Xie xie is "Thank you" in Chinese.  This morning we departed for Guam (with a lay over in Tokyo).  Our week in China yielded some fantastic experiences and several UNESCO World Heritage Sites checked off the list.

Our day started out on a low note at the airport when both Susan and I got the dreaded SSSS marking on our Northwest Ticket.  Because of this we had to go through 4 additional security procedures.  It slowed us down a little bit, but nothing major.  Upon our arrival at Narita (Tokyo International Airport), we went to the airline lounge (thanks to the American Express Platinum card).  This was one of the coolest lounges that I have visited.  They had Sushi, 15 computer stations for checking e-mail and general Internet access (even though they were Mac machines, it’s still cool that they offer it), and an automatic beer tap.  You place a glass in the machine, press the button, it tilts the glass back, and dispenses draught beer.  Check out the video below.

We arrived in Guam after a full day of travel and are relaxing at the Marriott.  More to come!

-Allen

This morning we went to a studio that worked on reproductions of the Terracotta warriors prior to our visit to the real thing.  Most of the work is done in this studio is by hand.  The bodies of the soldiers are molds, like the originals, but the faces on each of the soldiers are all different.  The details and done by hand with various tools.

At this studio, the also make Chinese lacquer furniture.  We learned about the various phases that take place in creating some of the lacquer tables:  cutting the wood, placing putty on the wood, placing mother of pearl in the putty (pictured below), painting, and adding

around 15 coats of lacquer.

After the studio we moved on to the real thing.  The Terracotta Army was built for the first emperor of China, Emperor Qin (pronounced Chin.  Q in Chinese is pronounced Ch.)  Many believe that the origin of the the word CHINA comes from Qin (Chin).  This mausoleum, built to protect the emperor’s afterlife, contains over 6,000 soldiers and also included horses, weapons, carriages, chariots, and other relics.  Each of these soldiers has a different face.  The detail is simply amazing.  There were no soldiers found in one piece and most have been restored by archeologists.  Each one of these soldiers weighs over 400lbs.

Following the visit with the Terracotta Army, we went to the Great Mosque of Xi’an.  Unlike any mosque that we have visited, this mosque’s architecture is completely Chinese.

This was our final stop and we boarded Air China back to Beijing.  When we got back, Ricky, Susan, and I went out for some duck!  You can’t go to China and not eat duck.  This was the first time that I have had it carved table side.  The head of the duck was still on the serving cart.  (see the video below.  A little long, but you can see the head.)

Here is our new friend Ricky after some delicious duck!

In the morning we head to Guam.

Other comments…

Xi’an is one of the cleanest cities that I have visited.  The people take a lot of pride in their city.  Also the street cleaners use feather dusters. 

Below is a picture crossing the tracks out of Xi’an.  It was definitely a different neighborhood.

This is a taxi in Xi’an.  It only has 3 wheels and I bet it gets great gas mileage.  This is similar to a tuk-tuk that we took in Thailand.

-Allen

There have been some requests to post a picture of the toilets that we saw in China.  This is a picture of the toilets that are found in both the men’s and women’s room.

Also, we had this in our hotel room in Beijing.  Is this an ironing board?  If so, what do you iron on it?  Socks?  Tie?  I put the 32oz Nalgene bottle next to it so you can get some perspective.  Please post a comment if you know what this is actually supposed to be used for.

-Allen

This morning we boarded Eastern China Air for our day and a half long trip to Xi’an (pronounced She Ah-n).  The airport was insane this morning as China recently implemented the regulation where you cannot carry liquids over a certain size on the plane.  In the US we have had this for a few years, but almost everybody here had something they were trying to get on the plane that was NOT allowed. 

Xi’an is one of the oldest cities in the world and where you can catch a glimpse of the ancient Chinese culture.  We were met by our tour guide Korona and brought to the Yangling mausoleum.  When this tomb was discovered there were thousands of stone soldiers that stood about 1.5-2 feet tall.  The soldiers no longer have arms as they were made of wood and rotted away over 2000 years.  (pictured below.  Blurry because I didn’t have a tripod)  They were dressed in clothes which rotted away as well. 

The soldiers were meant to protect the emperor’s after life.  Along with the soldiers were miniature pigs, horses, cows, sheep, and other animals.  This visit was during a very large field trip for elementary and middle school students.  Recently the Chinese government declared all museums free of charge for Chinese citizens (you must make a reservation in advance though).  I would estimate that there were at least 1,000 students there.  Susan and I, being the ONLY non-Asian people around, intrigued the students and we achieved mere-celebrity status.  They all seemed to want to practice their English speaking skills.  We heard a lot of "Hello", "How are you?", and "My name is …".  It was nice to see the kids learning other languages at such a young age.  The US should adopt a similar system to keep up with the rest of the world.

Next we went into Xi’an city to see the city wall.  The wall divides the city into two sections, inner and outer.  The entire wall is about 12km.  If I ever visit in the future I would like to rent a bike and go around the wall.  We were told it only takes about 1.5 hours.

Following the tomb visit, we went to Giant Wild Goose Pagoda which is a Buddhist temple.  This temple houses the first Buddhist sutras brought from India to China.  Once again, I left completely calm. 

Our final stop for the day was at the Stele Forest.  This is the home to dozens of books that are actually written in stone.  To preserve the teachings of Confucius and other important works, these were etched into stone.  

Korona dropped us off at our hotel Shangri La.  This is a new hotel and all I can say is wow!  This hotel is amazing.  Very modern and elegant.  Even the remote control for the TV has leather case.  The pool was half of an olypic size pool and you have to walk through an indoor waterfall to get to it.  This is also the first hotel that I have ever stayed in that provided a mask in case of fire.

This evening we attended a show which re-enacted some of the ancient Chinese dances performed for the emperor and empress.  Following this they served a 17 course dumpling banquet.  I don’t think I have tried so many different types of dumplings.  The show and food were both excellent.

Other comments…

The colonel is big here.  People seem to really love KFC!

As I mentioned in an earlier post, people use their bikes for everything.

-Allen

This morning we woke up around 6:30am and went for a breakfast or shall I say an early morning feast.  It consisted of eggs, bacon, yogurt and granola, various types of bread, fruit, and a bottomless pot of jasmine tea.  We ate everything, but I should mention that it was a reasonable portion of each one.  This fueled us up for our hike up The Great Wall ruins.  The Red Capital Ranch sits on a portion of the wall that was partially destroyed during World War II.  In several of the watch towers you can see bullet holes from WWII.  This part has not been renovated and was definitely a challenge to climb.  There were several spots where I felt like I was going to slide off the side and down the cliff.  This added to the thrill of it all.  There was not a sole in sight except for Ricky, Susan, and I.  So far this has been one of my favorite parts of the trip.  If we had more time I would like to have climbed all the way to the top watch towers.

Following our early climb, we went to do yoga in a private session with one of the Tibetan ladies that works at the lodge.  This was my first time doing yoga and I learned quickly that I am NOT flexible…at all!  Susan certainly got a good laugh, but I kept my composure throughout the hour.  At the end of the session, my head was 100% clear.  What an amazing exercise of the mind and body.

After leaving the ranch around 12:30pm we went back to Beijing for a rickshaw tour of the hutongs (means alleyway).  In this section a large number of families live in a "courtyard" style arrangement.  There is an entrance from the alleyway into the courtyard and from each of the four sides of the courtyard is a residence.  Talk about tight quarters!  In this situation, you REALLY get to know your neighbor.  Our guide for this section brought us to a local family’s house so we could see the inside of the courtyard.  It is definitely a different way of life. 

We also passed by the Bird’s Nest stadium which will be the main stadium for the Summer Olympics in 2008.

Tonight we are staying at the Courtyard (using points again).  This is the first Courtyard that I have stayed in that had an executive lounge.

-Allen