Today was quite interesting. We woke up at the crack of dawn (5) and said goodbye to Shanghai and flew into Xi’ an. For breakfast we had bananas, rolls, and something called “Yoghurt.” After arriving in Xi an around 11, we met our new bus driver and got onto our new bus, which isn’t quite as cute as our old one, which looked like a Carolina blue caterpillar. Then, well… we drove for two and a half hours into the Xi an countryside before finally arriving at the Huang Di Mausoleum. Xi’ an is our tour guide, Chris’s, hometown, so he was very enthusiastic in telling us about the many unique aspects of Xi’ an. One of the things that Chris explained to us was how the Yellow Emperor (Huang means yellow) was invited into heaven by the Yellow Dragon. He also told us about the four very important early inventions in China: the compass, paper, printing press and gun powder. Chris also went on to explain some of the modern day aspects of Xi’ an and the differences in the locations in the Shangi Province. In the Middle, is Xi’an, which grows mainly wheat and corn. In the north there is the desert, a natural gas production and the mausoleum. In the south here are mountains, and rice and peanuts are the main products.
Now, I enjoy nature as much as the next person and probably more, but the entire place was, while admittedly beautiful and incredibly historical, also soaking wet. After walking around for about an hour, everyone except Colin, who had been intelligent enough to bring an umbrella, was soaking wet. Even Chloe, our infamous charger horse, had taken some rain damage. Chloe was very busy today, sitting atop a beautiful scroll, and inside on the huge monument in Emperor Qin Shi Huang’s honor. After our visit to the mausoleum, we took a golf cart and headed up to the Huang Di Tomb… except not. After climbing about twenty flights of stairs to reach the tomb, we found out that Huang Di’s body was not actually buried there, but his clothes and shoes were. Muddy, soaking wet and just a tad bit tired, we got back on our bus and headed back to the city of Xi’ an. Three hours later we stopped and got dinner, which was very good. We had noodles, fish, fried dough and shrimp, and some kind of meatballs.
Now, I enjoy nature as much as the next person and probably more, but the entire place was, while admittedly beautiful and incredibly historical, also soaking wet. After walking around for about an hour, everyone except Colin, who had been intelligent enough to bring an umbrella, was soaking wet. Even Chloe, our infamous charger horse, had taken some rain damage. Chloe was very busy today, sitting atop a beautiful scroll, and inside on the huge monument in Emperor Qin Shi Huang’s honor. After our visit to the mausoleum, we took a golf cart and headed up to the Huang Di Tomb… except not. After climbing about twenty flights of stairs to reach the tomb, we found out that Huang Di’s body was not actually buried there, but his clothes and shoes were. Muddy, soaking wet and just a tad bit tired, we got back on our bus and headed back to the city of Xi’ an. Three hours later we stopped and got dinner, which was very good. We had noodles, fish, fried dough and shrimp, and some kind of meatballs.
1 comment:
You should all buy umbrellas, since they are all made in China, duh!
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