Last night I crashed. And I crashed very hard. I hit a wall at
dinner, and I think Marlene caught the moment as she asked me if I was going to
be ok. A little while and 450ml of Tsing Tao (the Budweiser of China) later, and I
was ready. Aside from some knee pain that woke me a couple of times, I slept
pretty soundly. It was what I needed to get me over the jet lag hump. I
realized that the only time I was truly jet lagged was when I was well-rested
before departure. This time, that was certainly not the case.
We got going
about 9 this morning. We actually got a good cup of coffee at the coffee shop
attached to the hotel, and then went to, where else?, but Dunkin Donuts for a
quick snack. We passed on the Baskin Robbins that was in the same storefront.
The sun came out--as did the thousands of people who are on holiday. We walked
to a bus stop, boarded a double-decker, and went to the end of the line. On the
bus' second level, I couldn't stand up straight (I was one of few who had this
problem). The terminal was a mob scene. The national holiday on Wednesday May 1 (Labor Day) made for a very short work week for some, and that meant many others were interested in doing the same thing we were. As Ernie was leading us (he's a take
charge kind of guy), we were hit up by a man. Long story short, Ernie had
planned on us taking public transportation the whole way to see the Terra Cotta
soldiers, and thankfully, negotiations were positive, and we ended up hiring
David instead. David--a local--not only helped us get to the sites we wanted to
see, but also was able to take us via a nice van, see a couple sites we
probably wouldn't have otherwise, and made time for us to grab lunch at a local
place he knew well.
The first site--about 90 minutes out of town, by air conditioned van and not by packed public bus, hooray David!--was full of small
figurines that were discovered within the last 20 years. The reason it was
found is that the government was building a new expressway, and it came across the
ruins while digging. The expressway was rerouted to accommodate the find. The
Hanyangling Museum is an underground museum that displays the finds of the Han
Dynasty beneath your feet, still as part of the archaeological site. It includes many small figurines of men, women and interestingly
enough eunuchs There are also many types of animals featured, as well as
ceramics and very small copper and bronze stamps with TEENY characters etched. They made so many figurines so that the Emperor would always enjoy prosperity. It was fun to see, and a nice warm up for what was to come. The highlight was
the film that was provided, which included a set that rotated on a cylinder and holograms that moved and told the story. The narrator, an older man dressed in
a bright blue western style suit, described the story of the dynasty, which
included the tale of the Empress. Though she came off as a gold-digger, he
urged us, "For those of you emotionally sympathetic to her, you can visit
her tomb and pay respects." It was an odd turn of phrase.
We got in and out of the car a few times, and didn't mind because
we weren't on a packed, public bus and it was sunny out. The second site wasn't
eventful, as it was a collection of what was unearthed from the
site we had just seen and simply put on display. We got back in the car, drove for a
while, and David got us close to the Terra Cotta site. We stopped for lunch,
and then walked through a market selling, what else?, Terra Cotta figurines.
The site of the Terra Cotta soldiers is massive. This archaeological find was discovered in
1974 by a farmer who was digging for water. You can still meet the farmer, as
he sits in a pagoda surrounded by books he'll autograph once purchased. There are many souvenirs and huge photos that show him with
dignitaries from the time. He's aged quite well.
By 1979 the
government opened the site to the public. David suggested that we see the movie
and then see he three pits in reverse order as they get better, pit 3, pit 2
and then finish with pit 1. Because we had gotten here late in the afternoon
crowds had subsided significantly though there were still a lot of people. This
is China after all. There's no English anywhere and the only map--we later
discovered--is on the ticket stub taking up one square inch. We hit and missed
a couple of times, stopped to ask a volunteer who recognized Marlene saying
'movie' in English rather than in Chinese, and found the cinema. In there we
found a huge round room, with no seats, just bars against which to lean. We
caught the tail end of the Chinese version, and the English version was next in
the queue. There were eight screens surrounding us, giving us a 360 of the
film. The film reels had a 70s feel to them. The movie described the tale of
the Qin dynasty's beginnings, how the first emperor waged war with 6 countries
to unify China. The claim was that this same emperor built the Great Wall. The
story of the Terra Cotta soldiers is that these were to be part of his tomb.
Each one is different, and they were all painted. They are life size, or bigger
than life size as they are close to 6' tall. And there are thousands of them.
We moved from pit
to pit, each one inspiring more awe than the one before. The site has not been
totally unearthed, so there's no way of knowing how truly expansive it is.
After seeing pit 3, Ernie and I had our photos taken with replicas. The people
running it were not happy with how long we took...
Pit 1 is enclosed
by a hangar (I'm hoping that gives you a sense of scale). The site of the farmer's well is marked, and you can see the rows
and rows of the soldiers below. There are archers, officers, foot soldiers,
generals and cavalry complete with horses. It is truly amazing to witness. But
you've got to summon your 'inner Chinese' and jockey for a spot in front. We
took our time with each and just enjoyed strolling around the site. When we finally
got outside again, the crowds had diminished even further and we enjoyed the
breeze as we went to our meeting spot. We and back through the plaza that sold
the souvenirs. It was empty with few people, mostly sellers tying to get you to
buy their replicas. One of us bought one set for 50Y, the second sold for 30Y
and the last one, bought just because it was a deal, went for 10Y. They were
all the same.
We got back into town after 8. David dropped us off near the Muslim
quarter. We slowly entered a part of town that was riddled with narrow, windy
streets, smells of charcoal and various meats grilling over them, and the
sounds of an outdoor bizarre: yelling back and forth, honks of mopeds cutting
through pedestrians, and the loud hum of so many people collected in one small
space. We turned down an even narrower street. Quail eggs, six to a skewer, sat
in the open air, their bright orange yolks contrasting so well against the
whites. Lamb and pork aplenty, with calamari too, was served up at a moment's
notice. Nuts, nuts and more nuts, dates and dried fruit were abundant. Ladies,
with their scarves framing their faces, smiled sweetly to encourage potential customers
to approach. Men, with their covered heads, worked the grills and took a more
vocal approach to entice. Every smell you can imagine--spices, meats, cigarette, and the
occasional fragrant sweet--wafted above the densely populated streets. If you
didn't move, you got pushed to, and if not, looked at. Bright lights
illuminated the walk. Neon signs blinked overhead. Occasionally a traffic
pattern would be disrupted by a moped or small, three-wheeled vehicle carrying
as many passengers trying to get through. A tall, lanky man with dark hair, dark skin, and protruding
teeth took a bite from a sweet bread, its crunch so loud it pierced through the hum. Empty skewers and paper cups littered the street on either
side. Children with no diapers with slits in their pants clutched to their parents
as they nimbly moved through the crowd.
It was lively. We stopped to eat pancakes made by a man surrounded
by his sons and nephews. One boy would throw two flour pancakes (thin, round
layers of some sort of bread), and he'd wet the circumference with
water. He would top with meat or veggies, people pointed to what they wanted--all options were before the crowd under bright light. He'd fold the second cake
over the first, sealing the edge all the way around. Into the fryer they went,
where a second boy would cook them to perfection. When it was done, back to the
first boy it went, who would cut it and serve. Kendra and I opted for a
vegetarian version, while Jeff, Ernie and Mar split one with meat. They were
crispy and delicious. Mar also ordered a bowl of dumplings and these handmade
noodles that were about 3" wide and a few feet in length. They were
prepared with meat, beans, veggies of all kinds, with a little hot sauce added
in for kick. This being the Muslim quarter, beer was nowhere to be found, so we
settled on sodas. All in all, that was 49Y or about $8 for 5 people. After
dinner, Jeff peeled off to the hotel, and the four of us took our time. We
strolled through town, enjoying the temperature and clear night. The pagodas on
top of the wall were all lit up, and Kendra and Mar went off to capture them.
Though my legs tell me to stretch and rest, my reflection on the
day reminds me what a great day it was. We got lucky with a great driver, we
didn't get caught up in sightseeing traffic (which was crazy--the line for the
return bus was 2 hours), we saw things that most people read about only if they
know to, and we had this amazing cross-cultural experience. AND IT'S JUST
DAY 2. Seriously: how lucky can I be?
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