The China travel diary: Beijing and Xian
Here we are my first trip outside Europe, apart from the humanitarian mission in Somalia made in 1992 ...
> The start takes place July 28 from Bologna, with a stopover in Rome, to take the Air China flight CA 940, Boeing 747 aircraft, arriving in Beijing July 29 ...
> A journey so long I had never done, but I had no problem, but the remake ... immediately!
> You ask: "Why China ???". Simple: because I was always attracted and then, at the time, I prefer to first visit the East ...
> Upon arrival in the capital, Beijing, which has a population of 10,000,000 and 8,000,000 of bicycles, the weather is bad, with 95% humidity and a cloak of smog inexplicable ...
> The first visit is to the Temple of Heaven, unique in structure and meaning, and now a park where the shade of pines and cypress trees, young and old together early in the morning to practice traditional gymnastics, the "Taijiquan "or to the usual picnic ... The complex was built at the same time as the imperial cities (1406-1420) and was to be the place of ritual contact between heaven and earth (the sky was seen by ancient Chinese round and the earth square: the sky, the sun and the Emperor was reserved odd numbers).
> A recommended route is to see me, with before, the Circular Altar, the Imperial time Celeste and the Temple of prayer ... it really is worth the pain ...
> Then visit the Temple of the Lama, literally the Palace of Eternal Harmony, one of the larger temples and best preserved of the capital. Originally was the palace of Yangzheng, fourth son of Kangxi (1662-1723). Adjacent to the temple is a monastery, which houses 300 monks Lamaisti (followers of the Dalai Lama) and 200 students, including Chinese and Tartars, involved in the study of the dharma, mathematics, rhetoric and medicine. Exiting to the north is the Hall of Eternal Security, the Buddha of Longevity, and to its left, the Buddha of Medicine ...
> On July 31, early in the morning, I go to visit the square of the wider world, which stretches 800 meters in length and 500 in width, whose name is "Tiananmen": it houses the portrait of Mao Tse Tung and is very publicized by the news.
> By then, in the monumental, gigantic, elegant, magnificent Forbidden City. This complex extends over an area of 5 square kilometers and goes back mainly to the fourteenth century. The palace is surrounded by a moat 50 meters wide, still full of water, where today you go in the boat, and a boundary wall 13 meters high ... To visit the Forbidden City requires at least 2 hours, but worth it, even if it has been partly rebuilt ...
> One of the most characteristic streets of Beijing is Dazhalan: it is possible to admire the seventeenth century houses, some of which are decorated with multicolored stucco.
> I move 20 km north of Beijing to visit the Summer Palace. Step, then, at the necropolis of the Ming, or "Shisanling" which literally means "the 13 tombs, which are located on hills Tiansaeshan ...
> I have not said something very important: in Beijing restaurants close very early, usually around 20.00 ...
> The next morning I head to 64 km from the big city to see the Great Muraliga at Badaling, which the Chinese call "Wang Li Chang Cheng". This is the work done by and visible to the naked eye from the moon: it is indeed very long 6350 kilometers, as the crow flies, from its westernmost point (step Jiayuguan in Gansu province). The Great Wall was a means of defense from the Mongols, but also a fortified road, allowing rapid movement of goods for commerce, and defense forces. To describe this work are not enough words or comments ... talk about it all ... if you look in the main entrance there are several very distinctive shops that sell miniature of Wall and many other small souvenirs at really modest prices ... Not to mention the impromptu kitchens , where with $ 2 you can eat!
> There are also some of the fishmongers' "special", which leaves me very puzzled ... I wonder why ... Simple: in them, on the one hand and sell the fish on the other ... you can choose your serpentello beautiful, naturally alive, ready to be put in the pot!
> The birth August 2, with an Air China flight to Xian. This city is the capital of Shaanxi Province and is located at 466 meters altitude on the plains of Guanzhang, south of the river Wei, and has 6.5 million inhabitants.
> The first visit I make to the Ming walls, most of which have been restored and returned to its former splendor. They have a perimeter of 12 km, is 12 meters high and wide from 12 to 14 meters tall and between 15 and 18 meters at the base ... In my opinion it is worth seeing, however is not so for the inner city ...
> Very special is the Stele Forest, adjacent to the Temple of Confucius. These stems bear clan Buddhist texts on stone Kaicheng, as well as historical texts, treaties of art and philosophy, critical to artists and painters and entire anthologies ...
> Move to the south by the Ming walls, visit the Big Wild Pagoda dell'Oca and the Temple of Goodwill, which date back to 647 AD, then restored in 1580 ... but, honestly, I think that has been recently made some adjustments, because that is all too perfect ...
> In March of 1974 (the year when I was born !!!), the farmer Yang Zhifa, trying to dig a well to draw water to be used for irrigating the fields, he found the head of a terracotta warrior, 5 meters deep, a mile and half east of the mound of the imperial Qin Shihuangdi ... So, 2 years later, in 1976, archaeologists began the excavation of inspection pits and the light was the archaeological discovery of the twentieth century: l ' terracotta army.
> The complex was protected by a huge hangar and is not allowed to take photos. In 1987, UNESCO has included in the complex of human cultural heritage.
> There are three ditches, each containing a part of the Army of Terracotta, height of the real man ... The first pit is 5 meters deep, 230 long X 62 meters wide, for a total area of 14,260 sqm. It contains 6000 senior warriors between 1.75 and 1.97 meters, which certainly were part of the imperial guard, given the stature far higher than the average Chinese ... Three rows of 70 crossbowmen and archers each open the phalanx on the eastern side and, behind to them, arranged in 36 rows of 150 soldiers each, there are several teams, each of which is arranged on 4 rows, which is assisted by a wagon fitted by a charioteer and an archer and drawn by four horses (2 meters long and 1.5 meters high to hock).
> The second pit is in the shape of "L" and is the most interesting. It was opened to the public in November 1994, is 6,000 square meters wide and contains an army composed of 3 battalions, one infantry, one cavalry and guerrillas in armor, for a total of 900 warriors ... The interesting thing is that every warrior is different: the hair appear to have been made in haste and the uniforms are different and invoices Armor, to emphasize that the imperial guard was composed of fighters of the various armies from across China.
> At the third and final step to ditch the traditional corner shop that sells souvenirs and, remember, purchase two statues that represent two terracotta warriors, of course small, even