The Great Tour of China
Shanghai, China
November 21
I took care of my plane ticket from Shanghai to Seoul at the upscale hotel next to my hostel. I tried to get my train tickets organized but couldn’t book more than four days in advance. Then down to the Forbidden City for about four hours. There is a clock museum and jewelry museum as well as big meeting halls. Much of the city has been rebuilt because robbers burnt the buildings after they stole goods to cover up what they had done. There also has been looting from the Japanese and lantern fires but there is considerable wealth remaining in the palace.
A couple hundred meters east of the city I stopped at a food market, everything on a stick. I recognized some food like chicken and beef but other things I did not recognize such as something that looked like cockroaches and squid. Then I headed south along Wolfgang Avenue, which was a pedestrian walkway. The city is more modern than I expected with several large, modern buildings capped off by the traditional Chinese roof.
November 22
The army of the Terracotta Warriors is a series of statues that are designed to protect the emperor’s grave The train to Xian was pretty nice. It was a night train and I slept well and had good company for a local guy that spoke decent English. A couple people who were selling day trips to the Terracotta Warriors met me. I took them up on the tour, it’s a four in one-day tour that includes a spa, a couple museums and then ends with the Terracotta Warriors exhibit. The second museum was fun as there are replicas of the Terracotta Warriors located outside in a field. We jumped on a couple with some young Chinese soldiers and took pictures. However, the finale is definitely the best part of the tour.
The army of the Terracotta Warriors is a series of statues that are designed to protect the emperor’s grave. This emperor had conquered six other regions in China and thus unified it. It is amazing to see as each soldier has a different look and all the squadrons are perfectly in line. Unfortunately some of the heads are chopped off because the subsequent leader was the son of one the conquered leaders and as payback had destroyed some statues. Also, the statues have lost their color but they are working with a German company to keep the color on a newly found group of soldiers. All in all, a good tour.
