End Of The Silk Road - Xi'an Sights Of The City
We spent the last few days wandering around Xi'an, the city has a lot of history behind it being the capital of multiple past dynasties and end of the Silk Road. Regardless of the rich history or perhaps because of it, Xi'an from my view is a city of the future sprinkled with the pride of the past. This is a Major city, holding almost 14 million in the metropolitan area, there is building occurring in every direction.
One of the proud remnants of the past is the Small Wild Goose Pagoda. A large landmark anchored by a calming park, tranquil lake and historical city museum at it's base. We ascended the Pagoda and took in a 360 view of the city skyline. Though it's no comparison to the height of the modern sky scrapers blooming throughout the mega cities of China, it was quite a sight from the top and a good vantage point to count the unbelievable number of cranes crowding the skyline of the city. Already a mega city and still growing by leaps and bounds. The museum below was rich in the history and traditions of the city; holding many carvings, plaques, scrolls maps and even a model of the original city's design on display.
I've noticed the Chinese are very active outdoorsy people as we've wandered the streets absorbing the culture. There are many parks throughout the city's and towns containing exercise equipment that people enjoy in the semi fresh air and you can always count on a tai-chi session in progress while the sun is shining. Gathering among all generations of family and friends is clearly a very important part of the social fabric of society, whether it be over a board game in the park or around a flaming wok of noodles and smiles, it's a culture rich with community value.
It was a dumpling making party back at the Hostel, finally we got to know the make-up of our staple food source these last few weeks. Everyone was having fun as the kitchen staff taught us the traditional way to craft a dumpling. It wasn't as easy as it looked and they were no where near as visually appealing as the pros, but it was an amusing adventure in culinary foolery had by all. We weren't able to stick around for the taste testing unfortunately as we had set up a meet with a local couch surfer at the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda.
The bus was standing room only and even that was a stretch. People were chucking coins in the front and jumping in the back as we all held on for dear life packed in like sardines. Apparently everyone had the same schedule and meeting spot that night as we congregated with the rest of the population around the fountain filled walkway leading to the base of the Pagoda. The whole area was lit up and anticipating a spectacular display of water and lights we were told. Meanwhile we scoured the area searching for a Chinese girl we had never met and had no way of identifying hoping she would be able to pick us out of the crowd, which wouldn't have been too surprising i'd have to admit. But unfortunately the meet never occurred and the show must go on. The lights came alive and the water began to dance and spirt, It was a musical display with the crowd excited and dancing to the action. A festive way to wind up our Xi'an stop. We're heading to Shenzhen by air tomorrow!!
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