I feel like our trip is getting better and better from day to day.
Our next station was Xi'an, the place that motivated me personally to do
that trip from the beginning because of Huashan. It was only a few
months ago that I was doing some research on China when I found pictures
of people posing on planks that are not broader than 30cm. It is hard
to believe that we have done it now as well.
We
spent our first day in Xi'an at the Terracotta army. I think most
people know those figures. There are about 8,000 individual figures that
were placed in the tomb of the first Chinese emperor in order to
protect him. Each of them represent one real soldier in his army.
Unfortunately, the museum did not meet our expectations. Maybe our
expectations were too high but there were only three halls where little
or no information about anything was provided. If you do not have a
guide you will only see the statues and understand nothing. There is a
museum about the museum itself and how it was founded but not e.g. why
the statues were made. The whole area is not too big and it took us only
about one hour to finish. Nevertheless, a must do in China if you are
in Xi'an.
After
visiting the Terra Cotta army, we went back to downtown Xi'an and
visited the city wall. Xi'an is a pretty interesting city because it was
also called Chang'an and served as the capital of ancient China for
about 1,000 years. It was in a time when the silk road flourished and
when China was the most powerful country in the world. It is also the
only remaining walled city in China.
We
were staying at a hostel where you could see the northern gates of the
city wall. So far every single hostel in China surprised us by their
location and beauty. The best thing about the hostels are that they are
incredibly cheap. On average we spent 5€ per person per night.
On
the next day, we went to the Muslim quarter. As you have to know, China
is a multinational country. It consists of 54 ethnicities of which over
90% are Han Chinese (like me).
In the evening, we did something typical for Chinese: KARAOKE aka KTV with our new friend Minsong from South Korea.
On
our last day in Xi'an, we went to Huashan (another mountain). This
mountain was pretty tough because some of its stairs were extremely
steep. Some of them almost had 90° but were closed recently due to
safety reasons. It was a tough climb but totally worth it because at the
end this amazing place awaited us:
I
do not think that I will ever forget this moment again. I should
mention that I am afraid of height but somehow got used to it when I was
standing in the line.
Some people were too afraid but wanted a picture...
Our next stop is Lhasa!
