Arrival in X'Ian
The airport
X'Ian where you arrive in the early afternoon on a flight from Beijing is rather far from the city. Lunch in the restaurant of the airport but will be the worst meal of the whole tour in China, the only justification now a little late. I could not eat almost anything, luckily something to eat there had served on the plane. Crossing an area of countryside we reach
X'Ian to visit the local archaeological museum.
X'Ian is the cradle of Chinese civilization, was several times the capital, many emperors ruled from here including those of the ancient Qing dynasties, the Tang and early Ming. The museum contains precious exhibits of the various historical periods that characterized
X'Ian and the Province of Shaanxi including many metal artefacts such as pottery. There is also some terracotta warrior subtracted from those found in the famous excavations. From Beijing we followed our guide, the young Franco, who here has added a local guy who gives us a concise description of what we see preserved in glass cases. The museum is well kept and organized an excellent demonstration of the efficiency with which China should be proud. From here we move towards the center surrounded by very long and strong walls that form a rectangle from which occasionally projecting bastions. We enter the door south then visited by climbing over the broad walkway. From above we see the gap below that made this complex of walls impregnable. Along the route there are festoons of colored residue recent Lantern Festival, in practice are fanciful shapes that are illuminated on this occasion. After visiting this section of wall from the microbus messoci available to us to stay at the Hotel. This morning we got up early so after dinner we opt to retire to our rooms.
The clay Warriors, the Mosque, the shows
We start the day with a hearty breakfast at the hotel. As usual the staff in China is greater than the true needs and so should be noted that in order to cook a couple of scrambled eggs, there are but two chefs, one who breaks the shell and the other cooks. This is nothing new here, I saw stores with only a couple of people involved to close and open the door but in this country have more than one billion people and all they will have to work!
X'Ian has given so much to the history of China but would not be here if many to come during the digging of a well, a peasant had accidentally discovered the famous terracotta warriors. We had a preview yesterday watching those exposed to the museum but today we expect the entire army. Before you get there stop at a factory that produces state terracotta soldiers in series and furniture wax. We are shown the molds which are produced and attend a process. It then shows an area of countryside where some pyramidal mound, tomb of the emperors of ancient dynasties. Near one of these mounds, that of Emperor of Quin who began the construction of the Great Wall, was his great army buried with him to defend the valley that housed his grave. The thousands of statues, each one unique, some are kept in hangars, the excavations have not yet been completed and during our visit, we see a group of experts engaged in examining the remains. There are parts of the army nancora not restored, while others have soldiers deployed in battle with a lot of horses in tow. However, no weapons that were stolen by a General some years after the death of the Emperor and the wagons of wood consumed by time. After the visit to the hangar we enter the Army Museum which has large glass cases inside the bronze chariot of the emperor and some armor. At the exit of the archaeological find the famous farmer who accidentally discovered the warriors initiating the development of tourism
X'Ian and surrounding area, is here to sign autographs and take take a fucking but everything is strictly a fee. Its authenticity was confirmed by the images on display that show him with the Chinese President and Bill Clinton. After his trip to town, after lunch we visit the Big Wild Pagoda duck, a high multi-storey building built to house the Buddhist scriptures brought from India that a Monaco. The pagoda is part of a monastery where there are a few recent buildings that tell the history of the Monaco-traveler through graffiti on metal. The Buddhist complex overlooking two large squares one of which has a spectacular fountain in the center and is crowded with people during a party. From here you can walk in the old town after traveling for some distance the road that runs around the walls that contain it. The heart of the city passes through the Drum and Bell Towers, near which lies the area with the Great Islamic Mosque. Islam came this far with the merchants who traveled the long road of silk that after thousands of kilometers from the Mediterranean through Central Asia came to
X'Ian. The Grand Mosque has an architecture closely with a Buddhist pagoda in place of the minaret. The temple is surrounded by a Suk very neat, very different from those found in other Islamic cities, the only similarity is that even here we must negotiate. The various stalls and I two of my fellow travelers prefer the Chinese shadow theater which provides a brief show at the sound of traditional instruments. We do not understand anything of what they say but it's nice to see the shadows move these shapes lit from behind a curtain. The theater is located inside an old mansion with lots of furnishings and garden. Let the center of the microbus
X'Ian to reach a large theater that instead of the audience has an elegant restaurant with tables on two floors. We get seated upstairs, the service is fine, there's a rose on the table and we eat while we are entertained by the melodious sound of a Chinese stringed instrument. At the end of the meal, one of the best of the whole tour, you open the curtain and start a wonderful show dedicated to the Tang dynasty. If the first Quin made famous with their
X'Ian Terracota warriors of the Tang represent the golden age of the city during its millennial history. The Tang represented in China what the Renaissance was to Europe. For the duration of the performance we appreciate the immaculate scenery, graceful dances of the dancers, the melody of the music played with traditional Chinese instruments marked by the lilting sweetness of sounds by the beat of drums. Parading emperors, empresses, concubines, eunuchs, dignitaries in a blaze of grace and harmony, a show that will remain in our memory forever. After these two very intense hours returning to the hotel completely satisfied.
X'Ian
We get up early and after the usual hearty breakfast in Hotel going up on the minibus at our disposal for a last visit to the city. We walk along the boulevard that surrounds the massive walls and reached the Little Pagoda Wild duck and the surrounding park. Also in this park, as we saw in the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, there are elderly people who dance and do Tai Chi. The Pagoda is much smaller homonym defined Grande that we visited yesterday afternoon, also because of an earthquake long ago it lacks the top. Nearby we enter into an exhibition room of paintings and Chinese writing where a girl writes on a sheet on our behalf with the local character. These are all tricks to induce the purchase, yesterday in the Temple of the Great Pagoda esdempio gave us a postcard with the stamp of our zodiac sign, different from our Western sign. Write in Chinese art and is a writer in beautiful calligraphy is considered an artist in the same way as a painter. Moreover I believe that it is not easy to resolve these complicated monograms. Let
X'Ian and head to the airport via the campaign. At least we met
X'Ian police in Beijing but the city is still orderly and clean. Our flight takes us to the south-west, we landed in Guilin which I will describe in its itinerary.