MJK Thrills N Spills: Xi'an

Monday, July 01, 2013

Xi'an

Xi’an was the capital of China for 1,100 years and 13 imperial dynasties. Have you ever heard of the Silk Road, between Europe and China? Yeah, Xi’an was also the destination city of thousands of foreign Silk Road traders. My favorite stuff that we did in Xi’an was go for a bike ride on the city wall that encompasses downtown Xi’an and see the Terra Cotta Warriors and the Great Mosque.

Riding on the Xi'an City Wall

It was just so much fun to get on a bike! Even if the front wheel sounded like it was going to fall off. We didn’t get to ride all the way around (which would have been almost 10 miles), but we had 45 minutes to ride, take pictures, and goof off. I wore a skirt that day so it was an adventure to remain modest while riding. The city wall that exists today was built during the Ming Dynasty, which lasted from 1368-1644, and it has been restored nicely since then.

At the Terra Cotta Warriors

The Terra Cotta Warriors were definitely a highlight. There are over 8,000 warriors. The emperor Qin Shi Huangdi built them in the 3^rd century BC (he reigned during the late Zhou and the early Qin Dynasties from 247 to 210 BC). BC! A farmer digging a well discovered them in 1974, and the farmer himself was there the day we visited. So I shook his hand. That’s what he does there. He just sits there to shake visitors’ hands. And to sign a book and have people pay to take his photo. Ha! The warriors are all about 5 feet 10 inches tall and each have a different facial expression and look. They say no two warriors are the same. All of the warriors that are standing erect and put together…. yeah, they weren’t found that way. Archeologists put them back together from all of the original broken pieces. Talk about a crazy, hard puzzle. And they are still “actively” excavating the site today, although we didn’t see much activity happening.

At the Great Mosque

And then the Great Mosque was definitely one of my faves. The mosque is actually for Muslims…. Yeah, there are Chinese Muslims. In fact, we found out that our tour guide is Muslim. The Mosque was also built during the Ming Dynasty in entirely traditional Chinese style and architecture. It was beautiful! And so peaceful. Apparently, we were there too close to the 6 pm prayer time, otherwise we could have gone into the prayer hall. After that, we shopped in the market there in the Muslim Quarter neighborhood. I had fun bargaining with the shopkeepers!

Some of the other things we did in Xi’an:

Terra Cotta Warrior factory – we got to see how the Terra Cotta Warriors are made … and I bought a few.
We ate a dumpling banquet with at least 15 or 20 different types of dumplings (fillings). These dumplings were how we know them in the states – like pot stickers.
Big Wild Goose Pagoda – a Buddhist temple with some pretty grounds and an amazing Jade mural of Sakyumani’s life on three walls. Everything in those murals was made of Jade. Apparently, Sakyumani was a famous Buddha.
Shaanxi History Museum
A Han Emperor and Empress Tomb site (Han Dynasty, 206 BC – AD 220) with 81 pits of little clay men and some clay concubines too!

To see more pics of China, go to my Flickr account.