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Salutations, everyone!
Frank left us in the night. He had to take his mom to the hospital for something related to arthritis, so our last day in Xi’an was to be spent with Mary, who was very laid-back and well-spoken indeed. She picked us up late and took us to the Xi’an City Wall for a bike ride!
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Built in 1378 AD, the wall of Xi’an spans nine miles in circumference and has both an outer and inner wall, divided in sections to trap any invaders who breached the outer defenses. It was our mission, on this hot and smoggy day, to traverse the top of this wall in an hour and a half. “Bring it on!” we said, and we set off to a cheery riding tune playing over the loudspeakers.
The seats were hard and the terrain oh, so bumpy, but since there was hardly anyone else up there, we could really get going with wild, reckless abandon. The infrastructure inside the wall has not changed much in the seven centuries since it was built, but it has become a lot more modern, down to the American fast food chains. One nifty feature I noticed was that the lightposts on each side were adorned with a certain animal: the green dragon (Qinglong) in the east, the red phoenix (Zhuque) in the south, the white tiger (Baihu) in the west, and the black tortoise (Xuanwu) in the north. These are the four Celestial Animals of Feng Shui, the Sì Shòu! They keep the energy flowing, and by the end of the ride, with all those big ramps and cobblestones, I was glad to have their help!
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Since our flight to Guilin was fairly early, we had a quick lunch at a place that served hot pot. I love hot pot! You take your food, cook it in the pot, and eat it at your leisure! It’s very relaxing. Then, we went to take a look at the Muslim Quarter, a vast bazaar, whose founders, traders from the Middle East, settled into this end of the Silk Road in the 8th century AD and married the local women. Their descendants have been here ever since. Mary warned us that, not only was everything here fake, but the market was also full of pickpockets and dirty deals. Fortunately, I didn’t have any pockets, so I was free to admire the wares! There were jujubes and candied persimmons by the bucketful! There were musical instruments, and crickets in cages, and really convincing North Face backpack knock-offs galore! If I had money and the capacity to carry anything, I would probably have busted my bank account right here! But I didn’t. Phew!
Our time with Mary was short, as we had to get to the airport in time for our flight, which ended up being delayed half an hour anyway. Nonetheless, we touched down safely in the black, muggy night of Guilin. Our fourth guide, Su (whose every statement was punctuated by “Yes, that’s right”), picked us up for the hour-long drive to the Guilin Royal Garden Hotel. She had lots of information about Guilin, like how the name means “Osmanthus grove” after the fragrant trees that bloom here. It was formerly the capital of the province until the government decided it wasn’t sufficiently industrialized and moved it. Since then, it has stayed an agricultural and tourist town, which is just fine by me. I could use a little more nature after so much city time.
After about forty-five minutes on the road, lapsing in and out of sleepiness, I spied the first towering karst formation, lit up in the middle of the city. It was surreal! Then it vanished into the night. Then another one appeared! They were like giant fairy temples! I’m really excited to see how they look tomorrow on the Li River Cruise, so it’s time for bed!
Nighty night!
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