When i first started to plan for the trip, to be honest, i did not give much thought of the city except the terracotta armies Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum Site Museum). To me, Xi’ an is all about the famous clay armies figures created centuries ago with the purpose to protect the mighty emperor Qin in his after life. Booked the ticket with Air Asia under the promotional package. As for the hotel, i have chosen the Grand Mercure of Xi’an, also under discounted rate. On top of that, i have also hired a local driver introduced by one of my friend.
Met the local driver upon my arrival whom is a nice and gentle guy :) despite our late night arrival (budget airline flight schedule really sucks ) He drove us to our hotel, which is strategically located at the very heart of the city, surrounded by government offices. Overall, i wanna give 10 of of 10 to the hotel for its superb hospitality, helpfulness and security.(I did not receive any marketing fee from them, it's just my sincere appreciation)
Grand Mercure Hotel Xi'an
Day 1.
As planned, after the splendid breakfast buffet at the hotel restaurant, we took a short walk nearby the hotel area. We walked through some of Xi an famous landmark - The Bell tower 西安钟楼 and then visited the Cheng Wang Miao (Temple) briefly before heading to the muslim street. Muslim street seems too quiet in the morning. However, we sat down at one of the food stall and tried the liang fen (cool noodle) and the famous Xi an dish - 羊肉泡馍 (lamb stew with pan baked bun - it's like Chinese version of hamburger- but it just tasted better). Delicious!
Xi'an City famous landmark - 西安钟楼 (Bell Tower)
Second destination of the day, The Giant Crane Tower - Da Yan Ta (大雁塔), a tower where all the buddhist scriptures were being stored after the famous Chinese monk Tang Xuan return from the far west of india.(he was being featured as the main character in the famous Chinese literature - journey to the west) It is amazing that the tower is still standing high and proud for all these centuries.
Next to the tower, there is a huge high tech water fountain show worth watching. it is huge, and I’m guessing it is about as big as 1.5 times of a football field, and the water can shoot up to 3 storey height. The show is being performed daily to public for free. A place of gathering for locals and definitely a nice place to visit for travelers. Don't forget to check out the street food selling by the side of the fountain.
Da Yan Ta (大雁塔)
The Water fountain at the background
Xi an Historical Museum
Many faces of the terracotta armies
The day that i have been waiting for was finally here -Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum Site Museum (兵马俑). We arrived early at the museum. It was already full of tourist. The museum
is basically divided into 3 sections : 1. The 1st Excavation Site. 2. The second excavation site. and 3. Exhibition hall.
The first excavated site area is huge in terms of scale, there are easily thousands of individually unique clay armies being put on display. Lining up in a military marching formation, The Terracotta warriors are indeed symbolizes courage, fearless and royalty. The formation itself paints a scene of magnificent and grandness. Various ranks of soldiers and even battle horses can be found at the site. You will be amazed with all the details that have been added in creating these statues, from individual hair style to the lining of the shoe pad, and from color of the skin tone to the lines on the palm. The features and poses of each and every statue was vividly crafted. The locals say, you may find your past life here if you see a soldier resemble your appearance.
Please don't rush to buy the souvenirs from the tout/seller within the museum compound, because you might be getting one at much much lower price at the exit of the museum. (Note: The entrance and the exit are not the same area)
After a hearty lunch at the nearby restaurant, we took a quick tour to Hua Ching Chi (華清池). This spring bathing complex is famous as the supposed scene of Xuanzong's romance with his consort Yang Guifei.
The Statue of Emperor Qing at the entrance of the museum
The entrance to the First Site.
The first Excavation site
Close up detail of a TerraCotta Statue
Statue of Yang Guifei (楊貴妃)
First stop :
Fa Men Shi 法门寺-
the centuries old pagoda where the Sierra of Buddha was being kept. The sacred relic was believed to be burried underneath the tower together with 3 other replicas. Two of these were made of white jade. The third relic was from a famous monk. These three 'replica' are called "duplicate relics" (影骨). They were placed together with a "true relic" (灵骨) in order to protect the real one from theft. The true relic is yellow-colored, with bone-like secretory granules. It was a finger bone of the Sakyamuni Buddha according to the research. A great place showcasing how far the Chinese of olden days willing to go in order to protect the most important artefact of the Buddha.
Fa Men Shi 法门寺-
the centuries old pagoda where the Sierra of Buddha was being kept. The sacred relic was believed to be burried underneath the tower together with 3 other replicas. Two of these were made of white jade. The third relic was from a famous monk. These three 'replica' are called "duplicate relics" (影骨). They were placed together with a "true relic" (灵骨) in order to protect the real one from theft. The true relic is yellow-colored, with bone-like secretory granules. It was a finger bone of the Sakyamuni Buddha according to the research. A great place showcasing how far the Chinese of olden days willing to go in order to protect the most important artefact of the Buddha.
the tomb of Emperor Gaozong and his empress Wuzetian, is located on the peak of Liangshan. We hired a commentator to narrate the tale of the place.
There are also 2 stone steles. The one located at the east, was originally erected blank following Empress Wuzetian's will which read, "my achievements or mistaking should be evaluated by the later generations, so left my stele blank". This blank tablet was 6.3 meters high, 2.1 meters wide and 1.5 meters thick. During the Song and Jin dynasties, however, quite a few travelers did inscribe it, changing the wordless stele into an inscribed one. In the west of the "blank" stele stands the Telling the Emperor's Deeds Stele, 6.3 meters high and 1.9 meters wide. The carvings on the stele give high honour of Emperor Gaozong for his military and administrative achievements.
The third day tour was indeed a fascinating one. The rich history of these places and the vivid commentary by the professional guide really deepened my impression about this city and the intellect of olden days people. I started to like this city!
Fa Men Shi 法门寺
The famous "Blank Stele"(無字碑)
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Day 4
Hua Shan trip
Early morning,we took the express train to the base of Hua Shan, then we ride the Cable car to the peak of the mountain. The scenery was totally awesome! The gigantic size of Hua Shan literally keep reminding us how insignificant we are in term of size. (Warning :Tourist with weak heart, please take all necessary precaution)
The sun was strong and the safety features was absolute minimum. Dear visitor, please becareful and climb at your own risk.
Night fall and the the lights were starting to light up. The city became so much more colorful. It's was bustling with people and activities. The walk covered the famous chong Lou and gu Lou and the Muslim street. Muslim street transforms into a mega street food heaven in the night. Tried and bought many many of the snack, so little time, so much to eat...
Magnificent view from the cable car!!
Local plaything: the spinning Hou, u whip the Hou to keep it spinning.
The night of Xi an
The colourful Chong Lou
Day 5
As the last day of the trip, i have decided to pay the Xi an Expo site a visit. It took about 40mins of taxi ride from the city. Built in 2011, the site was constructed for Xi'an China International Horticultural Exposition 2011 ( 2011年中国西安世界园艺博览会). Well, 3 years after the event, the site seems deserted and abandoned. It has been converted into a huge park. Some of the beautiful buildings are still remain for visit. but overall the maintenance of the park are minimum, some features or facilities already started to deteriorate. Only a hand full of old folks were wandering around the park during my visit, other than that, the park is basically empty with a sense of eerie feeling.
The Food Section:
Hand Made noodle is the main diet of Xi an People. There are variety type of noodle. If compare to the type of noodle which being served in Malaysia or Singapore, Noodle make by Xi an people is so much more delicious. I am not joking, you really have to experience yourselves.
Liang Mian (Cold Noodle) from The Muslim Street
Delicious Local Dishes
羊肉泡馍
Varies Local merchants
Fresh local fruitssss - freshly picked fruit sold by local farmers - Heavenly
Famous Restaurant for 羊肉泡馍
Conclusion
