When we got to Xi’an we were greeted at the airport by a friend of a friend of my friend’s father, which is not as convoluted as it sounds in China. We handed her the special duck we had brought as a gift and she and the-man-who-I-didn’t-know-at-that-point-was-going-to-be-our-personal-driver took us to the car. We got lunch at another hot pot place, delicious, and then started out little exploration of Xi’an. That afternoon we went to the Xi’an museum, full of precious treasures of ancient China, and then later walked along a beautiful city walk with a river and shady trees. That night we learned how to play mahjong at our hostel. I was not very good.
We went to Xi’an mainly to see the Terracotta Warriors/Army, as most people who go to Xi’an do, and they did not disappoint. Seeing that space was so impressive, and even though the crowds were a little overwhelming, the figures were so spectacular I almost didn’t mind. The space itself gives you an amazing sense of the scale, the roof seems to go on forever. At one point my friend turned to me and said “They’re all different!” quite quietly, with both deep awe and incredulity. It is a special place.
One of the most important things to note about Xi’an is that there was an amazing homemade noodle place across the street from our hostel where we had thick and delicious spinach noodles both nights. An absolute hole in the wall but so tasty. We reminisced about the noodles for the rest of our trip.
*note, lantern photo is from Hangzhou (I took almost all of my photos in Hangzhou)
And then we were on to Shanghai, heads spinning from our quick schedule. When we first got to Shanghai we collapsed at the hotel emerging only for some food, but in the evening we had recovered and we took a walk along “The Bund” a famous path in Shanghai along the river which highlights the city’s old and european-looking buildings. There is a lot of fancy shopping about too, but the lights on the water were lovely, and even though I was freaking out a little bit due to some school worries, we had a great time laughing and joking, the place all lit up by the lights of the city.
Day 2 was rainy, as many have been, so we decided to make it a museum day. We started at the Jewish Refugee Museum, which chronicled the journey of the jews that found refuge in Shanghai in WWII. It was very well done, and even though I got a little testy at the exhibit about the ghettoization of the Jews, that may have been because I’m a little sensitive. It did prompt an interesting question about the responsibility of countries to refugees and immigrants.
After lunch we went to the Shanghai museum, which followed the same pattern of glorious historical artifacts that the other museums we visited did, but it did it very well– the calligraphy and ink painting exhibition was particularly good. Overall, it was a very nice way to spend a rainy afternoon, especially when your friend pulls yummy snacks out of her backpack.
And then we were on to Hangzhou!