We have an early morning tomorrow since we have to catch our flight to Shanghai, so this will be a quick, pictureless post! Yesterday and today were spent in Xi'an. We started the day at a rural school called Pang Liu Xiao Xue. It was outside Xi'an, and we drove through a very small village to get there. This school was very different from the school in Wuhan (which we still haven't told you about, sorry). We visited on a Saturday, but they went out of their way to welcome us at their school, and an entire class of students even came! They put on a show after answering questions and being showered with gifts from us. :) We had collected donations to give to the school for welcoming us, and hopefully we will get to see how our donation has helped them.
We had lunch on our own once back in the city and then visited a Buddhist temple. There were actually monks at the temple, and we got to see some chanting. There were tons of Buddhas to see, although we weren't allowed to take pictures inside. One room's walls were completely covered in jade carvings, depicting stories. It was amazing!
We went to an art museum later that afternoon where we tried our hand at calligraphy and got to purchase art done by local art students.
Before dinner, many of us experienced quite a treat. Both Dr. Kist-Kline and Dr. Lang raved about the foot massages in China, so we decided we had to get them. It was like no other foot massage any of us have ever had! It started with 20 minutes of back, neck, shoulder and head massage while your feet were soaking in hot herbal water. Then we had 40 minutes of massage on our feet. While some of it didn't feel the greatest while it was going on (those women are strong!), our feet felt wonderful afterwards!
We had a delicious dumpling dinner to end the day, followed by free time where some relaxed in their rooms, wondered the streets of Xi'an or enjoyed each other's company in the hotel lobby.
Today was a day many of us have been anticipating--visiting the Terracotta Warriors! Before we went, we toured the city wall of Xi'an, a 9-mile wall built around the ancient city to keep enemies out. Now there is an inner- and outer-city, with the smaller buildings on the inside and the highrises on the outside. We walked and biked around the top of the wall, exploring the city sights.
The Terracotta Warriors did not disappoint. The emperor of the Qin dynasty wanted to bury anyone and anything he could with him when he died. Instead of doing that, he had these terracotta statues of warriors, horses, chariots, etc. constructed and placed in front of his tomb. In the 1970s, a farmer unknowingly unearthed one of these warriors, and soon the excavation began. Now thousands of statues have been found, and they are still excavating! The size of this place was incredible. Pictures definitely do not do it justice.
We headed to a history museum next to see additional artifacts of Chinese dynasties.
Dinner tonight was Mongolian Hotpot. We each had our own pots with a broth over flame. We mixed our own sauce and then added different foods to cook in the pot: mutton and lamb, egg, potatoes, various noodles and vegetables. It was delicious, but we definitely worked up a sweat at this meal! After dinner, a group of us headed to a traditional Chinese cultural show that included singing and dancing. They had so many different instruments that we've never seen before, and the singing sounded very different from what we would normally hear. It was fun to see all the brightly colored and intricate costumes!
Tomorrow we head to Shanghai, our last city of the trip! It feels like we have been here forever because we have experienced so much, but it's hard to believe it's almost over!
We had lunch on our own once back in the city and then visited a Buddhist temple. There were actually monks at the temple, and we got to see some chanting. There were tons of Buddhas to see, although we weren't allowed to take pictures inside. One room's walls were completely covered in jade carvings, depicting stories. It was amazing!
We went to an art museum later that afternoon where we tried our hand at calligraphy and got to purchase art done by local art students.
Before dinner, many of us experienced quite a treat. Both Dr. Kist-Kline and Dr. Lang raved about the foot massages in China, so we decided we had to get them. It was like no other foot massage any of us have ever had! It started with 20 minutes of back, neck, shoulder and head massage while your feet were soaking in hot herbal water. Then we had 40 minutes of massage on our feet. While some of it didn't feel the greatest while it was going on (those women are strong!), our feet felt wonderful afterwards!
We had a delicious dumpling dinner to end the day, followed by free time where some relaxed in their rooms, wondered the streets of Xi'an or enjoyed each other's company in the hotel lobby.
Today was a day many of us have been anticipating--visiting the Terracotta Warriors! Before we went, we toured the city wall of Xi'an, a 9-mile wall built around the ancient city to keep enemies out. Now there is an inner- and outer-city, with the smaller buildings on the inside and the highrises on the outside. We walked and biked around the top of the wall, exploring the city sights.
The Terracotta Warriors did not disappoint. The emperor of the Qin dynasty wanted to bury anyone and anything he could with him when he died. Instead of doing that, he had these terracotta statues of warriors, horses, chariots, etc. constructed and placed in front of his tomb. In the 1970s, a farmer unknowingly unearthed one of these warriors, and soon the excavation began. Now thousands of statues have been found, and they are still excavating! The size of this place was incredible. Pictures definitely do not do it justice.
We headed to a history museum next to see additional artifacts of Chinese dynasties.
Dinner tonight was Mongolian Hotpot. We each had our own pots with a broth over flame. We mixed our own sauce and then added different foods to cook in the pot: mutton and lamb, egg, potatoes, various noodles and vegetables. It was delicious, but we definitely worked up a sweat at this meal! After dinner, a group of us headed to a traditional Chinese cultural show that included singing and dancing. They had so many different instruments that we've never seen before, and the singing sounded very different from what we would normally hear. It was fun to see all the brightly colored and intricate costumes!
Tomorrow we head to Shanghai, our last city of the trip! It feels like we have been here forever because we have experienced so much, but it's hard to believe it's almost over!