Xi'an in a Day

Saturday 4-27 – 13

Well, today perhaps could be one of the biggest paradoxes of my life. I am so happy and amazed it happened but also so thankful that its over! I woke up this morning feeling the cleanest I have felt in the longest time but still waiting for my miracle. My face is so weighed down, my throat is so swollen not to mention, on fire. Oh man, this is going to be rough. I got up and turned on the shower so I could breathe in the steamy, humid air while brushing my teeth and putting in my contacts, took some airborne and headed on our way. Maddie and I met Ben and Josh at the Lobby at 6:30am to check out and headed off into the distance. We hopped into a taxi to get to the train station which wasn't that far away and found our ever so talked about, bus 5/306. During our journey, Maddie and I picked up an apple from a store and ate it while waiting in line for the bus to come, we heard the first bus leaves at 7:00am so we were there about 6:55am which was the perfect time. We loaded on and paid our 7¥ and headed out. I literally blew through a package of tissues. Luckily I brought an ample supply, and tried my hardest to take a nap. I noticed a few white girls in front of us but not American and fluent in mandarin, But didn't think anything of it until we got off the bus into an empty parking lot at 8:00am. A guy was talking to them and we weren't all too concerned about it until she told us that the Terracotta Warriors weren't open until 9:00am and this guy can take us to a few sites for about 5¥ if we pay for admission. We didn't really care but she was saying it was cheaper if more people go and we could be back in time for the Warriors to open. Whatever, let’s do it.

We hop into the car and the whole time he is driving I just keep thinking to myself.. blog post title “RIP Dell” and the fact that the last time  my group and I were seen was April 28th, 2013... No really it wasn't all that bad but I wasn't going in the car with the group with no guard up. I figured this was going to be one of those “you should have been there it was crazy!” or a total bust and we are left on the side of the street with nothing but the clothes on our backs and not so happy feelings. We drove maybe 10min before we pulled up to this building that said “underground palace” we paid 30¥ to get in and headed in. we saw a miniature version of some sort of palace layout in the middle of the square room with statues and figurines displaying daily life and/or military fighting, placed along the outside edge of the room. It was dark and hard to see inside but I was given a pamphlet that gave some sort of an explanation of what I was seeing since it was very much in Chinglish. Basically what we paid to see was a replication of the emperor's tomb who built the Terracotta Warriors... I think. It was the Qinling Underground Palace. We walked around the first floor thinking what the heck is this? I found a corner off to the side that had no figurines and some stairs. I waved Maddie over as I started to descend the stairs so she would know where I was going.

I saw that Maddie got Josh and Ben's attention as I lost sight of the group and started to climb even lower and lower. I felt like I was reenacting a movie scene, descending a spiraling stone staircase feeling the air get colder and the lights get weaker until I finally found myself face to face with a corridor... no way this is too cool and so creepy!!! I stood there motionless excitement and fear surging through my body. Is this really happening to me? This is too good to pass up but so freaky! I heard Maddie calling for me so I told her to come see this, she was even more freaked out than I was! I couldn't help but think of this past summer with Maddie and Makayla and all our haunted and abandoned house experiences and that made me just suck it up and put one foot in front of the other. But not without pulling out my phone to start recording just in case I didn't make it out and somehow my family got the video they could know I died with pure adrenaline and thrill running through my veins. AKA happy.

We walked for about a minute or so to turn the corner and see two frail looking bodies in a case. That was a great icing to our thrill as we looked closer we realized yes, it was fake but still what the heck is that there for? We continued walking and found ourselves standing on a balcony that ran across the whole room in a square. With figurines and sculptures representing different dynasty and social classes surrounding us. In the middle of the room, there was a square tomb set diagonally with a very decorated man inside. I’m assuming that was the emperor. It really was amazing to see but I am sure it would have been even better if we could have known exactly what we were seeing.

 We walked back up and back out of the building. I half expected the driver to not be there anymore but then again, we never paid him so it made sense that he jumped up and walked us over to the car. We got in and headed back over to the warriors. We paid him 5¥ each for his transportation and then made our way to the warriors.

We got there right on time at 9:00am and the place was already hopin! We started to head over to the entrance when I saw a building that said “information” so I peaked in there to see a man sitting there with a bunch of books around him. A lady walked over to me and told me the books are all about the warriors. (could a guessed that) but also, that I could get a book signed by the guy sitting by the books. At first I was confused why I would want him to sign the book but then after some explaining, I found myself face to face with the man who found the terracotta warriors! If that wasn't cool I don't know what was!

Yes, I know there were many farmers who found pieces here and there so its hard to credit just one man but I have met at least one of the farmers whose accidental encounter with underground clay pieces uncovered possibly one of the most intriguing modern day discoveries. Of course I got the book signed and then continued onward.

Maddie and I were approached by a tour guide who told us she could give us a tour for 120¥ we weren't really sure about it until she told us that we could get tickets for 60¥ instead of 120¥ if we showed her our student card (any card that has our picture on it, ie. High school card, college ID or drivers license) Ben and Josh didn't want to have a guide at all and I couldn't help but think, this is the one thing that I wanted to see on this vacation. I am traveling for 9 days and the main reason is for today. So I was willing to pay 60¥ if Maddie was, so it would be like paying full price but with a tour guide included. Maddie was in and we were set, the two of us, and our tour guide Lilly. Today is the day that I will see the Terracotta Warriors! We walked up to the first building of three, Lilly told us all the information that I write down from the Warriors, the 60¥ was worth it with all the things I learned from Lilly.

Emperor Qin Shin Huang, like all leaders of Chinas history, was very concerned about life after death because of their beliefs of where their souls will be when they die. When he was 13 years old, he started the construction of his tomb and the underground kingdom he felt would be under his rule after his death. If you ask me, Qin becomes quite obsessive and psychotic about the whole thing. All those who built the tomb or assisted in the construction were buried alive to keep its whereabouts a secret.

  All around this guys tomb, were pits dug up and filled with individually carved statues of a royal army. Each statue bearing a unique dress, physic and facial features. It is believed that each statue was carved to resemble a once living member of his army. Qin died before he could finish the statues and despite his son's efforts to finish the royal army of clay for his father, he died before they were all finished too.

After their deaths, the orders made by the Emperor to burn books, Confucius scholars and extreme acts to secure their spot on the throne and no possible way of a coup, their actions backfired and the farmers revolted. The Warriors were never fully finished but there are enough breath taking figurines to make the visit very worth while. I have a love hate relationship with these handcrafted ancient artifacts. As you walk into the first building, or “Pit 1” you are hit with the biggest and most intricate view of all 3 of the pits.

The rectangle shaped infantries and chariots form quadrate battalions. The formation of the warriors is as life like as you can get with Flanks facing outward to guard the sides and the rear of the army. This pit is actually not the real warriors. They were taken to preserve the original warriors. All the warriors are weaponless as their brass bladed swords were constructed with a wooden handle that decayed overtime and are not repairable. As I mentioned before, these warriors were kept a secret so the artists would construct their master pieces and then cover the top of them with a wood roof and soil over top of that to ensure the secrecy of the location and contents of the pits. Over time, the weight of the soil and the instability of the wooden roof caused the destruction of the underground royal army when the roofs caved in and the clay warriors were crushed. We took our time listening to Lilly and marveling over the intricacy of the warriors. Each Warrior has a signature on a part of their body to show the stamp of the artist. At first, I was thinking how cool it was that the artists got to be credited for their work until Lilly told us it was to see if the completed warrior did not pass inspection, that someone would be able to pay for the mistakes. No pressure.

We were lucky today as we looked over and saw a group of people in blue uniforms actually working in the pit, excavating some pieces! There are many parts of the pits that are not excavated because they want to preserve the color and condition of the Warriors. When I thought of the warriors I always just assumed that they were clay. But they are all not only individually carved but also painted! So Lilly was telling us that the Government wants to develop better technology before they do any more excavating so they can preserve the color of the rest of the warriors.

We moved to pit #2 which was a Ceremony pit where the generals and officers were found along with bones of animals that came from a sacrificial ceremony to ask for a successful battle. This one was smaller but like the first one, breath taking. The details of each Warrior and the time it would have taken to reconstruct the warriors is incredible. The artists that built the warriors built the warriors from the ground up, they started with the feet then the legs, did the body then the arms and hands and then pieced them together and finished with the construction of the head. That’s why there are so many warriors that don't have heads, not because they were stolen or not yet found, but because the artists didn't have time to finish them.

There are a few random pits throughout the warriors which turns out was a grave for a farmer built years after the Warriors had been crushed by natural causes. So really, there were many, many times the Warriors could have been discovered, but it wasn't until the farmers digging the wells decided to say something, when the world was introduced to this underground masterpiece. We saw the place where the well was dug and the rest of pit #3 which was mainly large replicas of warriors found underground and the significance of the few famous statues. This whole time I was amazed that I was standing in front of these Warriors. The things I have seen in books and never fully appreciated until now. Which is where the hate comes into my relationship. I wish so badly that I could capture what I saw today and show it to everyone but also, so I could continue to relive the experience for the rest of my life. But it’s just one of those things that I will never be able to fully describe in words. So I guess what I am trying to say is, you gotta see it to believe it.

Maddie and I met up with Ben and Josh at 11:30 and headed back to the train station. Again, my phone saved the day from taking pictures of the map at the airport last night, and we found the bus we needed to take to make it to the Great Muslim Mosque that everyone was saying we wanted to see.

We got off next to the Bell Tower which was also on the list of things to see in Xi'an so we walked up to the tower and saw... well, a whole lot of nothing other than a big bell.

 
It was so incredibly hot and we were so tired that we had to find motivation to get ourselves back up on our feet after sitting down to get to the mosque. I have been stuffed up, sore throat and sweating bullets all day and I was feeling it. Every time I put my back pack on, I swear someone put a brick into it. I was proud of myself for getting my things all into my back pack and thought that I was pretty awesome for having a 9 day vacation packed into a back pack, but the whole time I was second guessing the necessity of every article on my back. I was sweating, sniffing and trying to remind myself that this sickness is not going to be the reason I didn't see something. We ended up taking a stop at McDonald's and after devouring a double cheese burger, fries, orange juice and a Mcflurry guilt free and able to eat more if I wanted, I realized I might have been just torturing myself from lack of nutrition. I did feel better being in a cool place and having food in my tummy. How does one keep properly nourished and on a diet in China? Cuz I haven't figured it out. We headed down the street from McDonalds to find this so called Muslin Mosque. Our first glimpse signifying that we were in the right place was a woman standing on the street pushing a stroller with a head dress on. We turned the corner and headed into a market Maddie appropriately called the “hell hole” I don't know if it was the fact that I was already struggling with my own health and the weight on my back but its a good thing that I know all of China isn't like this place. There were lines of bloody skinned pigs hanging on chains in rows, stacks of meat and fly’s everywhere. The whole place was so dirty and stuck so bad that I could even smell it. The place was just so dirty. We walked out of the market area which I was very thankful for because we couldn't find the Mosque. I don't know exactly what it was but I felt so uncomfortable. If there was anywhere I felt that Taken was going to become my life story, it was there. I told josh and Ben if they wanted to see the Mosque then they needed to figure out the location within the market themselves. Maddie and I sat on the steps for a little bit them Ben and Josh came to tell us that the mosque was 100 meters in the market and on our left. Okay, here we go. We turned back into the nasty pit and held my breath to limit the amount of intake of air protruding from the place. I kept thinking, its not rocket science where the Bird flu came from... we walked for a few min when I told ben and josh to ask someone if we are going in the right direction. Josh pulls out the paper and hands it to the first person he saw... an old man barely able to put one foot in front of the other, so naturally standing up straight is out of the question. His coke bottle glasses weren't good enough to read large print let alone the paper Josh was trying to hand him but if the thinned hair, wrinkled skin and no teeth wasn't enough, perhaps the drool falling out of his mouth trailing on the ground? no. Ben took the paper out of his hand as maddie and I looked at each other... surrounded by a bunch of idiots. It was probably our lack of sleep, water intake and 100lbs on our back that caused the outburst of laughter from Maddie and I. We got directions from a girl capable of keeping her saliva in her mouth and continued on ward. If ben wouldn't have stopped us I would have walked right past it. We opened the creaking gates into a court yard of potted plants and faced the Mosque. Not going to lie, I was pretty disappointed but maybe it’s because we came at the wrong time? Either way, it made me thankful for the churches and temples. I am thankful for the sacredness our religion has for our temples and buildings. As I was sitting on the bench outside their prayer hall, I was having a hard time remembering the clean feeling I had getting up and out of bed at our hotel. Was it really less than 12 hours ago that I felt so clean and calm? Yeah, I felt crappy and sick but at least I was clean. I suppose because I’ve been raised LDS and surrounding myself in that culture where looking and dressing your best to go to church or the temple is respectful, I found myself thankful for the way my places of worship are built. I know that when I walk on the temple grounds I feel a difference, the grounds are kept and the environment is quiet and peaceful inviting a thought provoking environment allowing self-reflection. But sitting here on a bench, I couldn't help but feel bad. I realize that these people are happy with the way they are and with the way they worship because if they weren't, they wouldn't do it. But I am very thankful for the knowledge I have of the gospel and the ability to have places to worship that create the feeling of separation to escape from this crazy busy world.

We went back out of the street and decided that we would hit the Wild Goose Pagoda which was the last thing on our list, but being as tired and drained as we were, we voted to take a taxi. During our travels we checked off the Drum tower and the City wall so the tower was the only thing left. We hopped onto the taxi and made our way. We arrived at the Pagoda and walked through the park surrounding it. We found a patch of grass and set my jacket down. Situated my bags, propped my feet up on my stuff and woke up 40min later. It was so nice to get some sleep and some sort of relaxation. Ben had gone exploring with Josh while Maddie and I “watched” our stuff. It was time to make it back to the train station so we went on the street and tried to flag down taxi after taxi... 30min passed by and that is when I had to keep reminding myself that panic won't do anything but give me zits so I needed to stay calm and look like I needed a ride. Finally a car pulled up, not a taxi but he asked where we wanted to go and told us it would be 20¥ no problem, I remembered what my mom said about “black taxi” where people pick you up and offer to take you somewhere for cheap but then they drop you off and take your stuff and leave you stranded. But here is the deal, if we said no, we wouldn't have a ride and would miss our train and be stranded or we could take this guy’s ride and maybe get there on time. The only difference if he doesn't take us to the train is we wouldn't have our stuff which was only weighing me down right then, literally. So we piled the 4 of us in his 4 seated car, and rolled down the window. It was so hot in the car cramming 3 in the back and Ben in the front with our driver was way too much body heat along with the heat of the sun. if I wasn't sweaty before I definitely was then. With my bags on my lap, just in case he tries to ditch us I could keep it with me; I set my head down on my bag and closed my eyes. It was about 20 min later that I opened my eyes and found us stuck in traffic. Hmmm shoulda thought of rush hour when deciding what time to get back to the bus... oops. So I struck up a conversation with the bus driver with my English to Chinese dictionary/phrase book. I told him that we are new fried. Instead of friends and he thought that was pretty funny. A couple hundred mis pronounced words later, he dropped us off at the train station. Thank goodness he didn't want to abandon us on the side of the road! Although after he gave me his QQ number I was pretty sure he wasn't planning on stripping us of everything we own or selling us to a human trafficking ring. We got out and Ben insisted we had to run. I wasn't stressed. We had 25min till the train left and all we needed to do is go through there sorry excuse for security but, I followed the crowd and ran with my million pound backpack on my back. We got through security and I helped Maddie learn how to read the ticket and figure out which platform we were on and which car to get into and we arrived 10min before the train was scheduled to leave. Phew! After the Warriors, I was looking forwards to this train ride. You know that I am not right in the head when the thought of a 28hour train right is a relief. I really really want to enjoy this trip and experience everything but it’s so hard with how crappy I am feeling right now! I hopped on the train, found my bunk and said hi to everyone. I strategically placed my bags and rubbed my tender shoulders, took of my shoes and laid down. I peeled my eyes open and was confused on why it was so quiet until I realized it was 9:59pm... huh. Well, I followed the crowd and lay back down to sleep for the night. I woke up this morning waiting for a miracle, but perhaps the miracle had already started and was that I made it through today. It was one of the most amazing and grueling days of my life. Happy it happened but so glad its over.