HALA'S BLOG
Nov 16 - Hala is now home from China - but we have one final installment of her blog from her incredible journey.
Update - We disembarked our Cruise ship in the city of Chong Qing. This city is the heart of the Yangtze and has over 30 Million people that live and work there. It is the largest industrial and commercial city in China. You can just see wall to wall high-rises right on the side of the river.
From there we took a two hour flight to Xian. This is the one stop that I was so excited to get to as Xian is the historic site of China, and the home of the Terra Cotta Museum. The old part of Xian is surrounded by a great wall that stands 40 feet tall and covers 8.5 miles in length with a deep moat surrounding it.
In the city is also the Da Cien Temple and the Wild Goose Pagoda. This is were the ancient Buddhist scripts were first brought from India, and are still stored today. Buddhist monks still live in this temple, and continue to practice their religion there as they have for 14 centuries.
The next day we went to see the Terra Cotta Museum. This is an experience of a lifetime, as soon as you walk in is just so awe inspiring, I cannot explain this feeling as this is a must see, if only once in a lifetime. You feel that you are transformed back in time and is standing in the midst of these warriors just a they looked 2200 years ago. The Warriors are made of Clay from the nearby mountain. Each individual warrior face is unique as they were all made of molds taken from the emperors actual army.
You can see the expressions on their faces as if they still alive today. I wondered if any of these Warriors could have imagined that there faces were going to be brought back to life 2200 years later. These Warriors were built by Emperor QinShihuang, the first emperor of China and the founder of the Qin Dynasty. He built these worriers to protect his tomb when he died. He died is 210 BC. These worriers were discovered in 1974 by farmers digging a well. And to this day, Archaeologists are still looking for more artifacts. So far 8000 warriors were found, of which 2000 have been restored. A second pit was found were the generals and the commanders were buried.On top of these finding they found two sets of bronze chariots and horses. This museum is described today as the Eighth Wonder of the World, and is now placed on Unesco list as a world class cultural heritage site.
Our next city is Shanghai - our final stop in China. Shanghai is a two and half hours by plane from Xian. This time we were heading toward Modern China. As Shanghai is indeed the face of China now. It has 6000 high-rises, each one higher than the other. Some of them look like they came out of the space age. Shanghai has 20 million inhabitants, and has 300,000 expatriates living and working there. Also it has some of the most expensive real estate in the world. It was such a contrast to the other areas of China, that it fascinates me how Ancient and Ultra Modern China live side by side. Shanghai also contains a magnificent Buddhist temple which houses a life-size solid Jade Buddha that is one of their National Treasures.
And of course no one can leave China without going shopping. Shanghai is one of the best shopping markets in the world, from the top end boutiques to the inexpensive local markets. The local markets are especially fun to shop in as the prices are all inflated and everyone pays a different price, it is how clever you are at bargaining that get you the best deal. But don't worry about this as your local guide will give you great tips on getting the best prices.Also I like to mention how great Chinapac guides are. How experienced and knowledgeable to giving you the history of each destination, but the most important they make things so seamless so all you have to do is enjoy your trip. As an example, when we had an internal flight, they organized the wake up call for you, they made the arrangements to pick up your luggage early from your room and took them to the airport. They also obtain your boarding pass, all you have to do is later show up and get on the plane.
The Chinese people are very friendly and helpful, they are proud of their country and like to show it off. They made our stay a very memorable one, so I like to leave you with a saying from Confucius that all Chinese people know, "It's always nice to have friends from afar"
