Back from Xi'An

The trip to Xi'An is a good lesson for me to know more about my own country - China, about yesterday and today. It is the 1st capital when China was put together as one piece by the 1st Empiror of Qin (Chin) Dynasty at 221 B.C. According to the book 'Guns, Germs and Steel' that the fact that he burnt all the hisotry books as well as the intellectuals, is a very big reason why such a big country like China can remain united as 1 piece speaking 1 language (sino-tibetan) for such a long time. It is also a reason why a lot of southern Chinese went down to South East Asia and the languages they are speaking today has links to the ancient languages once spoken in China before 221 B.C. Obviously, diversity is never appreciated in such an important journey of being united. I have also heard that, the government started to change history books which will delete the part that books and people are burnt when we just united China back then. Hm...interesting! Really cannot figure out any valid reason why we want to wipe out such an important incident - kinda similar to cultural revolution?

Xi'An was the capital for 6 different dynasties. So there are many stories to tell, many palaces around and even tumbs. I am definitely interested in those stories though most of them sound like a juicy gossip to me but NOT the tumbs. I consider it unlucky to visit tumbs. And indeed, what you can see? Not even the dead body! However, Tara-cotta Warriors which is considered as the 8th wonders in the world is also part of the tumb for the 1st empiror of Qin Dynasty. The warriors make the entire tumb truly significant which also revealed the level of technology development in terms of weappons, vichels, tools, etc back then.

Xi'An seems have a lot of muslims. I was only offered muslim food on the flight. And there are very Chinese looking mosques which look very bizzare - either the Muslims robbed one of those Chinese temples and make it their own mosques, either I discovered some chinese version mosques.

I have never considered myself a hardcore Shanghainese especially after living in Beijing for 1 year and absolutely loved it. However, I have to admit that I might not be able to live in Xi'An for the following reasons (now I am more than a hardcore Shanghainese, I am a hardcore critic):

1. You never see the sky nor the sun. Basically everyday is cloudy and everyday is grey. Though I climbed to the top of Hua Shan (literally means The mountain of China), above 2000m, I didn't even see the sunrise nor the sun.) So you cannot distinguish it is morning or afternoon but just daytime and nighttime. A bit strange indeed.

2. Food: no variety and not very healthy either. Northern China is indeed a lot rougher than Southern China which is clearly shown through the food culture. The noodles don't look like any noodle I've seen or had - they are literally random dough slices. Needless to mention the amount of oil in all the dishes. When it comes to choices, you'll most likely end up eating local food or some other northern western style. The only foreign food is Korean which is no less rough than other Chinese choices available.

3. Lacking entertainment: there isn't much going on usually because Xi'An is not one of the culture centres in China apart from its long history. Not many pubs or bars to hang out with friends at. Probably it is a matter of life style. I would have been bored if I have only stayed in Rotterdam all the time despite that my AI teammates were all fantastic.

Interestingly, people are very interested in comparing how much they earn and how much people in Shanghai earn or even how much you can earn abroad. People in Xi'An definitely have a good enough life style with their salary level because by the end of the day, what matters is how easy it is to get around and where I am staying. Real estate in Xi'An is not expensive (yet). And overall, the city has easy and cheap traffic system and nice housing (better than those Shanghainese stay in slums or poor conditioned houses). Though life might not be as exciting, but on a daily level and about what really matters, it seems good.

In the trip, climbing Hua Shan was the nicest part. It reminded me of 'walking meditation' I had in the Zenriver monestry - I was just walking, listening to the water fall and birds, smelling the nature, trying not to be bothered by my nagging thoughts and hoping Adam will stop talking soon (oops, hehe...). The difference is that, this 'walking' is actually climbing a 2000m mountain - really difficult because how steep the paths are sometimes and above 1500m, I start to feel my heart beat and needed more stops to catch up with my breath. It was a very calming view seeing the peaks are hiding in the clouds - it fits the picture I had about wonderlands from the Chinese fairytales I grew up with.

Though I got very sick afterwards, I think this mountain climbing experience was the best among the entire Xi'An trip. But then is it because I live a busy life in a busy city thus I love peace and nature (plus some excercise) so much? Is it just something good for a change or something I would like to have at the cost of what I am currently having? I hope I'll give this an answer soon.