Xi'an and the Terracotta Warriors

Day 6 Xi’an

Backdrop in foyer

We arrived at our Hotel in Xi'an about 10.30pm last night.  It was a beautiful hotel with a most amazing foyer. Despite our late travels the previous night we were off again at 9am to probably our next most important destination after the Great Wall – the Terracotta Warriors. 

Xi'an skyscrapers

Xian is a completely different city to Beijing in appearance. There was much colour in the form of flowers, trees, and lighting.  There have been some massive changes in recent years and the number of high rise buildings here is incredible.  Where in England we may have rows of terraced houses here there are rows of 40-50 floor skyscrapers.  

The population is currently much lower than Beijing at 8.8 million but must obviously cover a much smaller area too.  Xi’an is in the Shaanxi province. It marks the beginning and the end of the famous Silk Road.  It is known as the cradle of Chinese civilisation and the heart of China and was a buzzing capital before everything moved northwards to Beijing.

Locals waiting to see the terracotta army

piecing together the warriors

and the horses

So to the Terracotta Army.  By now we have realised that you do not travel anywhere fast in China or that you can get away from crowds of people.  The centre created for the display of the Terracotta warriors was no exception.  However this did not detract at all from the sights that were to unfold.  Most people will have seen pictures of this army but until you are actually here and see the sheer scale of the army that Qin Shi Huang created to protect him in the afterlife you cannot really appreciate it.  The whole area and its treasures remained undiscovered until 1974 when some peasants drilling for a well uncovered an underground vault that eventually led to the discovery of thousands of terracotta soldiers and horses in battle formation.  Or should I say millions of pieces as the whole army was destroyed shortly after the death of Qin Shi Huang and has painstakingly been put back together by Chinese archaeologists.  This job continues today.

Leaving this sight we could see the hill where the mausoleum of the same emperor is located.  This mausoleum has still to be excavated. From historical records it is believed that this tomb is filled with precious stones, rivers of mercury and ‘tomb raider’ like defences against intruders. Whilst it has not be excavated probes have tested mercury levels which are about 100 time’s normal concentrations making it a poisonous and dangerous area to enter.

 We continued our drive through Xi’an where we noticed lots of lovely parks and some old style Chinese buildings as well as the aforementioned skyscrapers. Our next stop was the Shaanxi History Museum.  Whilst this is down in the guide books as a place to see Mike and I found it disappointing.  Perhaps it was because the main building was under renovation but there were only a few exhibits on display with little information for the British tourist.  So back to the Hotel for an hour to get changed ready for a night’s entertainment as tonight we were going to witness a Chinese show called the Tang Dynasty Show.  This was an evening of dance, song, and music that told the story of a concubine who worked her way into the emperor’s favour and eventually became the Empress herself.  It was a very colourful event and very different to British musicals – we all had a good time.

Last day in Beijing

We left the hotel at 8.30am but any attempts to miss the morning traffic were futile. It took us another hour to get across the city to reach the Summer Palace.  On a glorious sunny Saturday it looked as most of the 27 million in Beijing had brought their families out for a summer walk and a picnic.  I don’t think I have ever seen so many people walking around.

The Summer Palace was were the emperors went to get away from the Forbidden City. In those days there was a water axis which joined the two but this is no longer there.  In the 18^th Century emperor Qianlong considerably enlarged the quarter and deepened and expanded the lake, known as Kunming Lake. The area has a turbulent history of being destroyed and rebuilt with a major restoration by Empress Dowager Cixi in the late 1800s.  The Lake which takes up ¾ of the park was a real highlight.  It was a pleasure to walk around underneath the magnificent white magnolia trees in full blossom, to watch old men writing ancient characters, to view the various temples adorned with bronze animal statues and generally to be outside on a sunny spring day.  

Another attraction was the Long Corridor -its 750 m length being adorned with paintings throughout.  Passing through this and walking further around the Lake took us to Cixi’s marble boat. It was never meant to sail but its stone effect acted as a deterrent to vandalism. 

From here we caught a ‘Dragon Boat’ which took us across the Lake for our final viewing of the Park.

Walking away from the Summer Palace we met up with our coach driver who drove us across town to a restaurant so that we could experience the Peking Duck. This is a speciality of Beijing.  This was a wonderful meal consisting of many dishes including duck, fish, chicken, pork, a spicy aubergine dish and still more.  This was our last meal in Beijing and we dined like emperors. 

Feeling to full to move and a little sleepy from the wine we headed out to the Olympic Stadium.  This gave us all a chance to see the Birds Nest stadium, the Cube – where the swimming and diving was held and to generally appreciate the space and development that was the Olympic Park.  We only had 40 minutes here as we needed to head off to the airport to fly to Xi’an – our next city.

The Great Wall of China

“He who has not climbed the Great Wall is not a true man” Mao Zedong.

Mike living his dream

There was no time for a swim this morning as we had to be on the coach ready for the drive to Mutianyu by 8am. This was stretch of the Great Wall that had been restored and was renowned for being quite beautiful.  The advantage of gaining access to the wall at this point was that it was slightly less touristy than Badaling but did have a cable car which took you directly to the Wall itself.  This meant we could put our energies into walking along the wall rather than trying to reach it.  We still didn't quite understand the need to put the Wall right along the top of the mountain ridge.  Any invader would have been exhausted by the time they got to it. 

steep steps on the Wall

We were so fortunate with the weather as we had a beautiful sunny day.  There was still a lot of haze around which did reduce the photo quality but with temperatures in the mid 20s there was nothing to complain about. Well, there were a lot of steps and I mean a lot of steep steps.  In the two miles we walked along the wall we climbed 85 flights.  Health and safety is not big in China so there were some parts that were difficult to negotiate – mainly again due to the steepness of the steps without any handrails and if going up was tough, coming back down was just as bad. Many people chose to come down on their backsides. However, Mike pushed on even beyond the part of the Wall that had been renovated and was rather pleased with himself for going the furthest distance.

Our group leader, David

Both Mike and I felt that this part of the day met our expectations perfectly.  How privileged to be walking the ‘Great Wall’ A dream for both of us that has now been met.

Taking a break

We spent about three hours in this area and though we wished we could have spent longer the disadvantage of travelling with a large group is that compromises have to be made to meet the needs of all. Some less fitter members were not able to make the climb and waited patiently for a couple of hours for those who did want to walk a good section of the Wall.

From Mutianyu we drove through the Chinese countryside, where the fruit blossom is just emerging, to a fish farm.  Here we had locally prepared food including trout amongst the now similar dishes of meat and vegetables.  It was all beautifully prepared, seasoned and enjoyed before we headed back to Beijing. 

Children being awarded a certificate 

The traffic was very heavy, as it is most days and it was around 5pm before we made it back to the Hotel. Just time to go for a quick swim and to repack our cases for tomorrow before we were taken out to yet another Chinese restaurant for more food.  Tomorrow we spend our final day in Beijing before flying out in the evening to Xi'an.

A final view - look at the plum blossom

Beijing - Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, Hutongs and Temple of Heaven

In Tienanamen Square

Our first full day in Beijing. We both slept well but jet lag effects meant we woke frequently in the night and were wide awake by 5.30am. We had agreed to go swimming when the pool opened at 7am and we were the first customers there. It was a lovely pool and a good thing to get a swim in before breakfast.  Breakfast was a good mix of oriental and traditional British food. We both decided to go for the Chinese breakfast and enjoyed such things as celery pancakes and bean curd stir fry.  There was little time to get ready for the coach as this left the hotel at 8.30am.

Mike in Tienanmen Square

Our first stop this morning was Tienanmen Square. We had lovely guides on our coach who gave us all a good background, including the censorship issues. We therefore learnt that the Square was the largest open space in world rather than the scene of student revolution and deaths.  We were also warned of the possibility of undercover secret police on the Square and to watch what we spoke about. This may seem far fetched to the reader but as Jacqui has struggled to read her work emails (which are linked to a gmail account) and to share any of our activities via Face book we are now fully aware that the Chinese do impose restrictions on freedom of speech. Everything that is linked to google is blocked. 

Vehicles for the cleaners of the Square

Inside the Forbidden City

Anyway this is drifting off the purpose of this blog.  We did have a good wander around this vast site. Even though it was relatively early in the morning it was a very busy place. But then with 27 million people in Beijing alone it is not surprising.  Crossing Tiananmen Square takes you straight to the Forbidden City.  This the largest palace complex in the world and was the home of various Chinese Royal families for about 500 years.  It was built in the 15^th Century and was the imperial home for at least two major Chinese dynasties. This takes us back to the imperial rule of the Emperors who had very special privileges and those of their wife and concubines and other carefully selected personnel. It was opened to the public in 1925.

Water cauldron in Forbidden City

Whilst it was impossible not to be taken aback by the sheer scale of the palace and the many temples and great halls we found the place lacked atmosphere.  Even the garden at the end whilst full of cypress trees that were hundreds of years old there was no colour apart from one cherry and one magnolia tree that were in blossom. Part of the lack of the flowers was to remove the potential for poisoning different members of the household as this was a common cause of death.

One of the highlights for Jacqui today was being asked by an elderly Chinese couple if they could  have their photo taken with her.  This became a common theme on our trip with frequent requests perhaps because they dont see many tall Caucasian women.

From this area we picked up our coach and were taken to the Hutong area.  The Hutongs are described as the heart and soul of the city as this is where some of the working class live, characterised by their small living accommodation -3m square kitchens are not unheard of.  Hutong means 'narrow alleyway' which meant our coach could not travel through them so we were dropped off and directed to a rickshaw.  We were then cycled through these narrow streets until we reached our destination for lunch, a fun way to get your dinner.  The idea being that we would sample local traditional home made chinese food.  It was very good – various dishes: chicken, pork various vegetables and of course served with sticky rice.  It has to be sticky otherwise it falls off your chopsticks.  Perhaps the fun element here was the toilets.  We had already become aware that the traditional Chinese toilet is a hole in the ground. Generally when we had stopped there was at least a couple of 'western loos' but for the ladies at least there there was only one which meant a large queue or we had to use the Chinese toilets.  The additional downside was that there was no lockable door either – more like a cattle stall! But with lots of laughter and comments like ‘once you’ve seen one you’ve seen them all’ we had a good communal pee. That’s female fellowship for you!

After lunch we took the rickshaws back to our coach but unfortunately disaster hit one of our group.  Poor Mo fell as she got into her rickshaw and sliced her leg open. She had to be taken to hospital and have stitches. Mo was a tough cookie and did not want to be sent home so she continued the trip using a wheelchair where she could.

Temple of Heaven

Our next stop was the Temple of Heaven. It is now a large urban landscape but was previously used by the emperor to pray for good harvests and rains.  Unusually the main temple here is round rather than rectangular but again full of colour. But perhaps it is the activities in the park that are more interesting.  It is here you will find men and women playing cards or chess, it is here that caged birds are taken for a walk and where you can see people dancing or doing Tai Chi. We saw a group of older men playing with a large weighted shuttlecock that they kicked around and we think the aim was for it not to touch the ground.  We later learnt this was called ‘jianzi’.  It was fascinating to watch their versatility in keeping this shuttlecock in the air with just their feet.

From here we were taken to a tea room.  We were introduced to the tea ceremony and invited to try 4 teas.  All were brewed much less than we do so in the UK. We tried, oolong, jasmine, leichi and p’ur teas.  The leichi one was a black tea that was smoked in lychee husks and so picked up a fruity taste.  We both

Tea time

  liked this one and so bought some to take home.

Our final stop before getting back to the hotel was for supper.  This was another traditional Chinese meal with multiple meat and vegetable dishes.

It was a long day as we were out of the hotel for about 12 hours so we were both glad to get home for an early night because tomorrow we are going to the Great Wall.

Days 1 and 2: 27th -28th March 2018

In Shanghai

 An early start this morning to pick up our coach to Heathrow. Thank heaven for our very kind neighbour David, who volunteered to be our taxi driver to Newcastle. Although there was a huge tail back on the M6 due to yet another accident on this notorious stretch of motorway everyone arrived in time. We therefore set off on time picking up our fellow passengers in Trentham, Stone and Stafford making up our party for China of 39. We had one stop on our way down. Here we were advised by David our tour leader from regent travel in Stone, to fill up on traditional English food as we were warned that after two weeks of rice and noodles we would be pining for burgers and chips. I’m not sure I would agree with that but Mike and I did enjoy tucking into a hot bacon roll - with brown sauce of course.

The Great Wall of China

Our journey down to Heathrow was so uneventful that we arrived a full four hours before our flight. Still plenty of time to start relaxing, reading our books and enjoying everything that terminal 5 can offer which is not much. However we have guaranteed that some of our fellow travellers will want to get to know us as we volunteered to carry on the wine boxes for our pre dinner drinks. (Chinese wine is not up to our standards or so we have been informed although we plan to test this for ourselves.) We have been advised that one of the better red Chinese wines is called the ‘Great Wall’ so Mike and I will look out for that.

So far so good - our flight was called on time and we boarded the plane and settled down for our 9.5 hour flight to Beijing.  Plenty of time to watch some films; both of us watched 'The shape of water' and 'Paddington 2'.   Two films that were poles apart in so many ways and yet both very enjoyable. Mike also watched Justice League.  Mike finds it diffciult to sleep on planes so continually watches the screen whilst I do try and get some rest although actually sleep is hard to come by.

  

Getting out of the airport took quite a while and then we were hit by the smog that Beijing is infamous for.  It is early in the season to get such a climate but this week is unseasonably hot and there has been a sand storm creating the conditions we experienced today.  However we have been promised blue skies for tomorrow. First impressions of Beijing - a very busy city, lots of traffic and people.

And so we arrive at our hotel in Beijing nearly 24 hours after getting up in England.

Sculpture in Tiannamen Square

At the hotel the whole group went to their rooms and got about three hours sleep before we met for a pre supper drink in our tour manager’s room. David had bought some duty free wine and we all gathered in his bedroom – yes all 39 of us, before we went to the restaurant for supper.  Previous to this Mike and I had also had a further explore of the hotel and had located the swimming pool.  There was a sign there that allowed me to pull Mike's leg and make us both laugh.  The entrance contained a notice warning that children under 10 years and those over 60 should be accompanied by a family member.  I must be getting older as 60 seems ludicrously early to impose such advice.

For supper we shared food at tables of 10- all being of a ‘lazy susan’ set up. Dish after dish then came from the kitchen and was shared amongst us all washed down with plentiful amounts of beer. We had a spicy noodle dish, beef and chicken dishes, two different dumpling dishes, cabbage and pork, an aubergine dish plus salad, green beans and broccoli dishes plus the obligatory egg fired rice.  It was quite a banquet that was drawn out a little as we all got used to using chopsticks.  The main issue for me is how to cut up large pieces of meat with a chop stick.

The Forbidden City from Tiannamen Square

A few of us went out to stretch our legs outside the hotel and then came back for a coffee before departing for the night. Mike and I had intended to upload our blog each day but had forgotten that China have complete ban on all things related to google so no messenger, whats app etc etc. Already we have realised how much we use google in our daily lives eg for checking facts and keeping in touch. I am not sure how I will cope with not keeping an eye on my work emails but I am sure it will be good for me.   Tomorrow we have a busy day as we are visiting Tiannamen Square, The Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven as our main attractions. So we are both hoping for a good nights sleep to get rid of any jet lag and good weather for our trip.

We are therefore going to have to upload our blog when we get back but still intend to make daily posts - just a fortnight behind time.

Off to China

So some years after our creating our blog about our travels around Europe it is time to connect again with our followers. In four days time we will be on our way to Beijing. Mike has wanted to visit China for a long time and now this time has arrived. Please follow us on our journey.