Xi'an and Beyond: Planes, Trains and Bamboo Boats

Well, last week we took a trip to Xi'an to see the Terra Cotta soldiers.
We left from the Changxing train station at about 4pm Friday for a 24-hour train ride through the Chinese countryside.

We booked what is called a soft sleeper. It has four bunks and a small table with a widow.
It also has a sliding door for privacy.
This is the ONLY way to travel by train, as far as I am concerned.

The bunks are clean and comfortable...but not soft.
Here is Gloria planning our trip in her bunk.
We were going to go to Lhasa after Xi'an but decided it would just be too darn cold.
Gloria (being a tour director) turned our tour south from Xi'an.
We (she) decided to head for Guilin after Xi'an.
That turned out to be one of the best places we went to.


Since we have to share the cabin with others, I thought it was great that we had these two guys.
The one on the right spoke a little English, and with my limited Chinese vocabulary, we were able to converse enough to get to know each other a bit.


The ride though the countryside was not exactly what I had expected...
Lots of little towns and factories.
We were a bit taken aback by the amount of pollution and poverty along the way.
We both knew that China had a large population of low income people, but each town we passed seemed so poor and polluted that it kind of put a gloom over the whole train ride.
The real beauty would come as a surprise later.


So many run down little towns!


We passed the time with our new found friends, trying to make conversation and learning about each other.
Here, they are looking through my phrase book and Chinese/English dictionary.


The dining car was full of people from the night before...sleeping on the tables and playing cards.
It had a much nicer atmosphere the next day, after most of them got off at various towns along the way.

We took a break and hung out in the dining car for a while.


More gloomy little towns.


The landscape was quite beautiful in between the towns.


Here is a shot of the kitchen...NOT CLEAN!
I got yelled at for taking this picture...


After seeing the grimy kitchen and the food they were serving, we opted to eating the fruits and snacks we brought.


As I mentioned before...we had some privacy with the sliding door.

Here is a shot of what is called, the hard sleepers.
Bunks three high and no privacy.


It was pretty nice sitting and watching the landscape go by.


Then we reached Xi'an.


And checked into our hotel...here's a shot of our view of the Drum Tower.


OK, here's a better shot.

After a quick nap and a shower, we headed out to the street markets.


Lots of people and lights.

Lots of sheep to eat.


Lots of food vendors!


I was surprised by the large Muslim population in Xi'an.


You could tell by the little hats they wore.


This guy looked like a little elf.


I wonder if this wooden knife would make it past the security at the airport?


And of course...fireworks at night!

Here is the view from our room when we got back.
That's the Bell Tower on the right.

That night, we asked a lady at the hotel about going to see the Terra Cotta soldiers.
She said for 45 yuan, we could get a ride to the place, and that includes the ticket to get in...what a deal! (so we thought)

The next day, we met up with a gal in the lobby, and she took us to a mini-van with two other couples...Americans.
After about 20 minutes, she said that we would be going to four different places.
We thought..."COOL."
Then she dropped the bomb.
It would cost 70 yuan for each place we went.
And 100 for the Terra Cotta soldiers.
Everybody got a bit mad, and we contemplated a mutiny.
After a bit of complaining...not about the money...just about the being "Shanghaied," she lowered the prices and we all gave in.
All in all, we paid about 25 US for an all day tour...we figured that wasn't too bad.

Part of the con was that she would take us to various shops to buy stuff...nobody bought anything, but it was interesting to see the shops.

The first place is a shop where they mass produced Terra Cotta soldiers.


Of all sizes!


Terra Cotta Gloria!



They showed us the molds and explained how they were made.
Being a sculptor and a mold maker...I already knew...but it was interesting to see how they did it.

They also made rugs and textiles.


And furniture.


Then we headed off to a temple.
Wow...another temple?




Nancy, Dave and myself.


Here is our "Shanghaied in Xi'an Group."


This Temple had hot springs.


Then off to another place.
This place was a burial mound.


With a show.



The Emperor.


Scott from Alaska.



My new friend Scott.

Then we finally made it to our final destination...The Terra Cotta soldiers.

They built this huge stadium over the site.


This was what put Xi'an on the map.












We had a wonderful time.



They had some of the soldiers incased in glass so you could get a close-up look.



Bronze horses.

Here is the Drum Tower that night when we got back to town.


The next day, we decided to go up on the wall that surrounds the city.


The wall was very impressive.

We found out that you could rent a bike and ride all the way around the city on top of the wall...So we did.


Believe it or not...Gloria never learned how to ride a bike.
Luckily, they had these tandem bikes.


From the wall, a great view of the city wherever you were.


Gloria and I found a great place for pizza one night, and on the way home, we saw this bar.
I don't know the name of it, but we went inside for a drink just because of the slogan.



That night, we made plans to fly to Guilin.
I would like to add at this point that this whole trip just got better and better as it went on.
When we arrived in Guilin, the weather was much warmer and the scenery was...UNBELIEVABLE!!!


On the ride from the airport to town, our cab driver called a guy named Jerry.
Jerry was a tour director who spoke perfect English.
This is Jerry.


Jerry asked where we were staying, and we told him we were going to check out a few different places before we decided where to stay.
He made a few suggestions after we told him our price range and what we were looking for(soft beds and good views).
By the way, traveling off season is the only way to go...we paid half price at every place we stayed...You do have to haggle a bit and ask for the discounted rates though.
Anyway, Jerry told the cabbie where to take us, and he actually met us there.
It was nice but a little out of our price range...plus the view wasn't that great.
The next place was about the same.
Jerry mentioned a place a little bit from the town center called "Park Hotel."
It was perfect...Great view and only $45 a night.
Here's a view from the room.


Inside the room.

After checking in and a quick nap, we headed into town for a little shopping.
We kept ourselves supplied with plenty of fresh fruit and water.
We didn't really buy much souvenir stuff...We were trying to travel light...don't want to drag a bunch of stuff around China.


The next day, Jerry took us to see the "Reed Flute Cave."
On the way to the cave, Jerry spotted some local fishermen out fishing...with birds.
Now, I heard that the Chinese don't use these birds to fish any more...they just do it for a show for the tourists.
Not true.
The birds are called Cormorants.


We watched them for about a half an hour while Jerry explained how they take about two years to train the birds before they can use them for fishing.

The birds have bands around their necks to keep them from swallowing the fish.
They can keep several fish in their necks, depending on the size.


The Reed Flute Cave.
Most of the pictures in the cave came out kind of blurry...here's a couple that were OK.





Just outside the cave.

After that, Jerry took us to a park with a pagoda at the top of a mountain...
Gloria says..."We're going up there?"


The climb up wasn't too bad. At least, they had steps.

A little water break at the top.


That's our hotel in the middle of the picture, nestled in at the bottom of the mountain.


We met a Korean couple at the top that took our picture...This gave Gloria a chance to chat in her local tongue too.


And then the trip down....OK, OK, trip down is not a good way to phrase it.




A break to enjoy the view.


A shot from below.


That night, I invited Jerry and his wife out for dinner.
They took us to a new place that just opened that night.
Jerry did the ordering.
They brought this little cooker to the table with some fish in it.
"OK," I'm thinking,"fish soup."
Thirty seconds after they light it, I see it moving around and I'm thinking, "Wow, that began boiling fast."
It wasn't boiling...The fish were alive!!
As the water heated up, they started swimming around.
Then they stopped.
Talk about fresh fish soup!!


Despite the "boiled alive" fish...we had a great time!


And some kind of boiled bird egg in a nest.


Boiled alive baby catfish...It wasn't that bad.

During dinner, we all talked about where to go after Guilin.
There is a small town (30,000 people) just south of Guili called Yang Shuo.
Jerry arranged for a car to pick up from our hotel and drive us to a village about30 mins. away.
There, we could take a fishing boat down river to Yang Shuo.
He also arranged for a car to pick us up at the dock and take us to a hotel that he felt would best fit our needs (soft bed and a view).

If by any chance you decide you want to travel to Guilin and Yang Shuo....Call or e-mail Jerry!!
He made this part of our journey a dream vacation.
He arranged everything...acted as translator(whenever needed), helped us get the best rates on our flight back to Shanghai, and called every now and then to see how things were going.
Here is Jerry's contact information.

Jerry Weng
Zhong Shan South Road
Ze Lin Mansion
Mobile phone: 13517731922
E-mail: jerrytour@hotmail.com

So, the driver picked us up promptly at 10am, and we set out on the next link on our adventure.
After about 25 minutes, he stopped at a town that was old as the dirt it sat in.
I began unloading our packs when the driver started trying to tell me something.
Then he pulled out his cell phone and made a call and handed it to me.
It was Jerry.
He said we could walk around this old village for about 30 minutes or so, if we wanted to.
I love walking around these little villages that time forgot!!
They had a few locals selling trinkets and such.





Some of the buildings looked like they were a thousand years old.


This neat looking fellow followed us around and would lead us to various parts of the town.
Local guide?


I've heard of a one mule town...this is their mule.


I couldn't understand a single word he said.
But I followed him anyway!


He led us past a local Dr. who had a real tiger paw hanging behind the counter.

Dr. Tiger Paw suggested I try a local herb medicine to heal my shoulder.
It works for headaches or whatever ails you, it seems.
First you light the end and get it burning for a second, and then you wrap a piece of cloth around the burnt end and hold it to the painful area.
I thought, "what the heck," and bought one.
Shoulder still hurts, so I'll try anything.
Later on that night, we tried it and then realized it smelled strange.
I think the local herb was hash or some sort of home grown marijuana.
We got rid of it the next day.
So much for ancient Chinese medicine!

He tried to sell me some snake oil too...Well, kind of...
This is snake wine.
Rice wine with poisonous snakes in it....PASS.

So, we get back on the road to the Li River.
As we pull up, we are attacked by a small gang of old ladies trying to sell us oranges and nuts.
In my six months in China these have been the most aggressive sales people I've ever seen.
They wouldn't take no for an answer.
Gloria ran for the boat, and I tried to haggle for a moment.
Just to get ripped off by the nicest little old lady.
I agreed to buy a small bag of nuts fot 3 kwi.
Handed her a 10 kwi bill, and she gave me 2 back, and ran!
All I could do is laugh.

Here is where we got on board.

All Gloria and I could think was, "WOW...can it get any better?!"
And it does.

The landscape here is incredible!!
There's a boat like the one we were in.

Gloria and I were just speechless.

Our fearless captain.
Every now and then, Jerry would call and check in to see if everything was going OK.

Yes Mom...that's a water buffalo.


A happy camper!!


Fisherman with his birds.



I must have taken over a thousand pictures (literally) during our 13 days out.
Not one could capture the true beauty of this magnificent place.


Jim with a big bad case of perma-grin.


Waterbuffalo everywhere.


Those big clumps of trees are bamboo...(MOM)


You could also take a trip on the river by bamboo raft...which we did the next day.

The locals used bamboo rafts to transport goods too.


Look...."Unbelievable karst landscape."

At one point, our captain handed me the phone with Jerry on the line.
Jerry told us the captain was going to pull over and let us check out another little village.
"Sounds great!"
By the way...it wasn't exactly legal for us to be traveling down the river this way.
Jerry had mentioned the night before that we couldn't get in trouble, but the captain could get a fine.
Hence our stopping along the way at villages.
Every now and then, he would get a call and then usher us inside the cabin.
Shortly after, he would pull up to a village, and we would scurry ashore.
I loved it!!
One of my favorite things about China is the old villages.


Lost in time?



I may move here when I retire.


A walk by the river.

Gloria having a snack while we hide in the cabin.


I was told this was a fishing boat, but I didn't see a single fishing pole, net or fish trap.
And what's up with all the chairs?


My favorite part of the trip was the villages along the way.


And back down to the boat for our final leg of the Li River Cruise.


This guy was putting out a net trap.


Ok....Frozen shoulder is getting sore, so I'll have to continue this post later.
By the way, I found a way to relieve the pain of my shoulder.
Stick a bunch of needles in it!!


Check back again for "Jim gets stuck (Literally) in Yang Shuo."

Jim