After checking in to the hotel, we walked along 东大街,西安 City busiest street with shopping complexes and restaurants. We tried the famous 羊肉泡馍. I like the mutton which is really soft and tender. But the 馍 which you can see in the picture a round piece made of flour. We need to tear it into many tiny pieces in order for the mutton soup to sip into them. The 小菜 I love very much. Cucumber, ground nuts, sweetened garlic.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI7TasZa_DwCWQlEaG98lxqEM0PlAv3SRQlbc5R5hGw1EEZUkBfa6FZE1AeQ75jdu7uK9wfNUGDl1VuqqbdFkECbctM9F8vWGtfkd8apqAmPdEVuennQiBvBxMqCdCu0ZSS4N1j2f_JU7Y/s400/%E5%9B%B316.jpg)
After dinner, we stroll along the street. We come to the famous Bell Tower, but unfortunately was closed for the day. We come to the street where 回族 people commence their business. They sell halal Beef /Mutton Kebab and Satay. Really looked delicious, but we are afraid to try due to our hard schedule the next day, climbing 华山. Must not upset our tummy.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXFb8M-FFJo-OoP20-Gi5E18wVK93KudlesS9AsMZuMftEujFnLEZZaxg578bsBpDSC9WnCeHiLRK33LEHZs1x2DWwP4hODQTm5NZMMu5tedveIxQXHjMMQ3GSpQ5SW6ug5fkU0ucTsKXa/s400/%E5%9B%B315.jpg)
Day 2(12/29) 华山
After 2 hours drive from 西安, we reached the base of 华山. We had a light lunch and prepare for the climb. We took a cable car from the base station till the North Peak, from there we climbed up to the other peak. The Snow from the previous night was still there, and it was very cold, about -5 to -8 degrees. The climb was quite tiring, especially in the winter. The steps are slippery due to ice and snow. We only managed to conquer the North, Middle and East Peak, due to time constrain, we could not go up to the South and West Peak. If we have an extra hour, we should have gone to all the peaks. A little bit of regret but over all we enjoyed the climb very much. Just the both of us. I did felt icy around my toes when I stopped to rest, seems like the sweat of my feet has frozen.
We reached the base again around 5pm, and headed straight to the hotel for a well deserved rest.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6UstEoQcaiQ-Oq1aeA-fuytcCFRespUbqIJ469LWVsTIAwF-p7OU6YvzQQwfTinSbqzn3dx4ZY1tpZoOX2goGxqcXN4O2PzcSQotroSRML4nxBgHANvetORwrtwRVE8DpM4HZ9pQpXz4z/s400/%E5%9B%B317.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimoOGo15K5FutSVoQ3C0xLZauQPc4uoEDKWK3_jgH9kJ6ElzMxaxGCiROSmakvWNmfU4G6w57oM5IjI1YymOgQRqLPg7eCStsQZ1W3KBlz8ZTjXNE0NAW-1zDUFB2lv-3uaNHW546LYr3h/s400/%E5%9B%B318.jpg)
Day3 (12/30)
We headed to 临潼 early in the morning. 1st stop was the famous 华清池. This is the winter palace of 唐玄宗 and 杨贵妃. It is equipped with hot spring bath house. There is also a replica White Jade carving of Madam Yang naked getting out of the hot spring pool. Really a piece of art. The dried up pool was used by 杨贵妃.
Next stop is the underground tomb of Emperor Qin. It is a replica from the description of 史记. The real Tomb is just few kilometers away. The Chinese Archeology team still not confident of excavating the tomb as there are high content of mercury and not confident enough to preserve the artifact from oxidization. It was prohibited to take photographs inside the tomb, but I still see flashes though.
Last stop before we head for Airport is the 秦王兵马俑博物馆. One of my dream spot which I must come at least once in a life time. As a collector of toys, I see that Emperor Qin also like designer toys, in the form of Bronze Sculpture or Assembly and maybe other artifacts that still hidden in his tomb. The 2 Bronze Horse chariot was amazingly done with precise mechanical parts. There is also a Bronze Sword with Chromium coating that makes the edge very strong and sharp. This technology was only discovered by the Germans not more than 200 years ago. Wow... our Chinese ancestors might have lived in an era which is much more advance than we expect.
Too bad the 陕西博物馆 was still closed for refurbish. The newspaper said that they will be re-open by the end of December, but the information is not to be trusted. Or else I could have saw the Green Faced Terracotta Warrior and other 国宝级 artifacts which is kept in the museum.
We enjoyed the trip very much. I was thinking of going to Beijing next, hopefully before the 2008 Olympics.
9 件のコメント:
happy new year and glad that u have 2 wonderful trips in china!!
Thanks. Happy New Year to you too. Tried to call you from Ah Fa's condominium on New Year's Eve. You did went to Hong Kong? Wait for you to update your Travelog.
so SWEET your honeymoon trip.. all the best wishes!!
I went to Xi an before ! 秦王兵马俑博物馆很壮观,can't imagine how did they build this so many years ago! and I can't imagine how big it is as what we saw is only part of it!
Well, we can go Xi An again when they start to clean and restore more of the artifacts later.
There is a Green Faced terracotta displaying in Xan Xi museum. Sure I will like to travel again to China.
Wow !! very lucky you lah !! I want to go to Xi An too !! Of course, Beijing next too. I was thinking of working as volunteer at Beijing Olympic but don't think time is allowed.
Excuse me, SK said this is your honeymoon. Hmm...did I miss out something? In your blog post, you said Amanda is your gf ? So, I guess good news is approaching ? Congratulations ! :)
Hi Shuet Fen,
Wow... if got chance can go do volunteer. In China there was an overwhelming numbers of volunteers until they have to restrict.
They are going to set up parameters around Beijing to control the influx of population.
Seems will be very crowded in Beijing this year.
Wah??!! 华山?!! Got reached the peak ahh? See got any trace of Huang Chong Yang, Hung Qi Kong. :P
Always want to go China. Learned so much about China history in CH. It would be good to see and feel it.
Too bad my previous trip to Shanghai got cancelled due to SARS. Yup, so many years ago. Now working in Malaysia, no more budget. :P
Now travel in China is getting expensive. Better go faster before they lift the RMB peg to USD. Then the RMB will soar high!!
Hua Shan arr... even emperors climbed up the peaks during ancient time. But there is no Hua Shan Pai whatsoever, just fiction lor.
コメントを投稿