggan ride down from the Great Wall – there is my trip to China.