Xi'an: warriors, meat and Muslims

This past weekend, I flew to Xi'an with my coworker Guo Xin and her husband Kevin and met with GX's friends who took the overnight train. The main reason for a trip to Xi'an is to visit the Terracotta Warriors, several hundred life-size, unique warriors and horses placed in a Qin Dynasty emperor's tomb to accompany him into the afterlife. Fortunately, once in Xi'an there are many other things to see, do and eat. (Photo: Drum Tower)

It flies in the face of most visitors, nationals and historians, but I was not bowled over by the warriors. Yes, it's interesting seeing them standing in all phases from internment through renovation in the pits from which they are still being unearthed and reconstructed. They have erected buildings over three original sites to work on and preserve the warriors while they are on exhibit. An unconventional method considering most museums. It took a long time to get to the site, and walking around at the speed and behest of my friends' tour guide (something common in China - at a museum or historical site you hire a tour guide) was a little frustrating. Plus, one of the three pits was closed during low season, it was cold, and I was sleep deprived. Whine, whine, whine.

Why was I sleep deprived? One needs to chose their traveling companions carefully. We had opted to stay at a pretty cool youth hostel and share a room. Besides limits on our ability to communicate, they did not got to bed before 1 am and both mornings one thing or another woke them up early and apparently without any thought to whispering and tip-toeing. The two things I had wanted to do on this trip were visit the warriors and bicycle along the renovated city wall. The latter activity was continually delayed in favor of the groups' other interests and thus, we ran out of time. However, as part of this group, I did enjoy the inside track as a domestic tourist. They found the best local restaurants, conversed with taxi drivers, found buses, told me about the city and its history, and haggled for me. In the end, I saw a lot of the wall, just not the top of it. And that was really okay.

What turned out to be the most fascinating part of the trip was visiting the Muslim quarter. Partly touristy, partly untainted, there is a large Islamic culture which spills over into architecture, food, clothes and tradition. In addition to the seemingly endless supply of animal parts for sale, the staples of this region are noodles and a chalk white unleavened baked then grilled bread which is thick, dense and almost tasteless. They break it up in itty-bitty pieces to thicken soup, spread finely chopped peppers on it, or slice it open and put mutton or beef in it to make a greasy, soft yet crispy sandwich. In the soup and sandwiches you can order a spectrum of fatty to lean meat. At one meal, GX was dismayed and disgusted to find out her husband had bought one that was entirely fat. As gross as it sounds, it melts in your mouth - however, after eating one of these sandwiches, I was keenly aware of how fat slows gastric motility. My gut hurt and my appetite disappeared for about 24 hrs. Oh, but there was so much yet to try.

Another perk of being with Chinese travel companions was Kevin has a friend in Xi'an who treated us to the biggest meal I've had in this country. (Several more dishes arrived after this picture was taken.) It was obscene. So many different dishes, so little room in my stomach. Plus when they said they were going to have "white wine", I thought great, I'll have some of that. Turns out their white wine is a 45% alcohol liquor made from sorghum which we drank in 1/2 ounce glasses during a succession of toasts until the bottle was empty. Strangely enough, none of us felt the affects of this potentially potent drink except for our host who, by the end of the meal, sported a tell-tale red face and was walking around the restaurant holding hands with Kevin. This gentlemen, who is the VP of local banking branch in Xi'an, also gave us a ride to the airport when we left. So perhaps not your typical traveling adventure, but having the Chinese connection definitely had its pluses.