Touring Xi'an

We were quite sad to leave Barbara's house. It was a tad rustic (squat toilet and no hot water) but she was a lovely hostess. I particularly enjoyed six days of chit-chatting though the UW gossip occasionally lost Joey. But, it was time to see more of what China had to offer so we took a plane north to Xi'an.

Located just outside of Xi'an are the famed Terracotta Warriors. While they are the primary draw for tourists to Xi'an, the city has more to offer than just the warriors. We stayed in the heart of the city, across from the Drum Tower and close to the Muslim quarter. The Muslim quarter is famed for its food, which we sampled quite a few times during our visit. Our first full day, we headed to the Forest of Steles Museum in the southern section of the inner city. The Forest of Steles contains calligraphic inscriptions from around China as well as an exhibit of tomb sculpture (the Rhino pictured above is a life size example). The collection of steles is incredible. It includes inscriptions of poetry, land grants, examples of famed individuals' calligraphy, etc. The image above is of the character "tiger," created in 1866.

This is the Nestorian Christian Tablet, created in 781. Christianity first arrived in China in 635 and was banned in 845. This table was buried until 1625.

This is one of my favorites. It is a Sanskrit-Chinese Dharani Octagon. As you can see, I tried to pick out the Sanskrit but I think a digital image would have worked better!

After touring the museum, we climbed the city wall. Xi'an has the longest intact -- after some reconstruction -- city wall in China. It is about 8.5 miles around. We rented some bikes and took a bumpy ride around the wall. Up on the wall is possibly the most peaceful place in a Chinese city. There are comparatively few people and you can look down into people's lives. It was also great to get some exercise, though our wrists and bums would have preferred fewer cobblestones.