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Here we are in Zhengzhou waiting for our overnight train that will take us to Shanghai. Since our last blog in the lovely Pingyao we have moved on to Xi'an and the Terracota Warriors and then on to Dengfeng and the Shaolin Temple complete with warrior monks.
Xian as a tourist destination is based entirely on the 10000 strong tterracota army that guards the Tomb of Qin Shi Huang. We organised a tour through a local hotel which would take us to the army as well as visiting the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. The Pagoda houses the remains of some of the first ever Buddhist texts to be brought to China and the surrounding temple bills itself as the home of Chinese buddhism. Looking at the pagoda I was reminded of the old water tower in Isleworth, in that they both appear to have used the same beige-y bricks with duller brown tiers. The difference of course is that Isleworth is not the home of buddhism and was probably dense forrest when the BWG Pagoda was built. The Pagoda occupies a beautiful site surrounded by gardens blooming with cherry blossom and in the many minor temples adjoining the broad courtyards there were jade frescos depicting the fraught journey of the first chinese buddha to and from India.
After the pagoda the main event. The Terracota Army. To see the array of soldiers in the great hall they have constructed over them is impressive. The detail of the figures is striking and the fact that they all have different features and facial expressions is amazing. When first discovered many of the warriors had been smashed by rebel forces that overthrew the emperor after Huang, who happened to be Huangs seemingly idle and incompetant son. Though Huang had done much that we would consider noble, such as uniting much of China under a single banner, standardising writing and currency as well as building roads and introducing exams for those seeking to be public officials, he was a bit prone to the occassional massacre of rivals, murder of opposition and other general unfriendliness. Perhaps being aware of the effect on his subjects of his strong management style he decided to create an army that would be able to protect him in the afterlife. A feat which the army he built has accomplished to this day as the tomb of Huang is still untouched and awaiting excavation by future generations. Each soldier was individually cast (we even saw a minor officer who had been given a bit of a pot belly) and fired then coloured and decorated according to his rank. They were then arranged in battle formation and had real weapons placed in their hands. It was perhaps these weapons that the tomb raiding rebels wanted when they smashed their way in to the man made cave holding the army after they had started rebelling against Huangs heir.
To see the warriors and the different units and personalities was interesting but what was more intriguing was what might be in Huangs tomb. And more interesting still is the fact that there may be 3 more such armies guarding the other three points of the compass. This is a possibility as the tomb of Huang lies behind the warriors in a startegic spot that takes advantage of the natural terrain of rivers and mountains but he may well have created seperate armies to ensure his flanks and rear, as a true general would. As we drove out of the site I found myself wondering what might be under the fields and motorways I was looking at.
That night we visited a dumpling resteraunt that promised us 'legendary' dumplings. I will admit theywhere pretty good. We were only allowed to order a 7 quid per person banquet for some reason we did not understand but we were very impressed when we were brought the most delicate pork, duck and chicken dumplings formed in the shape of what was inside. These plus the soup were a good meal but the staff kept bringing us more and more dumplings with strange names and intricate flourishes. Most where tasty, many were delicious and a few were to die for and in the end we could not eat them all.
Our last day in Xi'an we had heard that there was pandas to be seen so we quickly organised a tour with our hostel and of we went. I intend to find out the name of the facility we visited as I had very mixed feelings about what we saw there. Yes there was pandas, as well as golden eagles, golden monkeys and even a pair of leopards. Also they had a veterinary station and ran a number of research and breeding programs but the enclosures of all the animals where very small with concrete floors and nothing to interest or amuse the inhabitants, many of whom seemed deeply unhappy if not disturbed, particularly a panda that paced back and forth whilst crying and a panda cub on its own in one of the larger enclosures who to my untrained eyes seemed to young to be away from its mother and was wailing in a very unpleasant way. Having said that, many chinese do not get out of the cities very much and centres like this are important however the attitude of western zoos, though by no means perfect, does put the welfare of the animal as a higher priority than the centre we visited.
The next day we found ourselves in Zhengzhou. A necessary transport hub for our next destination which was the Shaolin Temple in DengFung. We had met a very nice American man called Randy ("Yes, really." he said after giving me his name) who is working for IBM over here for several months. He and a collegue have been taking advantage of their location and the holiday weekend to visit some of the surrounding historical sights. He very kindly gave us the name of his contact who helped himself and other expats to do tours and excursions. We called Sarah (Liu Hong Li is her real name) the next day to tell her our plans and see if she could help us. The Miss Li is a diamond. Even though it was her day off she came to our hotel then took us to get our train tickets as well as giving us details of how to get to Shaolin and even got us a night in a friends hotel in Shaolin and then another for a night in Zhengzhou at another frinds hotel when we came back. Both exceptionally cheap. Sarah wouldn't even take anything from us for her help, she wouldn't even let us pay for her lunch. If ever you are going to Zhengzhou or around let me know and I will let Sarah work her magic for you too.
Shaolin was fun. Right from the first site of a 40 acre field filled with high kicking, hard punching, red tracksuited training kids to the tranquility of the Pagoda forrest with two exhilarating choreographed shows in between, it was a great day out which more than made up for the rip off merchants and hustlers we had had to deal with just to get to the hotel we wanted.
These chaps (and chapesses) are hard. They train for 6 hours a day 6 days a week for years. Some are as young as 4. Their skills deserve all the legends that have grown up around its 400 year history. The Pagoda forest is the resting place for many legendary monks from the last few centuries. Interestingly there is a very grand addittion that had a laptop, and a jetplane engraved on it. I have taken details of the inscription as I would love to know who this monk is and why he deserves such a grand gesture.
It is good to see a temple in such good shape and that is so famous, the down side is that you see too much of the commercial side. Monks are left to sell beads and trinkets and incense to help the temples funds.
Next stop Shanghai.
Chris
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