We successfully completed our LAST overnight train of our trip! (That makes 8 total, if you've been counting) We arrived in Xi'an around 8am and walked through the train station outside to the parking lot to the van that was waiting for us. The van took us to our hotel, which was in downtown Xi'an. Luckily, we were able to check into the hotel early and use the facilities to shower. We met back with our group around 10am to explore the Terra Cotta Warriors.
The site of the Terracotta Warriors is about an hour outside of Xi'an (although it may be closer than that because our van driver was going extremely slowly). We arrived around 12pm and had lunch at a local farmer's home. This farmer used to live on the land where the Terracotta Warriors were discovered, but the government paid him to move his home so they could continue to explore the area for other remains. The farmer cooked us some typical Chinese foods: pork, rice, bok choy, potatoes, and leeks. We had a conversation with the farmer after our lunch, (thanks to Howard, our tour guide, who translated for us). The farmer told us he cooks lunch for tour groups nearly every day. He also has a son, daughter-in-law, and grandchildren that live with him. It was interesting to see the differences in culture.
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| Our lunch spread in the farmer's home, including our first taste of Persimmion fruit. |
Once our lunch was complete we walked to the actual site of the Terracotta Warriors. It was an absolutely beautiful day – warm and sunny, so we were happy to spend time outside. There are 3 different “pits” where they have found the warriors. They were discovered in 1974 by a few farmers who were trying to dig a water well. The warriors were believed to have been created around 200 BC by the first emperor of China. The chariots and warriors were meant to protect the emperor in the afterlife. However, after the emperor died and his family lost power over China, the area was long forgotten and eventually became buried underneath layers of earth.
The warriors were very impressive. We started by touring the outside of the first pit, which held the statues that were, by far, in the best shape. The warriors were lined-up just as they probably were when they were created nearly 2000 years ago. Each warrior has a different face, although many of the bodies were the same. At one point, they were probably painted, however, now they are all just a shade of gray. We meandered through the other 2 pits and saw mostly just remains that had been damaged over time. We also watched a video about the creation and discovery of the warriors to help give us more background information.
We completed our museum tour around 3pm and headed back to the van for our return to Xi'an. Our tour guide, Howard, gave us a walking tour of Xi'an when we got back to the hotel. Xi'an is a large, bustling city, with lots of shopping and entertainment options. Howard showed us how to get around and then left us on our own to explore for a bit.
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| Some Chinese countryside on the way to Xi'an. |
James and I decided to wander through the local markets first. We walked through aisles of merchandise, mostly fake watches and Chinese gifts. Earlier in the day our tour guide suggested we buy a small stuffed animal friend for Tabitha – so, James decided to purchase one of the Chinese tiger pillows to be Tabitha's companion on the trip. Silly, but cute.
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| One of the Christmas trees in Xi'an - Christmas, at least the shopping holiday, is celebrated everywhere! |
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| Xi'an's beautiful bell tower. |
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| Xi'an's busy Muslim district, home to many restaurants and shops. |
After our market walk, we headed down the street where Howard told us most Chinese people go for good street food. While we weren't feeling adventurous enough to try street food, it was still fun to see what the Chinese commonly eat. We saw plenty of dried fruits (including some kiwi that looked very good), lots of nuts, some street meats, and fried pastries.
Erin was beginning to get hungry for dinner at this point and urged James to head back to the main mall area so we could get some food that might be easier on our stomachs. We first stopped at a Chinese fast food restaurant, but didn't see any chicken dishes on the menu. Erin was hoping to find some chicken because she hadn't been that interested in some of the pork dishes that have been served at dinners each night. So, we stopped at an actual restaurant and looked at the menu. Although we couldn't decipher what anything was, the pictures on the menu looked nice and we figured that there had to be something that was chicken. Erin convinced James to try it, even though he wasn't in the mood for a sit-down restaurant. We tried to ask for a chicken dish, but the waitress did not speak any English. She pointed out a few dishes for us to try. Erin pointed at a dish and repeated, “chicken?,” the woman seemed to nod her head, so we ordered it. We honestly had no idea what we were in for, and we couldn't really do anything about it.
When our meal came, it certainly looked good! It came out in a big wok, and the table had a burner on it to allow the food to simmer a bit longer. Erin took the first bite and told James, “it has nice flavor, but I don't think it's chicken.” James tried a piece and replied, “I have never had them before, but I think these might be pig knuckles.” And, he was right. We had ordered a very large, expensive wok full of pig knuckles.
Erin ate most of the vegetables in the dish and some of the rice, while James did his best to try to pick out any actual meat from the dish. Understandably, we were both a tiny bit disappointed by the dinner, but realized that sometimes these things happen when you are in a foreign country and don't speak the language. We paid the bill (which was expensive by Chinese standards, but not by American), and left.
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| Pig knuckles! Part of a healthy Chinese dinner! |
On our way back through the mall, we spotted a Walmart! We hadn't seen a Walmart since we left the USA, so we were anxious to check it out. We saw some familiar foods, but not too many (mostly potato chips and sodas). Many of the foods were different because there are cultural differences in our eating habits. James bought some snack foods from the bakery section to help make up for the unfortunate dinner experience and we left.
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| Chinese Wal-Mart - the only Wal-Mart we've seen on our trip! |
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| Wal-Mart's Great Value - worldwide. |
While we walked back to our hotel, we enjoyed the warmer evening weather. We retired for the night around 10pm. We enjoyed our time in Xi'an and found it to be a vibrant city that was definitely worth a visit.
