Our train arrived in Xi'an at 8:30 am on the 21st of November. It turned out to be a very comfortable night train. We both slept well and woke up feeling refreshed when we arrived. We managed to find our way to the Han Tang Guesthouse. This place had the vibe of a hostel with the comforts of a nice hotel. We were warmly welcomed and allowed to check in early. After a nice breakfast in the lobby area the rest of the day was devoted to working out our plans for Xi'an and onward travel arrangements.
In the afternoon we took a walk around town including the bell tower, drum tower and then on to Beiyuan Men Road within the Chinese Muslim Quarter. Here we wandered amongst men with white skull caps and women with heads covered in coloured scarves. This lively street market, which I started to refer to as lamb chop ally kept us entertained for the rest of the evening.
It was cold and snowy the next day when we visited the Terracotta Warriors. As I mentioned before we had not really prepared for weather below about 5 degrees celsius. Apparently, according to the locals it was much colder than they were used to and the most snow they had seen in over 10 years.
Although Emperor Qin Shi Huang was responsible for starting the Great Wall of China, it was his Army of 8000 stone soldiers around his burial site that became our focus for this day.
The Army of Terracotta Warriors is obviously the most famous site in Xi'an. This life size army was actually discovered by a farmer who was digging a well in 1974.
It is obvious that in 210 BC Qin Shi Huang wanted to be well prepared to defend his empire in the afterlife. We walked around the three pits full of thousands of solders and horses in battle formation. Many are still being uncovered and put together. Apparently they have no idea how much more is hidden under the ground. One of the most interesting things about this army for me was to learn that no two warriors' faces are alike.
While walking around here I wondered about the cost, time and effort in creating a military that could never really ever be used. Then I thought about the cold war and the arms race during our life time. At least these ancient warriors had an artistic beauty about them.
That afternoon we had to take an alternate route back to Xi'an. The main highway was closed because of the weather. Later that same evening we took a taxi to the train station at 9:30 pm. We had a night train booked to Zhangjiajie. Our train was supposed to leave at 1:07am and arrive at the comfortable time of 6pm the next day.
Once we arrived at the train station we could tell we were in for an adventure and it was going to be a long cold night. The station was jam packed with people. It was actually a struggle to move, let alone sit down.
Athough, even for Chinese standards, it was beyond crowded, the body heat did seem to make a difference in this cold damp station. We learned that the unusual weather was to blame for the delays and extra crowds.
Much to our relief our T284 train finally boarded at 4:20 am. By this time we were pretty cold and tired. After we boarded the train and found our compartment we found people sleeping in our bunks. Once the train pulled out of the station the carriage attendant straighted the situation out. We were given clean sheets and finally able to settle in.
Our travel mates weren't quite ready to let us go to sleep yet, however, as they seemed very excited about sharing their compartment with foreign travelers and with the use of translaters on their phones asked us if we had US dollars. Not in the mood for chit chat or currency exchange at this time, I was glad to give them both one US dollar the next day. Although they offered to pay me more than the rate of exchange, their reaction to seeing American cash was rewarding enough. Numerous times throughout the trip we saw them taking the bills out, looking at them and discussing their new found treasures.
That evening we ate supper in the dining car and being what appeared to be the only foreign travelers on the train, we created quite a stir. After Jueun tried to ask one security officer a question people were summoned from all directions. At one point about ten train workers gathered around us to stare, laugh and try to practice what little English they could. It was a humorous experience and one we will never forget.
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