Yan Ying Youth Hostel

 October 3rd, 2011

I have never stayed in a youth hostel before as I have always been accustomed to hotels. So you could imagine my trepidation.

My home for two nights

A hostel offers low priced accommodation that provides a bed, pillow, blanket, and bathing facilities, usually in dormitory style.  Many hostels include a free breakfast in their nightly price, have low priced meals available, and/or have a kitchen available for guests to use.  Most hostels require that you have your own sheets and towels.  If you do not bring your own, it may be possible for you to rent those items from the hostel. Some people recommend that you bring your own towel, sheets and pillow. I looked up the hostel and saw that it was unnecessary for me to bring those items.

I walked in the Yan Ying Youth Hostel and was greeted by two people at the desk. It reminded me of a university residence lobby with “goddy” artefacts, graffiti on the walls and stains on the carpet. I received my key and made my way up a labyrinth of stairs.I quickly realized that I wasn’t at the Hilton. The smell in the hallway was not fresh fully clean either. But it was where I was to stay.

My room

I opened the door and to my amazement, I saw a big bed, a desk, a TV, a bathroom with a shower and a sink. 

Yan Ying Youth Hostel is located in the south square of Big Wild Goose Pagoda,a  new growing centre of Xi'an. 

This way

                                 
                                 Overall I found the facilities decent with clean rooms. We chose this hostel because I could reach many attractionsons by walking. If I wanted to go to any other places in the city, taxis and buses were nearby.

Quite nice I thought. I got settled in and made my way downstairs and went out for lunch with Al and a young man named Jan who he had just met.

lady who made my lunch

We were hungry, so we set out on a trek for food. We saw many back alley cooks and decided on noodles. There were so many to choose from. These people seemed to have the “cleanest” establishment. “Cleanest” was used as a relative term here.

After lunch, we parted ways with Jan and began our adventure in X’ian. 

Flying to X’ian

October 3rd, 2011
This morning I woke up at 3:30 a.m. My driver met me at the back gate at 4:30 a.m. It was dark and I was tired but excited. I got to the Beijing airport at 6 a.m. It made me appreciate the fast train. I have become spoiled with the public transit. Nevertheless, on my way I cat napped for 15- 20 minutes and arrived one hour and a half later at the Beijing airport.

Before boarding the plane, I had a nice hot cup of coffee. That woke me up. The nonstop flight with Air China departed at 7:15 a.m. The service was great and the seating was spacious and comfortable. I continued reading Wild Swans. Finally, I arrived in X’ian at 9 a.m.

Curb to curb traffic

The day was just beginning (so much to see, so much to do). Then I boarded a bus to the downtown core with my traveling companion Al. We took the bus that flew down the highway like a sports car. I laughed in nervousness the whole way. I couldn't believe the traffic which only added to the poor air quality.  Al and I debated as to whether the “foggy” air was mist or pollution. It was rainy on our first day, which added to the cloud cover. We finally agreed in the end that in fact we were both right; there was some precipitation with a whole lot of pollution.

Solar power units on top of apartments

On my way to the Youth Hostel, I saw many buildings with solar power on the roofs. The solar power units were not at all attractive, but they were functional nevertheless. The effort to make the air cleaner was noted. The traffic was atrocious, however. Traffic congestion was everywhere during the Chinese holiday. The traffic was laden with curb to curb cars, trucks, bikes, scooters, trikes and even people.

What a great concept...

The bus finally stopped and we boarded a taxi and made our way to the first youth hostel. I sat in the back of the cab. In front of me was a touch screen TV. I watched trailers of upcoming movies, watched advertisements of local business, and read, saw and heard about upcoming city events. There is a potential business there for Toronto and other big city cabbies. Anyone want a partner? (Lol) Finally we arrived at the Youth Hostel. It was 10:30 a.m.

The Ming Tombs

September 24th, 2011

Tamara and Barry in front of the Ming Tomb entrance

If you have been following my adventures in China, you would have followed my trip to the Qing tombs. If I were to compare both, the Qing tombs were more sensational than the Ming tombs. The Ming tombs, however, have historical significance.

The Ming Tombs are located about 48 km (31 miles) northwest of Beijing at a carefully selected site. The Ming Tombs site was chosen by the third Ming Dynasty emperor YongLe (1402 - 1424), who moved the capital city of China from Nanjing to the present location of Beijing. He is credited with envisioning the layout of the ancient city of Beijing as well as a number of landmarks and monuments located therein. After the construction of the Imperial Palace (the Forbidden City) in 1420, YongLe selected his burial site and created his own mausoleum.

From the Yongle Emperor onwards, 13 Ming Dynasty Emperors were buried in the area now known as the Ming Tombs. The tombs of the first two Ming Emperors are located near Nanjing (the capital city during their reigns). Emperor ChongZhen, who hung himself in April 1644, was the last to be buried here, but on a smaller scale than his predecessors. The Ming Tombs form the most extensive burial complex of any Chinese dynasty and are one of the finest preserved pieces of 15th century Chinese art and architecture.

Another dining experience

September 24^th, 2011

It is not uncommon to see people on the road waving you into a restaurant parking lot. After our visit of the Great Wall we ended up at a little restaurant. We ordered a number of items that we found would be palatable. The service was good and the company was great. The food was tasty, but not great.

Is she smiling at me?

Unexpectedly, when I went to have some chicken, this head (see picture) fell onto my plate. A tradition that is commonly used in Mainland China is to present the whole animal like chicken, rabbit and fish as presentation on the plate. Although the Chinese may not eat the whole head; they do it the flesh (the comb) on top of the head and (the wattles) below the beak.

Moreover,  it is common to eat the flesh of the feet as well. Apparently, it is quite a delicacy. The tradition of eating the whole animal or fish (head and all), I am told, is that it represents the cycle of life, from beginning to end. I have learned so much. What an experience.

Although I have eaten scorpions and other exotic food in China, I am afraid I could not stomach eating KFH (Kentucky Fried Head) lol

My Great Wall of China

( left to right ) Stephan, Emma, Yulia, Karen, Ling, Al, Tamara and Barry.

September 24, 2011

I finally got to see the Great Wall of China! I was so thrilled. It did not disappoint with the spectacular view and the history around me and beneath my feet. I woke up this morning at 5:30 a.m. to meet my staff for a planned trip to the Great Wall of China, the Ming Tombs and to Beijing. The school was gracious enough to pay for a bus for us to see the sites.
We were so fortunate.

History beneath my feet...

The Great Wall of China is a series of stone and earthen fortifications built, rebuilt, and maintained between the 5th century BC and the 16th century to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire during the rule of successive dynasties. Several walls, referred to as the Great Wall of China, were built since the 5th century BC.The most famous is the wall built between 220 BC and 200 BC by the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang; little of it remains; it was much farther north than the current wall, which was built during the Ming Dynasty.

The Great Wall is the world's longest human-made structure, stretching over approximately 6,400 km (4,000 miles) from Shanhaiguan in the east to Lop Nur in the west, along an arc that roughly delineates the southern edge of Inner Mongolia, but stretches to over 6,700 km (4,160 miles) in total. It is also the largest human-made structure ever built in terms of surface area and mass. At its peak the Ming Wall was guarded by more than one million men. It has been estimated that somewhere in the range of 2 to 3 million Chinese died as part of the centuries-long project of building the wall.

Today we visited Badaling section of the Great Wall.
The Badaling section is the best preserved and the most popular one amongst all the sections. It is more than 1,000 meters (3281 ft) above sea level, and commands a strategic position for transportation and defense in ancient times.
Badaling, literally meaning “reach eight directions”, got its name because the maze of its ridges stretches in all directions. It is easily accessible and has easy walking conditions. At points we were walking at 45 degrees. I am glad I wore good shoes. Some people were wearing sandals and struggled immensely.

The Great Debate: Do you really think you can see the Great Wall with the naked I from space? We debated it quite fervently. What do you think?

The magnificent Temple of Heaven

September 17, 2011

 The magnificent and colourful Temple of Heaven (TianTan) was where emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties would make offerings to heaven and pray for good harvests.
I visited the Temple of Heaven with Yulia (left) and Karen (right). We took the speed train to Beijing, then the subway a few blocks away from the temple. It was not hard to find once we learned how to read a map. Fortunately, a passer-by, who spoke English, took pity on us and told us we were heading in the right direction. What we thought would take us an hour to walk through, lasted three hours and a half.

Once we finished our tour, we met up with Stephen Elderhorst (left). Stephen and I went to high school together in London. It was 27 years since I last saw him. How great it was to meet a dear old friend and have dinner and catch up. Stephen was gracious enough to take us out for dinner. He gave us a bit of a back street view of Beijing. Meeting Stephen again gave me a sense of being home. For a moment, I didn’t feel so far away. We planned to get together again the following week.

History: The Temple of Heaven was constructed between 1406 and 1420 during the reign of Ming Emperor YongLe (reign: 1403-1424), who also oversaw the creation of the Forbidden City during the same period. The Temple of Heaven was originally established as the Temple of Heaven and Earth, but was given its current name during the reign of Ming Emperor JiaJing (reign: 1522-1567), who built separate complexes for the earth, sun and moon.

The Temple of Earth (DiTan) can be found in north Beijing. The temples of the sun and moon are in the east and west of Beijing. The emperor's primary imperial palace (Forbidden City) lies not just in the center of the city, but also between the temples of earth and heaven, symbolising the role of the emperor connection to heavenly rule. One will notice the representation of heaven as round and the earth as square in the layout and design. One approaches the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests along a long raised walkway that almost imperceptibly increases in height.

At the winter solstice offerings were made to heaven. And in the spring, prayers for a good harvest. It was one of the emperor's most important tasks to choose the dates for sowing seeds and bringing in the harvest.
The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests is a strikingly beautful building; round, three-tiered and with blue tiled roofs (as it is essentially a Taoist temple). It is 38 meters tall and sits on a three-tier marble terrace. The cleverly constructed building relies only on carpentry, with no nails employed. This design, what we see today, was commissioned by Qing dynasty emperor QianLong (reign: 1736-1795) in 1751. For you math people, you will notice the numbers 3 and 9, in particular, recurring in the layout and design; these are important or 'lucky' numbers in Chinese numerology. The number 9, being the highest value digit is associated with the emperor. Its square root, 3, has a natural resonance in terms of beginning, middle and end; introduction, development and conclusion.

The three main constructions of the Temple of Heaven lie on a central north-south axis and are surrounded by trees and gardens. Some of the trees here, mostly cypress, are many hundreds of years old. The gardens are alive with locals practicing tai chi, jian zi, wu shu, playing instruments, singing and dancing, board games, kite flying, badminton and more.