Just before bed on my last eve in Xi'an, I tottered off to the business centre upstairs, taking my baby laptop so I could check out my bank accounts. Just before logging off, I happened to check the ABC news website to get an idea of what’s happening in the world. That’s when I heard about the swine flu. The information was all over the net & it seemed the not-so-perfect place to be in China at the outbreak of a major infectious disease, particularly after the severity of SARS here. Although, from another perspective, they are so strict in China that if anyone is identified as having the disease, they’d probably be sent away to some kind of quarantine centre for the next 6 months, or until they died, in order to save the rest of the community. But I decided, being an ex Girl Guide & being prepared & all, that I would take the required precautions & stock up with a face mask (trendy fashion accessory as they are in China) & some Tamiflu just in case.
I’d planned on getting up early & wander down to the park to do some tai chi with the locals. Sleeping through to 8:30 didn’t fit well with my agenda, & by the time I repacked my bag, I wasn’t out the door till 9:30. Two important things on my ‘To Do’ - get money out of the bank & purchase flu preventatives.
First thing to a pharmacy for the flu goods. The hotel directed me to a small pharmacy just opposite the hotel in the laneway. No one any English, but I was presented with a menu of goods with English titles for the diseases. When I flicked through to the page for Influenza/Cold, everything was in Mandarin. But I knew there was a difference between flus & colds - flu is bacterial, colds are viral. At this point, I was a bit confused - how can a bacterial infection be airborne? Sure, colds spread so rapidly because they are viral. But a flu is a different thing altogether, seemingly, so why are they touting the swine flu as being as catchable as a cold? There are obviously many many things medicinal that I’m still yet to learn. Anyway, I pointed the ‘influenza’ out to the woman who swiftly produced a couple of packets of medicine with not a word of English on them. Not sure if this was for colds or flu, I eventually gave up on trying to explain & understand, & headed out the shop to the big supermarket mall near the Bell Tower.
Once there, I managed to find my way to the pharmacy which was part of the food section of the supermarket on the lower ground floor. On my way, I loved watching the L’Oreal girls promoting their products & making up all the Chinese woman, anxious to look more beautiful. Many woman were eager to look more beautiful. I finally located the pharmacy section, but again had the same problem - no one spoke a word of English. Although, in my attempts at explaining what the flu was, & dropping the acronym SARS, I did notice a look of alarm on the woman’s face as she probably assessed if I may have the disease. With no luck in translation, I wandered around the supermarket asking people if they could speak English, ending up the L’Oreal counter where the women there must have thought I was in desperate need of a good makeover instead of medicine. In the end, I had no luck with the medicine & decided that if I was meant to die from the swine flu, then it was my destiny & I would be okay with that.
Showing posts with label Xi'an. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Xi'an. Show all posts
Sunday, May 10, 2009
8 - Around Xi'an
Food was a real treat in Xi’an. Fresh steamed buns right outside the hotel entrance were fabulous, & inexpensive at 2 yuan (AUD$0.40) for 4 dumplings. Then there was the Muslim Quarter, famous for its outdoor markets & a real hive of activity. On our first evening, a few of us ventured out there for dinner. I loved it. Everything is so confusing, there are so many things vying for your attention, you don’t know where to turn. People are squeezing past each other just to watch the street stall sellers cooking their goods. This was the first time I felt comfortable enough to venture out in the taste bud area & try different things without fear of waking up hugging a toilet bowl the next morning. And the food had a decidedly middle eastern flavour to it. Sweets made of ground hazelnuts & peanuts. Meats spiced with cumin & chilli & grilled over an open flame. Delicious!!!!!
On our free day (by myself again) I visited a number of sites. First the Bell Tower which has a really big bell that chimes & marks the middle of the city. Then the Drum Tower which looks almost exactly like the Bell Tower, but with drums instead of a bell. Then I scooted down into the Muslim Quarter for a look see, taking my time to soak it all up without feeling rushed or slowed by others. I checked out the Great Mosque which was there & also the Folk House which had a great tea ceremony as well as a shadow puppet show that I attended as the sole viewer.
In the afternoon, I went to the South Gate of the city wall. Xi’an is the only city in China, if not the world, that is still surrounded by a fully intact city wall marking the perimeter. Of course, centuries ago it was used for protecting the city from invaders. The others has hired a bike & cycled around the wall, which takes about 1 hour. At 6pm, after a full day of walking, I couldn’t be bothered. So I just had a small walk around then headed back (again) to the Muslim Quarter for dinner. There I met up with a young couple of Chinese students, one from Xi’an, the other from Beijing. We had a lovely chat about this, that & everything in between.
Back in my room, I readied myself for departure the next day so that my time in the morning would be completely freed up - or that was the plan anyway. Packing my backpack seems an endless task with rare moments of satisfaction. Prior to coming away, I’d done some trial packs & there was plenty of room for all the stuff I wanted to take away. But when it came to packing it all in again the night prior to leaving, it had suddenly ballooned into a pack bulging with goods. So, when it comes to packing up my bag every day or two, I’m once again confronted with this dilemma of working out how to fit all the stuff into the one bag. And, on top of that, it’s really heavy. My backpack & daypack would come in at around 20 kg - I feel like a pack donkey.
On our free day (by myself again) I visited a number of sites. First the Bell Tower which has a really big bell that chimes & marks the middle of the city. Then the Drum Tower which looks almost exactly like the Bell Tower, but with drums instead of a bell. Then I scooted down into the Muslim Quarter for a look see, taking my time to soak it all up without feeling rushed or slowed by others. I checked out the Great Mosque which was there & also the Folk House which had a great tea ceremony as well as a shadow puppet show that I attended as the sole viewer.
In the afternoon, I went to the South Gate of the city wall. Xi’an is the only city in China, if not the world, that is still surrounded by a fully intact city wall marking the perimeter. Of course, centuries ago it was used for protecting the city from invaders. The others has hired a bike & cycled around the wall, which takes about 1 hour. At 6pm, after a full day of walking, I couldn’t be bothered. So I just had a small walk around then headed back (again) to the Muslim Quarter for dinner. There I met up with a young couple of Chinese students, one from Xi’an, the other from Beijing. We had a lovely chat about this, that & everything in between.
Back in my room, I readied myself for departure the next day so that my time in the morning would be completely freed up - or that was the plan anyway. Packing my backpack seems an endless task with rare moments of satisfaction. Prior to coming away, I’d done some trial packs & there was plenty of room for all the stuff I wanted to take away. But when it came to packing it all in again the night prior to leaving, it had suddenly ballooned into a pack bulging with goods. So, when it comes to packing up my bag every day or two, I’m once again confronted with this dilemma of working out how to fit all the stuff into the one bag. And, on top of that, it’s really heavy. My backpack & daypack would come in at around 20 kg - I feel like a pack donkey.
7 - Xi'an - Terracotta Warriors
Here I was thinking that Xi’an would be a quieter, more village type feel. Wrong! I was packed chocka block with people on their holiday break. While not as big as Beijing, there appeared to be even more people here crammed into the smaller space. The Chinese love to shop - boy do they love to shop. Their late entry into capitalism has perhaps spurred on a need to catch up on all the shopping they may previously not have had access to. The big shopping malls really are madhouses, with people scrambling to get at bargains, even when they aren’t on special. In general, prices for international brand name items are the same as you’d pay in Australia. But then there are the dud buys, of which there are good quality duds & just plain old dud duds.
At 12:30pm we met in the hotel lobby for our trip out to the famous Terracotta Warriors. We went out there by two public buses - an adventure of its own. When, as a westerner, you use public buses in China, everybody stares at you. They are either thinking, “I never knew there were poor westerners” or “their tour leader is slack & can’t get them the transport they need”. Anyway, with staring a plenty, we arrived at our destination. The warriors were accidentally discovered by a farmer back in 1972 (I think). As he was digging a well searching for water, he retrieved a warrior’s head from underground & was immediately petrified at what he may have done wrong. The actual farmer was there the day we visited the warriors, sitting down signing books purchased at the store. Not a happy chap, he gets really peeved if you take his photo. Obviously someone that isn’t loving the work he does.
The warriors were pretty amazing. To think that this Emperor had a whole army, about 6000 warrior statues, buried with him to protect him in the afterlife. There were archers, chariots, & foot soldiers aplenty, spread across several areas known in archaeological terms as ‘pits‘. And pretty much nobody throughout history had the slightest idea it was there. Never anything documented. No wonder the farmer was surprised at his find. Nearly every one of the statues was damaged to a greater or lesser degree. They had been ransacked on a couple of occasions, & some of the pits have evidence of fire & looting. But the diligent little archaeologists have been working hard to put all the little pieces back to together. They still have a long way to go, no doubt.
At 12:30pm we met in the hotel lobby for our trip out to the famous Terracotta Warriors. We went out there by two public buses - an adventure of its own. When, as a westerner, you use public buses in China, everybody stares at you. They are either thinking, “I never knew there were poor westerners” or “their tour leader is slack & can’t get them the transport they need”. Anyway, with staring a plenty, we arrived at our destination. The warriors were accidentally discovered by a farmer back in 1972 (I think). As he was digging a well searching for water, he retrieved a warrior’s head from underground & was immediately petrified at what he may have done wrong. The actual farmer was there the day we visited the warriors, sitting down signing books purchased at the store. Not a happy chap, he gets really peeved if you take his photo. Obviously someone that isn’t loving the work he does.
The warriors were pretty amazing. To think that this Emperor had a whole army, about 6000 warrior statues, buried with him to protect him in the afterlife. There were archers, chariots, & foot soldiers aplenty, spread across several areas known in archaeological terms as ‘pits‘. And pretty much nobody throughout history had the slightest idea it was there. Never anything documented. No wonder the farmer was surprised at his find. Nearly every one of the statues was damaged to a greater or lesser degree. They had been ransacked on a couple of occasions, & some of the pits have evidence of fire & looting. But the diligent little archaeologists have been working hard to put all the little pieces back to together. They still have a long way to go, no doubt.
6 - My first hard sleeper train trip
The tour leader, Frank, briefed us on the challenges we would face on a train journey to Xi'an. This included: 6 beds to a compartment no bigger than a standard western toilet room; thieves that would attempt to take all your valuables from you as you sleep; smelly toilets with no/little wash facilities; & people without tickets who will sit outside your doorless compartment talking all night. I couldn’t wait to get onboard.
A private bus took us to a major train station a half hour from the city centre. There were incredible amounts of people heading to the trains. We all had to stick together for fear of being lost in the crowd & never being found again. And Frank walked ahead at his usual million miles an hour, occasionally waiting for us to catch up. I had to carry my backpack weighing all up about 20kg, which was a great incentive to never put on more weight cause this might be what it feels like. Of course, once through the turnstile (man punching tickets with a hole puncher), our compartment was all the way down the end of a very long train. When we got on, people were already settled into our beds & we had to move them on so we could get in.
There wasn’t any space to play around - a narrow corridor led to all the compartments. We had to get in, put our bags down & stay in our compartment until everyone was on the train & ready to go.
Frank's ‘random’ cabin assignments had me bunking down with all the Chinese folk, while the rest of the tour group got to stay together in one compartment. Travelling by yourself on a tour when everyone else is coupled up is almost like travelling completely alone at times. As it turned out, everything was great.
I shared the compartment with a wonderful elderly couple, & even though they couldn’t speak English, I had Frank on hand to almost constantly translate for me. The old woman, who I called Nani (Grandma), was a treat. I had to call her Nani cause seemingly it’s impolite to ask the elderly what their name is. Nani & I clicked instantly - obviously a past life connection somewhere along our line of reincarnations. We held hands & laughed every time we looked at each other. By the end of our journey, she wanted to adopt me as her child (an old child nevertheless) & have me come & live with her on their farm outside Xi’an. Very tempting indeed!
Frank had given us fair warning about the thieves in & around Xi’an. Sleeping on the train, I carefully weaved my hand through the straps of the daypack while clutching at it through the night. Thankfully, no one attempted to rob me - they probably saw the hold I had on my bag & had a good laugh instead.
At about 8:45am we arrived safely in one piece in Xi’an, then weaved through the multitudinous number of people at the train station towards our private bus waiting to take us to our hotel.
A private bus took us to a major train station a half hour from the city centre. There were incredible amounts of people heading to the trains. We all had to stick together for fear of being lost in the crowd & never being found again. And Frank walked ahead at his usual million miles an hour, occasionally waiting for us to catch up. I had to carry my backpack weighing all up about 20kg, which was a great incentive to never put on more weight cause this might be what it feels like. Of course, once through the turnstile (man punching tickets with a hole puncher), our compartment was all the way down the end of a very long train. When we got on, people were already settled into our beds & we had to move them on so we could get in.
There wasn’t any space to play around - a narrow corridor led to all the compartments. We had to get in, put our bags down & stay in our compartment until everyone was on the train & ready to go.
Frank's ‘random’ cabin assignments had me bunking down with all the Chinese folk, while the rest of the tour group got to stay together in one compartment. Travelling by yourself on a tour when everyone else is coupled up is almost like travelling completely alone at times. As it turned out, everything was great.
I shared the compartment with a wonderful elderly couple, & even though they couldn’t speak English, I had Frank on hand to almost constantly translate for me. The old woman, who I called Nani (Grandma), was a treat. I had to call her Nani cause seemingly it’s impolite to ask the elderly what their name is. Nani & I clicked instantly - obviously a past life connection somewhere along our line of reincarnations. We held hands & laughed every time we looked at each other. By the end of our journey, she wanted to adopt me as her child (an old child nevertheless) & have me come & live with her on their farm outside Xi’an. Very tempting indeed!
Frank had given us fair warning about the thieves in & around Xi’an. Sleeping on the train, I carefully weaved my hand through the straps of the daypack while clutching at it through the night. Thankfully, no one attempted to rob me - they probably saw the hold I had on my bag & had a good laugh instead.
At about 8:45am we arrived safely in one piece in Xi’an, then weaved through the multitudinous number of people at the train station towards our private bus waiting to take us to our hotel.
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