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Other entries in Xi'an

Branching Out

The train ride from Beijing was pretty uneventful and considering the mob scene at the train station, that is a very good thing. I got there plenty early and that was a smart move. The best way to characterize the train station is to draw a comparison to the traffic of Beijing. You cannot imagine what that scene is like. Had that been my first train-riding experience, I think I would've found a corner, curled up into the fetal position and whimpered for a good while. Once you actually get on the train, it's considerably more placid. I shared my compartment with one other dude who couldn't even manage 'hello' in English- hell, I can say that in Chinese, but no worries. No need to make idle chit-chat. Eleven hours later I arrived in this city and truly, a very different side of China.

As soon as you step out of the train station, you see a very different kind of city. This is a little rougher around the edges and has obviously not seen millions of dollars (yuan, actually) pumped into making it presentable for the world's biggest party in a couple of weeks. So be it. You also see much more poverty. Beggars in the street and so forth. There was NONE of that in Beijing. You also don't see a plush mall on every other corner but God bless Corporate America, there are plenty of KFC's, McCrap's, Subway, Pizza Huts and Starbucks making their mark. Can Taco Bell be far off?

Yesterday my new Chinese friend Chao (we bumped into each other in Beijing- he lives here) and I made it out to see the famous Terra Cotta Soldiers. It sure is nice to have someone around who speaks the lingo...Xi'An is not as English-friendly as Beijing by a longshot! Anyway, back to those soldiers... I don't even know where to begin...if you don't know what the deal is, you should Google the term but basically, over 6,000 life size soldiers were discovered about an hour from here. Each soldier is different. They are about 2,000 years old. When you walk into the archeological pit that is the size of an airplane hangar and see the spectacle of these figures lined up as if they are going into battle, it blows you away. You can't actually get close to them but it's a good thing, I think. You get a much better perspective from a distance and like the Great Wall, it's one of those things that must be seen to be appreciated. Truly, one of those "worth the trip" moments!

The food frenzy continues, I am happy to report. One of the absolute highlights of this tip so far is the Night Market in the Muslim Quarter which is right outside my hotel. Yes, Muslim. There is still a very vibrant Muslim community in this part of China and it shows in the the food found in the city and especially, at the night market. So, despite the fact that there are obviously no pig parts to be eaten, there are lots of other goodies and much of it, with a decidedly middle eastern influence. Last night and miraculously, again tonight I ate lamb for the third and fourth times in my adult life and really liked it. The other two times were in Morocco and Spain. To be blunt, the lamb at home is terrible and it seems that elsewhere, it is very different. Not sure what's going on but at home, it tastes very gamey and I can't get more than a bite into it and not want to gag.  Heck, I even tried some lamb liver and although I couldn't get into that mineraly taste, it wasn't anywhere near as bad as I thought it would be.

Tonite's meal was AMAZING. Chao took me to this restaurant that is about 100 years old and known for the Yangrou Paomo we ate. We spent about 30 minutes (no exaggeration) tearing up two pieces of flat, dense bread the size of hamburgers into tiny little pieces the size of peas. Yes, it takes that long. You wouldn' t think so, but try it some time! After that, the waitress takes away the bowl and returns with the bowl filled with a lamb broth along with some noodles. You add cilantro (surprise, surprise) and proceed to enter an eden-like state of bliss. The bread soaks up the broth and thickens it as well and honestly, it was one of the best things I've ever eaten. I know, I know...I said that about the roast duck too but I'm in China, not England so you know, good food is going to be a big part of this adventure. Don't even get me started on the dumplings I've had the past couple of days as well...

Today it rained and rained and rained some more. It made for lousy sight seeing weather but it did cause me to do something else I have practically never done in my life: I bought an umbrella. I can remember buying maybe seven umbrellas in my life and I have lost every last one of them so after the last one about a decade ago, I vowed to never do so again. Well, after the 48th woman accosted me trying to get me to buy one, I finally caved and made my investment: 10 yuan...that's about $1.50, in case you aren't keeping score. It's a pinkish color but really, how can I be too concerned about such silliness?

Hoping for better weather tomorrow to see the rest of the city before flying down to Guilin on Wednesday. Oh, and I am writing while I groove on Steely Dan tunes on my iPod from a cyber center that charges 2 yuan/hour, hence the long-winded nature of this entry. The place has (seriously) about 300 hundred monitors and it's pretty full of mostly young people chatting, playing video games and who knows what else. I was curious about what is allowed to be seen in this country so I played around and was able to log in to everything I tried to access including CNN.com. Funny thing was that when I clicked on the 'sports' banner on the CNN page, a blank screen popped up with something written on it in Chinese and I couldn't view any sports. I guess Tiger Woods poses a bigger threat to the people than the shenanigans going on at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. How many days until January 20, anyway?

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