With the year closing up and my departure for the summer approaching, I find that as I write this post about the last stop I made (somewhat on an impulse) I'm also thinking of California and how I learned to situate where I came from in relation to the rest of the world. In part, this is because I feel that Xi'An doesn't get the recognition you might expect for a city that's been the capital many times over and situated by the famous terra cotta warriors. On the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall, someone mentioned the terra cotta warriors, someone else asked where they were located, and then I was asked if I knew how long it took to get there by plane (I had no idea). When I first arrived in Lugano, the natural question all the students would ask each other was "Where are you from?". I quickly learned that "Saratoga" or "Santa Cruz mountains" doesn't ring bells too often, but that "San Francisco" or "Bay Area" were good points of reference. Once, a classmate surprised me when I mentioned that I was from around Silicon Valley and he mentioned Cupertino. It turned out that when he got his iPod, the clock/timezone was set to Cupertino and he'd always assumed that Apple was located there. (1 Infinite Loop!)
Anyway, I'd really been looking forward to Xi'An. I wasted a year telling myself I'd go and finally reasoned with myself that a 20 hour train ride back to Zhuzhou was worth it. Any memories should outlast a 20 hour train.I was on major nerd mode thinking about everything in the area: Wu Zetian's intact tomb (the sole woman in all of Chinese history to actually take on the title of Emperor for herself and currently subject of an expensive drama starring Fan Bing Bing), Qin ShiHuangDi sealed up under a hill with his mercury rivers and supposed model empire (tomb to be opened in 20 years, not sure what they'll do about the mercury), Ming dynasty walls, the Muslim quarter and its beautiful mosque (so different from what I've seen in Turkey or Morocco), and the endless supply of lamb. The Tang dynasty is at times referred to as a golden age of Chinese arts and culture, something tourism certainly tried to capitalize on with Tang dynasty shows and trinkets all around, but I spent more time dreaming on than shopping. This was the city that Kyoto, the old capital of Japan, was based upon, where the Qin emperor who gave his name to China was buried, where Yang Guifei distracted the emperor from his duties, a key point on the silk road, a city with Ming dynasty walls and a subway system. I only had a few days before running back to Zhuzhou. I hated that I couldn't do it all, but I wasted a year trying to find an entire free week to see it all and I would have kicked myself for not going after two years.
Anyway, I'd really been looking forward to Xi'An. I wasted a year telling myself I'd go and finally reasoned with myself that a 20 hour train ride back to Zhuzhou was worth it. Any memories should outlast a 20 hour train.I was on major nerd mode thinking about everything in the area: Wu Zetian's intact tomb (the sole woman in all of Chinese history to actually take on the title of Emperor for herself and currently subject of an expensive drama starring Fan Bing Bing), Qin ShiHuangDi sealed up under a hill with his mercury rivers and supposed model empire (tomb to be opened in 20 years, not sure what they'll do about the mercury), Ming dynasty walls, the Muslim quarter and its beautiful mosque (so different from what I've seen in Turkey or Morocco), and the endless supply of lamb. The Tang dynasty is at times referred to as a golden age of Chinese arts and culture, something tourism certainly tried to capitalize on with Tang dynasty shows and trinkets all around, but I spent more time dreaming on than shopping. This was the city that Kyoto, the old capital of Japan, was based upon, where the Qin emperor who gave his name to China was buried, where Yang Guifei distracted the emperor from his duties, a key point on the silk road, a city with Ming dynasty walls and a subway system. I only had a few days before running back to Zhuzhou. I hated that I couldn't do it all, but I wasted a year trying to find an entire free week to see it all and I would have kicked myself for not going after two years.
I went with a group arranged by the hostel I was staying at. I generally prefer to go on my own time, but in this case I didn't want to lose a day by trying to figure out buses and other things on my own. As we wandered from through the 3 pits that they've opened, I found myself trying to grasp the scale of it all. Sometimes I wonder if the special place numbers seem to have in Chinese culture isn't partly trying to navigate such a big place with so many people and so much history. As I was preparing to come to China last year, a lot of people said "China is going to be the opposite of nice clean Switzerland". They talked about the cleanliness of the streets and the things that are done just so. But for me, it's scale. I looked at all the little labels on pieces of shattered clay men and thought of "Ozymandias": "Look on my works ye mighty and weep". When I look at those labels and think of the archaeologists coming in to work after the tourists have gone for the day, it seems fitting. Ozymandias is about the fall of empires and the emptiness of those words in the desert, but I could see the Qin emperor shouting that line at the ones who dig, sort, clean, and label the things they find around his tomb. His daily dose of mercury cost him the immortality it was supposed to give him, but in death all these years later he is not alone or forgotten.
After making the obligatory stop to the terra cotta warriors, I paid a visit to the Big Goose Pagoda where Tripitaka translated the things he brought back from the West. "Journey to the West" was one of the books we read during my freshman year of college, though it was the Arthur Waley translation titled "Monkey". I loved digging through the notes and understanding what conventions Wu Cheng En was making fun of. It seemed fitting that I had come to Xi'An during the year of the monkey, though the pagoda and surrounding temple had little about monkeys. It was really about the scrolls and Tripitaka/Xuan Zang's journey. I also couldn't help thinking about the previous year when Modi paid a visit. The ties with Xuan Zang going to India and coming back to China were obvious enough, but I've also heard rumors that Modi's hometown is somewhere near where Tripitaka visited.
After making the obligatory stop to the terra cotta warriors, I paid a visit to the Big Goose Pagoda where Tripitaka translated the things he brought back from the West. "Journey to the West" was one of the books we read during my freshman year of college, though it was the Arthur Waley translation titled "Monkey". I loved digging through the notes and understanding what conventions Wu Cheng En was making fun of. It seemed fitting that I had come to Xi'An during the year of the monkey, though the pagoda and surrounding temple had little about monkeys. It was really about the scrolls and Tripitaka/Xuan Zang's journey. I also couldn't help thinking about the previous year when Modi paid a visit. The ties with Xuan Zang going to India and coming back to China were obvious enough, but I've also heard rumors that Modi's hometown is somewhere near where Tripitaka visited.
Tripitaka has inspired others before me to travel, I felt a thrill of pleasure while reading Ella Maillart's "The Cruel Way" and Peter Hopkirk's "Foreign Devils on the Silk Road" and finding how many others I'm connected to through this man's 17 year journey. The Monkey King tends to steal the show in the story "Journey to the West", but I've been learning to appreciate the flesh and blood man who set out on that journey.
Xi'An ultimately seemed like a place where a lot of things I'd seen or picked up on or read about came together and I sorely wish I'd had more than 4 days at the end of break to take things in. Perhaps I will go back someday and visit Wu Zetian's tomb and the springs where Yang Guifei is said to have ruined the emperor and weakened the Tang dynasty. So many powers, so many stories. With the conclusion of my spring festival travels, I resolved that the next round should help me finish off the capitals seeing as thus far I've made my way to Beijing, Nanjing, and Xi'An. Hangzhou and Luoyang stand out as the next big places, and thankfully for me, Henan province where Luoyang is located is also home to Shaolin Temple and Kaifeng (a little pocket of Jewish history in China). Go north (and west)!
Xi'An ultimately seemed like a place where a lot of things I'd seen or picked up on or read about came together and I sorely wish I'd had more than 4 days at the end of break to take things in. Perhaps I will go back someday and visit Wu Zetian's tomb and the springs where Yang Guifei is said to have ruined the emperor and weakened the Tang dynasty. So many powers, so many stories. With the conclusion of my spring festival travels, I resolved that the next round should help me finish off the capitals seeing as thus far I've made my way to Beijing, Nanjing, and Xi'An. Hangzhou and Luoyang stand out as the next big places, and thankfully for me, Henan province where Luoyang is located is also home to Shaolin Temple and Kaifeng (a little pocket of Jewish history in China). Go north (and west)!
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