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.
Plastic Surgery leads to Job Employment
There’s an article making its rounds, in the LA Times, In China, job seekers are resorting to plastic surgery. Apparently, in order to increase their chances of being hired in the recession’s tiring job market, young Chinese women are turning to plastic surgery to gain a slight competitive edge. One job seeker, Stephanie Yang, was quoted “They may not say it openly, but during the process they will pick the prettier one.”
Apparently, physical requirements come more or less standard in job descriptions. For example, a certain level of looks is required:
Beijing Modern Women’s Hospital is looking for a nurse: Applicants must be taller than 5 feet, 2.5 inches and have “acceptable facial features,” it says. Shanghai Jibei Electronics Co. has a similar height requirement for its assistant manager position, and it also wants someone who likes to smoke and drink wine — apparently so the new hire will be able to get along better at business gatherings.
The most famous of the remade modern Chinese may be Xian native Hao Lulu, a twenty two-year-old Chinese woman who went under the knife for a series of 26 plastic surgeries costing $62,000. Her looks went from homely to average.
Boa’s US Debut Album
BoA’s new US debut album–which is in English for the first time–just dropped on March 17, under label SM Entertainment USA. It started on the Billboard 200 at #127, a rather lukewarm reception. The main problem with the music on this CD can be reduced to poor English pronunciation (some lyrics are unintelligible), and heavy abuse of auto-tune/vocoder effect. Simply because more people are using the T-Pain effect doesn’t mean an actually decent singer, like BoA, should do so for US albums…
01. I Did It For Love (Feat. Sean Garrett)
02. Energetic
03. Did Ya
04. Look Who’s Talking
05. Eat You Up
06. Obsessed
07. Touched
08. Scream
09. Girls On Top
10. Dress Off
11. Hypnotic Dancefloor
So checkout BoA-BoA (Retail) 2009-NiSHiNO for the dirty download.
Zhao Wei as Mulan
Apparently Vicki Zhao Wei has been chosen to play Hua Mulan in the live-action remake of the famous Disney film. Jingle Ma, the hong kong director, has chosen her out over a possible casting of Zhang Ziyi, Michelle Yeoh, and Liu Yifei. “Zhao Wei has the qualities necessary to cross-play,” he said.
Beijing Mandarin Oriental Hotel Fire
The nearly finished 241-room Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Beijing went up in flames after lunar new-year’s fireworks set the complex ablaze. The following photo from Chinasmack indicates the severity of the fire, which completely destroyed the building:
Shanghaiist quotes a number of twitter users who claim that the building is reported to be structurally unsound, and that it will either collapse or be torn down:
@fuzheado: Cripes … BBC says building will collapse.
@DavidFeng: Word has it that the building is close to explosion. Whole thing pretty much toast, all in all. — 00.09am
@iheartbeijing: policemen around scene were predicting collapse, undoubtedly they will have to implode building if it doesn’t happen on own — 00.10am
Please note that although it was originally reported in many blogs, newspapers that it was the CCTV building on fire, that is incorrect. Also, Richard asks if random fireworks should be allowed on Chinese new years.
