Xian

We were not all that familiar with Xian, except as the location of the terra-cotta warriors. We had sorta heard about the almost mythical city of Chang'an, but didn't realize its importance as the eastern terminus of the legendary Silk Road. It is also one of the oldest cities in China, going back over 6,500 years. It became a major center as early as 11 century BC. We're talking old. Ancient.

It's hard to capture Xian's city walls because they are adjacent to major streets and buildings, i.e. all you you see are trees and it's hard to see the forest. The walls, seen here on the left, are about 60' thick at the base and are made of rammed earth with a facade of brick. In the front of the walls is a moat, which is mostly dry now. As you can see the walls are not straight but resemble Renaissance walls that enabled defenders to engage in cross-fire on their attackers.

Modern Xian is a large, bustling city with worse air-pollution than Beijing, which is why the buildings fade away quickly on the horizon.

The Arrow Tower, one of the main entrances to the city. Like most Chinese wooden buildings, it has no nails, just interlocking lumber. It rates 5 critters.

A good example of Tang Dynasty cutting-edge technology.

Yes, the Tang Dynasty, considered by Chinese to be the Golden Age of imperial China, had a strong presence in the field of waste management, as this example reveals. We're not sure what the rabid turtle symbolizes, though Richard Gere may have some insights. Note the strange green symbols that eerily resemble the English word "PUSH". Spooky...

This is an architectural detail of Xian's Bell Tower . We're not quite sure why we don't have a better shot, except to say that the tower is in a very crowded area in the city's center and is surrounded by a traffic circle. Location, location, location.

A view from the Bell Tower to the south showing, if memory serves, the Arrow Tower of the city walls. On the left you will see the Golden Arches of a huge Mickey Ds.

Just to the left is a gigantic shopping mall, with great feng shui in the form of a waterfall just under the giant video screen.

A view to the north showing the gigantic hole that is the new subway system.

The Admiral had announced that she was sick of the Capt's obsession with roof critters and didn't want any more examples shown. However, the Capt was impressed that the Bell Tower rated 7, so he snuck this one in. Nya.

This well-dressed little girl regarded the Admiral as if she were a Martian. The Capt could have told her that the Admiral was really a Danish goddess. Because of China's one-child policy, kids here are unbelievably spoiled, especially the boys.

Capt Hub was always amused by Chinese signage. As we see, in this case he has included a self-portrait.

A Communist country would not be complete without its own car, widely used to drive officials around. For those not important enough to rate a Mercedes, there is the Chinese model Red Flag, obvious from the hood ornament. We're told they used to look like 1928 Packards, but that was 20 years ago. Now they resemble a 1990 Lexus. Yes, this was our limo.

As always, Capt Hub could not get enough of 3-wheelers, in this case a 5-wheel truck. Rolling Coolness.

Most Westerners think of Chinese food as something gooey served on rice. That's because most Diaspora Chinese come from Fujian, in the southern part of China. Northern China despises rice and prefers wheat in its many forms. The passion in Xian is dumplings, for which they are justifiably famous. One night we had a dinner which was the dumpling equivalent of a wine-tasting. Exquisite.

Okay, okay, obviously the writer has gone off track and is getting hungry. Let's get back to our real topic, great works of Chinese civilization...

This is the entrance to Wild Goose Pagoda. While the pagoda itself is not too remarkable, the art works in the adjacent temples are stunning. As we can see, it is also a place of pilgrimage for devout Buddhists, like these Chinese monks. The gate rates 5 critters, which is pretty high. The door for the emperor is closed.

Love that detail.

So do the monks, who were busy shooting up the place.

Here we see an exquisite incense burner, with the Wild Goose Pagoda in the background.

Speaking of exquisite, this is a gilded and lacquered Buddha, inside a room that was totally stunning.

Speaking of really stunning, our next foray was the Display Temple, the walls of which depict the story of the Sakyamuni Buddha's enlightenment. What you must understand in looking at these bas-reliefs is that they are made of carved jade, all in their natural colors. This picture is marred by the reflection of the glass. The figure at left is Buddha's mother dreaming of a white elephant, which somehow led to conception.

Remember, carved jade in its natural colors...

The young Gautama. Again, all this art is carved jade, except small painted details.

Nearing buddhahood, under the bodhi tree.

The Buddha. The "flames" are mother-of-pearl.

The Pagoda, up close and personal.

We climbed up, of course, just to get this view of the subway construction. Yes, the air is that dirty. Dirtier.

Yeah, you're thinking, can all this namby-pamby Buddha stuff and give us guys with knives. This sure ain't a guy, she's fiercer, tougher: General Sun Ver Ah. Anyway, join us as we finally go to see the terra-cotta warriors!