Xian

I had problems publishing because the Internet is restricted in China. At times one could publish and other times not. As a result I lost day 2 in Xian, when we visited The Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses.  

We departed the hotel for the railway station. 

Facing the station. If one looks to one's right, one can see Terra Cotta Warriors written on the side of blue or green busses. It costs ¥8 for. 45 minute trip. The bus stops in the museum car park, which is conveniently the final stop. From here one can get a return bus to Xian. As they are public busses, they depart at 10 minute intervals even in the off season. 

Arrive early to avoid the tour groups. We arrived at 1030 and our visit was almost 

complete by the time the groups arrived  c 1230. 

The area is beautiful and the air is less polluted. Pit 1 was only discovered in 1974, when peasants were drilling a well. 

It is advisable to visit Pit 3,2,1 in that order. Pit 1 is the most spectacular pit as it is the most excavated. Pit 3 is difficult to find as it is behind Pit 2. 

Pit 1 

Even Pit 1 had not been fully excavated. It will take several generations to complete the work. 

Pit 2 was less developed but one is able to view some warriors at closer range. 

 

Pit 3 

Is least developed. 

On our return,  we passed the 

And returned to the walled city of Xian

We returned to the hotel, intending to cycle around the 14 km of walls tomorrow. 

Xian - Guandzhou

The  blog on the Terra Cotta Warriors should be read before this blog. 

We have come to our journey's end! We commenced our journey at the beginning of the Silk Road at Guandzhou and ended it here at the termination of the Silk Road at Xian. Xian was once the political capital of China in the Qin dynasty and the cradle of Chinese civilisation.  

This evening we fly back to Guandzhou and spend our last evening with J. A return train journey was tentatively mooted via Shanghai - anything between 28 and 35 hours - but that idea was firmly dismissed in favour of flying . There's only so much 'train' a girl can take!! 

We will stay at the airport hotel as the airport is 28 km north of the city and our flight leaves tomorrow at midnight. 

This morning, as a heavy smog again envelops the city, as a view from our bedroom window illustrates,       

we have decided to have a 'hotel' day - unusual for us. We will not cycle around the town walls - the smog level had decided that... We will  remain in the hotel until our taxi collects us to take us to the airport. 

As I write. I again hear the tune of It's a Small World. I first heard it as we walked to the Muslim Quarter on our first afternoon here. We weren't in Disneyland - no the music emanated from a truck spraying the roads!! The public areas are kept scruplessly clean as elsewhere in China. Spitting is less prevalent now than when I was last here in 2000! If only the smog might be addressed in Xian - I can't see their tourism industry developing until this issue is addressed - 

tourists will stay a day or two to visit the  Army of Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses and depart.... 

THE END

Xian. (Pronounced She Anne)

We departed punctually at 1846 on our 141/2 hour journey to Xian. The Roman numerals were the only way we had of distinguishing our train. There was a p.a. system but it was impossible to hear such was the din - Z92 was our train. 

A half hour before departure, the gates opened and one entered the platform. Travelling first class meant that the carriage was at the end of the escalator. Some passengers had a long walk - such was the length of the train. 

I did promise you a rating - what do you think Rovos Rail or Tasara?

If Rovos Rail is 10 and Tasara is 1, the Xian train is 5. 

We took a First Class Soft Class - I think we were the only occupants of the entire carriage. The train had numerous carriages but most took a cheaper option. As far as I am aware, we were the only westerners on board, most people would fly here!! The staff spoke no English so it was all sign language. Now soft class is a misnomer- it was the hardest bed I've ever slept in!! In addition, I had to climb to the top bunk without the aid of a ladder.  There's agility in the old bones yet! 

I slept reasonably well, in spite of the frequent sound of the train horn. When I awoke in the early morning, it was foggy/smoggy outside. We passed station after station, cities we've never heard of with populations the size of Ireland! Trains frequently passed - the longest I've seen of both passenger and freight, particularly the freight trains appeared to have never ending wagons. 

It was very foggy and on arrival in Xian, a half an hour late, the fog hadn't lifted. It is probably more smog than fog! 

On arrival , all human life was in and around the station, with map sellers, taxi touts etc. 

Espying a Mc Donald's, we decided to have breakfast there - a breakfast Mc Muffin and a coffee- any port in a storm. 

We taxied to the hotel - again a Sofitel as in Guangzhou. It is on the one complex with a Mercure and the People's Grand  Legend Hotel  opened in 1953, during Mao's reign! A legend hotel is more than 50 years of age and this is Sofitel's 5th in the world. It has hosted royalty such as Princess Margaret, Henry Kissinger, Francois Mitterand, The Clinton family, Michelle Obama and many Asian rulers. It was closed on 2010 for a revamp and re-opened in 2014 and an excellent refurbishment it was too. 

 

We were informed that we are being given a complimentary upgrade to Club Class and to a suite.. As a result we are entitled to use the Club Lounge, which entitles us to complimentary breakfast, all day snacks and wine and snacks in the evenings!  The suite is huge with a generous bathroom. 

This time of year is an ideal time to visit as, with the exception of the New Year, it is the low season, prices are competitive and one can sightsee without the crowds.

Just arrived - I'm not going home!! 

The concierge had said that we should walk to the Muslim Quarter nearby. However, we were advised to purchase some face masks as the pollution warning was orange. Gaye and Marie - guess who made them - yes 3M!!

We walked the km along a lovely wide boulevard with flower boxes suspended from the railings. 

We arrived the gate of the Muslim Quarter 

and entered a very vibrant area with all sorts of commerce co- existing side by side   ..... food preparation, 

cigarette being rolled, hair combs being sculpted and dough being stretched against the nearest pole

and baked in addition to numerous souvenir shops where one could buy one's own Terracotta Army.! 

We saw eggs of unusual colours and other unidentifiable foods. 

We tasted huashenggao (delicious peanut cakes) and a pastry stuffed with caramels and purchased a box of Wild Walnut cakes. 

There were huge urns dispensing noodles, soups and meat dishes of various types. 

We might have cycled the wall, which once enclose the old town,  but thought the better of it as the smog was increasing

They have city bicycles and we may use  them  - smog obliging - to cycle the city walls -14 km.  We'll see what the fog / smog level is like on Friday? Tomorrow we're going to see the Terracorta Warriors. The historic site is c 40 km from Xian. 

Presently, we're off to the Club Lounge for smog downers!! 

Shanghai- Xian

I'm sitting here in Shanghai Railway Station. On arrival at the station, one has to show one's ID and ticket. One's name is on all tickets in this country! One's  baggage then goes through a security check as does one. There are numbered waiting areas and the allocated waiting is further sub divided into a gate for each train. I suppose with 24 million people on the move,  it would need to be organised. 

  

              A Rush for the train! 

Last night, we ate at Cafe Rouge. We asked the concierge to call a taxi but he said that it would be easier to walk and even though it was raining, he accompanied us on the 10 minute walk out the hotel car park and up the one- way street to the restaurant. Just as well as we would never have found it with no signage on the entrance. Once he had deposited us at the restaurant, he departed. 

As it was Tuesday night, the restaurant wasn't busy. We had an excellent meal together with an excellent French wine. One definitely needs a respite from Chinese cuisine. I thought we were being fed by Masterchef the Professionals as my delicious starter was bathed with foam and CC had pate. The main courses  too were excellent Pigs Feet for CC (not served as Crubins are) together with the best homemade French Fries, I've ever tasted ! They were cooked in some fat that I didn't recognise. I had the most excellent pasta with a lobster sauce together with a plentiful supply of shrimps and pieces of calamari. 

 

We had been asked to choose a desert at the beginning of the meal but I asked if we could wait?  There was no problem but I think it upset the kitchen as the desert of chocolate fondant with real vanilla ice-cream and a Mille Feuille with fruits were a long time in arriving. There were profuse apologies and we were offered complimentary coffee. When the desserts did arrive, they were worth the wait:

 

We returned to the hotel and retired. 

This morning, we took our last stroll down the Bund;  the promenade that had its hay day in the 1920s and  30s. 

It was threatening rain so the porter offered us umbrellas. At the Peace Hotel your every need is anticipated! 

The weather has slowly deteriorated as the days have gone by. On the first day it was 16• and dry, yesterday it was 14• and wet and today it was 10• and rain began to fall in the early afternoon. We were lucky as it is usually much colder here at this time of year. J is flying to Bejing this week and he informs us it's freezing there.  In addition, as it is the low season, we could enjoy the city without the crowds, with the exception of the evening of our arrival when the police and army had to marshall the crowds on Nanjing Street.  

We visited some of the architectural heritage buildings on the Bund - the Shanghai and Hongkong Bank. I had just taken a couple of photos of the spectacular ceiling when I was told not to do so! It reminded me of trying to take photos in The Hermitage in St Petersburg. Why here, I don't know?  I was unlikely to rob the bank, such is the level of security here. On the ceiling were pictured the Old World eight financial centres - London, Paris, Frankfurt, Zurich  Bangkok, Shanghai, Hongkong and Tokyo. 

We continued down the Street to the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, formerly the members only Shanghai Club, to see the Long Bar, formerly the 34 metre long bar,  where businessmen would sit according to rank, comparing fortunes with the taipans (foreign heads of business) the most important closest to the view of the Bund.  We had intended to go there last night but it was too wet. The porter informed us that it wasn't open til 2000 and to come at 2145 for the Jazz. Unfortunately, we are departing this evening but we did peak in - it would remind one of Raffles old bar in Singapore, a legacy of the colonial era. It is now sadly gone. The old Raffles was built in the old colonial style, still in existence but now subsumed in a modem shopping centre. 

From there, we made our way to Yuyuan Gardens.  You might recall that we were here in Old Shanghai yesterday evening but the gardens were closed. I do hope the planners don't destroy Shanghai as they did Singapore? The gardens were laid out in the Ming Dynasty period and took eight years to build - 1559 -77, but were destroyed during the opium wars 1842 and again by the French as a reprisal for an attack on their Concession area.  The Gardens have been restored but as it was winter, we did not enjoy the full bloom of the flowers or the Magnolia tree, the emblem of Shanghai, in all its glory.   

 

Visit complete, we taxied back to the hotel. Taxis are inexpensive here and there is no 'rip off' as the taxi man must issue  a receipt. We collected our bags and taxied to Shanghai Railway Station, a different station to the station we arrived at, as we had to allow sufficient time for a higher demand on taxis with the rain and the traffic. 

                     Lunch!

                 Xiaolongbao        

     Shanghai's steamed dumpling

So here I am awaiting our overnight to Xian- 141/2  hours!! We have booked a First Class sleeper for ourselves- while I don't expect it to be of Rovos Rail standard, it should exceed the Tazara!! (see blog on Africa).