Where in the world is Amy G?: Seeing Xian

We traveled from Beijing to China via Eastern China Airlines very early in the morning. Upon arriving in Xian, we realized that we had too much luggage. Even though there were only 15 of us on the tour, we were barely able to fit all our stuff in the Chinese version of a 15 passenger van. The van was leaning to it's side when we were going down the freeways.

To my delight, we had hot pot for lunch!

And then we went to the Bell Tower and then the Drum Tower. The Bell Tower rung at dawn, and the Drum Tower beat at dusk. We took pictures in front of these landmarks. We also discovered that the cherry blossoms lining the streets around the towers were fake. They were just cherry blossoms neatly tied to bare branches. It made me wonder if the tulips and greenery around Xian were fake or real...

We went to the Confucius temple where they kept the ancient stone tablets collected from around China that documented the teachings of Confucius. While we were there, we observed some workers making ink rubbings of the tablets. We then went to the Wild Goose Pagoda, took pictures and walked the gardens. We also visited the Xian city wall - a massive wall surrounding the center of the city. Cars go through it now (there are tunnel things), but it would have been tough for outsiders to break into the city with this thing.

After that we went to dinner, where we were entertained by Tang Dynasty performances. It was definitely a tourist thing. And it was the fastest 10 course dinner I had ever eaten. The waiters would come by and set down a dish. You would barely have time to admire the presentation before they came by with the next course. And then they would give you a look of annoyance if you had not finished the previous course. By the time the 3 different desserts came around, I was tired of eating, and completely full. I was also tired. And the performances were good. Although sometimes we couldn't tell if the singing and instrument playing was pre-recorded, or if they were actually singing. We were pretty sure the dancing was real...although I can't say whether it was authentic Tang Dynasty dancing.