Maybe like a few foreigners when I heard of Xian I had no
idea where that was or what it was famous for, but if you asked me about the
Terracotta Warriors then I would know. If you ever want to visit Xian I would
just give yourself two days, it is a small town that is very touristy but some
of the sights are neat to see.
If you look on Tripadvisor.com for things to do in Xian one
of the top recommendations are the pagodas nearby. There are several in the
area but I decided to go to the stone building Wild Goose Pagoda. The Wild
Goose Pagoda is in front of many little stores that sell souvenirs, trinkets,
snacks, and restaurants along with a giant water display that has shows
throughout the day. Walking past the booths you can see these statues situated
along the sidewalk where they show men wrestling or people playing chess.
I waited in line for the pagoda about 20 minutes and asked
to buy an entrance ticket to the park and inside the actual pagoda, but the
lady didn’t understand me apparently and only charged me for the entrance to
the park. If you ever go to China they do this all.the.time. It would be like
buying a ticket for Worlds of Fun and then when you want to go on the roller
coaster, the thing you came for, you have to pay again to ride. I got into the
gated entrance, showed my ticket, they x-rayed my bag, and I went inside.
Inside there are several temple areas and a monastery for
Buddhist monks. One of the more popular temples was for the god of wealth who
had many small golden statues of himself and gold placed in the floor. There is
a custom in Chinese culture that if you wear wealth then you invite wealth so
during the Chinese New Year’s, weddings, birthdays, etc. people will spend
money on gold and silver or have these as decorations to invite wealth into
their homes. For this god, if you leave gold on his altar then he will give you
gold in your life.
In the very back of the pagoda was an entrance to go to a
downstairs area (everything else was situated outdoors) where they showed old
artwork of buddhist gods and goddesses. I was unsure if I could take pictures
but when I saw locals taking photos with the statues I thought it was fine and
snapped a few images. To my surprise I was scolded for taking photos even when
someone two seconds early in the same
spot by the same guard did the same thing was not scolded for it. I
apologized and didn’t take any more and the guard didn’t ask me to delete the
photos.
At the center of the gated area was the stone pagoda. It was
completely wrapped in people waiting in line to buy another ticket to get
inside. I walked up the small staircase and stood on the far-left side so I
could read the sign about how much the tickets would cost and left the rest of
the six foot wide staircase for people to walk around me. To my surprise a
woman grabbed my waist and pushed me to the side. This lady,
instead of walking to the right of me, where there was SIX FEET OF SPACE
decided it would be better to grab me, a total stranger, who was standing by a
stone pole and bushes not in anyone’s way, and push me to the RIGHT. Anyone who
knows me will say that I am a nice person but in that moment of being pushed
and scolded and not being sold the correct ticket I cracked. I made *a certain
gesture* at her and yelled *a few choice words* to which this woman totally
ignored. When I was walking through a garden I saw this woman again with a tour
group and I was so filled with this anger that I was shaking. I had half of a
mind to walk up to her and shove her the way she had done to me but stomped off
in the opposite direction.
There I saw a statue of this goddess of Guanyin (keep in
mind there are many stories of this goddess, but this is the one I know). This
goddess is known as the Lady of a Thousand Hands and Eyes. She was a woman who
prayed often but when her father tried to marry her off to a bad man, she
refused and became a nun in the mountains. When she heard her estranged father
had become ill many years later she went to see him and discovered the only
cure was for someone to give up their hands and eyes to be made into medicine.
Even though she and her father did not get along and had not spoken in years,
she willingly gave up her eyes and hands for him. When I saw this statue I felt
so ashamed for being angry with the pushy lady and had thought about getting
revenge in the same garden as the Lady of a Thousand Hands and Eyes. I also
thought of my own religion and how Jesus forgave those as he was dying on a
cross after being tortured. It is kind of amazing how when I study and learn
about other religions I see similarities to my own religion and come to the
same conclusions. This time this goddess and Jesus were similar, they had faced
hardships but, in the end, forgave their tormentors and I should do the same.
After the Wild Goose Pagoda I watched the water show in the
park and was able to get in the front of the large crowd. It was an incredibly
hot day but the water was able to spray on me and I was able to feel some
relief. For lunch I ate at the Burger King which looked very different than the
ones in the USA.
The second place I visited was the Xian wall. This was the
original defense system of the city and it is massive. Along the way you could
rent bikes which I really should have done. I tried walking to just one of the
corners and walked about 20 minutes without ever reaching it. With the hot
weather and my adventure at the pagoda, I just couldn’t muster it. The wall is
about 8.5 miles in length and there is a
moat that goes around it (Travel China Guide, 2018) . There are cars that
drive under this wall, that is how massive it is. They also have these cute
“soldiers” that spot the wall.
Connected to the wall a person can visit the Beilin Museum. The
museum has several artifacts ranging from carved stone calligraphy, paintings,
and statues. There are several buildings you can walk into to see these works
of art and most of them don’t have A/C. However, the area that had religious
statues did have A/C and a little café and gladly rested there for a while. One
unusual thing I noticed is that many of the statues heads were scratched or
knocked off. This could have been from the cultural
revolution that occurred in China in the 1960s where historical
items were considered “too old” to be progressive and therefore destroyed.
After that exhausting day, both emotionally and physically,
I crashed on my bed hard ready for the next day.
Travel China Guide. (2018, September 12). Xian City
Wall. Retrieved from China Guide:
https://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/shaanxi/xian/citywall.htm
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