Today began our trip within a trip as we woke up at 5 am to make our flight to Xi'an. We had to wake up at 5 so that we all could shower, eat breakfast, and be on the road by 6. We had to take a cab to the bus station to take a bus to the airport. It is too expensive to take a taxi all the way to the airport because even the Nanjing airport is like 45 minutes away in a car. When we made it to the airport it was very calm and many of the people flying that day were not there yet because it was so early. As we waited in line to check our luggage and get our tickets we ended up seeing a person we had met in the shopping mall the day before. It was really strange because the first day we walked around Nanjing Max took us to the underground mall I had previously mentioned and we looked in this cool shoe store. The next day we went back and looked around again seeing the same guy working the store. It was a cool guy around our age and he was really friendly but spoke very little english. He was really helpful and it turns out he was flying out of Nanjing to make some business deals for his store today. So when he was walking through the airport he noticed the only 1/2 black person he probably has ever seen in real life (Gordon) and made his way over to say HI. Once again he was really friendly and this time gave us his card. Max talked to him for a minute and he had to go catch his flight, but it was really cool to see him because this makes the third day in a row and we have made a true native friend besides Max.
As we waited in line we actually came across some trouble. There was a large group of women that were flying that day and the way you check in is you can give all of the pass ports or ID's to one person and they can collect the tickets for all of the people in the group. So for us we gave all our passports to Max's dad and he was in the front of all of us in line waiting to get to the desk and get our tickets. Well as we were waiting there was one girl in front of him just waiting in line like normal, but as she got to the front, all of a sudden 15, and im not kidding 15, other women come to the front of the line and expect to barge their way in front of us. All 5 of us have been waiting in the very slow line for probably 30 minutes and now all of a sudden 15 more women come expecting to just jump in line as this other women dumps her whole purse filled with passports out. She literally cannot fit them all in her hands. Now for Gordon George and I we really dont care that much because we have plenty of time before our flight and we dont really ever know whats going on here, but out of nowhere Max starts freaking out and yelling and his dad who is laughing sarcastically become frustrated with the women. The whole scene becomes ludicrous and Max's dad jumps to the front of the line and the guy taking the passports begins scolding the women as if they were crazy for thinking they could just jump us all at once without having to actually wait in the line, and having so many people in their group.
So we end up getting our tickets fine and making it through security with ease. The flight was about 2 hours and they even served us lunch. Everything was pretty swift when it came from the airport to the hotel because when we landed in Xi'an our guide and driver were there and ready. One of the things I was actually surprised about was how fast we were able to pick up our luggage. Usually it takes at least 30 minutes to get your checked luggage on any flight especially domestic, but in Xi'an we got our bags within 10 minutes of getting to the baggage claim. So we hopped in the mini van and our driver, who happens to be our personal driver the whole time we are in Xi'an, took us to our hotel. After we checked in, our guide had a special lunch planned for us at a restaurant what prepared special food that was traditional to the province. Lunch was delicious and it seems like every meal keeps topping the last. One of the peculiar things about this lunch was that the restaurant was in a predominately muslim area, so where we were typically having pork dishes in Nanjing, the Xi'an dishes were the same, but with duck and lamb instead. This was pretty neat because it was obvious the differences, but both were very good.
After lunch we went to the Shaanxi History Museum, which is a museum of basically all of the past dyansies of chinese history that there are records of. As we walked in and George and I got the English audio tour guides, the first thing we saw were skulls of the first homo erectus asians. So the history of this museum is literally as far back as it can go. The museum itself focused on the impressive artwork, and tools of the times. It was really cool because we saw some of the first tools used by these men as well as some of the first money, and first artwork. The artifacts that we saw were very impressive to think that people that long ago could have achieved some of these things. It makes you feel proud to be part of such an amazing species, to know that some of your ancestors were so clever when there was no precedent to learn from. After the museum we just walked throught the city taking pictures with some of the statues in the main square and some of the traditional buildings. Xi'an is a very historic town as it was the capital of china and home to many emperors of many dynasties throughout the history of China. By the time we got through the museum and were finished walking around town it was already time for dinner.
Dinner this time was pretty special because we had some special dishes to the Xi'an province and the restaurant was once again top of the line. When we walked into our private room for dinner there were pictures on the wall of very important government officials writing calligraphy for the restaurant in the ancient chinese style. When we walked into our room it was the actual calligraphy on the wall with the signatures of the government officials. The table we sat at was just as big as the other dinners we have had and the middle of the table was the spinning glass so that all the dishes could be passed around. As we move further inland into China, the traditional food of the provinces become more and more spicy. For me this is a good thing because I love spicy food and tonight the dinner was phenomenal. I love the food, but only because it was just spicy enough, as we move further inland over the next three days I am a little nervous as to if I will be able to handle the food Max puts on my plate. Tonight though, was perfect. We ate with our guide and some of his employees, but because he was the boss they all seemed to be kissing his ass the whole dinner. It was really weird tonight because we got a big helping of the actual chinese etiquette that we dont know about in america. For instance there is a distinct hierarchy at a table. The Head of the table picks where each person should sit, usually in a descending order of rank. The guests of the table are treated with the most hopsitality and can basically do whatever they want, but they should still be as respectful to the head as possible. It is common to fill someone elses cup when they finish a drink, and if you are lower in the hierarchy you should stand when you fill their cup. If you want to make a toast, which are very common, you should stand and you should finish your cup with the person or persons you toast. Then if someone gives you a toast, it is proper to give them a toast back, like if they ask you to drink with them, then you should ask them to drink with you. There are also very peculiar rules about who starts a dish, but we are still kind of unsure of those rules because they are not really spoken about and Max just tells us to do whatever we want because we are guests and if something we do is really outlandish everyone just laughs anyways. Meals though are a very special time and a great time for conversation and friendship. Max told us tonight how some of the dishes are very meaningful because there was a noodle appetizer that he said symbolized long lasting friendships that our host picked out specifically. The dinner though was a very cool learning experience.
By the time we were done eating, it was time to head back to the hotel. Our day tomorrow will start at 8 am and we are going to see the terra cotta warriors. We are going to delve into more of the extremely plentiful history of Xi'an tomorrow with one of the most famous attractions of all of china. With much needed sleep in mind I am going to bed.
Goodnight,
Marty
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