Get Your Xi'an.

Xi'an is the ancient capital of China. It's about 12 hours SouthWest by fast train, and 20 something hours by local train. We had the privledge of taking both trains; the first train we took to Xi'an was standing room only. We decided to travel to Xi'an during the busiest travel week of the year in China. Literally hundreds of millions of people travel this week, so it was no surprise that there were no seats available when we went to purchase our ticket. "Luckily," no seats available does NOT mean that there are no tickets available. Hence, "standing-room" only. We thought for sure that there was another language barrier misunderstanding when we were sold the tickets...surely we could not be standing on a 12 hour train ride. At least we could sit on the floor, with people walking and bumping over us all night long. A special shout out to the food cart, which continued to operate until 4 am, and began again promptly at 6 am. On the half hour. Thanks.

After our long train ride to Xi'an, we arrived at 6am in the rain, eager to meet our contact, Jack Shen. Jack ended up being not as wonderful as we thought, and instead of crashing at his place, we ended up at some far flung seedy excuse for a Chinese hotel for the night.
(After recooping from the train ride, we made it to a wondeful backpackers paradise in the city walls, Shuuyan Hostel, where we stayed for the remainder of the week.)

Xi'an is a wonderful city, however, filled with so many university students, eager to communicate with you and practice their English, a really awesome Muslim Quarter filled with friendly faces and vegetarian-friendly food, and the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. The Big Wild Goose Pagoda was our touchstone, we spent some part of almost every day there, or in that area, as our favorite vegetarian restaurant (and honestly, the only one we could really find) was across the street.

More about our experience in Xi'an and surrounding areas below.

Peace
K and M

Muslim Quarter Street Food:


Note: These may look like potatoes, but they are not. They are made of rice gluten, Max insists, however, we have no idea, really.




So many cheesy lights in the Muslim Quarter.

The people making this bread were speaking a dialect that sounded much like Arabic. We think it could have been Arabic, which was really cool to hear in China.

Wild Goose Pagoda Water Show. It's much cooler than it looks in these pictures. The water is coordinated with music, and there are masses that crowd every night for this event. There are actually four shows a day. We've been to a few. The music is different each time. We love you, BWGP. Makes Max think about what the life of a water designer must be like and what those tech rehearsals must be like.



Sometimes people get in the Big Wild Goose Pagoda water show. And squeal when they get wet. What do you think will happen when you stand under a giant jet of water, people? Max did not squeal, obviously. Though he was wet.

Big Wild Goose Pagoda during last day of Xi'an. Still life with plastic bag filled with rice, 2008.


This is Kara's favorite shot so far. Can you spot the human.

Also at the BWGP.


Max in Muslim Quarter. Max has grown a large beard, and is sometimes mistaken for a Muslim man. He's gotten more than one "salaam'alakam" since we have been here by Chinese Muslims. This could be good for our Middle East jaunt.


Terracotta Warriors are AMAZING. Each one is an entirely unique creation and they are still excavating!




Terra cotta warriors are very serious.


Note: This whole in baby gear is intentional. This is so babies can piss and shit wherever they want. In some ways, this could be considered another way of "going green." We do not think so. However, babies butts are always cute. Kara is very good at sighting them, and is collecting a mini portfolio of pictures such as this. Non defecating...yet.

Terra-cotta Max.

Split popcorn.

Back in Xi'an...









We decided to take a trip to see the Buddhist grottoes at Louyang. We ended up spending 12 hours total there and back to visit them for less than 2 hours. Still Kara's favorite place in China so far, and we both think that it was worth the trip. They range from 1200-1500 years old. They are, spectacular, moving, and inspiring and beautifully sculpted. A monument to the technical abilities of ancient people.

Overlooking the river which flows past the grottoes.

Donations.

Our German friend, Teresa, who is currently teaching English in China, and who we met at the cool hostel. We like her a lot. Sorry we walked so fast to get there, we got a little New York on you.

Max climbing to see the largest Buddha.


Another "day trip" from Xi'an. Sixteen hours travel time for four hours visiting time. We were really interested in going to Yan'an, home to the revolutionary headquarters of the CCP during the 30s and 40s. We initially thought and understood that it was merely a 4 hour train ride from Xi'an, therefore a doable day trip, if we woke up early enough. Half way through our train ride, we were so kindly informed that we would arrive around 5, which is about one hour before all the museums and historical sights would close. This was very disappointing to say the least, especially to Max. Knowing that we had to get on a return train to Xi'an by 10 pm, we decided to make the most of it. We got into a cab, showed the driver 4 names which reflected our interest in seeing all things revolutionary and communist. He basically became our tour guide for the next few hours; he took us to the location of the first CCP Central Committee Meeting, but everything was closed. We knew we might have just enough time to make it to the complex of the former revolutionary headquarters of the CCP, which someone on the train had lovingly referred to as "Mao's House." Interestingly enough, this wasn't in any guide book we had seen.

At the CCP HQ. We arrived 15 minutes too late, and the gates were closed. Max is seen here, trying to glean some sort of revolutionary history from this plaque as a concession to our ridiculously long, seemingly failed trip. (at this point)

Max trying to look into the complex. Becoming increasingly downtrodden. Very very sad.

The saddest Max.

But alas, a glimmer of hope, much like a scene out of a propaganda movie, arose in the form of a young female comrade. She opened the gates, and let us in, for what was a free for all inside the compound. We didn't have to pay, go with any guide, nor deal with any crowds. It was just us and our taxi driver, wandering the grounds of a place where the modern Chinese state was born. It was very powerful.

The bros.

Maximilian on Red Star.

Taxi ride to train station after visiting revolutionary HQ.

The ride back to Xi'an.

An exhausting day. We arrived back in Xi'an at 6:30 am, and got on the train to return back to Beijing for Max's wisdom teeth surgery later that day. This was the local train. It took 20 hours to get back. At least we had a sleeper this time.