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Yesterday fulfilled my checklist for China. I know this is typical American style. But I just didn't know enough about China to have a big list. So my list consisted of The Great Wall and the Terra-cotta Soldiers. Boom. I had no idea the rest of the things I would see. I went into this whole China adventure with a very open mind.
Goodness. I'm just so excited to tell you about today I'm having trouble containing myself. Deep breathes...
So yesterday. Terra-cotta soldiers. First you go to the factory where they make replicas. They show you how they do it right off the bat. Then, they shove you into rooms with paintings, statues, books, and just expensive items in general. It's you and about seventy-five other Americans all over 60. I wasn't very enamored with this spot. The whole thing was a bit much for me. I had a horrific moment of thinking, "Oh goodness, this isn't it, right..."
Luckily, it wasn't. We took off towards the actual museum. In case you don't know, the Terra-cotta soldiers are thousands of clay soldiers lined up underground. They were discovered by a farmer in the 1970's. Poor guy was just digging a well and a clay head popped into his hands. Just another Monday? For me, I found about this spot from the kid's book "The Magic Tree House." Oh yeah, that was my favorite as a kid. So when I read about them running in between soldiers underground I was enamored. Then to find out it's a real spot?!? Oh yeah! Hooked.
I'm aware this is a serious tourist spot but it wasn't nearly as crowded as I was expecting. We, appropriately, went to Pit #1 first. This is the one where you can see the rows and rows of in tact soldiers. It truly is amazing. Each face is different. Each soldier is unique. It didn't hit me how impressive that truly was until I saw it in the flesh. I'm just saying that if I was the artist I'd repeat. That's why I'm not put in charge of things like this. Ironically, we later found out one artist did mess with people by painting one soldier green. That would be me. Fortunately, someone more dedicated than me took this mission upon themselves. Thanks to them, you can view the sight in full glory.
We had lunch in a restaurant afterwards. But promptly finished in order to move on to Pit #2 and #3. Pit #2 was the "Officials' Location." Ranking; even for clay statues. Linda, our tour guide here, showered information on us. We wove in and out of the crowd in order to look at the exhibits on the side. The building was chilly since no sun could reach the inside. Dust from the dirt floor in the pit tried to fill the air. But above all, the soldiers silently watched over all of us.
It truly is an incredible spot. You won't find another spot like this. It's fantastic. Childhood dream fulfilled.
After the museum, and some ice cream, we headed back to Xi'an. Linda took us to the city wall. Over the years (and years and years and years...) it has been distorted, rebuilt, changed designs, and so on. But it's still strong. Not only strong, but big. Linda said we could walk around if we wanted to do so. We elected to bike around with rentals. The sun was settling into it's over look on the horizon. The warmth covered everyone. All the people were smiling around us, enjoying the evening. We biked for a while. I couldn't help it. I know it's rude. But I justified it by saying everyone needs their alone time. So I put music in my ears. I went.
It was awesome. The other three harassed me for being anti-social. But everyone needs those moments. I just biked and stared into the happy sun. It was perfection.
Oh my goodness. My knees are killing me... We are sitting in the van right now. My knees are begging to break out of a bent position. But man, today was worth every second. Wait. Stop. I'm still getting ahead of myself. Back up. Wait a minute.
So after the wall. That's where we are. We hopped back into the van. If you are a fellow Boulderite, you'll understand this connection. We went to the Boulder Dinner Theater but in China. Frankly, I'm betting dinner theaters are the same everywhere, from China to Boulder. Big tables everywhere that can face towards the stage later. Dinner, then a show. We sat down at our table. Linda had told us this was a "dumpling feast." Oooo. Fancy. Sure enough, it was a feast of dumplings. As we ate, a lady in full costume played a Gu Zheng, which is like a Chinese harp.
Then the show began. Images of colorful dancing and harmonic music filled the room. There were ten acts equally divided between music and dance. All equally impressive. Remember the scene in Mulan where she is trying to function with those crazy long sleeves? All the women dancing had those. Which is amazing in a beautiful dance, but to Mulan's credit, terrible for life. The music was the perfect Chinese music for us. Over all, a beautiful and fun night.
I'm glad we went to bed immediately when we got back to the hotel. Sleep was needed for today. Today, Huashan Mountain. Google images that, right now.
You so did not do it. But that's okay. One poet described it this way, "Standing erect as if colliding into each other, the three peaks feature green cliffs and red valleys, Bai Emperor created the wonderful peaks and strange landscapes of Huashan Mountain, making Lotie Peak out of hard rocks, and terrace out of fogs and mists."
It took two and a half hours to get to the mountain from the hotel. Traffic became more comical than anything else because it was so ridiculous. But we finally arrived. If we had more time maybe we would have climbed from top to bottom. Staircases go from the very bottom to the tippy-top. But we were trying to maximize efficiency. So we took a cable car halfway up. The sun was settling into a mid-day sky spot that overlooked it's precious mountains below. Waterfalls reflected the power of the mountains as the rushing water turned to mist. The slick rock edges on the mountains told stories of power and majesty over centuries. Their face confidently portrayed their ability to humble you. And that's exactly what happened.
Then... Then began the upward ascent. Here's the thing. I'm not gonna lie and say I'm in the best shape I've ever been in. But I'm capable of preservering and just going. That's what I did. But I felt it. I'm positive it's because ... Wait. I didn't describe it yet. Let me do that. Then I'll declare my justification.
Stairs. Stairs on stairs. Cement stairs for days. And not neat organized stairs, but little, big, even, cracked, straight, crooked, and whatever else mixed together into steep, almost ladder like, stairs up these hillsides. Ellen, at one point, grumbled "When will they learn about switchbacks?" It's true. The trail just ran straight up the ridges. All the railings were chains. Metal locks and red ribbons covered everything every direction you looked. Linda had told us that was a wish for newly weds. You lock the lock, tie the knot, and then through the key off the ledge. Apparently, everyone had done this because they were everywhere. Temples spotted the mountains in random places. People stopped and prayed for a few minutes before continuing onwards. It wasn't crowded, per say. But there were definitely people. It wasn't climbing a mountain in Alaska, if you understand what I mean. Which didn't become an issue until later.
The views were amazing. You could see the flat lands below stretch out below for miles and miles. Behind you drastic cliffs and mountains beg for your attention. Happily, we obliged and kept climbing up. As we climbed, the clouds engulfed us within two minutes. Dave optimistically said it would clear up. Fortunately, he was right. Our views only got better when the sun strongly melted away the clouds and opened the door to the mind blowing views.
Oh! My justification! So the steps are all cement. Which I attribute pain to days of walking on cement, ending in going up stairs for hours, then back down the same steps. Also, the twists of your knees to try to get your toes on the tiny step adds. So anyway, looking forward to a hot tub tonight. Yup. Spoiled American right here.
Okay. I'm pretty serious. Mom, sit down. If you did listen to me and googled this mountain, you saw the plank. Yes, THE PLANK. This is on the top 10 most dangerous hikes in the world. Recorded over 100 people die every year. Recorded... and we know how China can be about offical records. The drop off is over a thousand feet to the bottom, easily. Okay? We all understanding this?
So you walk to the top of this mountain. Then around the corner begins a line on the edge of this cliff. There wasn't a moment on this section where I wasn't excited, despite the multitude of people. Solid rocks under me! Woo! So I took my socks and shoes off for a good picture of dangling feet.
The next step is ditching your backpack into the sea of backpacks. You can take them, but it's just a poor idea. After this you get fitted into a chest harness. Johann and I heavily debated about whether we would use a chest harness or a waist harness if this were our company. But we liked the look of the Black Diamond locking carabeaners and Petzl chest harnesses, so off we went. We began down the ladder that dangles off the sheet rock faced wall. Which isn't a ladder that you're thinking of. It is metal bars that stick out of the wall, with chains that loosely hang down the wall for hand rails. A cable runs along the chain for you to clip into with the carabeaners. I said, "Man, America wouldn't let you clip yourself into these cables." Then I laughed because none of this would happen in America.
Alright. Honesty time. I'm very embarrassed to say I had a slight freak out time on the ladder. Here's why. I have a respect of heights, but I'm not afraid of them. I freaked out because there are people shoulder to shoulder against you moving on a ladder that isn't big enough for you to move on by yourself that is dangling over death. So one person moves wrong and the only thing stopping you from literal death is a carabeaner that isn't locked on a smal cable. I had one moment, one small moment of being prepared to turn around and go back. Johann, like the good brother he is, tried to get me to keep going but said it was okay to turn around. But then I thought of how mad I would be if I didn't do it later. Then I thought, if I can climb out a moulin with a dislocated shoulder I can do this. So I took a deep breathe and kept going. Then I looked down and had to do this speech all over again. I felt the panic setting in. Dave came over to me and said the one thing that could work. "Courage is not having no fear. It's keeping going despite being afraid." And I did. I conquered that mountain. I kept going. In fact, I didn't even panic after that. For some reason, that's just what I needed to hear. And as I was dangling on an ancient creaking wooden plank over a deathly drop, all I could think was Vin Diesel's line, "Yippie-Ki-Yay, motherf*****." I had so much fun and was bouncing off the walls (pun 100% intended) by the end. But mostly I was proud. That... That, my friends, is living. Pushing yourselfs past your limits. Then loving the views. Loving life because life is beautiful.
My China to-see list was just about identical to yours but, alas, we didn't see the soldiers. Maybe when we go back next time you can be our tour guide? And take us to the ladder too?
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