To Xi'an and China's Ancient Capitals...

Capital Journey...

The final leg of our trip begins in Xi’an “Western Peace” (ancient Chang’an “Perpetual Peace”, also Xijing “Western Capital” and Xianyang) and makes a west-to-east path through Luoyang, Kaifeng and Nanjing, following the valley of the Huang He (Yellow River) for part of the way. Xianyang was the capital of the state of Qin during the “Warring States” period. Qin Shi Huangdi (221-206 BCE), the “First Emperor,” united China (the name China comes from “Qin”) by creating a superior military force that enabled him to defeat neighboring rival states. He did this by introducing an effective bureaucracy, legal system, standardized weights, measures and weaponry, superior roads and fortifications, including the first “Great Wall” (not the Ming wall that is the currently photographed structure). He is also noted for standardizing Chinese writing and for burning all the books that he did not approve of. The other thing Qin Shi Huang is known for is his vast burial site, a huge earthen tumulus protected by the spectacular Terracotta Army, which was only discovered in the 1980’s.

Chang’an continued as the seat of imperial power with the establishment of the Western Han Empire (206-9 BCE). It was during this period that the Chinese first began to expand westward, both for strategic reasons as well as for the rich trade that resulted from the Silk Road. Chang’an was again the center of power during the Sui Dynasty (581-618 CE) and the Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE) and was one of the largest cities of the world in its day. We stayed inside the old Ming walled city, from a time in which Xi’an was much smaller. Xi’an today is a rapidly growing modern Chinese city of 6,600,000, but the Ming walls, the Drum and Bell Towers, and the extensive Moslem Quarter stand out as reminders of its cosmopolitan past.


Thurs, July 30

Mike

We got up at 5:45 AM to catch a 9:50 AM flight to Xi'an. The goals were: breakfast by 6:30, check out by 7:30, to the city airport bus terminal by 8:00, at the airport by 8:45. The way it really worked was as follows:

We were up at the 30th floor at 6:35, where we were told that breakfast didn't start until 7:00. So, out onto the street to find something. At 6:40, there was a light drizzle. Right in front of the hotel was the potato "burrito" vendor, so we each had one: really good. Back up for breakfast (really just a cup of coffee and something sweet) and down to check out at 7:30, which we completed uneventfully.

Here's where it gets really wet. By7:40, it was raining heavily. Furthermore, the concierge said that no cabbie would take us only 1 km. The underlying problem is that Chengdu is woefully short of cabs - they are scheduled to add 900 this fall. However, that still probably won't solve the problem. The second problem is that the drop fee is only 5 Y (73¢). Hence, the cabbies are illegally picky and choosy.

SO we dug out the ponchos and draped them over the packs, got out our umbrellas, and left at 7:45 for the slightly more than 1 km walk to the place from which the airport bus left. What a hellish experience. Anyway we got to the departure place at 8:10, and got on the bus, which left at 8:20.

Of course, because it was raining in Chengdu, traffic was gridlocked even more than usual. Our plane left at 9:50, so there was a drop dead time of 9:20 for check in: it was not clear we were going to make it to the airport on time. However, once we got on the city expressway, it was clear sailing. On the airport bus, we started talking to two locals who were flying to Amsterdam to begin a yearlong study in Germany. We got off the bus at 9:05. Everything after that was uneventful, except that we were still soaked, and in a fairly rotten mood.

On the plane, we started talking with a gentleman from Shenzhen who travels around selling electronic crystals. We talked about food and Xi'an and China and a lot of things. Nice guy.

Xi'an was relatively cool and quite overcast, but dry. At 11:30 we got the bus into town, got off at the center, and walked the half kilometer to our hotel. We checked in, and went out for a lunch, which turned out to be two jia mo sandwiches (a small bun, sliced in half and stuffed with fried veggies and noodles) along with two glasses of something like sweet tea. 8 Y (+ 1 Y for a packet of tissues - no one has napkins or towels for the messy street food). It was now 12:45 or so.

We headed back to the hotel, where Curtis wanted to find a laundry to wash his clothes. I snitched an extra towel so I could wash and wring dry 3 days worth of my clothes. We went out on the street and started inquiring. It was “200 m this way,” “no, that way,” or “the other way.”

We wandered for quite a while. Finally, a woman in a store volunteered to leave her job and walk us to the laundry. So off we went, up the street, across the street, and into the Wal-Mart downtown, where she took us to the detergent display. No, no, we weren't washing our own clothes, we wanted someone else to wash our clothes. So, someone at Wal-Mart knew: the four of us went off another block or two to - glory be - Yi Dou Laundry. The proprietress said she could finish Curtis' clothes by noon the next day. So off we went back to the hotel.

Curtis’ laundry bill turned out to be only 42 Y. I guessed mine would be 60 Y, so why not...
While Curtis high tailed it to a Starbucks for a mocha frappucino, I went back to the hotel, then to the laundry. She requested 59 Y for my pile. I replied, "Wu shi kuai, zenme yang?" (50 Y, how about it?) She said OK, so I left my clothes also. I picked up a McDonald's 5 Y coke float with some kind of soft ice cream. I met Curtis as he was finishing his drink, and off we went.

I finally figured out the solution to our communications problem. We would take the laundry’s card, cover up the Yi Dou, and then we would have the written Chinese words for laundry in case we ever needed another one.

We walked to the Bell Tower, and determined that there was a combined rate for the Bell Tower and the Drum Tower, but that the Drum Tower was closed, so we decided to postpone this one.
Off in the direction of the Muslim quarter of Xi'an. It isn't easy to get to it, but after some walking (on some main streets we hadn't intended to visit) we found an entrance.

What an active market street. A man was cooking some kind of dry rice pudding, so we had to have pudding/cake-on-a-stick. This sweet, supposedly made with eight treasure powder and with a strong hint of rosewater, was quite tasty.

After a good bit of walking, we turned left. Lo and behold: the Great Mosque, dating from 705 AD (this building was from the 1500s or so). We wandered in to the courtyard, but not into the mosque itself because there appeared to be some kind of prayer session. It was 5:50 or so, not the time for any prayer I knew, but we were not going to bother them.

By this time, we were both exhausted, and it was starting to drizzle, so we walked slowly back to the hotel.

We each took a nap (maybe 1.5 hours). It was raining quite hard now, so we were really uninterested in trying to get back to the Muslim market street. But we wanted to try Xi'an food.

We headed to the local alley for yangrou pao ma (lamb soup with rice thread and bread croutons and mushrooms, etc.). We ate one portion, divided into two (or maybe gave us each a small portion). With a beer it came to 23 Y. It was quite good, better than the one we were going to get the next day. Around the corner, we found a vendor with battered chicken on a stick for 2.5 Y (37 c). One each: lots more batter than chicken, but sooo tasty.

Internet time, and then to bed. 5:30 AM wake up call so we can get a head start on the huge Chinese crowds at Terracotta Warriors.

Curtis

This morning it was pouring in Chengdu as we checked out of the hotel and walked to the airport bus stop about a kilometer away. We asked the concierge if he could call a taxi, but he said the cabs will not take passengers to the airport bus on the meter. They want a full fare all the way (15 km) to the airport. What a rip!! So we donned our ponchos and trudged through the pouring rain and nasty puddles on foot. We slowly drip dried in the AC and made it with only a few minutes to spare to get on the plane just in time for a pleasant flight to Xi'an.

Our hotel is near the Tang era Bell and Drum Towers inside the old city. Xi'an (formerly Chang'an) has been the capital of many dynasties in China's past, including that of the first emperor, Chin Shihuangdi (the guy who commissioned the terracotta army), as well as the Former Han and the Tang empires. The "old city" today is mostly modern, but it still has the walls from the Ming period, which enclose an area much smaller than the original walls during the Han.

Once we got checked in our hotel, we went out for some street food. We found a local style of press-grilled sandwich that has a flat bread filled with some fried potatoes and sausage: sort of like sliced hot dog (the Oscar Meyer type, not the four-legged variety). It was quite tasty.

Then we decided to try to find a wet laundry to leave off our dirty clothes, both of us being weary of the routine of hanging them up in the hotel bathroom and finding them still wet after two days. In the non-desert areas, clothes just don't dry fast enough! Anyhow, we asked around in several stores on the main drag. Most of the friendly folk had no idea that a laundry existed in the area (either that or they couldn't understand what we wanted). Finally a nice store clerk thought she understood what we wanted and tried to explain to us where to go. Realizing that we might not find it, she said that she would walk us there, so the three of us set off through a downtown mall past Starbucks and McDonalds and into a Wal-Mart. This store, needless to say, had many items you would never see in the US, so it seemed possible that they might have a laundry service. After asking several clerks there, she took us back to the laundry detergent aisle.

Well, after a bit of further explanation, she finally understood that we wanted someone else to do our clothes. She again conversed with a manager, who gave some more directions. Back up to the street and another turn away we finally arrived at a dry cleaner, who also does wet laundry.

Relieved, our genteel host returned to her post and we checked on the prices for our dirty clothes. Even Mike, who is a diehard towel squeezer, went back to the hotel to fetch a load. I guess that most of the folks who work in the area don't have to deal with doing their wash near their jobs, and the communication problem is so subtle that even looking up the right words and trying to pronounce them with the indicated tones draws a blank.

We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the old Muslim section of town where there are street markets crowded with pedestrians, mopeds, rickshaws and cars honking at everyone else. We found the old Tang era mosque. It has the same architecture as other classic Chinese buildings with the curved tile roofs. But you can see a crescent moon symbol and Arabic script in key locations, along with the Chinese characters. It is an active mosque, and prayers were going on, even at non-traditional hours of the day.

The afternoon had been dry up to this time in Xi'an, but then a little light drizzle started, so we headed back to the hotel, quite worn out. All in all today has been a productive transitional day.

Mike and I are now at a wangba (internet cafe) near our hotel (the Hotel Botong) in Xi'an. This one is a long 2nd floor walk-up, which is not much compared to the climbing yesterday - except for the cloud of cigarette smoke that overwhelms you as you come in. Add the pollution in most of China's big cities and you are doing well to get around at all.

It is raining lightly and the forecast is for more rain tomorrow. Hopefully it will stay light during the morning when we are planning on going.

Tomorrow the Terracotta Army... Hope it doesn't pour like Chengdu.

Our planned itinerary:
Jul 31 Xi'an BoTong Hotel
Aug 1 Xi'an - train at 1533 to Luoyang, arrive 2030. To New Jianlong Hotel, Luoyang.
Aug 2 Luoyang, see Longmen Caves
Aug 3 Train to Kaifeng (TBD). See Kaifeng. Stay at Kaifeng Sunshine Hotel.
Aug 4 Trying to buy tickets on a fast train to Nanjing lv 830 arriving 1230. Hotel in Nanjing TBD.
Aug 5 Nanjing
Aug 6 Early train to Shanghai. Stay at Hangsheng Peninsula Hotel.
Aug 7 Lv at 1535 for Atlanta.
We seriously considered going through Shaolin, between Luoyang and Kaifeng, but the difficulties outweighed the rewards.