The day began in Xi’an, when Camryn, Julie and I crossed the street to buy water. We greatly amused the clerk by speaking in Chinese. The water inside was fine, but the dusty exterior of the bottle was just another thing that made us reflect on how clean we are used to having everything.
After checking out, we boarded the bus and drove the Ban Po Museum. It is said to be build on the site of a civilization that existed 6,000 years ago. The Museum consists of some buildings that are built around excavation sites and some buildings that contain 10,000 plus artifacts discovered. Our tour guide said that only a fraction of the site is on display to the public. We saw sections with information on different cultural aspects. That on living displayed a previous village site. In the burial section we saw how different pots were placed throughout a grave in specific layout in orientation to the body, and how children were incased in points with small hole for their souls to escape our of. The last section was on pottery making, and it demonstrated the difference between vertical and horizontal kilns. Despite the scale of the Museum, we all couldn’t help but feel slightly skeptical – how do we know that someone dug that hole 6,000 years ago, or used that rock to weigh down a net?
We all pondered over the “thermal-energy plant,” that had hourglass shaped cooling towers and purely white smoke. Last year Mr. Velto said these were definitely nuclear plants, and we had a discussion over which the plant really was. We saw two of these plants, one in the city and one right next to the town we are staying at tonight at the base of Mount Hua Shan. All of us decided to research the different energy plants as soon as we were in range of internet connection.
We next visited a Terra Cotta Factory, which in addition to the displayed craftsman carving out warriors and horses, had an expansive show with all sorts of Chinese items for sale.
The real Terra Cotta Soldiers came next. The Museum displaying them was similar to the Ban Po one we saw earlier; it was build on top of the site with the excavation only just started. One of the four farmers who discovered the soldiers is still alive, and he sits and signs books all day long.
Another two and a half hour bus ride followed, in which we got to view what most of China is like. Farms and dilapidated buildings surrounded us for the journey up, but things got better as we approached the base of the mountain. After checking into our hotel and eating dinner, some of us went out walking at night in the town. Mr. Killmer pulled off some of the best deals, including a large painting for the same price we had brought smaller ones at earlier that day.
Tomorrow we will start up the mountain, armed with the new gloves we all had to buy at one yuan. We are all looking forward to getting back to the Xi’an Diamond Hotel and going to the sauna!
After checking out, we boarded the bus and drove the Ban Po Museum. It is said to be build on the site of a civilization that existed 6,000 years ago. The Museum consists of some buildings that are built around excavation sites and some buildings that contain 10,000 plus artifacts discovered. Our tour guide said that only a fraction of the site is on display to the public. We saw sections with information on different cultural aspects. That on living displayed a previous village site. In the burial section we saw how different pots were placed throughout a grave in specific layout in orientation to the body, and how children were incased in points with small hole for their souls to escape our of. The last section was on pottery making, and it demonstrated the difference between vertical and horizontal kilns. Despite the scale of the Museum, we all couldn’t help but feel slightly skeptical – how do we know that someone dug that hole 6,000 years ago, or used that rock to weigh down a net?
We all pondered over the “thermal-energy plant,” that had hourglass shaped cooling towers and purely white smoke. Last year Mr. Velto said these were definitely nuclear plants, and we had a discussion over which the plant really was. We saw two of these plants, one in the city and one right next to the town we are staying at tonight at the base of Mount Hua Shan. All of us decided to research the different energy plants as soon as we were in range of internet connection.
We next visited a Terra Cotta Factory, which in addition to the displayed craftsman carving out warriors and horses, had an expansive show with all sorts of Chinese items for sale.
The real Terra Cotta Soldiers came next. The Museum displaying them was similar to the Ban Po one we saw earlier; it was build on top of the site with the excavation only just started. One of the four farmers who discovered the soldiers is still alive, and he sits and signs books all day long.
Another two and a half hour bus ride followed, in which we got to view what most of China is like. Farms and dilapidated buildings surrounded us for the journey up, but things got better as we approached the base of the mountain. After checking into our hotel and eating dinner, some of us went out walking at night in the town. Mr. Killmer pulled off some of the best deals, including a large painting for the same price we had brought smaller ones at earlier that day.
Tomorrow we will start up the mountain, armed with the new gloves we all had to buy at one yuan. We are all looking forward to getting back to the Xi’an Diamond Hotel and going to the sauna!
2 comments:
China has many nuclear plants, and has plans to build dozens more in the next 20 years. They are way ahead of us in this technology, which they get from Japan and France, and develop on their own. "thermal-energy plant" is a valid description for a nuclear plant, because it uses a nuclear core to heat water and make steam, which turns the turbines to make electricity. It is a thermal process.
Love the t shirt, Mr. Kilmer!
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