Passing the time in Xi'an
Trip Start
Sep 17, 2007
1
106
272
Trip End
Oct 08, 2008
Xi'an,
China
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Perhaps we didn't pick the country with the best weather to have a break, but we definitely picked the country with the best hostels. They are amazing. Han Tang Inn has a restaurant with a wonderful staff and all the ammenities. There are three PCs with free Internet (considering how much we pay elsewhere, this is a great deal), a pool table, and a giant TV with all the pirated DVDs you could ask for
a dumpling party
. All this for about $5 a night for the both of us. A great deal. So we took advantage. Particularly Erin. She is still trying to recover from a cough that has lingered since Nepal. So we spent a lot of time hanging out in the hostel, sleeping, using the Internet, watching movies, and playing pool. Erin enjoyed herself while I prowled like a tiger trapped in a cage.
At one point I got invited to a game by one of the staff at the hostel. I could keep up with him and even managed to win a couple games but he had the advantage. However, a couple days later I played him again and had the upper hand. We each won one game. I noticed that the kitchen staff had come out to watch. Jason said that if I beat him this game I could play the cook. "He is my teacher," he said seriously. I came back to beat him and the cook grabbed a stick. I had graduated to play the master. Unfortunately, I wasn't quite good enough to beat the master. We played three games and though I managed to hold my own I couldn't close. He shook my hand after each game and disappeared back into the kitchen on the third. I had gained his respect, but wasn't yet his equal. Still it was quite an honor.
We also had a dumpling party one night. This consisted of the staff bringing out giant plates of filling and rolling a bunch of little dough balls. We would fill the dough and close it. We made a couple thousand dumplings and they disappeared into the back. There were only four of us in attendance. We got three huge plates of dumplings. The others disappeared. I guess they're for the staff.
I did drag Erin out of the hostel to see the fountain and light show at the big goose pagoda
Erin shows off her designer face mask
. It claims to be the largest in Asia, and I wouldn't argue. Around 8:30 every night the crowds are treated to a spectacular show of fountains and lights synchronized to music. You can stand right in the center of the activity and fountains are going off all around you. It's pretty special and Erin loved it. She even made me go back again the next night.We also came back to visit the pagoda during the day. There is a large temple surrounding it that we could wander around. I really enjoy walking around Chinese temples because you never know what you'll see. In this case my favorite was the monk who for some unknown reason was using a really long stick to prod a chicken hanging in a cage high up in a tree. It was pretty hilarious to watch him. Maybe you had to be there. This temple had some really beautiful wood relief carvings and a wonderful room that was decorated in color using different types of colored stone. Some of these places rival the carvings in India.
We took a bus in the wrong direction to the end of the line and then for some reason could not find the same bus going in the other direction. How are you supposed to change direction when the bus goes down a bunch of one-way streets? We did find another one we knew and took it back to the Little Goose Pagoda. This one was not nearly as exciting as the first pagoda and the price had been raised because of a new museum on the premises. I did enjoy the museum. It had exhibits on ancient Xi'an, some great pottery sculptures, jade carvings, and ancient seals. Erin sulked the whole time because she didn't want to see a museum. But she missed the jade anal plug because of it. Her loss. The temple was deserted but it was cool to see the Chinese lanterns hanging on the trees in the snow
eating weird candied fruit on a stick
. All in all a good day.One of my favorite places in Xi'an is the giant supermarket down the street, specifically the bakery section. Not only does it actually have good baguettes and peanut butter (possibly my favorite dish), but it also has a giant selection of mysterious Chinese snacks. So we went crazy and picked out quite a few to try. Some are sweet, some are salty, and almost all are delicious. We went back to try some more. It's a very active supermarket and people are everywhere buying strange (and disgusting) looking things. You have to get your fruit weighed by an attendant and I had the privilege of being in the scrum/line when two women started fighting with each other and throwing each other's fruit off the scales. It was interesting.
We did walk down to the pharmacy to see if we could get something for Erin's cough. We walked in and looked with dispair at the counter and the expectant Chinese-speaking ladies. Erin quickly solved the situation by giving them all a good cough. Ahh, they said, and started pulling out medicines. We came away with an English box that was what we wanted and a mystery box in Chinese that the front desk translated for us. It seems to be working though.
And so Xi'an has become our home away from home. And a break from travelling for a while.
~Travis
