China, Part 2: Xi'an

Xi'an (pronounced chee-an) was our second stop on our China tour.  Although we were delayed (again!) with our flight, we made it there safely and began our whirlwind adventures.  The big thing to see in Xi'an is the Terra Cotta Warriors.  These warriors were discovered by some farmers who were digging a well in the mid-70s.  What a find!  The Terra Cotta Army dates back to about 210 BC and were buried with the emperor from the Qin dynasty.  There are 3 pits with over 8,000 soldiers, archers, officers, and horses, all of which have not yet been uncovered or assembled.

Before heading to the actual site of this massive archaeological find, we stopped at the factory that creates Terra Cotta replicas using similar techniques of the originals.  We had fun posing with the warriors in the front.

Noa, the cool Warrior, decides to wear sunglasses into battle.

Traci and Herman take the cue from Noa and decide to follow suit.

Inside, workers create warrior replicas and the lady in the blue shirt describes the process to us.

Noa holds the head of one of the warriors.  The heads are all separate from the bodies.  This makes the Warrior Army even more amazing because each face is different and has unique characteristics - there are no two faces alike!

As with the Great Wall, the pictures don't do this site justice as to the magnitude of how large and detailed this project was.  I find it amazing that this was created so long ago, with such precision and then hidden for thousands of years. Here is a view of pit 1, the largest of the 3 pits.

Here's a picture to give you an idea of scale.

If you look closely towards the back, you can see that some of the dig is still in the process of being excavated.

It was amazing to peer out into the rows of soldiers and compare the faces.  It's true - they really are different from one another. Some are missing heads and towards the back of the exhibit, many are still in pieces.  Archaeologists are still working on the site in the early hours of the morning before the tourists arrive.

Loved the horses!

These warriors are still being pieced together like puzzles.  The dark spots you see are missing pieces.

Fighting positions!  Jervis, Kelly, Herman, Matt, and Noa demonstrate the warrior positions around a chariot (Herman is the chariot driver)

There was a tea house on site that we visited after our tour.  The various teas were laid out and we enjoyed smelling them and reading about their health-inducing qualities.

It was still very hot, so Noa ordered iced coffee, but his order came with a small tea cup...

...from which to drink from properly.

After the tea house, we walked the streets of the Muslim Quarter, where Chinese Muslims or the Hui community have lived for centuries.

There were so many varieties of tried fruit.  I was tempted to try the dried kiwis.

We stopped at this booth to try a snack called "dragon whiskers" or "dragon beard."  They are sooooo good!  The stringy stuff you see in the picture is the outside part made from spun sugar. It's stretched really long and then wrapped around a mixture of crushed seeds and nuts. 

We made our way to the Great Mosque, which is one of the oldest mosques in China.  The grounds were beautifully maintained and the buildings still maintained the mosque's long history as you'll see in the next few pictures.

These doorways lead into the prayer room in the back of the mosque.

That night the group climbed up the city walls, which were built in 1370 during the Ming dynasty.  We all rented bikes and cruised around on the walls until it was so dark, we could barely see where we were going anymore.  Unfortunately, I don't have many pictures of this adventure since my camera (the little point-and-shoot) decided it had enough - yup, my little red camera is dead - but, I have a few shots that I got before that tragedy.

Here's a view of the wall.  The group is in line to pay for our rental bikes.

The tandem bikes.  Team Juloa opted to try these, and although I often thought we would die with Noa pedaling like a madman, they were actually pretty fun.

A view of the city below.

The City Wall just before sunset.

Next up: Chengdu!

For more China details and pics, check out Traci's blog.  She'll probably have much better pics of the wall biking and more!

China, Part 1: Beijing

We've just returned from our 11-day trip to China.  It was an amazing experience and we were fortunate enough to share it with some great friends, Herman and Traci, who pretty much planned the details of the trip.  We also got to travel with their friends/relatives: Jervis, Herman's brother, and his girlfriend Jen, and Kelly, Traci's cousin, and her husband, Matt.  Our conglomerate of people was varied but we all traveled well together and had a lot of laughs along the way.

The trip was divided into 4 cities: Beijing, Xi'an, Chengdu, and Shanghai.  Even though we live the closest to China, we arrived the latest due to flight delays and poor weather (this includes sitting on an airplane for 4 hours on the tarmac at a random airport, waiting for the weather to clear for us to land at a subsequent airport).  Thankfully, we were excited enough about the trip that our spirits weren't crushed after such long delays.

Here we are leaving Okinawa in our matching "Team Juloa" t-shirts that Traci made us for an anniversary gift.  Like the matching stickers too?  They were for a shuttle ride we never took due to the delays.  Yes, we were very matchy-matchy.  And we were okay with that.

After almost 7 hours on an airplane (we were only supposed to be taking a 2 hour flight), we finally landed in Shanghai.  However, we weren't allowed to exit the airplane until all passengers were medically cleared.  We couldn't help but giggle and think of ET when a van full of Chinese health officials entered our plane looking like this:

All they did was take our temperatures.  Once we arrived at Shanghai, we had to grab our bags and figure out a way to get to Beijing, where we would meet up with our group.  Unfortunately we had missed our shuttle a long time ago.  This nice guy, with limited English speaking skills, really helped us out by getting us a plane ticket to Beijing and tried to help us place a phone call.  We had to get his picture.

The flight to Beijing wasn't for several hours and we hadn't eaten much, so we grabbed a bite to eat.  Here's our first official meal in China: freshly squeezed apple juice and some kind of spicy beef dish with rice.

We made it to Beijing around 3 am.  We met the group the next morning and all of us headed off to see the one thing that MUST be experienced in Beijing: the Great Wall.  On the way to the entrance, vendors sell all kinds of things: hats, drinks, souvenirs, dried fruit, t-shirts....you name it.

Since we knew we'd be doing a lot of walking on the Wall, we decided to take a skyline or "ropeway" ride up the mountain.  I didn't get a picture of it, but here's a picture of what the ride looks like from one of the windows in the watchtowers.

Finally, we reached the top and started hiking the Wall.  It was amazing!  The day was somewhat hazy and as always, pictures don't really do justice to the vastness of it.  I love how it lays out across the mountain tops and bends with each curve.

Team Juloa at the Great Wall

The guys: Noa, Jervis, Herman, and Matt

Up close: writing on the Wall

Another view

Sorry for the blurry shot.  I had to take it quick so the vendor wouldn't yell at me.  We figured out that this is how some of the vendors bring their stuff up to the wall to sell it.  Imagine our surprise to turn a corner and find a random donkey standing there!

To get back down we all rode these little "toboggans" which were basically sleds with wheels.  There is a slide, or chute, that you take with the toboggans which is pretty fun.  Although after purchasing our tickets, I was disappointed they didn't offer rides down the mountain on the back of a child (read the sign).

After a quick clean up at the hotel, we headed out for a much needed dinner at a restaurant famous for it's Peking duck.  This was my second time eating Peking duck and it was still just as delicious as I remembered it.

Here are the ducks waiting to be cooked

The cooking process

One of our ducks being carved by a chef.  We were also given certified  papers on our ducks that gave the serial number of which ducks we ate.  This kinda freaked me out - you know I'm an animal person - but, well... it was really good duck.

Okay, so moving on to day 2 in Beijing.  We started the day at an open air market called Beijing Panjia Yuan Flea Market.  We were able to pick up a few souvenirs, see the local crafts, and try our hand at bargaining with the vendors.  Here's part of the group: Noa on the left, Traci cracking up, Matt standing behind her, and Herman on the right.

Although I loved it, Noa said this dog statue wouldn't fit in our luggage.

I did buy 2 of these shadow puppets for school.  I actually had taught a unit on puppets when I taught in preschool and these were one of the kinds of puppets we learned about!

Mao clocks scattered on the table caught my eye.  There were a lot of Mao-themed items, including books, watches, playing cards, posters, clothing....the works.

I was in the market for a crazy hat for our school's "Crazy Hat Day," but thought this one was a bit much.

I spy a little girl....

After walking around, we all got head massages at a local salon.

Followed by a tour of the Forbidden City!  This was the home of the emperor for 2 dynasties and was off limits for about 500 years.  The detail and artistry in the buildings here is quite impressive and ornate.  

Here are the ladies sporting our cool electronic guides.  From left to right is Kelly, Traci, me, and Jen.

Noa and Herman do their best dragon impression.

And flash their regular smiles (like the "cool" earpieces?)

Similar to our Shisa dogs in Okinawa, Chinese lion-dogs flank entryways to many buildings.  This is the female lion-dog.

I'm not sure if I'm remembering this correctly, but I'm pretty sure that these large pots were used to collect rainwater in case of fire.

The number of animals on the roof signifies the building's importance: the more animals, the more important the building.

To say the Forbidden City is large is an understatement.  It has over 8,000 rooms, extensive courtyards, and a large, beautiful garden in the back.  

After the tour, we took rickshaw rides through the hutong.  Beijing's hutong is the surviving neighborhoods with narrow alleyways between traditional courtyard-type houses.  Here's an example of the narrow roads:

Team Juloa ready for a ride!

After our dumpling dinner that night (yum!), we enjoyed our first of many Chinese foot massages (more on those later).  The following morning we had a few hours before our flight, so we went to a local silk market, Starbucks and lastly the Beijing Olympic Village.  The highlight of this area is the Bird's Nest, used for the opening ceremonies and other events.  It is an amazing structure.

Walking through Olympic Village.  It was extremely hot and hazy that day.  

B is for Bird's Nest!

Like Japan, many Chinese smoke.  The good doctor was encouraged to see this smoking cessation aid dispenser in the stadium.

The group was impressed by the graphic designs chosen for this venue.  It reminded me of Japan since it is so cute!

Again, loved the graphic display of numbers, the random white seats, and yes, they were actually comfortable!

Looking out into the stadium.

Next up: Xi'an!  Stay tuned!