Xian and Chengdu
Trip Start
Sep 18, 2004
1
18
69
Trip End
Jun 05, 2005
Chengdu,
China
Sunday, October 24, 2004
A Minor Change of Plan
While in Xian, we decided we want to do the Friendship Highway from Tibet to Nepal. In order to do so, we had to forgo the Northwest Region of China, and head south. We are in Chengdu now, and we'll be leaving Chengdu for Kunming tomorrow. We bought our plane tickets to Lhasa, Tibet in Chengdu, we'll be heading to Tibet on November 5th.
Xian, as close to Hong Kong as Mainland China can get
We really like Xian. Maybe it's because we splurged in Xian and stayed in a 3-star hotel by the nice shopping district. Xian is clean with nice big sidewalks, so we don't have to fight with cars, bikes and scooters while we are walking
1. A bike full of bikes.
. And the internet cafes are so much nicer than the ones we've been to in other parts of China. They don't smell like sewage, they don't have sticky keyboards with the left shift key permenantly stuck, and they don't have cigarette ashes on the chairs!Terracotta Warrior
Everyone comes to Xian to see the Terracotta Warriors, we dutifully did so. What's surprising about the warriors are the fact that every one of them is different and there are thousands of them, as if they were created after every unique individual in the army.
What ticked Nelly off
When we left the Terracotta warriors, we were accosted by an old lady with a thick regional accent. She started grabbing Jesse and wanted to show him what was in her bag. She wanted to sell Jesse whatever was in her bag. Regardless how many "N0" we've said, she held on to Jesse with such determination. Finally I told her in Chinese to GO AWAY, and she started yelling at me. I couldn't quite understand what she was saying, but it was along the line of why I couldn't translate for her and help her make a sale and why I was acting like a foreigner. I finally had enough and screamed at her in both English and Chinese, "I don't understand what you are saying, I am not from here, and get away from me!". Well, it totally didn't phase her, and she continued yelling at me and then smiling at Jesse and wanting to sell him whatever was in her bag.
What really irks me in China is the fact that half of the time the locals treated me like crap, and they treated Jesse super nice. They assumed that I'm his translator, or I'm from China
2. Terra Cotta Warriors
. And whenever I don't understand them, which happens quite often since they tend to speak their local dialect to me, they are upset at me and yell at me "What kind of translator are you?"Huashan and the minibus
Last day in Xian, we took a mini bus to Huashan. These minibuses typically leave from a train station to some town or tourist attractions near by, and these buses leave when they are 110% full. You'll be sitting on the bus, and finally after one hour, they fill up the last seat. You think oh good we finally get to leave, wait, why is the ticket person still out there yelling? Next thing you know they pull out these little plastic benches to fill up the aisles so they can fit more people!
Huashan is one of the five Daoist mountains in China. There are five peaks on Huashan. There is a cable car that will take you from the bottom of the mountain to the North Peak. The cable car is great because you see practically no one when you hike from the bottom to North Peak. The scenery is really amazing, with huge granite cliffs and lush vegetation. You have to wear gloves (for 1 yuan a pair) since the trail can be treacherous and you hold on to the cables along the trail for your dear life. It was a really strenuous but excellent hike and we enjoyed a day with fresh air
3. Small Wild Goose Pagoda
.Haircut and Foot Massage in Xian
So to give myself a treat, I got a foot massage across the street from the hotel, as well as a haircut in a nice hair salon next to the hotel. Both were highly recommended by two Australian friends we met.
The hair salon is run by a Korean woman who went to an university in Taipei, so she can speak really good Mandarin. They had at least four young women working there with super trendy hairstyle. One of the young women washed and massaged my head (oh it felt so good), and when the Korean hairdresser started cutting my hair, the other two young women stand right next to him and watched attentively. At one point, I had at least two people blow drying my hair at the same time. It is such a shame that I didn't want a trendy hair cut. All these attention for 60RMB! ($7.50 USD) But I realize today that the hair cut was rather pricey, since Jesse just got his hair cut today for 10 RMB. ($1.25 USD) It would have been 5 RMB if he didn't want his hair washed!
Apparently the foot massage place is more often frequented by men than women, but I didn't know that until I started talking to the masseuse. They first soaked my feet, and gave me a nice back and neck massage. After that, the foot trimming guy trimmed my nails and scraped off the dead skins on the bottom of my feet. It was rather strange to have a man scraping dead skin off my feet, and commenting how my feet are in bad shape. It was in such a bad shape that he had to call his buddy to come and observe. I was a bit embarrassed. At the end I got a nice and long foot and calf massage
4. Statues
. They even gave me a new pair of socks to go home with, but I think they are men's socks. I talked to the masseuse quite a bit while she was massaging my feet. She is only twenty years old and she works seven days a week, from noon to midnight. She told me that the place is not always busy, so it's not too bad. Regardless of what she told me, I still can't help myself and feel bad for her.
Xian to Chengdu
We left Xian two days ago and splurged on soft sleepers. We were all excited because the train was arriving Chengdu at 6:00 am, so it didn't seem too bad. Well, the train got to Chengdu early at 5:30 am, and the sun doesn't come out until 7:00 am in Chengdu (Everywhere in China goes by Beijing time zone). Once again, we had to wander around some dark alley to look for our hostel. The eerie thing is at that time, nothing is open except these shops that sells gigantic funeral fake-flower arrangements, funeral clothes and other funeral related decorations. Our hostel happens to be right next to an old Buddhist monastery, and it looks like quite a few funeral shops decided to have their shop right next to the monastery.
Our Chronic Health Issues
Quite a few people asked if we are feeling better. Thank you for your kind thoughts. Unfortunately, we can't definitely say that we are 100% healthy. I have this chronic throat irritation, it doesn't feel too bad normally. But whenever I'm in a place with a lot of second hand smoke ( such as this particular internet cafe, I now have a mask with me at all time for this situation ), or where people are burning coals or trash, my throat feels bad
5. Very steep stairs
. The Chinese herbal medicine definitely helps. Jesse is feeling better, but that all depends on what the next meal is. Ever since Beijing, Jesse has been having some stomach issues. Again, it comes and goes and we are never quite sure what he is eating that does it. Another trip to Pharmacy
In Chengdu, we went to a pharmacy to look for some Ibuprofen. This really enthusiastic pharmacist helped us and again we were turned away from western medicine. He gave Jesse this headache pills from Singapore, at least it has English instructions. He started showing me these dried up pepper look alike things for headaches. He said you cooked it with fish head or stuff pigeon with it, and it will help relieving headaches. I told him I can't cook (Imaging catching a pigeon on the sidewalk of Seattle...).
I asked him what are those dried up sea horses for, he said they are used to make medicinal wines, but he didn't elaborate on their effects. He then showed us some dried up caterpillar looking things called "Winter Worm Summer Grass" or "Chinese Caterpillar fungus". They were very expensive, and they are used to make special chicken soup. He said they are very fragrant and they are good for your health. I looked it up and it's called "CORDYCEPS SINENSIS". For more info:
Winter Worm Summer Grass
