Saturday April 23rd

This morning I had a good breakfast of 2 croissants, a pastry and a yoghurt.  We packed our suitcases ready to take down to the lobby for their journey to Beijing – their journey to Xi’an turned out fine and they came back to us still with their locks on.

We all got onto the coach and visited the Little Wild Goose Pagoda and park.  We couldn’t go into the Pagoda, but it was very impressive just to see it, especially as it had survived 2 Earthquakes!  It was in a park which we also took a little time to walk around – we even found a place where we had our names written in Chinese for free on rice paper!  The Pagoda itself was built in AD 652 and stands 64 metres high.  Pagodas originate from India as a development of the Buddhist stupa.  Over 1,500 years pagodas developed a variety of forms, but the most well known is that of a multi-storey tower.  They were originally seen as the focal point of a Temple, but now they are used more as functional halls.

Afterwards, we went to the Shaanxi Museum where there were many archaeological artefacts on display, from bronze cauldrons and animal figurines to potter, to ancient tiles and coins.  Before we arrived there, Mathew and I had no idea how large or small the Museum was, and we grew a little concerned as to whether we would have enough time there to see everything or not.

 

Kites!

Upon arrival, we went to the entrance and Bryan gave us 90 minutes to wander around the Museum before meeting us in the shop to go to lunch.  Fortunately, the Museum was much smaller than we had anticipated, despite it containing over 370,000 artefacts!  It was a very nice little Museum.  We had finished looking around both the 2 floors within an hour and we didn’t feel we had been robbed of time there because the information was all in Chinese with no English translations – just the captions at the objects were, so we didn’t need to stand and read everything.  We then went to the shop.

The shop was quite large, but it was – yet again – a little irritating having an assistant tell you everything about whatever you’re looking at, and following you around continuing telling you everything about anything else you show an interest in.

Shaanxi Museum

Anyway, I bought a book about the Museum itself, which was quite a good looking, good quality book.  Mathew found some wooden carvings and finally found himself a nice little wooden monkey carrying a basket of peaches which symbolises longevity.  He was born it the year of the Monkey so he had been after one of those for a while!  We walked around a little more and I saw a cute wooden animal which I quite liked myself, but I wasn’t sure about it.  We sat outside and I couldn’t stop thinking about the cute panda/bear/beaver/ whatever it was, so I went back in for a second look.

Shaanxi Museum

I went straight to them and immediately had an assistant on my tail, but fortunately this time I was interested in buying the carved figure.  It was with some of the larger ones – the same size as Mathews – for the same price and I was hoping it was less, as it was smaller.  I told the assistant I didn’t think it was worth 280 Yuan like the larger ones – it was less than half the size of Mathew’s monkey.  The assistant said “You can have it for 200 Yuan”.  Okay, so I can haggle at Museum shops too?  Fine!  I immediately said “I’ll give you 180 Yuan” and after a short pause, she agreed, so I got it for £10 less!  Hooray!  It’s very cute, whatever it is.

Little Wild Goose Pagoda

We left the Museum for lunch and went on to Xi’an’s Muslim Quarter.  Nobody went into the Mosque as we thought we were going to (hence all the ladies having their scarves on them!) and in any case, it was partially covered in scaffolding!  We were actually given about 2 and a half hours here, and although it was a nice area and there was a huge Bazaar to visit, it was just TOO HOT for Mathew and I to do this today – and in any case, once you’ve been to about 5 markets in China, I think you’ve seen them all!  We found Starbucks and got an ice-cold vanilla cream each to help us cope with the heat.

Little Wild Goose Pagoda Park

Unfortunately there were no seats available here, so we slowly made our way through the Bazaar but we didn’t buy anything.  It was cooler walking through though, as it was covered.  We eventually got to the meeting place and sat down for the majority of the time we had there.  This was really just a time killer as we were to get the train to Beijing.  We watched several people passing by, waved at children who giggled at us because (presumably) we looked different with our long noses and our pale skin.  By now we had seen quite a few children which we had been told about with regards to what they were wearing: “open bottom” outfits.  Jane had told us about these; that most babies and toddlers wear them, and not many wear nappies.  The trousers have an opening in the middle, allowing them to squat and do their business as and when.  Nappies are expensive and the only time they are usually used are at night, and even then, cloth nappies are used.  Parents regularly take their children outside every half an hour or so, so they can do their business.  So, it’s pretty normal to see a child doing their business in the street, or a parent balancing their child on their knees so they can do their business in drains or grassy areas.

Little Wild Goose Pagoda

We saw a local guy take out some tissue paper and lay it down on the pavement.....we got  a little worried about what he was about to do for a moment....but he just sat down on it.  And someone who was with him did the same, and leant back on her hands in the grass.  The thing is, we were wondering if she realised what parents did on grassy areas when their children needed the loo....and there she was sitting on some tissue leaning back with bare hands on the grass....!  At 4:30pm we headed to the restaurant for dinner but we didn’t start eating until 5pm.  For most of us, this was far too early to eat.  I only managed a small bowl of noodles, as I was still full from lunch and Starbucks!

Little Wild Goose Pagoda Park

Before we left for the train, most of us went to the loo.  As I came out of my cubicle, I heard someone say “Oh no..” as I looked around and saw a roll of loo paper trundling out from one of the other cubicles, which looked very comical, so I burst out laughing as did the person in the cubicle!  I picked it up and handed it under the door, and I couldn’t stop laughing – then I realised it was Rhonda!  When she saw me laughing, she couldn’t stop either.  She made it worse by saying “Well, just imagine if it was a squatting toilet...!”

Train Station waiting room!

Into the train station we went, and it was unbelievably crowded.  It was CRAZY!  This time there were no seats available for many of us in the waiting room, as it gradually got fuller and fuller.  I wasn’t expecting it to be quite this busy...!  Eventually it was our time to board, and strangely, once out of the waiting room it was hardly crowded at all.  The train was pretty much the same as before and we were sharing with Gary and Rhonda again, although we’re sure our compartment this time around was a little narrower than before.

It was still very warm, and I didn’t cool down until I began writing my journal.  I think the air conditioning kicked in a good half an hour after we had left the station.

This train was a direct one – no stops and the journey would be 13 hours this time, we should arrive in Beijing at around 8:20am in time to get to our hotel and have some breakfast.