Team  172, Xi’an China, March 29 through April 18, 2009

Global Volunteers

Weekend Adventures—Part 1

We had a fabulous day of seeing the sights of China.  Our guide, Raphael lived up to our high expectations.  For starters, we visited his grandmother who lives with some family members in the caves outside Xi’an.  It was quite interesting and eye-opening to see how this agricultural community lives.  Quite a contrast to city living.

 

We then moved on to the Hanyangling Museum to see the tomb of Emperor Jingdi.  We walked on glass floors over the excavation area and marveled at what the archeologists had done.  In the gift shop, one of the Chinese workers recognized Annette’s Global Volunteers badge and spoke of how she had been a student of volunteers eleven years ago.  She was quite pleased to see that the work with Chinese students was continuing (and her English was very good).

 

Next stop was the Mausoleum of the second son of Emperor Wu Zeitan.  The 1400 year old drawings on the wall of the tomb were breathtaking for their artistry and accessibility.  Then we were on to the Qian Ling Mausoleum district where we strolled past enormous lichen encrusted sculptures of warriors and animals of the imperial guard, as well as sixty-one headless statues of leaders who attended the emperor’s funeral.  Besides all these sites, we also enjoyed the beauty of the countryside bursting with spring.  We were especially intrigued with the paper money and decorations on the tombs in the countryside in celebration of the sweeping of the tombs holiday.

 

Our final stop on the tour was the Famen temple and museum where we saw the Buddha’s relics along with many Chinese tourists.  It was fun to see the Chinese photographers snapping pictures of us and trying to be unobtrusive.  (I guess we’re not fooling them either.)  The temple was an impressive ending to an impressive display of China past and present.

 

Submitted by Annette

Raphael explaining the history of the statues at the Qian Ling Mausoleum.

Date: 04/04/2009

Famen Temple

Nan lighting incense at the Famen Temple.