After the Terracotta Army and Huashan hike, Andy and I had only a few things left to see in Xi’an:
The Bell Tower, rung at dawn to mark sunrise in the 14th century; …
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Dec 182008
Dec 182008
On December 20th of 2006, I received an e-mail from my dad. It contained this Powerpoint file.
The forwarding messages all included such phrases as:
“I CANT EVEN LOOK AT THE PICTURES WITHOUT GETTING DIZZY!!”
“NOT A CHANCE IN HELL”, and
“HOLY SH*T!”
I took a look. And immediately knew that someday, I would stand atop that mountain. I didn’t even know the mountain’s name. Just that I had to climb it.
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Dec 172008
When I first came to China with my dad in 2005, in addition to visiting Beijing and Shanghai we were debating between taking a cruise down the Yangtze River or seeing the world famous Terracotta Warriors in Xi’an. We opted for the former, and I pretty much dismissed the latter as something I’d never get the chance to do. But now I did have the chance. So Andy and I hopped on an overnight train, and away we went.
As this was Andy’s first time on a Chinese sleeper, he was surprised at how pleasant the ride actually was – a phrase like “Hard Sleeper in China” is likely to conjure images of uncomfortable straw mats and no pillows, but in reality the beds are nicely padded with clean blankets and pillows provided. The only mistake we made was choosing a middle bunk – no thanks to the Lonely Planet’s recommendation – and suffering a chicken-man-of-a-roomate who refused to stop climbing up and down the beds during all hours of the night.
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Dec 172008
During my first day in Shijiazhuang the weather was nice. Since then, it’s been so foggy/hazy/smoggy that I can scarcely see my hand when I stick it out in front of me. In certain areas the air pollution is stifling – literally hurting my eyes. Other times, it just makes me feel tired. Like there’s a thin film separating me from my surroundings, isolating me in a hazy sort of dreamworld.
I hope this is just a Winter thing, and not year-round. It’s quite a different feeling from the previous day 😛
Yet, despite the climactic unpleasantness I’ve been surprised by the amount of greenery I’m seeing throughout the city….a completely recent phenomenon, according to Andy. During the months prior to the Beijing Olympics the government came in and began knocking down buildings and kicking people out – replacing their properties with grassy fields or trees.
Not so nice for the people…but it does make things LOOK a lot prettier.
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Dec 172008
Most Asian cultures seem to have some form of communal bathhouse: in Japan there are the onsen, in Korea there are the chimjilbang, and in China there are the mega bathhouses.
The first time I saw one of these glimmering Chinese behemoths I had no idea what it was. It looked like an overly-extravagant first-class hotel…so overly-extravagant that it was almost weird. I’m talking chandeliers the size of big rigs, doors that are several stories high, and so brightly lit that you can see them from miles away. The buildings themselves – rather than the typical tall & thin shape of most upper-end hotels – are shaped more like warehouses, occupying a truly massive footprint. Except that these warehouses are decorated with white marble, fine art, huge plants, and thousand-gallon fishtanks (sharks and sea turtles included).
Visiting a Chinese bathhouse was on the top of Andy’s list for what I simply had to do before leaving Shijiazhuang. Now I see why. Continue reading »