It wasn't until I finished up my last blog entry to burrow down in my berth that I realized this was the first time I’d ever been in a train sleeper car. One of many firsts I’ll have on this trip, I suppose. I found it funny that even though it’s very difficult for me to catch zees in a car or on a plane, and I shared the compartment with three other snorers, the rhythm of the rails rocked me to sleep like a baby. I wasn’t entirely lucid when we arrived in Xi’an, but I felt more ready to take on the day than I expected. Honing in on a half-awake foreigner, a man named "David" immediately approached me and offered a free ride to a hostel on my short list of potential accommodation. Still getting my bearings, I almost went along with it. But then, at the last second, I politely declined, then turned him down again and again as he followed me down the block. I’m glad I did, because the first hostel I wanted to look into turned out to be a gem. Called the Qixian (or Seven Sages), it was not only clean and quiet, but cheap. I got my own private room in a traditional courtyard for the price of a dorm bed in Beijing. There’s also a nice little café on the property, which offers 79-cent beer, a couple of guitars to mess around on and free Wi-Fi. It’s a little far away from the action, but still within the Ming-era city walls, so I’m looking forward to spending at least a couple of days here.
Although the cabs are cheap also, I keep walking great distances despite my body’s growing objection to it. Tomorrow, I plan on hiring transportation whenever possible, if only to give my blistered feet and aching knees a rest. But today, I went about my normal way of getting to know a city by taking a long hike around it. I started in a nearby park, where hundreds folks were doing their morning Tai Chi next to antiquated pagodas and monuments devoted to Heroes of the Revolution. From that moment, Xi’an felt more authentically Chinese to me than Beijing. The city is still teeming with hurried humanity…some four million people live here, but I saw almost no Westerners the entire day. Also, whereas many signs in Beijing have at least some English written below the characters, most signs here are exclusively Chinese, which can be both a blessing and a curse.
I sauntered to the center of town, which is an ancient bell tower surrounded by an all-too-modern traffic circle, then broke away from the vehicles to explore the hectic Muslim Quarter on foot. It’s easy for an American like me to forget that China has a significant and unique Islamic population, represented by the ethnically Asian Hui community. The Hui men wear white pillbox skullcaps, and the women cover their heads with colorful scarves. It was strange to walk through crowded markets with vendors hawking food appealing to both Asian and Middle Eastern palates. Save the Arabic script above the doors, I couldn’t tell the difference between a Hui Mosque and a Taoist temple. I couldn’t help thinking about what a fascinating world we all live in. Not one to be deterred by language limits, I successfully ordered a delectable fusion dish called yangrou paomo, a broth filled with pita bread, glass noodles, something similar to Sriracha sauce, fresh garlic and mutton. It satiated my appetite for the rest of the day, and only set me back about four bucks.
After that, I started in the direction of my hotel, and luckily got lost in a large Tao temple complex. The giant statues of ancient idols made me feel like I’d just stepped into a tourist trap. But then, I saw robed Taoist monks and mostly elderly people lighting large bottle-rocket-like sticks of incense and kneeling before them in prayer. It changed my perspective immediately, because I had no idea that there were still practicing Taoists around.
So far, the “boring” city the Beijingers I’ve met warned me about has been nothing but interesting. We’ll see if I get tired of it in a few days, but it seems unlikely. Tomorrow, I’m going to get up early and try to make my way to a place I’ve wanted to see ever since I was a little kid…a UNESCO World Heritage site that was only accidentally discovered three years before my birth by peasants digging a well…the Terracotta Warriors of the Tomb of the Emperor Qin Shi Huang. For a history nerd like me, it doesn’t get any better than that
