Xi'An: Last Day of the Trip

Finally, the trip drew near to a close. Aside from the Warriors, Xi'An really doesn't have a huge amount more to offer. It has two pagodas, the drum and bell towers, and the city walls. I had already seen the drum and bell towers the night before, so I slept in a bit on purpose to kill some time, then took a bus out to the Big Goose Pagoda.

The Big Goose Pagoda was cool, but not because of the pagoda itself. The pagoda was walled in, and you had to circle around to the back to pay a fee to go up and see it. I thought it was cool because around the walls, there is a series of giant water jets, and I happened to get there just as it was turned on. The fountains are not on all day. I got there at noon, and it just so happened that at noon, they turn them on for what I call a water dance. The jets all shoot out at different angles and heights, all to several different songs, varying from classical, to what I'd call parade music, to very Chinese style music.

Once the performance was over, I circled around back, walked up to the entrance where you pay the admission fee, knelt down, and just snuck a picture of the pagoda, then moved on. China's got lots of pagodas, the insides are all the same, and I don't need to worry about paying to go to each one of them. I moved on to the next pagoda, called the Little Goose Pagoda.

This one was somewhat hidden, and I had passed it by quite a bit while walking. Finally, after doubling back quite a ways, I found it, and the pagoda wasn't visible at all. The walls around it are very far spread out, and they've turned the surrounding area into a park. So I was forced to pay to go in, just to see the pagoda, but I'm glad I did. This one, once in the park, was free to climb, which is unusual. It also had a bit of interesting history to it, and the view from the top was nice.

Finally, I had exhausted all the sights but one: The city walls. The city walls are a special sight, because many Chinese cities had large walls built around them, but none of them are still around. Xi'an's are still maintained, although the city has grown beyond the walls themselves.

I had about 2 hours before the train left, and I was considering walking from the South gate to the North Gate where the train station is, but I didn't want to risk being stuck on the city wall and discovering that it was going to take too long to walk there. So I took a bus to the North Gate, and went onto the City Wall from there. I regret this for many reasons.

First off, it's clear that the Southern section of the wall has more to see. That end of the city has been made much more natural looking, and there are things to look at. The North end is boring, and all you see is poor housing and the train station. Even further, the North end was under construction. They were restoring some of the towers at the North Gate. And yes, even worse than that is the enormous amount of money they want just for you to climb up and look around. It's 40 yuan to get up, and most people rent bikes as well, so another 20 yuan, and I pity anyone who buys any water or ice cream while up there. Suffice to say, it's an expensive way to kill some time. I walked far enough to see a main gate, as they have 3 signature towers at each gate, and a corner, since they build a tower at each corner in order to keep an eye out along the whole wall.

The only other thing I found remotely interesting about the city walls was the poor housing. I hadn't found a good perspective before to take pictures of this kind of thing, although I had tried. I've wanted pictures of the numerous solar panels they use here, just to show people back home. One thing I really like about China is how they use a lot of solar power. They do it for free electricity, not to save the environment, but it's something you don't notice unless you look for it. They have the panels covering every roof top, and they use them to heat their water. I don't know if others find it interesting, but it's one aspect of living in China that I really like.

Finally, once climbing down the precarious ladder, I still had time to kill, so I bought a beer and found a Muslim restaurant by the train station. What was funny is that just about all Muslim restaurants serve the same thing. However, I had stumbled upon a vegetarian Muslim restaurant. I asked for beef, they told me no. I asked for lamb, they said no. I kind of stuttered and hesitated, not knowing what was going on, so I asked if they had rice. They did, and the lady suggested I have vegetable fried rice, and thats when I looked around, saw no meat, and saw nothing on the menus saying meat (I know the Chinese characters for beef, lamb, and meat). Despite the lack of meat, it was quite delicious, and had an unusual spiciness to it I don't get back in Wuxi.

The train ride back was boring, as I had a soft sleeper. It was at this time I decided I would only get hard seats from here on in, despite the lack of bed. They're cheaper, and they're so much more interesting. I ended up reading about half of the Lonely Planet's Guide to China, which I borrowed from Jessica, then going to bed. It was an uneventful train ride home, although there was a small girl I enjoyed playing with a bit who was calling me Ge-Ge (Big brother) by the end of the ride.