October 14th : Xi'an still

Day 2 in Xi’an is also our last day in Xi’an. And not a moment was wasted.

While it is not common to see christian or catholic churches with golden altars and spectacular steeples, China is not without a religious history and has freedom of religion now too. Today Lily introduced us to the Buddhist history in Lily-style - detailed and passionate. A thorough recounting.

The story is epic and there is probably a movie about it that explains it better than my memory of her translation. The main thing to understand is that there was this guy with an interest in becoming a Buddhist monk. He asked for and was denied the Emperors permission to travel out of China to research and learn Buddhism but he went anyway. The young man spent 17 years following the Silk Road to India, traveling around India and coming back to China. During his time away he was assisted and supported by a number of special people, he wrote the scriptures of Buddhism down and he carried them home - mostly. Some were lost when they fell in the river or some such. On his return he managed to get the support of the Emperor after all. His job became to translate all the scriptures into Chinese and establish a temple. That temple is in Xi’an and the art that decorates it tells the story of his life, his journey and the teachings that he brought back to China. The pictures are carved in wood, jade and shiny metals. There are various Buddhist sculptures in each building and of course like many old religious places, there is no shortage of gold or gold leaf.

At this time about 40 monks call this temple their permanent and full time home. The grounds are peaceful, serene. The gardens are well manicured and birds fill the trees. I saw a cat run by… and that has been a rare thing in China.

Attached to the monastery is a gallery where we partook in a demonstration of calligraphy. The teacher showing us the “old” way and the new characters in Chinese, before explaining the significance of many of the creatures found in Chinese art. Many of the pieces are painted by the monks and donated to the gallery. The sales of which provide the temple/monastery with money for upkeep and their daily expenses.

You betcha I bought art. It’s one of my favorite things to buy when traveling. For me, it was the simple cat paintings that caught my eye. Playful and mischievous. (I will update with a picture when we get home and it finally finds freedom from the little cylinder that has housed it up until now.)

It was time to stretch our legs. We didn't do it that often in this trip, but when we did, it was kind of epic... Hiking a dune or a Great Wall, riding a horse or in this case, a bike. 

The Xi'an City Wall is a rectangle around the oldest part of the city. Inside, there are still building restrictions and you'll not see skyscapers. Outside, the sky is the limit. Lily hired Mark and I a couple of fixed-gear mountain-ish bikes and we departed, with instructions to meet back at the beginning in about 90 minutes. The road was bumpy! All those ancient stones are not worn smooth, but instead have chips and breaks, some are missing and others are just the wrong size. 

We thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful day, chance to take in the city from a unique perspective and racing like little kids in places that were almost deserted. Sights included a temple with golden roof, about a half dozen Chinese bride and grooms having wedding pics taken and 14km of elevated views.

We lunched at a restaurant famous for being the best dumpling place ever and were not disappointed. Dumplings in all shapes and colors, all fillings. One, two, three courses. Including sweet ones with mashed up walnuts inside. 

Finally, we were off to the largest Mosque and Muslim Street; a market place brimming with color, sound, smells and all manner of things you don’t need to buy. I, of course, did need to buy. Under the guise of shopping for gifts for others, I once again had my eye on chopsticks and scarves. What it is about these two things, I have no idea. I just know that I’m drawn to them again and again. And Mark’s suitcase is very accommodating… as is he.

Of course there were the random but obligatory selfies with young Chinese girls. They started the conversations by asking if they could practice their English. Invariably it was only with Mark and more often than not, the conversations were very short before they just asked if they could take a photo with him! After a while, he started asking for photos with them in return. You'd never believe us otherwise. 

This was the last stop before our drop off at the airport. In a nutshell, our dearest Lily was going to check us in, walk us to security and wave us goodbye before finding a quiet place to go for 2.5 hours, until her next clients arrived. Not only is she quietly super smart and kind and a genuinely lovely woman, but she is a very hard worker. I watched from the back seat of our car on the way to the airport as she took out paperwork on the new clients and began to memorize it, right down to the health details that were mentioned by client in an email to China Highlights.

I’d hire two of her if I could find them! Lily will have my respect and love forever. Should we ever return to the Xi’an area, I’ll be requesting Lily and only Lily will do.

Are you thinking of traveling to China? Is the Terracotta Army on your bucket list, like it was mine? Ask me for Lily’s contact details. Even better, I can put you in contact with Ruby the amazing travel agent and she’ll have you organized and having the time of your life before you know it. 

We arrived in Guilin a bit later than expected.

Hello Jason! Our new guide - a young man with sparkly eyes and handsome smile - and the kindest looking driver yet, were waiting at the exit of the airport. The airport was amazing. Not similar in style to Denver International but perhaps similar in feel or character. Modern and suave. Clean and pleasing to the eye. We learned from Jason that the airport has been open just 10 days… hence the 40 minute delay in luggage retrieval. Hey, at least the luggage arrived, right? :-)

Our hotel in Guilin? Holy cow. Niiiice!

The Guilin Park Hotel is on the river. Its 3 star but more than what I am used to still. On the 3rd floor we enjoyed moving into our new room, overlooking the pool. The only “issue” I would say was the bathroom. Nothing actually wrong with it… It’s just that it triggers every anxiety dream I have ever had. Let me explain (if you don’t mind a little TMI):

My recurring anxiety dreams always center around the same issue. I’m out in public trying to find a bathroom and there just isn’t one that offers enough privacy. Either no cubicle available, the door won’t lock, when I shut the door another opens in a different location or people can still see me. Our hotel room had a bathroom that featured glass walls. Sure, sure, there was a curtain, albeit sheer. But essentially that meant a sheer curtain between the bedroom and my private affairs and quite frankly that is just not enough. Eh. Luckily for me there is a womans bathroom on every floor and I can make do. I’m nothing if not adaptable - and quite Type A.

First world problems.

I’m fine. Thanks for asking.

October 13th : Xi'an Terracotta Warriors

In a country far, far from home lies a city with sooo much history it makes one feel small and insignificant in the grand scheme of things. Xi’an… Once the capital of China, takes Europe and makes it seem almost childlike. And America; Well it was but a twinkle in the eye of the universe when Xi’an was already in full swing.

Lily started us out with a bang. The Terracotta Warriors!

We left the hotel early. According to the word of Lily, it was an attraction that got very busy and getting there before most of the tour buses would serve us well. We would soon grow to learn that listening to the wisdom and advice of Lily would always serve us well.

The complex (hundreds of acres) was already a complete zoo by the time we arrived. She stood us to one side and said “I’ll be back with tickets” and was. Then she lead us confidently through ticket control and security. Lily began our tour not in Pit 1 as would seem logical, but in Pit 2. She was already showing her guiding skills… avoiding the bulk of the very pushy tourists that were arriving by the hundreds as buses lined up by the dozens.

A little background. If you are like me (fairly ignorant regarding Chinese history) then your idea of the Terracotta Warriors is something like this:  Some guy or his dynasty decided to make all these little men out of clay and line them up. It was a long time ago and they have survived to this day. The reason they are special is because they are a one of a kind art event and are old. 

Hahaha... yeah, I had an education coming!

It goes more like this actually: 

The first Emperor of China was Qin Shi Huang. He was about 13 when he started his reign and by 17 he was already planning his funeral. Funerals and what you are buried with were super important at this time because the Chinese believed that the things you were buried with, went with you to the after life. As could your problems. In this case the Emperor needed an army to protect him from his enemies. That meant horses and chariots, servants, soldiers, officers, generals and every other person (musician, acrobat, strongmen etc) he had surrounding him while he was alive. He considered just having them all buried for real with him when he died, but decided instead to have clay likenesses of them created, luckily for them.

Each piece was unique - there are not thousands of identical soldiers here, no two are the same. The Emperor was buried about 50 meters underground, a hill built on top of his grave. In the surrounding area, the 8000 other soldiers were buried too. Many bigger than the real life men, some smaller. Depends on rank or importance I guess. They held bronze weapons or wooden things. Horses and chariots are good to go; they are lined up and pointed up ramps with horsemen holding reins. 

In the 1974 a farmer digging a well in the area discovered what he thought to be important relics and informed the government. He was awarded some ridiculously tiny finders fee and excavation and preservation has been ongoing since. The uncovering doesn't reveal warriors and such that are intact. In fact only ONE piece was unbroken (except his foot needed gluing back on). The kneeling archer.

Mostly the warriors/clay army was smashed and buried.

Archaeologists first dig out the pieces and put them back together, then they place them back in the pits where they would have originally stood. Each piece was also originally hand painted but alas, the color is destroyed within minutes of exposure to air.  To date, scientists have only worked out how to preserve the red coloring. For this reason, the bulk of the army and the Emperor himself have not been excavated. Maybe someday, huh? For now, they have used ground-penetrating radar to map and identify pieces so that we learn about the entire area and mausoleum.

We toured 3 pits with Lily. Getting a good view was... a learning experience. As she put it, "If you don't push, you won't get to see anything." I was working my way gently into a good place at the first pit when an older Chinese lady totally just pushed me and my camera out of the way and jumped in front of me. This behavior had not been uncommon since arriving in China and the older ladies are pretty darn rude. Mark had had enough, he pushed her back to his arms length and hollered "No! Wait your turn!" to her and then let me back in. She looked a little shocked but didn't resist. LOL

That, ladies and gentlemen, is all you need. ONE good warrior, not 8000 made of cooked earth IMHO.  :-)

This trip is like no other I have taken. For sure, having a guide is just the bee's knees, but it's more than that. The itinerary that was put together for us involves fun little hands on activities with local residents. Today's was "making a terracotta warrior". You heard me right. There are still places that make terracotta warriors and other pieces and sell them. They are not cheap either. Each piece is molded, then details are carved and they are sold/shipped out. It is good luck or security or something to have a warrior protecting your home! They come in all sizes and we'd be making tiny figurines for time's sake. 

1. Take your plaster mold and open it up.

2.  Roll a chunk of clay (dug from the same earth as used 200 years BC for the Emperor) into a log with a fatter and thinner end. 

3.  Press the log into one side of the mold, with the thinner end at the end of the mold. Squish it in there really well so the clay presses into the details and the figure ends up being mostly hollow. Same on the other mold - my Officer's back side.

4. Push the two pieces of mold together and merge the clay at the top and bottom to seal them together. 

5.  Wait 5 minutes and knock the mold off.

6.  Your figurine looks pretty bad right now... so trim excess clay and use a plastic butter knife to reinstate some details. His uniform has belts and buttons etc. His feet need reshaping a bit.

The other steps were not possible for us, but essentially the clay air dries for days or even weeks before being fired in a big wood fueled oven. Once upon a time they used coal fired ovens and the terracotta came out less orange and more grey. These days due to air pollution, coal is not used and this business colors the terracotta to look more traditional.

I have to say, Mark excels at handicrafts. We've taken chocolate making classes, painted Xmas cookies, been taught paper cutting and now clay sculpture and every time, he has impressed me with his skill and the speed of which he can finish a project. Mark's clay General was already dying of old age when my Officer was still getting swiped and smooshed by the butter knife I was holding!
Here are our two efforts... Mark's in front because he has the General and I only have the Officer. :-(

I think it's safe to say that while I really enjoyed the warrior making and getting my hands dirty, I could never make a living at it.  But, I am good at horsing around at the terracotta workshop and giggling. Like you actually need it documented... but here you go:

What is in the background?  Persimmon trees in full fruit. This area is chock-full of persimmon and pomegranate trees. I never got a really good explanation about the plastic bags, but pomegranates are all wearing little raincoats on the trees. Environmentally friendly? Hell no. But when they harvest, the fruit is already individually bagged, which is convenient at least, if not a little weird.

That afternoon Lily  took us to the history museum of Xi'an. Remember, Xi'an used to be the capital of China? Well the artifacts (she called "the masterpieces") are numerous and impressive at this museum. It would be darn near impossible to see everything and read all the little plaques at each exhibit - even though they are in English too - so Lily offered to guide us through each exhibit hall and point out the best and more important pieces. 

Lily is AMAZING. Her English vocabulary is extensive and technical. She was able, in 90 minutes, to fill us in on the history of the area from dinosaur eggs to recent revolutions, including dates, names and details. Every so often I glanced at the info plaques just to see how accurate she was and found she was right on the money. I was flabbergasted at how anyone could learn the ins and outs of every exhibit at a national museum, let alone in another language.  And I watched other people all over the museum listen in on our guided tour - they were super envious of how much we were learning and how easy it was for us! I only wish I had a Lily for every museum I have ever and will ever visit.  

Busy day. BUSY day! 

But there was an option to add more to my day and I just couldn't resist. Lily told us about a show that we could attend that night. Traditional music and dance. 10 performances in just over an hour. Mark decided he was due a quiet night (and some alone time probably too) and Lily made plans for just me. 

Seriously, this is how having a "nanny" works.

Lily picked me up at the hotel lobby that evening. The driver was waiting outside. We drove to the theater where she bought the ticket for me, walked me through ticket control and all the way to my seat. She told me at the end of the show, not to move, she'd come for me right here.

The show was pretty cool actually. Costumes and sets were colorful and ever changing. Each piece was introduced in English and I had an English performance brochure in hand (thanks to Lily). While I'm not a huge fan of the music that sounds more like a cat screeching, the other parts were quite lovely. Plus, as I learned from the show in Beijing, it's perfectly acceptable to take pictures and I kinda enjoyed capturing some of it for you.

The show finished and the lights came back up. I looked right, to the isle, and there stood Lily. It's hard to get anxious about being out at night by yourself, on the other side of the city from the hotel, not speaking any of the language, when you have a Lily nearby.  And as we drove back to the hotel she even gave me a little "night tour" of some of the city wall, bell tower and drum tower that get lit up at night.

The Chinese love to light things up. It's not just lights either. It seems every store, display or event is trying to out-do their neighbor. Lanterns, colors, lights that flash and move, noises from megaphones, speakers or people with clappers. Robots are big here too. It's fascinating, overwhelming... exhausting!

I ended my evening by giving Lily a hug and thanking her for her extra time today. I know she has a 4.5 year old son at home and my long day meant she didn't get to see him before he went to sleep. Then I walked around the corner from the hotel and picked up one of those burger-panini things for Mark and I and an ice cream each. The plan was a good and thoughtful one but it came apart when I entered the hotel lobby to find 10 tour buses worth of guests had just finished checking in and they were all waiting for the elevators - with large luggage.

Hot burgers and cold ice cream... Hmmmm... neither could wait in the elevator queue very long. I took the stairs; 9 flights to our room!

Dinner and bed. I was soooo done for the day.