Xi'an airport was the first place where I've ever been ushered off the plane, onto a bus and then driven to the terminal. It was a fairly organized affair, and soon we were out. A driver had been arranged for us in Xi'an, and we went out into the crisp air to wait. Quickly, airport staff, who's sole job appears to be helping people figure out how to get into town, came and talked to us, and made a call to the driver to help us find him. The driver himself didn't speak English, but we communicated some basics, and (I think) he told me that he was happy I spoke a little Mandarin (although I really had trouble understanding him. A hint: when speaking to a foreigner, speak SLOWLY!).
The highway into the city was clean, new, and almost entirely empty of cars. We seemed to have the only defensive driver in the Mainland, going 90 in 120 zones and keeping several car lengths in front of him. Xi'an was different than Beijing and Shanghai-a little less polished, much older (as in, dating back to several hundred years before Christianity). It's still quite a rich city, however. The walls surrounding the city were beautiful and old, although whether the LED lights lighting them up added or detracted to the beauty is debatable. As it was late, we made plans with the driver to meet the next day, and checked into our hostel.
This hostel was much more geared towards foreigners than the last one. After checking in, we went out for a walk around, looking for something to munch on. The smaller streets, including the one with our hostel, were filled with little plastic tables and chairs, makeshift outdoor seating areas for restaurants (these were also seen in Beijing), with the young children of the owners seeming to be the busboys (as in, three years old).
The next day, we set out for Xi'an's biggest site: the terracotta warriors. They were located about an hour's drive outside the city. Leaving the city limits was very different from Shanghai and Beijing. In these cities, the edges of the city resembled Calgary or Vancouver-new developments, with neat rows of cookie cutter houses, shopping complexes, and high rise buildings. Xi'an reminded me more of the Canadian Maritimes-grittier,older, less artificial. For sure, in the entire mainland we saw lots of gray and pollution, and Xi'an was no exception. While driving through the region we also passed row after row of high rises under construction, with workers scurrying across the roads to work on buildings which disappeared into the smog.
As with all other sites in China, the site of the warriors was swarming with people looking to be our guides. The interesting thing here was that, when we pretended not to speak English, only French, they switched to broken French. I would have loved to spend the day finding out in how many languages they can say "A guide?" But we went right up to the counter, asked for the, as usual, not-advertised-in-English student ticket. Finding our way to the warriors themselves wasn't easy, as the area is filled with shops. Even after passing the two ticket-takers, it's still difficult to locate the warriors.
The buildings open to tourists are pits one through three. We actually went into pits two and three first, and nearly left without seeing pit one, the main attraction. The warriors are quite impressive, given the thought that they were made several hundred years BCE-which is to say, they're really really really old!
When we met up with the driver again, we headed back into Xi'an. He dropped us in an area near the South Gate 南门of the city walls. This area, near a calligraphy museum, was filled with little stalls selling brushes and calligraphy. This was, however, the first touristy area in China where we weren't accosted by people trying to sell us stuff, and so it was nice to walk around in the midday breeze, enjoying the scene. We then headed up to the Bell Tower and Drum tower, in the fashionable shopping area of the city. It was here that, after more than a week in the mainland, the tiredness hit us strongly. But, we continued, and dragged ourselves down another shopping area (where we were, once again, aggressively sold to. Tip: calculators are used to negotiate price, but once you have it in your hands, they won't let you leave) to mosque street. This area was unique in that it was a combination of Chinese and Muslim cultures-Chinese architecture, with Arabic words and Quaranic verses.
By the time we got back to where we were to meet our driver, we had about an our and a half to wait, and zero energy. We sat probably forty-five minutes, and then wondered over to a roller rink slightly outside the walls, where we watched people show off their skills, before heading out again.
For the last stop of the day (the whole trip really), the driver took us to the "Big Goose Pagoda". At first, we wound up in some weird museum unrelated to the pagoda, and, after posing for a picture with tourists from Shanbei who seemed never to have seen foreigners before (much less ones who could ask them where they were from), we headed for dinner. We had zero guilt about the fact that we finally cracked and ate western food-really good pasta. Afterwards, we grabbed some ice cream (the world's worst. To quote my friend "I'm trying to figure out what plastic this Ice Cream's made of. I think Nylon is a serious contender"), and checked out the pagoda at night. All light up in LED fashion, we found an area full of bumper cars, movie theaters, and families, kids, teenagers, and old folks all out for a stroll.
After that, we headed back to catch some sleep before our early flight. The flight was quick and smooth, and we were soon in Shenzhen, the city just across the border from HK, where domestic flights are often much cheaper. The only part of Shenzhen really worth mentioning is to let the unsuspecting traveler know that to get back, A-you must spend around 100 RMB for the bus, and B-you may need to change buses at Kowloon Station if heading to the Island, but they'll only announce this in Cantonese, which we discovered the hard way, being dumped in Yau Ma Tei.
To conclude, I absolutely, positively, loved every second of the Mainland. It's an amazing and fascinating place. It's full of energy, enthusiasm, and progress. It's also clearly a place which much progress to still be made, which makes it a fascinating place to visit, and a fascinating time to go there. Although we were often stared at (something I hadn't really expected, since it almost never happens in Hong Kong), I never felt that it was malicious in anyway-on the contrary, people often smiled widely at us, waved, and practiced their "hellos" (including the most adorable group of pre-schoolers crossing from Shenzhen back into HK), and my only major regret is my inability to communicate better with them. So, for anyone considering heading to the Mainland, I advise you to: pack a good phrase book and a sense of adventure, leave your reservations (about food, about culture, about looking like an idiot) behind, never go for the first price offered in a shop, smile back at the people staring at you, and enjoy every second of it!
No comments:
Post a Comment