China - Meeting The Emperor's Army
Leaving Pingyao we had a long wet cold drive towards the mountain village Guoliang. We felt for the motorcyclists. We stuck to the expressway roads which took us through tunnel after tunnel - some as long as 11kms. We even went through a series of tunnels together spanning 48kms.
Once off the expressway the scenery got a bit more rural just before we reached the parking lot for the mountain road.
We couldn’t make up our mind if we should leave Lolly here for the night and get a shuttle up to a hotel in the mountain village or drive up the steep narrow road. We were concerned if the road was super busy and narrow it may not be enjoyable for us to drive up. The motorcyclists were not allowed to ride up - another strange rule. There were a big group of rental motorhomes driven by a French group in the car park - they said they were getting the shuttle up. In the end we made the good decision to drive ourselves.
Soon after setting off we had to be let through a 3m height restrictor to get up the narrow windy road, but once through this the views back into the valley were pretty spectacular.
The village finally came into view and we could see the hanging tunnel road that makes it famous.
Guoliang Village Hanging Road is a tourist attraction that attracts thousands of visitors every year. We thought we would be driving up this secition of tunnelled road, but it appears this is closed to vehicles, and visitors can etither walk down it from the village or get dropped off by a shuttle bus to walk up to the village. The village of Guoliang is famous for its unique stone houses and stunning scenery. The road was built in the 1970s by local villagers with their bare hands, and it clings to the side of a cliff, twisting and turning through the mountains. It has become a symbol of courage and determination, representing the hardy spirit of the local people. We parked Lolly in car park next to the village - why there is a huge snowman here we just don't know.
From here we walked down the road to the section closed to vehicles.
We had dinner in the hotel where the rest of the group were staying in the village. Martin took up the challenge of trying chickens feet - we're not sure he'll be having them again in a hurry.
The following day it was much brighter and sunny. We had to transport the motorcyclists kit back down the mountain while they caught a shuttle bus.
The views going back down were even more fabulous in the sunshine.
Back down at the entrance we offloaded the motorcyclists gear and set off on a 300km drive to our next destination of Luoyang.
We retraced our steps through the scenic rural area before hitting the expressways again. China's road building and civil engineering never cease to amaze us - the scale of the bridges, tunnels and multi- level roads are mind blowing. When getting diesel we always have an attendant, but we usually end up with several attendants, all curious to find out more about us when they see our plates.
Luoyang is a historic city famous for its grottoes. These have thousands of Buddhist statues carved into the cliffs along the Yi River, with an enormous 7th-century Buddha as the centrepiece.
We parked up in a car park next to the entrance where there was the usual OTT tourist infrastructure. There were hundreds of food outlets (including MacDs and KFC), but nothing that we fancied. They offered some interesting lemon tea choices.
We went into the grotto site late afternoon. so we could see the grottoes illuminated in the evening. It was busy but nowhere near as busy as high season according to Olivia. The sheer volume of statues of all sizes in the grottoes was pretty amazing. As always there were many Chinese tourists in costume - even guys dressed in concubine dresses.
We watched the lights come on before heading back to Lolly. The artificial waterfall opposite where we were parked was colourful at night.
The following day we had another long drive to the ancient city of Xi'an - another place we visited 30 years ago. The Terracotta Army site here is one of the world's most extraordinary archeological finds.
We passed the usual cities with endless tower blocks. The size and number of them worry us for the prople living in them - we think the residents could feel very isolated. We always have a daily stop at service areas on the expressways. The toilet signs are entertaining - I am always pleased to see a 'potty' toilet rather than the traditional squat ones. The loads on some of the lorries on the road were eye catching - the car transporter had 16 cars on it.
We reached the Terracotta Army site before reaching Xi'an. It was mid-afternoon, raining and we didn't want to rush our visit here. We also wanted to use an official guide to take us around, so we got the best understanding of what we were looking at. We were a bit conflicted what to do - we could have parked the night here and visited in the morning with more time, but the parking lot was busy and not particulallry nice. In the end we decided to do the visit there and then which was a bit frantic getting the tickets and finding a guide. We eventually found our guide , Jenny, who was a lovely lady and she directed us to the best spots in the Halls to see the statues and take photos, as well as pointing out the signifiicant features on the figures.
When we last visited 30 years ago I remember thinking the scale of the figures and condition of them were almost too good to be true, but seeing them again we’re still in awe of the the detail on each figure.
The site was discovered by accident in 1974 when farmers digging a well came across fragments of terracotta figures. Once the archeoligists got involved the shock of the extent of what they had found must have been enormous. There are more than 8,000 soldiers, along with more than 600 horses and 130 chariots. No two soldiers are exactly alike - they all have different facial features, hairstyles, clothing, poses and expressions. They are all life-sized (1.8 to2m tall). They appear to have been made with moulds, but it is a mystery how over 2,200 years ago they were able to do this and create the temperature necessary to bake them.
The soldiers were also painted in vivid colours, however once exposed to air much of the paint oxidised and disappeared. They have stopped uncovering more while they find new techniques to protect the colours, so today we only see a fraction of the 8,000 soldiers.
The army is also in military organisation. The front lines are the general infantry or battle fodder, followed by the archers, cavalry and officers further back. And to think the army was never intended to be seen by anyone - it was built to protect Qin Shi Huang in his afterlife where he believed his life would continue and he would need protection. He died in 210 BC at the age of 49, when this enormous mausoleum had already been under construction for decades.
There was a special exhibition that had just opened in the museum where there were individual significant figures on display, some with colours. It gave us a chance to really see the incredible detail on the figures up close.
Sadly we didn't have time to visit the Emperors Mausoleum or the bronze chariots that are displayed in another part of the complex. The mausoleum has never been opened. It is said it is protected with mercury in the structure which would be seriously poisonous to anyone coming into contact with it, so they are waiting to have the technology to neutralise this.
After our visit we drove into central Xi'an in the evening and checked into a hotel for two nights so we could better explore the central city.
After a long day we went to a local place for a Chinese burger (shredded lamb in a bap) then went to watch the light show at the Goose Pagoda - totally OTT but the Chinese do it so well. We walked through a shopping centre on the way back to the hotel and sat in a very swish electric vehicle made by Huawei which was on display and being sold in their phone shop. It was surprisingly nice inside. We wonder if our next car will be electric.
We had a full day day to explore central Xi’an. We got up early to walk around the local street market near our hotel which was lively and colourful.
We were pretty exhausted after an intense week of driving and sightseeing, so we had a gentle day with a couple of hours doing laundry before having a walk around the local area to the hotel.
Late afternoon we visited the city wall. Olivia surprised us by turning up fully made up and dressed in traditional costume. When she walked into the reception we glanced up and looked away thinking she was just another tourist, but then we both did a double take and gasped. She looked so surreal. We caught a taxi to the wall where we rented bikes to cycle the 13km around the upper perimeter. It was really enjoyable (even though the bikes were rubbish). Sadly we didn’t get a nice sunset.
When we came back to street level we met up with Olivia who must have been having hundreds of photos taken (like all the other ladies in costumes). She was very reluctant for us to take photos of her, but we managed to get a couple. I don't know how Angus Young (ACDC) snuck in on the photo. We both think Olivier looks much nicer without the heavy make-up and wig.
We dined in a Italian restaurant near the wall before heading back through the highly illuminated streets to our hotel. We liked Xi'an. It is a huge busy place but had a vibrant buzz with its student population.
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