Xi’an Travel Attractions
I will be traveling to Xi’An (西安) China soon, and I wanted to quickly come up with a list of things to do while I’m there. Here’s some of the main attractions you might want to see if you ever have a chance to visit! If you think I’m missing anything, leave a comment!
Qin-dynasty Terracotta Army Museum (秦始皇兵马俑博物馆)
These life-size statues of men and horses were buried 2,200 years ago by emperor Qin Shi Huangdi. Now, a museum has been built over top of the excavation pits, and tourists can come to see the army themselves. The best way to get to the museum is to take bus 306; it is open daily from 8am to 6pm, and admission is 90 RMB.
Huaqing Hot Springs (华清池)
The beautiful scenery of Huaqing Chi also contains hot spring water, at 43 degrees C. According to the english 华清池 page (as it’s an official tourist landmark), it’s famous for the romantic tale of emperor Xuan Zong and lady Yang Yuhuan, where they swore undying love to each other. In current times, Huaqing Chi operates more as a museum rather than a hot springs. To get there, you can also take the same bus line No.306.
City Wall (古城墙)
If you’re in 西安, you will see the city wall, which extends around the whole of the inner city. The wall itself is 14km long, and you can rent bicycles or golf carts to drive along it. The best place to start is the South Gate.
Bell Tower (钟楼)
At the center of the city is the Bell Tower, the central landmark in Xi’an. The tower has gone through several rebuildings, and now longer houses a bell:
The tower was originally built in 1348, toward the end of the Yuan Dynasty, and was moved to the present site in 1552, during the Ming Dynasty. It was rebuilt and enlarged during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).
Big Wild Goose Pagoda (大雁塔)
Located at Ci’en Temple, this pagoda was built by Emperor Gaozong（Li Zhi) in 652AD. It’s a major Buddhist site, and has survived several wars and earthquakes. You can take buses 41 or 610 to arrive.
Grand Mosque (清真寺) and Muslim Street (回民街)
The great mosque is 6,000 square meters, and divided into four courtyards. It is open to visitors, however non-Muslim visitors are not allowed to enter the main prayer hall. Nearby is Muslim street, an area where all shops and restaurants in the street are operated by Muslims.
Forest of Steles (西安碑林)
Perhaps the site I am most interested in seeing, the Forest of Steles (steles are stone tablets inscribed with ancient writing) is a museum containing originals of the Analects of Confucius, Tang Dynasty poets, and others.
Wolong Temple (卧龙寺)
One block NE of the Steles museum is this ancient Buddhist temple.
San Xia (三峡) Photo
This is the three Gorges region in the People’s Republic of China. It’s extremely beautiful.
Harbin 2007 Ice Festival
You definitely need to check out R Todd King’s set of Harbin 2007 photos, which feature shots of The Eighth Annual Harbin Ice and Snow World at night. The photos are breathtakingly gorgeous:
“An ice replica of the Korean palace Gyeongbokgung”
This is one of the many things in China I long to see before I die. Part of the attraction is that it is the sister city to the place where I was born, in Edmonton Alberta, Canada.
White people are Asian
I found this question and answer on Ancestry By DNA’s website interesting:
I thought I was purely of Scandinavian origin, but my results show minor East Asian admixture. How is this result possible?
In our testing we’ve observed a number of samples from Scandinavia and Eastern Europe that exhibit some East Asian admixture. This is probably due to past migrations and is possibly telling us something about the interaction of various groups in those regions. In addition, cultures from these areas traveled to region of Asia and it does not seem unreasonable that children may have been produced from some of these travels introducing new genetic markers into the Scandinavian population.
Ancestry by DNA is a strange little company which will tell you, based on your DNA, what your “race” actually is. Or rather, what geography your people are from.
Malaysian English Impossible To Understand
I was checking out the new site Overheard in Malaysia when I realized that I don’t understand it all, although it appears to be written in English. Check out this random post about … well, I’m not sure:
MrBf: Blah blah blah.. why you damn clown? Don’t know how to look where you’re going ah? *lecture lecture*
naeboo: *gives hard look*
MrBf: Why you give me one kind look? Not happy isit?? What look is it ar?
naeboo:YATT LOOK! One look! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.. *layan sendiri* I’m sucha smartass!
MrBf: -_______________-”
The Flesch-Kincaid grade level of this text is 4. The first thing currently on Overheardinnewyork scores a (still low) 7. Apparently there is a class-split around the use of English in the Malaysian educational system.
