Body and Soul, One Must Be on the Road – My Travelogue (Part 7)

How do you define a good friend? A true friend is a lifelong confidant. They may not always be reasonable, but they always understand your heart. They may not always be by your side, but they always cherish each other. They may not always add flowers to your success, but they will send coal in snowy weather. They may not always keep in touch, but they always hold you in their hearts. Maybe my WeChat Moments will never collect 88 likes, and maybe I don't get a flood of holiday greetings from friends. But I know I have a group of old pals. We've known each other since we were in open-crotch pants, and we've walked together along the growing path for over twenty years. My last trip of 2016, with a bunch of good friends, was to Xi'an. People often say: if you want to see twenty years of China, go to Shenzhen; for one hundred years, go to Shanghai; for one thousand years, go to Nanjing; and for five thousand years, go to Xi'an. 'Xi'an Bell Tower, doesn't it look just like Yibin's Daguang Tower?' I really love history. Xi'an was the capital of thirteen dynasties. The exquisite bronze ware of the pre-Qin period, the First Emperor who unified the six kingdoms buried here, the eighth wonder of the world lying here, the only female empress in China, Wu Zetian, also here, the love story of Yang Yuhuan and Li Longji happened right here, the once bustling and magnificent center of the world, Chang'an City, is here, and of course, the Muslim Quarter, a paradise for food lovers with everything under the sun, is also here. I love wandering around, so on this Xi'an trip, I once again acted as the tour guide, and not just that—I also moonlighted as porter, bankroller, and photographer. Yep, a real-life Gaoxian version of 'Sisters Over Flowers.' A cute selfie before departure—I bet you're envious of this lineup. Just imagine all the colorful fun, haha. But for the real picture, see the photo below and let me introduce the gang: Chengdu rich beauty—Fanfan, Yibin silly sweetie—Siyu sis, Gaoxian socialite—Meizi sis. We met in Chang'an to celebrate New Year's Eve and Siyu's birthday.

Flights were booked as usual via Ctrip: Yibin–Xi'an round trip, 668 yuan per person, including airport construction fees at both ends. Accommodation was an apartment hotel in the Hongfu Jiahui Building on Beidajie (North Street), a deluxe suite with two bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen, and a bathroom, 200 yuan a night, but the price went up by 100 during the New Year holiday. Right in front is Beidajie and the Bell Tower, next to it is Shaanxi Provincial Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, and behind it is the famous Muslim Quarter. I recommend staying here whenever you come: standard luxury doubles start at 100 yuan, and there are many apartment hotels in Hongfu Jiahui Building—all bookable on Ctrip. Xi'an isn't cold either; everywhere has indoor heating, so you won't be cold at night. Plus, the location is super convenient: the New World Department Store inside Hongfu Jiahui connects directly to the Bell Tower underground plaza and Metro Line 2. Getting a Didi is quick, too. The straight-line distance from Yibin to Xi'an is about 770 kilometers, roughly 1 hour and 20 minutes by air. We contacted a driver for an airport pickup at 100 yuan to Beidajie. After dropping our luggage, we dashed straight to the Muslim Quarter and the gluttonous food journey began. Right behind is the Muslim Quarter.

Crispy fried banana. All kinds of beef jerky, but so pricey—I used to buy yak jerky in Lhasa for only 50 yuan a jin. Crazy fried squid, full marks for presentation. Lamb trotters were too muttony for me. Tornado potato, 10 yuan a skewer—not tasty at all and goes stale fast. Osmanthus cake, now this was good. A bit like zongzi, 5 yuan for two sticks. Xinjiang red-willow roast meat, chunky pieces of meat, full-on Western Regions style, 10 yuan a skewer. Soup dumplings, so-so. 'His eldest uncle and second uncle are both his uncles,' the flatbread I didn't try, but the sign caught my eye. The Muslim Quarter is full of shops with old family names—Old Sun's, Old Bai's, Old Mi's—so we just picked one at random. Foreigners love this stuff too. I ordered a premium mutton and pita bread soup, and look at me, earnestly making cute while tearing the bread. Later, a Muslim girl teased me for tearing the pieces too big... The finished dish, in a word: not great, and I'd spent forever tearing that bread. Xinjiang naan. Okay, I admit I don't like wheat foods. The mung bean cake on the far side was delicious; the most famous is Junjun mung bean cake, with six flavors—a good gift for the elderly. The little potatoes and teppanyaki tofu were also great. This pomegranate looked so good; it's one of Lintong's three specialties, along with fire-crystal persimmons and jujubes. They juice them, 10 yuan a cup. Xi'an has loads of sweet treats, too—any dry good can be turned into a sweet snack. Tastes really good, mostly 10-20 yuan a box. I couldn't get in line for Old Bai's meat sandwich... Look at all these foodies queuing. Old Sun's cured beef with gravy meat sandwich—the chef skillfully preparing the food while foodies' mouths water. Every bite pure satisfaction. The bustling Muslim Quarter. After eating, we walked a loop around the Bell Tower to digest, and save more for tomorrow.

Day 2, Dec 30. Thinking that New Year's was coming and the Terracotta Warriors would definitely be packed, we decided to make the second stop on our itinerary the eastern route: Huaqing Palace and the Museum of the Terracotta Warriors. To get to the eastern route, you mainly take a bus from Xi'an Railway Station. Xi'an has two railway stations: one inside the first ring road, Xi'an Railway Station, mostly for old-style trains, and one outside the third ring, Xi'an North, for high-speed trains. To reach Huaqing Pool and the Terracotta Warriors, take the Tourist Bus No. 5 from the right side of Xi'an Railway Station; it's 7 yuan to Huaqing Pool and 8 yuan to the Terracotta Warriors. Usually, you visit Huaqing Pool first and then continue on the same bus from the drop-off point to the Terracotta Warriors for 3 yuan. Finally, head back to Xi'an. Huaqing Palace tickets are 120 yuan per person, including access to Huaqing Palace, the Imperial Bath site, Bingjian Pavilion, and Lishan Scenic Area. The most famous spot inside is the Changsheng Hall site. You can also soak in the hot springs at Huaqing Palace, but it's ridiculously expensive. Bingjian Pavilion is where Generals Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng captured that baldy Chiang Kai-shek, the place that witnessed the famous Xi'an Incident. The Lishan scenery is good, but too far to climb, so we skipped it. Some say 'Song of Everlasting Sorrow' is a story of a fallen kingdom, but I think it's a 'Song of Everlasting Love.' The love between Li and Yang isn't about endless regret; in heaven, they wished to be birds flying wing to wing, on earth, branches intertwined. Just like Tsangyang Gyatso and Makye Ame—though politics brought them sorrow, their story transcended politics and has been sung through the ages. Too bad luck wasn't on our side: after queuing several times, we couldn't get a free ticket to the 'Painless Palace of Eternal Life' show (free, shows every 45 minutes from noon). Next to the hall is the hot spring outlet—genuine hot spring water. Past the hot spring pool, there's the Vow Platform, a symbol of love. Make a wish, who knows, maybe next time I won't be single. The sweeping auntie told me these are 'intertwined branches,' but I'm no scholar, I honestly couldn't tell. The statue of Yang Yuhuan at the Imperial Bath site—truly beautiful. Behind it is the ancient hot spring outlet where visitors can wash their hands. The Crown Prince's Bath, a place for the heir to bathe... The emperor's own bath was certainly bigger. The mountain in the distance is Lishan, and now we were heading to see Bingjian Pavilion. Here's the layout of Huaqing Pool; due to time, we missed a lot of places. Bingjian Pavilion looked like this; it took a lot of puffing and panting to climb up, and there was nothing to see, so we climbed back down. A photo of Lishan, and by the time we left Huaqing Palace it was almost 2 p.m., so we hurried to catch a bus to the eighth wonder of the world.

Here I must warn everyone: there are several fake Terracotta Warrior museums in Lintong! Since our feet were already sore from visiting Bingjian Pavilion, and the terminal of Tourist Bus No. 5 is still two kilometers from the Qin Shi Huang Terracotta Warriors Museum, we hopped on an illegal taxi—the driver said he'd take us to the warriors for five yuan. At the drop-off, plenty of touts kept insisting that Pit 1 had nothing worth seeing, or randomly pointed out fake pits. You can picture a northern Shaanxi farmer earnestly telling you something like that—who knew they had such black hearts? Once there, I resolutely refused to buy tickets. (I had something to say and I'll say it: spending over 100 yuan to see fake warriors, then flooding your feed with photos—how embarrassing would that be?) So I made the unscrupulous driver take us back, and he kept saying I didn't know a good thing. Well, my history lessons weren't in vain. Here comes the authentic version—this entrance has the aura of a 5A scenic spot. Tickets 120 yuan per person.

The small seal script, also called Li Si script after Chancellor Li Si of Qin who invented it, was used when the First Emperor unified the six kingdoms, standardizing the written language, axle widths, weights and measures, and introducing the banliang coin. The script is on the sign of Terracotta Warriors Pit 1 Hall. Because there are many stories about the warriors unrecorded in history—they were accidentally discovered by local farmers digging a well in the 1970s—we hired a licensed guide for 90 yuan, with a clearly marked price. Otherwise, you'd just be looking at clay figures. Pit 1 is the largest and most intact. But even after thirty years of restoration, experts have only repaired the front sections; the rear is mostly shards. This military formation recreates the Qin army's power as they swept through the six states. These are the rear of Pit 1 with soldiers still under repair. Experts say every warrior has a unique expression, whether a general or a soldier. The faces represent both northern and southern Chinese features, but one common trait: all are handsome single-lidded guys... Here's Pit 2, a smaller pit, but most figures unearthed here are higher-ranking officers or elite soldiers—essentially a military command center. It also houses the museum's No. 1 treasure, the 'Bronze Crown'—the bronze chariots. Legend says these two chariots carried the First Emperor's spirit as he toured his realm after death. Don't be fooled by their size; they're half-scale, yet weigh 1,241 kilograms. The front chariot was for soldiers, the rear for the emperor. Nothing like them exists anywhere else. This is a Qin general figurine. You can usually tell a figure's rank by the elaborateness of his topknot and the height of his shoe tips. Horse handler figurines: these are low-ranking soldiers, look—no shoe tips. This is the museum's No. 2 treasure, the only complete kneeling archer ever found. See the exquisite armor detail and traces of original color—the warriors were originally painted, but oxidation after excavation gradually faded the colors. Why are the warriors not just historical relics but also priceless artworks? Every figure is made with extreme precision—just look at the tread pattern on the kneeling archer's sole. Also, the Qin dynasty had strict quality controls: many figures bear the name of the craftsman; poor work could lead to punishment and even beheading. Truly, this is a world wonder.

Many people ask why the warriors' hands are mostly empty, without weapons. Scholars infer that weapons were primarily wooden hafts with iron or bronze heads, so only the metal parts survive now; the wood has long rotted. Traces of fire have also been found in the pits, pointing to that hothead Xiang Yu, who had a deep grudge against Qin and burned Epang Palace for a month—he might have looted the warriors' weapons to outfit his own army. The front rows of Pit 1 are filled with these vanguard soldiers, the lowest rank—in modern terms, cannon fodder of the Qin army... Striking a pose, I finally saw the eighth wonder of the world in person. The bronze sword unearthed from the Qin mausoleum is the museum's No. 3 treasure. It uses chromate oxidation technology, two thousand years ahead of the West! Here's Pit 3, currently under excavation, so nothing much to see. Now these buildings have the grandeur befitting the First Emperor; how can those fake warrior sites compare? Later, I asked the guide, and she said the outside ones were built by experts based on research, reimagining how the Qin mausoleum looked—in other words, pure speculation and guesswork, no match for the national 5A site.

Leaving the scenic area, we saw pomegranate juice being sold everywhere, 8 yuan a bottle, pure juice—much better than in the Muslim Quarter, which I suspect adds sugar water. Here they press it right in front of you. At 6 p.m., we caught the last Tourist Bus No. 5 back to Xi'an, and thus a perfect first day ended.