Silk Road Expedition, Sept. 6, Day 6 - Xian (Part 2)

NOTE: The order of Day 6, Part 1 and Day 6, Part 2 somehow got mixed up. Part 1 is actually posted after this entry, right above it. Honestly, if I know how I botched this, I would've fixed this problem by now. Sorry for the stupidity on my part and the inconvenience it may have caused!

Continuing on from where I left off.... now, the third and final excavated pit was much larger than the second one, was much larger, but not much to look at. The soldiers in this particular pit were covered by the fossilized remains of the collapsed roof, which was constructed by the first emperor's army of workers to cover his eternal army of clay.

Also in that building were a selection of particular soldiers on display, plus a museum guard who was so still that for a second I actually though he was a mannequin. Thank goodness he moved a little just before I took a picture of what I thought was the most lifelike wax figure I had ever scene (you would’ve thought that the fact that he was clad in a regular bright green military uniform would’ve been an obvious hint, but unfortunately that was two obvious a hint for an imbecile like myself.)

As wondrous as this all was, what’s even more amazing as there’s much more like it still buried beneath the earth. What I viewed that day along with everyone else was only one of the many pits of soldiers surrounding Emperor Qin Shihuangdi’s tomb, which supposedly has a miniature recreation of his kingdom with diamond stars and rivers of mercury. While their locations are known, these treasures however remain buried in the earth, and will remain so until archeologists have the technology to excavate them without exposing them to corrosive elements. 

The complex also possessed a small museum, which housed many fascinating artifacts (like the figurines playing some type of soccer-like game below). The jewel of its collection though was obviously the two small bronze chariots unearthed near the tomb.

Now even though that was an intensely exciting and even emotionally draining experience, this was by no means the sole activity of the day. About an hour after our return to the hotel, we set off for the city’s Muslim Quarter, home to most of Xian’s 70,000 Hui Muslims and its famed Great Mosque. 

It was certainly a site to behold, for while it resembled a Buddhist or Taoist temple more than anything else at first glance, without much difficulty one could easily find the distinct Islamic and Middle Eastern art blended in. 

At the mosque, we were given a lecture by a local about the history of Islam in China. While that was very interesting (fun fact – 90% of all Chinese Muslims have the last name of “Ma”, because it sounds like the first syllable of Muhammad) , the real treat came while touring the complex, when we suddenly heard a peculiar chant ringing out from loudspeakers all over the complex.

It took me a few seconds to realize I was hearing nothing other than genuine Arabic. Just our luck, we were there to not only witness the call to daily prayers, but we also were given the special opportunity to watch locals flock to the prayer hall and witness their service (from the outside, of course). 

Despite all the wonders we had toured and everything we had done, the day wasn’t over just yet. After the tour of the mosque, five or six TBC students were paired up with a local host student from Xian for just one evening. The group I was with was put under the temporary jurisdiction of a university student who preferred to be called by her chosen English name, “Susan.”

 

When we first made our introductions, it swiftly became obvious that despite her smiles, she was quite nervous and painfully shy, and I suppose anyone would be like that if they had to look after that many foreigners at once. As we chatted over a scrumptious dinner of beef kebabs and heaping fried rice later on in a local two-story hole-in-the-wall restaurant, she quickly warmed up to us and our persistent friendliness. However, she did become rather embarrassed when we suddenly showered her with gifts (we were all told to bring them before we left Beijing, but until that particular day, we were all under the impression that we’d each have our own private host student). Her first reaction was to humbly refuse the gifts with the excuse that she had nothing in return to give us, while we just countered and said that taking the time out to lead us around the city was a more than suitable present. Then, she tried to compromise by accepting one of the gifts, which happened to be a framed photo I took outside my grandparents’ house. 

Finally though, she gave in and accepted everything that we gave her (which was mainly an assortment of chocolates and moon cake.) After dinner, we went out to explore the bustling night market of the Muslim Quarter, with vendors peddling all sorts of food and trinkets packing the streets, along with motorbikes and even the occasional car. 

Actual crickets for sale (sorry, I didn't purchase any)

While worming our way around the shops with Susan doing her best to keep us from getting cheated, we came across a most spectacular find; a vendor who wasn’t pushy or tried to force her wares upon us in any manner. In short, she was nothing like 99% of all the Chinese vendors that I’ve met to this date. She simply let us browse, and patiently answered all question we had in atrocious, broken Mandarin. Even more fantastic was the fact that she was selling Olympic T-shirts for only 10 yuan each, a price so reasonable that absolutely no bargaining whatsoever was required. It was all simply so perfect, I couldn’t help but walk away with three new shirts all for the price of one T-shirt back in Beijing. 

As we shopped, I personally had quite the pleasant time chatting with Susan, and we talked about everything ranging from our families (I showed her the pictures I always carried in my wallet, and if you’re reading this Mom, she thought you were very beautiful), home towns (she’s from a village in southern Shaanxi province), majors (she’s studying English while I’m doing Chinese Studies, and of course she’s infinitely more fluent in her second language than I am) and a myriad of other topics. What was possibly most interesting was our discussion on vendors, when I learned that getting cheated was not at all an ordeal suffered solely for foreigners. According to Susan, she and non-native university students like her also have considerable difficulty purchasing things from local Xian vendors, who try to hassle them out of much money as possible. But with big grins adorning our faces, we agreed that foreigners such as myself probably have a much more difficult time and pay far higher prices, as our lack of language skills make us harder to be taken seriously (as I learned the hard way in Silk Alley back in Beijing).

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, and finally we all parted ways, finally bringing a jam-packed day to its end.