Still excited that I successfully made it to the terracotta warriors without getting lost once or having to ask for directions, I made my way back to the parking lot. I really enjoyed walking out of the site with the Huashan Mountians as a backdrop. I don’t know if it was smog or mist that made them look shadowy but it was pretty cool. (Later I googled that in April, Huashan is misty so it wasn’t smog!)

The amount of western fast food resturants just outside the Terracotta warriors was a little strange. It was weird that in the Pits there was a ton of foreigners but once I left the gate everyone disappeared. I stopped by the gift shop looking for stickers and postcards but immediately got swamped by the shopkeepers trying to sell me stuff so I said ‘just looking’ in Chinese and left. I made it back to the parking lot, found bus 306 and I’m on my way back to Xi’an.

Once back in Xi’an, I pulled up that helpful sign that has all the tourist attractions. I settle on the Big Wild Goose Pagoda because it’s the furthest away. The sign says bus 30, 25, 41, 6 and 610. The bus from the Terracotta Warriors dropped me off in front of a sign that has other bus stops on it so I wait until one of these buses show up. Not 2 minutes later bus 30 stops and I try to get on. I show the bus driver the map to make sure it’s not going to take me somewhere else. The bus driver shakes his head and says ‘wu’ which means 5. I think he means it’s 5 kuai fare but he points across the street to a bus that says 500. I get off and go across the street. The LED display on the front of the bus says Big Wild Goose Pagoda so I figure that’s where the bus is going. The fare is 1 kuai and takes about 20 minutes to get there.

The wall around the square was craved with intricate patterns. There was a sign that I’m guessing explains the scene but it was in Chinese. The day and weather was perfect. I kept thinking if my sister, Courtney, was there we would never leave because there were so many photo opportunities.

I also came across this house looking place. I think it’s a museum but I couldn’t figure out how to get in.

After wandering around for an hour or so the fountains in front of the Pagoda come on. Of course I tried to get a picture along with everyone else there. There were signs on either side of the fountain that said you can’t walk across but everyone seemed to be ignoring them so I did too.

The north and south square are only separated by a road so I headed there next. In the south garden there were more fountains and these cool dragon lampposts.

This side of the garden also had scenes from the Qin opera “Three drops of blood” by Mr. Fan Zidong.

There were also other statues but I don’t know what they were because their signs were in Chinese. Each statue had a guard next to it. At first it was kinda weird but after trying to get a picture of the statues I figured out why. A lot of people kept trying to sit on top of the statues. I guess a picture of you standing on the shoulders of the girl with the sword would be cool. (?)

In addition to these statues there was also a horse statue but all my pictures are too dark. People kept trying to put their kids on the back of the horse but the guards stopped them.

The square started to get crowed so I headed out of the square by the front entrance which had a cool arch thing (?) over it.

 

I started getting hungry at this point so I headed back to the Muslim Quarter to get some street food. I definitely went back at the right time but it was very crowed. I kept trying to get pictures of the street but there was always someone behind me or a e-bike trying to blast it’s way through everyone. I didn’t particularly want to get run over so you’ll have to settle for this dark picture.

I also ran into another Mosque. I was looking for the Xi’an Mosque but couldn’t find it. I didn’t stay long because there was a service going on.

If you’re looking to try some strange foods 10/10 recommend you go here. I’ll spare you the details of some of the meat hanging and soup boiling in front of shops. I came across that place the sells ice cream in little cylinders. I took a video of them making strawberry ice cream. Actually it was more like strawberry yogurt but it was still delicious!  I also tried a deep fried spider (or at least I think it was?) I don’t know what it was but it was very crispy. I thought it was some sort of crab at first but it definitely was NOT.

After looking for the Xi’an Mosque for a while I gave up and headed to a place called the Drum Tower. The Drum Tower was constructed in 1380 during the Ming Dynasty. The drums were sounded to mark the end of the day. Now there’s only a show a couple times a day where you can hear them. I unfortunately got there too late in the day so I missed the performance. In my option the ceiling was more interesting than the drums.

Interesting enough right across from the Drum Tower is the Bell Tower. If you remember from my earlier post I walked past the Bell Tower when I was looking for a place to stay. It looked completely different during the day. The ceiling of the Bell Tower resembled the Drum Tower. In many ways both towers are alike expect the Bell Tower was rung to start the beginning of the day.

In both towers you can get to the top which offered fantastic views of the city. I watched the traffic pick up before heading off to the train station.

Even though I had messed up the day before my last day in Xi’an was extremely satisfying. I saw the Terracotta Soldiers – my main reason for visiting Xi’an, ate some strange street food, and was amazed at some incredible history. Stay tuned for next time: In which I spend 12+ hours on a train trying to get back to Yangzhou.