Xi'an

We went to Xi'an with the Lohmans on Thursday the 22nd. I must say here that Audrey just loved them all but in particular the kiddos Mucah and Evelyn. They are 9 & 8 and were a good distraction from Audrey's desires to go home and see her best friend Eliana, whom she misses GREATLY! We stayed at the Howard Johnson, which is nothing like the Rockford, IL HoJo we've stayed in before. This was Chinese 5 star and considered the best hotel in Xi'an. (Still only about $140 a night) Jon hooked us up with a tour guide Raphael (who will get his own blog entry soon), he picked us up from the airport and brought us to lunch. We ate at a great Chinese Muslim estaursnt in the Muslim Quarter part of town. (xi'an is about 8 million people and has a strong Muslim population.)The food was really yummy! We then went to see the Terra Cotta Warriors (google them for history- no time this morning!;) Audrey is itching to leave the coffeeshop). The warriors were very impressive and we are glad we decided to keep it in the itinerary. Again, the shear volume of people selling stuff outside was amazing. It was like walking down a busy main street in a small midwestern town only it was all geared toward tourists. We were back at the hotel in time for dinner, which we decided to eat in the hotel restaurant. They had an impressive buffet, complete with a large selection of western and local foods. What sold me was that the beer and wine were included in the $15 price- SOLD! ;) we all did our best to live up to the stereotype of 'fat Americans bellying up to the buffet'. We hung out for a couple of hours until the kids had had enough and were starting to roll around on the floor- our que to leave. The next day we intended to see some local sights like the Big Goose Pagoda, City Wall, Drum and Bell Towers. Instead, we spent the day shopping in the Muslim district and just walking around. We all found some fun stuff to haggle stall owners for and got some good deals. Since we were going to a dinner show that evening, we decided to take the kids to a park to let them run around. We flagged down a rickshaw driver and asked him to take us somewhere where adults could get beers and kids could play. So 3 rickshaws drove us to a park that met both requirements and we all had a blast! I'll have to let Joe blog about the beer lady.;) that night we went to a dinner theatre show about the Tang Dynasty. If you could get beyond the extreme touristy feel to the whole thing it was actually entertaining. And we actually stayed out until 10pm!
The next day (our last) we had the morning to sneak in some sights before Raphael picked us up for lunch, Han emperor tomb visit and the airport. We went to the city wall which is impressive in scale alone. I think it's one of the last or best examples of Chinese walled cities, asost have been torn down or destroyed. You can walk on the top which is about 24' wide maybe?? If you walked the whole thing it would take 4 hours. Of course there are rickshaws to drive you or bicycles to rent. We just walked a bit, took photos and went on to see the bell and drum towers. On the way there we saw the most homeless people we have seen in all of our time here in China. I think we saw 4! Either there aren't many homeless or they are hiding. Anyways this one woman caught my attention- she was sitting on the sidewalk with her baby in her lap, who must have been somewhere between 12 and 18 months. The baby was crying as we walked by and looked sick. I looked back and i think i saw her looking at us through strands of disshoveled hair in her face. I suddenly felt awful for everything i am blessed with having in my life. As a mom I could hardly handle thinking of what that woman must feel, being unable to help her child. 1/2 a block later we stopped to get a drink at a corner stall. I bought the woman an orange juice and chocolate ice cream bar. I figured that evenif she had the money, she wouldn't indulge like that. I brought it back to her and gave her some money too. She thanked me and as I walked away I saw that she was immediately giving her baby some juice and eating the ice cream bar. I know how good those taste to me on a hot summer day so I can only imagine how good it was to her. I wanted to find a hospital to take them to to get a checkup and medicine for her baby, but I just couldn't. Something about that woman and child really touched me and I hope to take that feeling home with me.
We managed to take some photos of the towers and went back to the hotel where Raphael picked us up for lunch and the tombs. We really enjoyed Xi'an and spending some extra time with the Lohmans away from the stress of Chengdu. Audrey was very upset that we weren't going back with them. ;)