Day 7: Pingyao to Xi'an

[Rob_Hugo@PortNW]

Day 7: Pingyao to Xi’an

General Schedule-

Pingyao:

Morning on our own (most people shopped around)
Lunch at restaurant
Bus to Taiyuan for flight to Xi’an

Xi’an:

Met Jolli aka Ellen (our tour guide)
Hot Pot Dinner
Checked into hotel across from Bell Tower
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Notes from Tour Guide-

General:
I Population: 8.3 million people (it is considered a mid-size city since 10 million + people is considered a BIG city)
II. Xi’ian is over 1,300 years old
III. 1st city to reach over a million people

Bits of History:
I. It was considered to be the capital for many emperors
II. The underground world of Xi’an is filled with ancient treasures, hence the lack of an extensive metro. In fact it was farmers who were digging a well who found the Terracotta Warriors
A. Over 100 emperors’ tombs are in this city, which also consist of their children, concubines, etc.
B. A 200,000 year old body was found here.
D. The rule on treasures: You can keep treasures if you find them but if you sell them on the black market you will get arrested. If you donate them then you will be taken care of by the government.
III. 6.000 years ago the people lived in matrilineal villages
A. Lady’s were in charge and had many husbands
1. Men hunted and fished
2. Archeologists have found pottery, bracelets, necklaces and whistles from this time.
IV. Patrilineal Society came after; about 5,000 years ago.
A.Longshong (sp?) Culture
1. Included jade, tea ceremonies, etc
V. Major dynasties that ruled in the area
A. 3 Kingdom dynasties was a major period in Xi’an
1. An important battle at the end of Han dynasty and right before the Three Kingdoms.
a. Suggested Movie “Red Cliff” (Du Gu Luong?)
B. After this came the Sui dynasty-The Golden Period
C. Then came the Tang dynasty-The most glorious period
1. During this period Wu Zetian came to power.
a. The only woman emperor
b. She killed her sons and grandsons because the complained about her concubines
c. In front of her grave lies a blank stone
2. Consider reading The Golden Peaches of Samarkand: A Study of T'ang Exotics by Edward Schafer (I heard Edward Farmer but I think I am wrong)

Farming and Eating Habits
I. During the winter people eat and harvest wheat and corn
II. People in the north and south eat different starches as part of the primary died. A. People in northern China tend to eat noodle as their starch (she used the terms “noodle people” and “round faced” people).
B. People in the south tend to eat more rice (she used the term "rice people")
III. People drank a warm sticky rice wine which had 2-3% alcohol
A. Warm drinks are considered better for the stomach (hence the warm beer).
VI. Tomatoes came from the West. She mentioned something interesting about watermelons and onions that I just can’t remember.

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My random thoughts on the day:

The day started with shopping; which led many people including myself to not only gain plenty of weight in the suitcase but to also wonder what to do with all this interesting stuff. I saw people buy beautiful Chinese hand mirrors, Mao covered diaries, leather puppets, key chains, cowboy hats, to name a few. This adventure gave me a chance to practice my Mandarin and meet some interesting shop owners including the man who carved three stamps for me. He was very funny and also very lucky due to my poor ability to calculate large numbers in my head. Despite the loss of 50 yuan I enjoyed the break from the routine and the rain as we could wander the streets at our will.

When we left Pingyao I was a bit sad to leave. I really enjoyed the quant city and was slightly hoping for more of the same. I soon regretted this sadness though as soon we met Jolli our amazing tour guide in Xi'an. She is definitely charming, intelligent and overall enjoyable to learn from. She gave us a great start with one of the best hot pot experiences of my life. I had had hotpot before back home but the decor, presentation and freshness of the food really impressed me greatly. The night continued to improve as we drove around the illuminated city. I was impressed with the way Xi'an truly meshed the older architecture and feel with the modern shopping and lights. I really enjoyed the look and feel of the city, and was definitely blown away by the location of our hotel in from of the glowing Bell Tower.

This stay started one of my favorite parts of our trip: the historical and yet hip Xi'an.

[clay dube]

Another useful blog entry. I think many enjoyed Xi'an. In part this could be attributed to Zhou Li 周丽, our Ellen.

[Anonymous]

Wow did I spell Zhou Li's name wrong or what!! Haha...thanks Clay for the correction.

[Author]

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