I arrived in Xi'an with great expectations. This city is part of my dreams of adventures since childhood. Eastern home of the Silk Route and bed of the Terracotta Warriors, Xi'an is essential destination for adventurers, history lovers and travelers in general.
This city keeps its original charm and the wall of 12 meters high that originally surrounded is well-preserved separating old town with modern neighbourhoods. At night it has a very decorative lighting. By day you can explore it walking, by bicycle or by an electric cart (very popular with Chinese tourists)
Los vestigios de su antiguo explendor se encuentran por todas partes. Una de sus atracciones más famosas son los guerreros de terracota. Un espectáculo sorprendente. Se puede llegar a ellos en bus público que se toma en frente de la estación de trenes. No importa si no entiendes la escritura china de los buses o si nadie habla inglés. Todo el mundo te indica donde subir sin necesidad de explicar adonde vas.
The remains of its ancient splendour are everywhere. One of its most famous attractions are the terracotta Army .They are amazing. You can reach them by public bus which is taken in front of the train station. No matter if you do not understand Chinese script written on the buses or if no one speaks English. Everybody will tell you which bus to take without explaining where you are going.
In the center of the city is the Bell Tower from where the four main streets of Xi'an start. My room had a beautiful view of this tower. It was painful to close the curtains! This hostel, Bell Tower Youth Hostel, really worth for its location and central heating.
La Torre del Tambor es su álter ego.Alberga un enorme tambor con el cual se anunciaba el anochecer.
The Drum Tower is his alter ego. It has a huge drum which the evening is announced.
Hay que tocar el tambor tres veces para la buena suerte:
You have to play the drum three times for good luck:
En el interior de las torres hay espectáculos de música tradicional todos los días (9:00 a 11:30 y de 14:30 a 17:30) Muy lindo.
Inside the towers there are traditional music performances every day (9:00 to 11:30 and 14:30 to 17:30) Very nice.
North of the Drum Tower is the Muslim Quarter inhabited for centuries by the HUI community (Chinese Muslims!) It is interesting to see how, even though these Muslims are Chineses (not immigrants) in the streets of this neighbourhood the atmosphere is very different from other Chinese cities.
The Great Mosque is located in this area and is one of the largest mosques throughout China occupying an area of 12,000 m². It has an interesting mix of Chinese and Islamic architecture.
También se puede visitar una casa tradicional china con demostración de marionetas y sombras chinescas incluídas. Recorrerla me recordó algunas peliculas épicas chinas.
You can also visit a traditional Chinese house with traditional puppet and shadows performance included. Visiting it reminded me of some Chinese epics films.
La Pagoda del Gran Ganso se encuentra en extramuros y fue construída en el año 652 para albergar los sutras budistas que el monje Xuan Zang trajo de la India. Fue el centro de traducción de textos budistas más importante. Se puede ascender sus 7 pisos por una escalera de madera.
The Big Goose Pagoda is outside the wall and was built in the year of 652 for keeping the sutras that the Buddhist monk Xuan Zang brought from India. It was the most important center of Buddhist text translations. You can climb its 7 floors by a wooden staircase.
En los alrededores hay esculturas muy interesantes que recrean la historia de la cultura china y un espectáculo de agua en la plaza al anochecer.
In the surrounding area there are very interesting sculptures that recreate the history of Chinese culture and there is a water show in the square at dusk too.
The next photo shows a local custom that I found very useful. I went in winter and temperatures are really low (-8 degrees at noon) so, after some days you start to feel on the skin of the face (if you have sensitive skin like me) Men and women of all ages wear a mask with different fabric designs that can be bought from street vendors. I think the mask has become a very traditional Chinese and Japanese outfit! They use it to protect themselves against pollution, disease, etc., but also they use this version made by cloth to protect their faces from the cold. Yes, yes, I know, I am looking really bad, but they look very much better with this :) It acts as a scarf to protect your face. It was very useful for me.
La Pagoda del Pequeño Ganso también está en extramuros. Tiene 43 mts de altura y se puede subir a traves de una escalera de madera muy estrecha.
The Small Goose Pagoda is also outside of the walls. It has 43 meters high and can be climbed by a very narrow wooden staircase.
En el complejo de esta pagoda hay una campana que se puede tocar. Pesa bastante :)
In the complex of this pagoda there is a bell that can be played. It is heavy :)
Bueno, esta fue mi primer incursión a la Ruta de la Seda. Ahora falta recorrer el resto :)
Well, this was my first introduction into the Silk Road. Now I need to see the rest :)
