After a leisurely start with breakfast in our room, we went for walk in the adjacent park where several of the locals were doing Tai Chi and another form of ‘slow speed’ exercise using a wooden pole.
Our group then gathered and we caught a bus to the Wild Goose (Dayan) Pagoda and the surrounding parklands.
At 12:00 midday we were entertained for half an hour by a very impressive water fountain display for which Xi’an is famous. A terraced area of about a hectare in front of the Wild Goose Pagoda suddenly comes alive with thousands of water jets that perform a water ballet choreographed to classical music. The jets are able to swivel so as to send the water in various directions to form patterns representing shapes of flowers, spheres and vertical walls. There were several spouts that sent water vertically upwards 50m or more. The really impressive part of this display was the sheer size of the area in which all this action was occurring.
Dayan Pagoda Cultural and Leisure Scenic Spot, Xi'an
We then walked around the Wild Goose Pagoda but we didn’t have time to climb to the top. This pagoda, Xi’an’s most famous landmark is 4 km southeast of the South Gate and dominates the surrounding modern buildings. The pagoda is one of China’s best examples of a Tang-style pagoda being squarish rather than round. It was completed in AD 652 to house the Buddhist sutras brought back from India by the monk Xuan Zang. His travels inspired one of the best-known works of Chinese literature called Journey to the West which was the basis of the ‘Monkey Magic’ television production. Xuan spent the last nineteen years of his life translating scriptures with a team of linguist monks and many of these translations are still used today.
Our group then headed for the Xi’an History Museum where upon presentation of our passports we were given free admission. The museum traces the history of the Shaanxi Province from Neolithic times through to the days of the final Dynasty (1911). Most exhibits include detailed explanations in English and in the Sui and Tang sections there are elaborate murals and a series of painted pottery figurines with elaborate hairstyles and dress.
Xi'an History Museum
By far the most numerous of the exhibited artifacts are bronze and gilded bronze relics unearthed from around Xi’an over the years. There are some exquisite ceramics from the Han dynasty, as well as figurines and an exhibition of Ming-dynasty seals and jade artifacts. There are ten Terracotta Warriors and their horses on display too. A wall adjacent to this display features around 200 images of the faces of terracotta warriors.
The museum was very crowded despite the imposed limit of 4000 visitors per day and it was exhausting work coping with the pushing and shoving of the locals who seem to be unaware of issues of etiquette!
Outside the museum was a man flying an extraordinary kite. It was on a string he claimed was about 480 m long and it had 240 small A4 sized kites every 2 m along the string. It was so high that its furthest end was barely visible in the less than clear Xi’an skies.
Man whipping top in the Square
After a meal and supermarket visit for supplies, we headed by bus for the 22:15 train to Emei Shan. Our group together with bags, backpacks and food supplies had great difficulty in cramming onto a local bus to get to the station. However with plenty of shoving (a local sport?) we eventually all got aboard.
The Wall at night from the railway station
The population of Xi’an is around nine million and it seemed that a fair proportion of them were at the railway station when we arrived. After a long period of queuing we eventually boarded the train and found our 'hard-sleeper’ compartment that we are to share with four other strangers. A bonus was that neither of us had the top bunk this time. In the meantime there were some furious rows going on with locals arguing about access to baggage space. It eventually subsided and we then tried to sleep but the train was very noisy with the linkage between carriages squeaking continually.
We have 20 hours of travel before we reach Emei Shan tomorrow evening and head for a Buddhist Monastery.