China & Tibet (cont...)

April 7

What a day... Started out early heading out at 6:30AM. Walked through the local hutongs to Tiananmen Square. Lots of hutongs are being bulldozed to make way for high rise appartment buildings. The people are relocated and then offered a good price for housing in the new buildings. There are hutongs that are spared as heritage buildings - some of them as old as 600 years.
Tiananmen was breath-taking. To think of the recent history made here. Chairman Mao had the square built, and several hutongs were plowed down to make room for this tribute to the people of China. In the center of the square lies the "Monument to the People's Heros", pictured here. To the east is the Museum of Chinese History, and to the west the Great Hall of the People. To the north lies the Forbidden City, and at the south is the Chairman Mao Mausoleum. Soldiers in their uniforms marched in pairs across the square, and I was told that there are plenty of plain clothed authorities around to quickly disperse any potential protests. This picture shows the picture of Chairman Mao at the "Gate of Heavenly Peace" entrance to the Forbidden City He gazes solemnly across Tiananmen Square as soldiers march.

I crossed the road towards the Forbidden City using an underground pedestrian walkway, and there was a television crew filming. Grips were shuffling people along, but upon seeing my smiling white face, this one particular grip smiled, trying to explain the movie with much enthusiasm! I returned the fellow a big thumbs up, and off I went. Directly to the west of the Forbidden City is a complex housing all the high end Communist Party elite. There was a large gateway, highly ornamental, which was guarded by two soldiers, and then two plain clothed mafioso types ahead of them. I inadvertently stepped on a line painted on the ground and one of the mafioso types pointed it out to me harshly. Stupid waiguoren! I circled the complex to get to Behai Park.
Behai Park is associated with Kublai Khan's palace. It predates the Forbidden City. There is a large white dagoba on an islet which was built in honour of the Dalai Lama's visit in 1651. The biggest attraction in the park is the Nine Screen Dragon. It is a wall 5m high and 27m long and both sides are covered in beautiful coloured glazed tiles. The park is filled with people waltzing, telling stories & practicing Tai-Chi. I stood and watched an elderly gentlman practicing his skills at calligraphy. Using a giant brush and water, the pavement was his canvas.
I left Behai Park and made my way to the Forbidden City. Unbelievable... There were several tour groups, lots of them asian. The architecture and masonry is unreal. To think of the man-hours to build these structures is absolutely mind-numbing! The buildings have no nails to fasten them together. There are on-going restoration projects for the upcoming Olympics. Even the stone-brick floors in the courtyards are being replaced one by one. The Hall of Supreme Harmony, the largest of the halls in the Forbidden City, is encased in scafolding. The Forbidden City was original built in the 1400's. It was home to the emporers of the last two dynasties: the Ming and Quing dynasties. The courtyard in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony could hold an audience of 100,000 people. There are several museum exhibits showing the arms, pottery, jewlery and elaborate uniforms of the soldiers. Colours determined the rank and prestige of the soldiers.
At the very back of the Forbidden City is a beautiful garden. There are two identical pavillions surrounded by moats. In these moats are very large Koi fish being fed by the visitors. There is also a huge rock garden that was built using sticky rice. Before cement, this was the bonding agent used. I imagine they had to rebuild the rock garden several times after rainfalls, until cement replaced sticky rice!
I was told that there is a Starbucks somewhere in the Forbidden City, but I didn't see it, which is a good thing. I bought food from a small stand inside the complex, and it was horrible, but I wasn't there for the culinary delights. It took the better part of the day to see the Forbidden City, and I could have easily spent another day there to go through all the museum and exhibits. A fantastic day with perfect weather!

April 8

Pretty lazy day! I purchased a "Pipa" - a four-stringed lute. Went to the bank & reserved a cab for 4AM through the hostel. Can't say enough about how great the hostel turned out! Had Peking Duck for supper. Absolutely delicious! Early to bed for my flight to Xi'an tomorrow!

April 9

Mmm... Kit-Kat for breakfast! Good thing I brought those fruit bars along for the ride! I talked with an extremely interesting businessman from Brunei at the airport. He explained to me that Bejing planners have put a halt to all construction that cannot be completed before the Olympics. He also spoke of a book called "1421" which theorizes that the Chinese came to the Americas before Christopher Columbus. Can't wait to read that one! (I've since read the book and it is absolutely fascinating - a must read. To think that if the Chinese had continued with their explorations instead of closing themselves off from the rest of the world is great brain-candy. We'd most likely have a Bhuddist society instead of Christian in the Americas, and who knows what kind of political structure would exist today...)
Uneventful flight, and made it to the hotel by 10AM. I spent 3 hours with the hotel manager, Jim Beam of Lonely Planet fame, planning the rest of my trip... So off to Tibet on Thursday for 8 days, then cruising the Yangtze for three days, Shanghai for three days, and then back to Beijing. Sweet! Had lunch with Jim Beam and two American girls who were studying Mandarin in Beijing. One of the girls could carry a conversation in Madarin, so I figured she was really enjoying herself. She said that the Chinese treated her like she was retarded because she was asian, but could not speak the language. This surprised me quite a bit! I slept the afternoon off and went for a walk around town.
Xi'an was the ancient capital of China. It has city walls that are being reconstructed. I was situated in the North West corner of the walled city near the train station. What a zoo! There were also very aggressive massage girls. One grabbed me by the shirt to drag me into he shop, and another grabbed me by the wrist! I returned to the hotel and on the way was propositionned by more girls making jestures that left no doubt that they were prostitutes! I resigned myself to the hotel restaurant to avoid any further harassment...

April 10

I walked around the perimeter of the north half of the city walls. Amazing... Couldn't get up on the wall itself, although I did come across a gateway with stairs leading up to the top. It was closed, so maybe I was up too early! There were several parks along the outside of the wall where people practiced Tai-Chi, music and meditation. I made my way down to the Bell Tower in the heart of the city, and spent a quiet afternoon relaxing at the hotel.

April 11

Another highlight day! Off at 8:30AM to see the Terracotta Warriors. Oustanding! I was lucky too. There was one of the four farmers who discovered the warriors present, signing books. I purchased one of the books with his autograph. In 1974, these farmers were digging a water well when pieces of pottery began to come up. Apparently, a hand or a head freaked them out and they smashed everything they found and vacated the area. Time passed, and it turned out they weren't cursed. They returned to the land and when the government caught wind of the find, they expropriated the land and began a huge excavation project.
The Army of Terracotta Warriors was built to surround the tomb of Qin Shi Huang. This warrior ascended to be the first Emperor (Shi Huang) by defeating all tribes, and uniting the country. He standardized the written script and currency, but was a tyrannical leader.
The statues have solid legs, and a hollow body. They were also painted and held weapons that were so well made and treated, that they were still sharp when unearthed 2000 years after they were buried. Between the rows of statues are walls that used to hold up a wooden roof to support the tons of earth they were buried beneath. Each Terracotta Warrior has a different face, leading some believe that they were based on their creators. Qin Shi Huang died in 221BC. A friend of mine told me of a theory that his medical advisor was feeding him a recently discovered elixir - that elixir turned out to be mercury. The liquid metal could have been a contributing factor to the meglomaniacle undertaking of building the Army or Terracotta Warriors. After Qin Shi Huang's death, his son took over but was quickly defeated in a peasant's revolt. The peasants raided the tombs, stealing their staffs, bows, swords and anything precious they could find. They smashed the Terracotta Warriors, and set the tombs on fire. To date, of the 6000 or so statues found, only this one was completely intact. There were several hawkers around the excavation site's entrance selling their trinkets, but they weren't too overwhelming. I spent three hours at the site, and it was an unforgetable experience!
I returned to the city of Xi'an and stopped at the Shaanxi History Museum. Very elaborate exhibits starting from 5000-3000 BC to the Ming Dynasty. I learned that the Chinese written language came to exist after a certain tribe's chief observed the footprints of birds in the mud. Different birds left different markings, and thus their written language evolved.
There was a huge sand storm that passed through Beijing today. There was even some silt that made it all the way down to Xi'an. It was so fine and hung in the air, and I coughed alot today. But my memories of today will be about the warriors, not the storm!

April 12

I returned to the Bell Tower today, and by good fortune, I got this picture with no traffic! I took in a musical performance exhibiting the many different bells and percussion instruments of the 13th century. I then wandered over to the Drum Tower about a block away, and my timing couldn't have been any better: I caught a performance of several drummers. Wish I had a video camera to record these events...

April 13

I think I'm getting the hang of this! I fly to Tibet today at 13:00, and I wanted to hit the Tomb of Han Jing on the way to the airport. So I jumped in a cab and made my way down to a five-star hotel. Funny, I told the cabbie I was Canadian, and he put a Celine Dion CD in the radio! Cracked me up. He probably got the wrong impression! So at the five-star, I ended up hiring a car to take me to the tomb and then to the airport! For 200 yuan! That's about $30! Sweet! It cost me 162 yuan to get from the airport to the hotel in the first place, so this was a steal! So off I went to the Tomb of Han Jing. He ruled after the peasants revolt, and was a much kinder, gentler ruler. And it shows in his selection of protectors for the after-life. His armies of figurines stand only about 18" tall, and there are several animals depicting an agricultural society's existance more than a warrior's. As you can see, the statues have no arms - the arms were made of wood.
The museum itself did not allow for pictures to be taken, however, once in the excavation area, pictures were allowed. The excavation site is awesome - you walk on glass floors to look down at the archeologists working away. There were five major animals important to these peoples lives: the ox, the cow, the horse, pigs, and dogs (yes, dogs were bred for food). There have been a few chickens unearthed, but they are few and far between. Here's a display in the excavation pit where there are rows upon rows of animals are being uncovered.
I left for the airport feeling very happy about my experiences in Xi'an. So much history here... And to think that in just a few hours, I'd find myself in Shangri-La, the "Land of Snows"... Tibet.