Xi'an - Colourful Streets, Lamb Skewers and Terracotta Warriors

Due to a small miscalculation of our travel time to the station, a delay purchasing the tickets and a missed metro it was a pretty close call to reach our train to Xi'an in time. When we finally arrived at the station we stormed up the stairs and unfortunately had yet another security check that stopped us (luggage scan and metal detector). In China those are common at every entrance to train or metro stations. We only had six minutes until the departure of the train! At the entrance to every track there is a gate - kind of like at the airport - that was just about to be closed. Waving frantically we signalled the staff to wait for us and I suspect due to a small foreigner bonus they let us pass. We ran down the flights of stairs and jumped one after the other into the train. I just made in time because the doors closed right behind me. When I entered the car, panting, I was stared at like my fellows by the other Chinese passengers. Apparently people arriving late is not a very common situation there. After I had stowed my luggage I fell down on my bunk, still breathing heavily. I made it!

The rest of the trip was really relaxed. We drove overnight in the "hard sleeper", which is the equivalent of second class. We didn't have like the first class, the "soft sleeper", a compartment with four bed, but six beds, three on each side, that were open to the aisle. Despite the name they are not less comfortable. We had the top bunks because they were cheapest and honestly, who would not want to sleep on top in a triple bunk bed on a train?! On the other side of the aisle was a small table and two folding seats that were suitable for the small improvised breakfast. Thanks to a continuous supply of hot water it even included instant coffee and we entered Xi'an recovered and chipper. As our hostel was very close to the Muslim Quarter, which is famous for its street food, we didn't miss the opportunity to go there on our first night. We strolled through the busy streets and could not get enough of the variety of dishes and delicacies offered. The many scents and colours are hard to put into words (or pictures). It was really just mouth watering. After some time we sat down in a small place and with sign language they explained that we should tear the bread before us into small pieces.No sooner said than done! The bread was cooked with vegetables and mutton to a delicious stew, which served us a a kind of appetiser. Still ready to try some of the other food afterwards.

And there was so much to try that one evening was not enough to cover it all: lamb skewers, burgers, potatoes, tofu, bananas and much more, everything either fried, grilled or barbecued. There were also cakes, freshly squeezed juices and plenty of sweets. Many things were directly made on the street, so there was a lot to see even after our stomachs were totally filled. Unfortunately not all of our experiences were positive,  one evening we had to watch a Chinese man throwing a tantrum. He rushed to the stalls on the side of the road and just overturned some, at others he swept everything to the floor with his arm. Everyone just stood motionless and stared at him but no one was actually stopping him! The frightened vendors collected their things that lay all over the street and set them up again as good as they could a little bit further down the road. Apparently the man was so angry because they were blocking the parking spots. Still screaming he went into the police station. We figured that he was working there because no one had tried to stop him. 

The original reason for our visit to Xi'an was not the food but the famous Terracotta Army. On the way to the bus that was supposed to take us to the excavation site we saw a girl around twelve that was squatting in the middle of the way. Before we could ask ourselves what she was doing we saw the trickle running between her legs and across the sidewalk. Without really knowing how to behave we stepped over it and continued our way. Funnily we had just talked a few minutes earlier about the fact that there are public toilets sign posted everywhere. Welcome to China!

The site of the Terracotta Army is located outside the city and is part of the mausoleum of Emperor Qin Shi Huang. It was accidentally discovered in 1974 when farmers tried to dig a well. Up to this date only about a quarter of the entire complex has been uncovered. The famous warriors are located in three halls, two smaller and a large one. We did not star as usual with the largest, but saved us the (supposedly) best for last. Despite low season it was pretty crowded and after we thought about it we noticed that of all things we came on a weekend! (If you are travelling long term weekdays somehow lose their meaning.) Since we could not do anything to change that we made the best of it and posed with Chinese for their pictures. Although I still do not understand why they are so crazy about taking photos with "Westerners".

In the two smaller halls they excavated horsemen, foot soldiers, archers and war chariots. The different types of warriors are also displayed in glass cases so you can have a closer look. Otherwise, you can see shattered remains next to the few intact figures in the pits. Originally they were all painted in bright colours but those have disintegrated by the contact with air. Of course the highlight of the visit is the main hall, where more than 6.000 warriors are located. Even here they are still being excavated and diligently put together. From the entrance you look down into the ranks of thousands of stone faces that stare lifelessly right back at you. Besides the sheer size of the army, its diversity is really fascinating. None of the life sized soldiers look alike. They do not only differ in rank, but also in their stature and posture. Each one has individual facial features, different hairstyles and some have a beard. It is an army that consists of more than 7.000 terracotta individuals that was supposed to protect the first emperor of China after his death.

There is another Chinese anecdote to tell concerning our return trip. We sat in the bus that was about to take us back to the city. It filled up quickly and after some discussion some passengers were allowed to stand in the aisle even though the bus was not made for it. That was not surprising since Chinese are a bit easier concerning road safety. During the trip we suddenly stopped all the standing parties rushed frantically out of the bus. Shortly after that we saw the reason, a police control! A little down the road we stopped again and saw the passengers that had just left the bus headed our direction in full sprint. The ones that were too slow were left behind, despite the already paid trip. "The Chinese survival of the fittest!"

Back at the hostel an other culinary adventure awaited us: a dumpling party! Together we made Chinese dumplings out of small round pieces of dough, that were filled with pork and closed sometimes more, sometimes less beautiful. We were allowed to eat them later and they were really tasty. However, we could not miss an other night of street food. But the Muslim Quarter is not only interesting because of its food, there is also one of the oldest mosques in China. It is the largest of the ten mosques in the quarter and open for tourists. The mix of traditional Chinese and Muslim style was particularly fascinating to me and pointed out how these two cultures are fused there. Whereas the nearby Drum Tower and Small Wild Goose Pagoda next to the Xi'an museum were classically Chinese again. Finally before we (Kirstie, Arthur and I) could board the train to our Yangtze adventure and said goodbye to Johan (the Swedish guy), we still had to have one Oreo Blizzard from Dairy Queen.