The Middle of the Middle Kingdom

From March 25-28, my roommate from Hong Kong and I made an epic journey to Xian, the ancient capital of China, located in the center of China around 12 hours by train from Beijing. We took an overnight train there, stayed one night, and took an overnight train back. If you have never taken a train in China, then you haven't really lived--as my friend Peter puts it, you have to go into Mainland China mode, which involves pushing, shoving, and glaring your way onto the train. For a Communist country, it really is surprisingly every man for himself.

Xian was the capital of China for 13 dynasties, and is a truly ancient city. In fact, I visited the ancient village of Banpu, which existed over 6000 years ago, as well as the Terracotta Warriors, which were constructed by the first Emperor of China around 200 BC. He is considered the first Emperor because he united the warring states of ancient China under his rule, which became known as the Qin Dynasty. Being a bit of an ego maniac, as kings tend to be, he ordered a grand mausoleum built and a corresponding grand terracotta army to protect it. In total, 700,000 people spent 40 years building the tomb and the army. Needless to say, they do not disappoint!






I wanted to be part of the glory...

Xian is also responsible for the advent and proliferation of silk: around 5000 years ago, a woman discovered silk here and thus she provided the origins for the silk road to the west. Interestingly, since the silk road spread all the way to the Mediterranean, philosophies and religions such as Buddhism and Islam came to China by this means. As a consequence, Xian still retains a bustling Muslim quarter, and we got to see a beautiful hybrid Chinese/Muslim Mosque, as well as enjoy such delicious foods as lamb dumplings. We also visited a silk factory and witnessed the silk making process, which was entertaining albeit gross. I also enjoyed seeing traditional Chinese architecture inherent in the central Bell Tower and Big Goose Pagoda (we didn't bother with the Little Goose Pagoda for obvious reasons!).

Bell Tower


Big Goose Pagoda


The Chinese Great Mosque





Of course, we couldn't go to inner China without some cultural clashes. Hence, when my roommate and I went to a New York Times recommended bar, we spent about an hour trying to get gin and tonics, explaining, diagramming and describing what we wanted, before they brought out a can of tonic water and two shots of whisky. When I tried ot explain that whisky is NOT gin, the manager brought out a bottle of tequila. I gave up and we got beer.

Classic Chinglish


At that place and others, I was asked to pose in pictures with local people--for the first time in my life, I was a celebrity. I guess I better take my 15 minutes of fame when I can get it!!