Reached Xi'an via the very comfortable train ride in the morning. wayyyy early, like before 7am.
Since its early, i walked to my lodging at Bell Tower Youth Hostel.
bought 2 buns for breakfast. costs like 20 cents sgd in all.
came across starbucks, i cant help it, so sat down for a piping hot hazelnut latte.
also got my directions sorted over there and a map.
reached my lodging (bell tower youth hostel) amidst some confusion cuz it shares the same building as the post office, freaking huge building, and its entrance is tucked away in a corner. my room is on the 4th floor, the recep on the 2nd floor and the dorms on the 3rd floor, it stank of u know what since the common toilet is on the 3rd floor. I'm glad i pampered myself by getting a room.
Building here my lodging is
went out after a proper breakfast, intending to find the big goose pagoda on foot. i had this map from starbucks, which , apparenty is way off scale. fuck. i walked like 8 km trying to find it, imagine that, 8 fucking km. the cabby on my way back told me im nuts.
breakfast!
Chrysanthemum tea
1st stop: bell tower.
This is where in the olden days, they gong the bell to indicate the time. old skool shite, but nuthin interesting.
2nd stop: Shu Yuan Jia (Books courtyard street)
Im very absorbed with this place. i took a turn out of the hustle and bustle of the streets and suddenly it went all quite and peaceful. This is where they sell all the intellectual stuff, like brushes and calligraphy and stamp carvings etc. not surprisingly, i cant appreciate them. tho i like the peacefullness of this place.
The street
Majong in the open! i'd love to join them
3rd Stop: Bei lin (Stone calligraphy forest... smthing like that)
This place is old. is like a super old musem of these stone carvings. ranging from calligraphy carvings to pictorial to statues. ols skool stuff, i cant read it. too chiem for me, even if i can, i cant understand. gives up.
wow, typography!
4th stop: The city walls
I went up the city walls where soldiers used to stand guard. im surprised by how wide it is up there, theres space for a carriage, or 2! its rather impressive really.
on the top of the city walls
5th stop: The big goose pagoda
i got lost (us usual) while searching for the place and wandered into their paikia area. imagine a tight alley between 2 buildings, very dark and brown and gloomy, and right in the open theres like billard tables. wtf. i didnt dare take my camera out. besides billard tables, there are small tables scattered everywhere with people playing majong or cards. its like an open gambling den. i U turned straight away and got the fuck out of there. resumed the long march to my destination, and realised im on the wrong alley. the structure of most towns is very rigid, its a grid, so to go to another parellel alley, i gotta go all the way in front or go all the way back. very smart.
Anyways, i got there, the big goose pagoda, and guess what, i'm 10 mins late. they fucking closed. RAH! 8 fucking km only to reach it 10 mins late. imagine my frustration. whats worst, its dark and i couldnt get a cab. i still haven gotten used to their way of getting cabs. im too singaporean i guess. So i walked back, towards the direction of my hostel. (i had a compass with me) along the ay i came across this youth hostel right opp the pagoda, its called square youth hostel which i intended to move into later on. anyway, i was luck to find a cab, which brought me to the muslim street near my hostel. its amazing. their food. omg. power. the crowd, omg, even power'er.
Statue of the Tripitika in front of the pagoda
fucking long day. sleep time.
NB:
1) Xi'an used to be Chang'an where it was chinas capital for a couple hundred years. menaing its an important well developed area.
2) Big goose pagoda was where the famous Tripitika Monk (Tang San Zhang.. the monk dude from the story Journey to the West ... yes the guy who has the monkey god as his diciple) translated the scriptures he obtainsed from his trip to india. yes, the guys for real, tho not the 3 diciples.
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