Xi'+An+Day+2

Carmelle has begun her write-up of today's activities. Here's an early draft, to be completed tomorrow... More photos are available at "[|China 5 Xi An Terra Cotta Soldiers]."

We started off the day in a rush. All of us had to be down stairs by 8:15 and we woke up, “we” meaning Caitlyn, Katie, Vanessa, and I, at around 7:40 a.m. Caitlyn was actually the one who woke us up because she had crashed in our room and had to get back to hers to clean up. We all got ready on time and had a good breakfast to boot. But not a lot of people were feeling that well today. Ms. Lee and Allie both were a bit sick and Allie couldn’t almost come with us today and Ms. Lee just stayed to recuperate in the hotel. We didn’t know what caused it but we just hoped that everyone would be all right throughout the day. This was just in time for all of us to start another full day here in Xi'an, China.

The first stop was the Terracotta Warriors Museum. It’s in the country so we had to hop on the van/bus hybrid for a half hour drive to the countryside. Most of the ride we listened to Sherry, our guide, and she explained to us the 4 most important dynasties that ruled in Xi’An. Those were the Zho, Qin, Tang, and something else that I will sure to ask her again. The Terracotta Warriors were built before and during the Qin dynasty because all of it took around 36-40 years to build and the Qin dynasty only lasted for around 10-15. Of course, I only know this because truthfully, I listened but only in a half-asleep mode because it was early and our bodies were just tired from all of our jam-packed days. It was still interesting though!

So, I lied, our first stop was not the Museum, it was actually a factory that made small terracotta warriors. It was pretty interesting because it showed how the warriors were made and they did it right in front us, like out in the open. They weren’t the real ones but they had a lot of replicas of the warriors and even one that showed us how they would have looked when they had been painted to look like a real actual person, which was pretty cool. There were also really pretty ceramics too because originally, the factory only made ceramics and when the Warriors were found, the government allowed the factory to make little and life-sized terracotta warriors for foreigners like us.

And then came the shops. If Sherry hadn’t told us that that was a factory and not like a warehouse of house-ware and statues and things, we would have thought it was a warehouse. I mean, the tour lasted for like 10-15 minutes but we were at the “warehouse” for like a good 20-25 mins. Just looking at the stuff, not really buying anything. The things were really nice and really high quality and all but no one just bought much because of how the vendors act here. They are just, hmm, like really persistent. They want you to buy their stuff and in order to do that, they come up to you, follow you around the store, push things on you, and hover behind your shoulder. I mean, we understand that they have to earn a living but a lot of us just want to wander around the store and not be followed. But all in all, it was very informative. The next place was the Museum itself, which was another half hour drive. We got there and it was basically situated in a nice big area of land near some really pretty mountains. We all gathered and situated around the entrance and we checked on how Allie was feeling and she was feeling pretty well and better than in the morning. We had to walk up to get to the Museum and it had gotten pretty hot by then. All of us got to entrance and we went through gate and ticket check and through a security, which is pretty usual here. What I noticed was that there were a lot of other tourists there and we weren’t getting stared at as much though it was still in abundance. We got into the first Pit, which is the biggest, and were amazed. It’s literally the size of a football stadium without the seats. It’s massive and it’s divided into three parts, the first holds all the warriors that have been excavated and put back together piece by piece, the second holds the excavation site, and the third part holds the “Warriors Hospital” where the statues go to be put back together because when they first found the site, all the warriors were broken and they had to piece these millions of pieces back together one by one. Pit 2 and 3 were the same except Pit 2 held the Kneeling Archer, which is the //only// statue that was found intact, and Pit 3 was the Headquarters of the army.

Next was lunch, always an experience, and the place we went to was actually in the Museum so we didn’t have to travel much. This lunch was really good and the most Americanized we’ve had. There were some really cool noodle masters who made the noodles and cooked in front of us. The food was enjoyed by everyone at the table.

The next stop was the Tang Paradise, which was pretty awesome. It was like a half-done amusement park without the rides. It was a really huge park area with swans and camels that looked malnourished and a really big palace. The most interesting part of that trip was when we were standing at the gate and there were literally twins everywhere. And they were all under the age of 9-10 at least. They were all the most adorable things ever. They were just playing around the fountain and the steps and they were so cute!

We got inside the park, let’s just call it a park, and it was really pretty and really big and there were a lot of cool attractions. We went around to the tower and we “free time” so we split up with Kevin and Katie because they wanted to go inside the tower and all of us were just too tired to climb even //more// stairs. So we went around the park and tried to find ice cream and the weather was bearable this time because it was cloudy and not too hot by that time. We went around the park really quickly though and we didn’t find the ice cream that we specifically wanted but we did find Theresa and Sherri.



That time with them was the best because we were all there, except for Kevin, Katie, and Mr. Dunne, and we just had a really nice conversation with both of them. It was a time where we weren’t really doing anything and we were just talking about the school systems and how it is for students here and things that came to mind. We learned many a Chinese secret then that we were not supposed to know and not supposed to give out. :]

We left the park and we learned that airport rules here, in China, are //way// stricter than those in America. For example, our check-ins are supposed to be 20 kg or less and we couldn’t have //any// liquids whatsoever in our bags, not even hand sanitizer. We were very concerned because a lot of packed a lot going into China and now we had more things because of all the souvenirs we’ve been buying. So we went to the hotel and tried to figure out how to pack without paying $3 per 1 kg overweight.

After that, we went out to probably my favorite dinner since we got here. We had hot-pot, which is where we all had our home pots and like a table full of veggies and meats and sauces and we had to basically make our own stew. At first we had no idea how to do it and we were just putting things in the pot without any sauces but I went to the sauce table and asked myself why we weren’t using any of the salf or the scallions or the onions and things of that nature and I just got it and everything went really well from then on. We figured out that Kristen wasn’t very much of a cook and she had some difficulty making the stew but she had a table full of chefs-to-be so it was all right. She boiled her first egg though, which we were all really proud of! It was a very satisfying meal.



After dinner we had more “free time” and there is only one thing to do when in it’s nighttime in China: Shopping. And we were situated in a really good district too and it was pretty much amazing. It was like in this little back alley that was //made// and //targeted// for foreigners (like us!) and there were just things ranging from Longchamp and North Face bags to Ray-Bans and teapots and jade, all, of course, probably weren’t real but it was amazing and cool. I had no cash at that point, which was probably a good thing, so I didn’t get anything. Kevin, our closet shopaholic, was in heaven and bought some nice shoes and some Ray-Bans while everyone else bought bags because we were badly in need of them.

All in all, it was another full and fun day in China and I’m just really, really glad I came on this trip because it has been one of the most amazing things ever, basically. This has been a ridiculously long entry so I’m just gonna end here. Peace!