Part 1- I'm on a train, don't you ever forget!
Beijing West Railway Station
Arriving at Beijing West Railway Station can be a bit intimidating due to its size. It is the largest of three stations in Beijing and is currently the largest in all of Asia. China has an extensive railway network linking Beijing with any city in the country and even with Russia, most destinations are just an overnight ride. Once inside, its not that difficult, you run your luggage through a scanner and then find your track by matching your train number with a track number. Its a good thing numbers are written the same in English as they are in Chinese though, because everything else is Chinese!
After locating my train's track, I had some time to kill so went off in search of some food for dinner. There were several Chinese restaurants, a hamburger stand, and even a Peking duck restaurant as well as the usual McDonalds and KFC. I settled on a Chinese cafeteria style restaurant and ordered some jiaozi- boiled dumplings. They were good, nothing special, but good.
My train started boarding in an hour after dinner so I made my way to the lounge area and killed the time on my Nintendo DS. Soon after boarding, I made my way quickly to my bunk in the hard sleeper cars. Hard sleeper is the economy sleeper class. You are in an open, clean, compartment (no door) with 5 other travelers. There are 6 bunks in the compartment. An upgrade to this would be the soft sleeper, but the only differences are a door and 4 beds instead of 6. Beyond that there is deluxe soft sleeper (2 more comfortable beds and private Western style toilet) but if you can afford deluxe soft sleeper you might as well book a flight. Hard sleeper is the recommended way to go, its the way the locals and adventurous foreigners do it. Even though they say the hard does not refer to the comfort level of the beds, I found that to be an adequate description! All in all it wasn't bad, lights went out shortly after ten and I slept decently. My only problem was one of my bunkmates who insisted on watching movies on his laptop until well after midnight without headphones! Hey buddy you aren't the only one on this train. The Chinese men in my compartment handled this quite well though eventually getting him to turn the volume down to a more acceptable level.
Crowded Hard Sleeper Car
My Bunk
Part 2- Arrival In Xian
Xian is an ancient city surrounded by a mostly reconstructed city wall. It is in Shanxi province. The city is so beautiful, smaller than Beiijng. I kept trying to figure out why it was so beautiful and finally later in the day it hit me: trees, there are trees everywhere! Its been so long since I've seen so many trees!
Xian is an ancient city surrounded by a mostly reconstructed city wall. It is in Shanxi province. The city is so beautiful, smaller than Beiijng. I kept trying to figure out why it was so beautiful and finally later in the day it hit me: trees, there are trees everywhere! Its been so long since I've seen so many trees!
The Beauty Of Xian, Mountains Surrounding The Terra Cotta Army Museum
After navigating myself out of the Xian train station and locating my hired guide, Penny from China Travel Service, we set off to the first stop of the day, the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. That is the tower you see in the following picture. It is at the center of an Ancient Buddhist Temple built as a storehouse of Buddhist scriptures that were brought from India. Throughout the tour Penny told me many interesting stories about the various rooms in the temple even explaining the meaning behind the murals in the temple rooms, things I wouldn't have gotten on my own.
Big Wild Goose Pagoda
Later I stopped for a picture with Happy Buddha. My guide told me that while I was getting my picture made that a person said "Look at that foreigner, his belly looks like Happy Buddha!" I always knew I had the body of a god!
Come On Get Happy!
Part 3- The Terra Cotta Army
Next, it was on to my real reason for the trip, the Terra Cotta Army. This is one of those things you have to do in China. The army is located about an hour's drive from Xian. On the way we stopped at a factory where they make souveneir warriors and I got the following photo:
Next, it was on to my real reason for the trip, the Terra Cotta Army. This is one of those things you have to do in China. The army is located about an hour's drive from Xian. On the way we stopped at a factory where they make souveneir warriors and I got the following photo:
At The Factory
In the factory, I got to watch the process of making a souveneir warrior. They make them in all sizes from desktop size up to life size. After the short tour, I was escorted to the obligatory gift shop. The sellers were pushy but not too much. Having seen this before on previous tours I didn't waste much time here because I knew I couldn't afford most of it and then had no way of getting most of it home. (Who actually buys life size lions carved out of jade and then pays thousands of dollars to have them shipped to the U.S.?) I picked up a couple of small warriors and was on my way. My tour guide was quite surprised at how quick I was. Most tours spend about an hour or more on these shopping excursions. The tour directors make a comission off of the sales, although I am sure she didn't get much from my paltry purchase!
Next, the warriors. The Terra Cotta Army was contructed under orders of the first emperor of China's Qing dynasty, the same man responsible for the Great Wall. He desired to continue his rule in the afterlife. In 1979, some farmers were digging a well and started digging up arms, legs, and heads. They sent them off to the government who found out they had discovered the tomb of this emperor! Today one of the farmers sits in the gift shop (they say it's him) and signs autographs. After a short film with some of the worst acting and props I have seen (I hope the real Qing army didn't wear plastic helmets!) I was taken through each of the excavated pits. It is a work in progress, many of the soldiers are still in pieces and are being restored by archaeologists. Here is a picture of the largest pit, sorry it's in black and white, my new camera allows you to change from color to black and white and sometimes just takes pictures in whatever color it feels like.
In the factory, I got to watch the process of making a souveneir warrior. They make them in all sizes from desktop size up to life size. After the short tour, I was escorted to the obligatory gift shop. The sellers were pushy but not too much. Having seen this before on previous tours I didn't waste much time here because I knew I couldn't afford most of it and then had no way of getting most of it home. (Who actually buys life size lions carved out of jade and then pays thousands of dollars to have them shipped to the U.S.?) I picked up a couple of small warriors and was on my way. My tour guide was quite surprised at how quick I was. Most tours spend about an hour or more on these shopping excursions. The tour directors make a comission off of the sales, although I am sure she didn't get much from my paltry purchase!
Next, the warriors. The Terra Cotta Army was contructed under orders of the first emperor of China's Qing dynasty, the same man responsible for the Great Wall. He desired to continue his rule in the afterlife. In 1979, some farmers were digging a well and started digging up arms, legs, and heads. They sent them off to the government who found out they had discovered the tomb of this emperor! Today one of the farmers sits in the gift shop (they say it's him) and signs autographs. After a short film with some of the worst acting and props I have seen (I hope the real Qing army didn't wear plastic helmets!) I was taken through each of the excavated pits. It is a work in progress, many of the soldiers are still in pieces and are being restored by archaeologists. Here is a picture of the largest pit, sorry it's in black and white, my new camera allows you to change from color to black and white and sometimes just takes pictures in whatever color it feels like.
Pit Of Warrior Ruins; Can You See The Horse's Rear End?
After several hours at the warrior museum, I was hungry so my guide took me to a restaurant where I had a delicious dish of breaded deep fried chicken cooked with cashews, peanuts, and deep fried strips of potato. I have never seen this dish in Beijing! I also got to watch noodles being made and sample a local delicacy, Pomegrante wine. It was very strong and I could barely handle the communion cup sized sample!
Delicious Lunch
Part 4- Back To Beijing
Later, after the tour, I wondered around downtown Xian on my own for awhile and then headed to the train station. I got ripped off by a rickshaw driver but if you don't get ripped off at least once in China, you haven't really experienced the country. While hailing a cab, the rickshaw driver pulled up and offered to take me to the train station. "Duo shao qian?" I said. (How much money?) He showed me a ten and a twenty rmb bill. Okay, 30 rmb is reasonable plus I haven't ridden on a rickshaw yet. (I don't have a wife to make angry life Clifton did!) It was a cool ride, he took me through a lot of back streets and I got to see how the locals live in Xian. After arrival at the train station 20 minutes later, I handed him my 100 rmb note and he handed me my change all rolled up. I didn't think to count it but upon arrival at the train station I realized he had given me the 10 and 20 rmb note he had shown me. The 30 rmb cab ride cost me 70 rmb! Oh well, he probably needs the money plus it is all part of the China experience! (Actually I am sure he gets rich pulling this scam on foreigners all the time.)
Later, after the tour, I wondered around downtown Xian on my own for awhile and then headed to the train station. I got ripped off by a rickshaw driver but if you don't get ripped off at least once in China, you haven't really experienced the country. While hailing a cab, the rickshaw driver pulled up and offered to take me to the train station. "Duo shao qian?" I said. (How much money?) He showed me a ten and a twenty rmb bill. Okay, 30 rmb is reasonable plus I haven't ridden on a rickshaw yet. (I don't have a wife to make angry life Clifton did!) It was a cool ride, he took me through a lot of back streets and I got to see how the locals live in Xian. After arrival at the train station 20 minutes later, I handed him my 100 rmb note and he handed me my change all rolled up. I didn't think to count it but upon arrival at the train station I realized he had given me the 10 and 20 rmb note he had shown me. The 30 rmb cab ride cost me 70 rmb! Oh well, he probably needs the money plus it is all part of the China experience! (Actually I am sure he gets rich pulling this scam on foreigners all the time.)
The Xian train station is a nightmare: crowded, dirty, and hot. I had a couple of hours to kill so I played more DS, watched The Office on my Ipod, and listened to MxPx for awhile. Once back on the train, I was again in hard sleeper this time with a very friendly Chinese couple and 2 others. I headed to the diner car for dinner and had a simple stir fry of pepper, onions, and beef with green tea on the side. It was a decent meal and the man in charge of the diner who seemed to think he was running a place of the caliber of Emeril or Gordon Ramsey gave me a good laugh. Next, it was Benadryl and passing out in my bunk. I arrived back in Beijing early, around 6:30 am exhausted but glad to have added another unique experience to my year in China.
Diner Car
Back To Beijing
2 comments:
Really enjoyed reading about the trip, Tim!
it seems that you are a fan of MXPX! MXPX will play in beijing on may 22nd at MAO livehouse! dont miss it! check here: www.myspace.com/hotpotmusic
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