...walked on the City Wall...
Built in 582 A.D., it is still fully intact & just over 13 km long. It encircles the city center. the bricks are held together by a mixture of clay, lime & powdered glutinous rice.
...visited the Bell Tower...
In ancient China, the bell rang at 12 noon everyday to help the people tell the time.
...saw the Little Wild Goose Pagoda...
This pagoda remains intact after over 1,500 years despite an earthquake & massive bombing in WW2. Only the corners of the tiered roofs fell off.
...saw the Big Wild Goose Pagoda...
Built to house Buddhist scriptures translated by the monk XuanZang who travelled along the old Silk Road to India to learn about Buddhism. This journey inspired the famous Chinese classic 西游记(XiYouJi or Journey to the West). It also survived earthquakes & WW2 bombinh blitzes.
...visited a mosque...
Xi'an is home to 100,000 Muslims, descendants of settlers from the Middle East. And though this structure looks more like a Chinese temple, it really is part of the mosque, built during the Tang dynasty. It was built in a Chinese style to try to enhance assimilation of the Muslims with the local Chinese population. Apparently, it wasn't terribly successful then! Now, the Muslims live in harmony with the rest of the poulation. The children learn the Koran in a mixture of the Shaanxi dialect & Arabian.
...visited the Shaanxi History Museum...
Another fine example of the English translations we see in China, something that the Chinese government is trying to correct before the Olympics. They have a HUGE task ahead of them!
...visited the Forest of Stone Tablets...
Confucius's teachings are etched onto these stone tablets (there were at least 10 rows of these tablets I saw!!!). Scholars in ancient China had to memorise the ENTIRE SCRIPTURE in order to pass their exams (ouch), & poorer scholars who couldn't afford to buy a copy would come to these tablets & make rubbings.
...& the highlight of the trip, we saw the 8th wonder of the world, the famed Terracotta Warriors
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.This is Pit 1. There are a total of 7 pits, some only partially excavated.
More on this in another entry.
1 comment:
Ah, the Hui. I am fascinated with them.
There is even Xiaoerjing, a system like pinyin but based on the Arabic alphabet rather than English.
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