Travel Journal 3

February 2, 2013  -  Saturday

We rose early and had a nice breakfast, thanks to R:  fresh-cut, sugared tomatoes; cooked rice;  pickled garlic;  toast;  a pickled garnish to put on the toast and hard boiled eggs.  I don’t know that I’ve mentioned it before, but most Chinese meals are served without beverages.  Sometimes tea is served and fairly often hot water is available.  We left at 7:15 AM and caught a bus to mid-town;  then another bus to the train station.  We were very early so had opportunity to view some wildlife photos on display in the station waiting area. 

We boarded our bullet train at 9:15 AM and it took a little over an hour to get to the ancient capital, Xi’an.  The ride was smooth and comfortable.  The countryside was beautiful – although it was again, foggy!  At times we traveled 190 mph!!!!

       

Changchun is where we lived and worked.  It is 150 miles from North Korea and 250 miles from Russia.  

We immediately met (our friend, Marie's former student) Yancy and his daughter, Sarah.  Yancy drove us to the hotel to arrange our rooms (it was a long ride).  He took us past his apartment and to a local restaurant where he treated us to a local, customary dish.  It was like a bowl of noodles but was small cubes of bread instead of noodles.  Raw garlic was on the table and a plate of mixed pieces of shredded vegetables.   I enjoyed it, but there was a flavor included that I did not like.  Later, I had some minor heartburn as a result of this meal.  J 

The hotel that Jessica had originally arranged wouldn’t accept foreigners!  Yancy took us to a hotel that would have cost 800 yuan for a night!  That was not acceptable!  He and Jessica left us foreigners behind and went down the street where they found one for 160 yuan.  It’s acceptable – although it is taking quite a while to warm up as I type. 

Yancy was uncomfortable carrying an illegal number of people in his car, so Jessica stayed behind at the hotel while he took the rest of us to see the terra cotta soldiers.  It was a long ride!  There was a lot of walking when we arrived to actually get to the three pits and the museums.  It was not a frigid day, but being out in the cold for a prolonged period of time left you cold to the core. 

[An excerpt from High Road To Tibet, by John Dwyer]

In March 1974, three peasants were digging a well outside the city of Xi’an when they broke through to a buried chamber.  Once the dust had cleared, they peered into the vault and were struck dumb by what they saw.  The floor of the underground chamber was strewn with broken pieces of clay heads, legs, and arms.  The peasants hauled some of the first pieces of the Terracotta Army to have seen the light of day in nearly two thousand years.  It would turn out to be an archaeological discovery on a par with that of King Tutankhamen’s tomb in Egypt.  What those simple peasants discovered that day would change Xi’an forever and put it firmly on the tourist map. 

[An old local man describes it as follows[: “ …I will tell you some history of these warriors…They were built for China’s first emperor, the great Qin (Chin) Shihuang.  He was a very interesting man…Qin Shihuang conquered many of the states that existed in China around 220 BC and thus unified the country  for the first time.  He started the Great Wall of China and built many roads, dams, and canals throughout the land.  He also standardized the units of currency, weights, and measures across China.  He introduced a system of local government that persists in many parts of the country to this day.  However, most important of all, he created one script for all Chinese people.  Without that, there would be no China.  Yes he was a very great man.”

[John Dwyer asked this old man]:  “I had read that China’s first emperor had achieved all these goals by brutal means…”  He conceded, “It is true, that he was brutal.  He seems to have cared little for the lives of the simple peasant people and many thousands of them died in his grand construction projects.”

On the road to the warriors, we passed a wooded hill, which is all that remains of what was once the magnificent mausoleum pyramid of Emperor Qin Shihuang…according to ancient historians, it was one of the grandest burial complexes ever constructed.  Seven hundred thousand conscripted workers and slaves toiled on its construction for eleven long years.  The two-hundred-and-fifty-foot-tall pyramid stood over an underground complex measuring four square miles that contained palaces, protective walls, and even a cemetery.  Inside the complex, the Emperor’s body lay in the middle of a scale model of the empire he had conquered.  The dome of the complex was said to be studded with precious stones to represent the sky while streams of mercury represented the rivers of China.  All that grandeur has now disappeared and all that is left is a small hill.  He protected his final resting place with a mighty army of clay warriors that would withstand time better than his necropolis did.

…A peasant revolt after the death of the oppressive emperor Qin Shihuang led to a plundering of his grand mausoleum and Terracotta Army…the warriors had taken an awful battering.  Headless statues were half-buried in the earth.  Arms, hands, and legs lay strewn around the ground.  Broken chests and heads emerged from the clay, in the hope of reassembly one day. 

…archaeologists believe that the Terracotta Army is only the tip of the iceberg.  Xi’an will be yielding treasures for China for decades to come.  Pit One is a massive excavation enclosed in a hangar-like warehouse.  A walking track encircles the pit so that tourists can peer down at the assembled warriors. 

Over a thousand clay warriors are marshaled into a well-organized battle array composed of infantry and cavalry.  They stare blankly ahead, forever looking forward to the day of battle that will never come. 

It is said that no two faces of the warriors are the same.   Some historians suggest that each statue’s face was modeled on an actual living person…many of the warriors I saw had different expressions.  The narrow eyes and wry smile of one soldier seemed to communicate confidence and experience in battle.  Another face was big and round and seemed to be trusting, honest, and simple. 

One thing that stood out to me during our visit was the fact that the Chinese are becoming increasingly capitalistic!  We were told that for many years there was no admittance fee to see the Army.  Now, there is a hefty admittance fee;  there are also endless souvenir/gift shops that line the long walk to the entrance to the pits.  You could pay to get your picture taken standing behind life-size replicas of the Terracotta soldiers!  Vendors had set up shop along the way selling fruit, treats, ice cream, and hot meals.  Women vendors walked along with you offering mini-replicas of the Terracotta soldiers.  And others offered their services as translators and tour guides.  The entrance to the complex was crowded with taxis and buses to the train stations!  The whole complex has become a massive money-making enterprise – clearly designed to satisfy the Chinese and foreign tourists!

          

[Although the picture (bottom-right) looks like miniature models, they are life-size - taken from a viewing stage forty feet above.]

We ended the day fully satisfied and grateful to have had the privilege of viewing this incredible work of art!

                

Around 5:30 PM, we left the complex for the long drive back to the hotel where we said good-bye to Yancy and Sarah.  We wandered down the road until we found a nice restaurant where we had wraps and soup.  The wraps were made of vegetable and/or egg.  We had three plates of garnishes for the wraps:  a mushroom relish, a pepper relish, and a spicy meat sauce.  The soup included tomatoes, eggs, rice, greens, etc. – it was delicious!

Then back to the hotel.  Our room took a long time to warm up.  Deb read and went to sleep early.  I worked on this journal before turning in (10:00 PM).  One note of interest:  we’ve clearly noticed that the Chinese do not use top sheets!  They were not provided at our apartment when we arrived last August.  R did not provide them.  The two hotels we’ve stayed in have not provided them.  Beds are prepared with a flat, bottom sheet and a ? that holds a down comforter.  When we stay at a hotel, we hope it has been cleaned since the last patrons used the room!  J