We took another overnight train to get from Beijing to Xi’an, the next stop on our China trip.  At one point Xi’an was called Chang’an, and it was home to the first Emperor of China.  This first Emperor, Qin Shi Huang, unified China by defeating the 6 other Warring States at the time.  He standardized its currency, measurements and writing.  He also completed huge infrastructure projects, laying miles and miles of canals, roads, and the first version of the great wall.  Unfortunately he was also quite a tyrant who liked to burn books on good days and bury scholars alive on bad ones.  Before he died he had an army of terracotta soldiers built for him to accompany him into the afterlife.   This subterranean army is the main reason we came to Xi’an.

The Army of Terracotta Warriors is about an hour out of Xi’an so we caught a minibus from the city to get there.  The site itself is pretty big and split into 3 different pits.  The first one is the most impressive with over 6000 horses and soldiers in battle formation.  Other parts of the museum let you see bronze chariots, chrome-plated weapons, and different types of soldiers (a kneeling archer, a standing archer, a cavalryman, an officer, and a general) up close.  The detail is absolutely incredible, especially considering that they are all well over 2000 years old.  What’s also remarkable is that no two faces of the soldiers are alike.  We’ve seen some pretty amazing tombs over this year of traveling, including the ones in Egypt in the Valley of the Kings, but to have a full standing army built to go with you into the afterlife is pretty badass.  Say what you will about the ruler, his influences on Chinese culture as we know it are still felt today.

When we got back to Xi’an that night we walked around the Muslim quarter.  There is a sizable Muslim population which has been around for hundreds of years here.  Maybe it has to do with the fact that Xi’an is the beginning of the Silk Road, though I’m unsure if that’s the reason.   Either way, the Muslim quarter is a pretty cool part of town and that’s where we ended up having a massive dinner of cumin-doused street-meat-on-a-stick and beer.  Pretty good combination if you ask Phil.

The next day we decided to go to Hua Shan (Mount Hua, pictured above).  I climbed this mountain 6 years ago and liked it so I thought I’d take everyone there to do it again.  For those who don’t know, Hua Shan is the most sacred of the top 5 Taoist mountains in China.  It’s one of those legendary, mythical places where immortal Taoists hang out and meditate, dispensing the truth for those who are willing to be disciples.  It also holds an allure for those of us who are into Kung-Fu movies and stories.  Supposedly, the Hua Shan sect’s style of swordplay was invincible as they knew the Nine Swords of Dugu style (I know, awesome, right?).  A great movie illustrating what I mean is Swordsman II starring Jet Li and Brigitte Lin.  The Chinese believe in this thing called Chi (or Qi) like in Tai Chi.  It’s kind of like a life energy, sorta thing.  Anyways, Hua Shan is supposed to have a lot of sword Chi.  So seeing as I’ve been up the mountain twice, my sword skills must be pretty killer due to the absorption of the sword Chi.  We took the gondola up to the North Peak and from there we hiked another 45 minutes to get to Golden Lock Gate.  The views were stunning, and Hua Shan is truly a granite beauty with striking vertical rock faces.  Poetry and Taoist proverbs are also skilfully carved into the mountainside.  It’s regrettable that we didn’t have enough time or it would have been nice to do the whole 6 hour hike from the very bottom without taking the cable car.  Unfortunately the bus ride to and from XI’an was a gong show and took way longer than expected, so maybe next time we’ll bite the bullet and hire a private driver.  If I went up another time though my sword skills would probably be outta this world.  I dunno if I could handle that much power.

On our final morning in XI’an before heading back to Hong Kong we rented bikes and cycled the old city walls which took about an hour.  Xi’an is one of the few cities in China whose ancient walls are still left standing.  They are over 500 years old and from the Ming Dynasty.  The bikes we were able to rent also looked like they were 500 years old and from the Ming Dynasty.  While Phil was cycling the pedal completely came off his bike.  Luckily he didn’t crash and fall so the historic wall wasn’t damaged.

After Xi’an we hopped on a flight back to HK for a few days before Phil and Talica went back to Vancouver.  There really isn’t much to say about that except that we partied like it was 1998 (the first of many years that Phil and I went back together to HK).  A lot of his friends from Halifax were in town, and a lot of my friends from Vancouver were also there.  This conglomeration resulted in a pretty powerful combination which then resulted in Talica and Di doing the robot for about 4 hours in this club called Volar.  Supposedly I was belting out Justin Bieber (that’s Steve Jue and Christine Pang’s fault for introducing him to me) as well.  Good thing I didn’t have a sword in my hand while I was dancing Bieber styles, I don’t think Volar or any of its patrons would have survived that.

I’m not a big fan of overnight traveling, but taking a new fast overnight sleeping train doesn’t seem bad at all.  And that’s what Phil, Ta, Eug, and I did to get to Beijing from Shanghai.  The sucky thing was that we couldn’t all be in the same cabin but the good thing was that we all got top bunks in the 4 bunk rooms.  And it was Ta’s first time taking the overnight train too!  I was super stoked to be in Beijing because I’ve always wanted to see the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, and Tiananmen Square.  The last image of Tiananmen Square that was embedded in my brain was a line of military tanks driving slowly towards a student protestor who was blocking its way.  That was 1989 before we moved to Canada.  Like a curious but shy kid, I anticipated the visit to Beijing with mixed feelings.  On one hand, I couldn’t wait to see the sites; on the other hand, I wasn’t sure if I’d like what I was going to see.  It turned out that my worries were absolutely unnecessary.  Beijing was far from what I thought it was as a child and the sites we managed to cram in during these short 4 days were incredible, and we had some really good meals too.

We wasted no time to try the yummy Peking duck after checking into our serviced apartment.  Finally, Peking duck in Beijing!  We went to Da Dong Peking Duck and it was really the best Peking duck I’ve ever had.  The skin was crispy and the meat was lean yet full of flavour.  The wrap itself was almost paper thin.  So good!  The squab was probably the best one I’ve had as well and every other dish we ordered was delicious too.  The price wasn’t cheap by China standards but it was definitely worth it for the quality we got.  Having satisfied our appetite, we headed towards the Forbidden City.  We took the subway to the Tiananmen East station and walked to the palace.  The palace was huge and seemed never ending, gate after gate, and each got grander and grander.  There were other exhibits on the sides as well.  By the time we wanted to check out the clock tower and the treasury, they were already closed.  That was a bummer but what we saw was tons already. 

Right across the street in front of the big picture of Mao by the entrance of the Forbidden City is Tiananmen Square.  As we were walking towards it, my heart sank a bit recalling the image of the tank.  Even though it was just across the street from the visitor packed Forbidden City, there seemed to be only a few groups of tourists on the square side.  Tianamen, which is actually the world’s largest public square, was surrounded by big boxy gray and imposing communist style buildings.  It was such a great contrast between the posh, new capitalistic steel and glass buildings in Pudong that I almost forgot we were just in Shanghai the day before.

The next morning we visited the Great Wall.  Eug was here about 6 years ago and he snuck into the Great Wall at 5 in the morning with some friends when it wasn’t opened yet to catch the sunrise. He raved about the experience so we did the same this time.  Our driver picked us up at 4am and we were dropped off at the Mutianyu section of the wall.  Eug previously snuck in at the Badaling section so we thought we’d try another area that many actually consider more beautiful.  We hiked up to the wall in half an hour in the dark and the drizzling rain with flashlights.  It wasn’t exactly clear and sunny but the misty surroundings gave a different feel to the place.  As the sun came up it didn’t take long for us to start appreciating the mysterious and majestic look of the Great Wall, especially wrapped in clouds and with no other tourists in sight.  We couldn’t see the sunrise though, next time!  We also visited the Summer Palace and the Temple of Heaven.  Both were equally extraordinary.  We were told Beijing has a more cultural aura compared to the modern and posh Shanghai, and we did find that to be true.  Our Shanghai friend Heidi told us we must visit the Hohai area so we hung out there one night despite the rain.  It’s a long strip of pubs and bars surrounding a lake.  At night time the outside is well lit by a neat row of red lanterns.  You’ll hear live bands performing different songs from every single bar, Chinese oldies, pop, western hip hop and rock and oldies as well.  All were sung by talented local singers and bands.  We had a really good time there.  We also checked out the famous Wangfujing shopping area.  There’s a night market that has all these weird creatures for you to consume and it’s in almost all the travel shows you see.  Things like star fish, silk worms and scorpions are all on the menu.  NO THANKS!  And even though I love stinky tofu and pig’s blood and other crazy stuff that Taiwanese people like, it was pretty gross to see people actually eating live scorpions.  We double dared Phil to eat the scorpions but he chickened out.  Plus Talica wasn’t going to kiss him afterwards if he ate them.  But mostly it was because he chickened out.

Though we liked it here there were a couple of negatives.  The air isn’t exactly of the best quality as the cities’ constantly covered in thick smog (thicker than in LA).  The traffic is also insane, and we were almost never able to hail taxi in less than half an hour.  The Mandarin spoken here is completely incomprehensible to my Taiwan Mandarin ears.  But there’s something about Beijing that lures you in and you somehow can’t get enough of it.  Being here made me realize that the image I had was from a long time ago and China is definitely a different place now.  Word on the street from those in the know say Beijing is more fun than Shanghai, and we can see why.  Beijing is kind of like Shanghai’s older, cooler, and more confident sibling.  It doesn’t try to shove the “I’m popular and people want to be like me” vibe down your throat like Shanghai does with its brash parties, big lights and flashy architecture.  Beijing knows it’s cool, and it has no problem letting Shanghai take the spotlight.  I wish we had more time here to ride out the rainy days and see more sites as we still missed quite a few.  And if the epic partying in Shanghai didn’t leave us in such a tired state we would have liked to have taken in more of the Beijing nightlife.  Luckily we have a few friends living here, which gives us an excuse to come back to visit soon!

We had an awesome time in Shanghai.  First we came to visit one of my closest friends Shingo, who has been living here for a couple of years.  In addition, Di’s parents showed up with their Taiwanese friends for a short 5 day tour of Shanghai that coincided with the days that we were there.  And to top it off, my BFF Phil and his girlfriend Talica came from Vancouver to spend the next 2 weeks with us.  Sweet!

Shanghai doesn’t have as much of a dignified history as cities like Beijing and Xi’an.  In fact, there was a time when corruption was rife, gangsters ruled, and many different European countries controlled large sections of the city unhindered by Chinese law.  Opium dens and gambling joints were ubiquitous with this extremely busy port town.  I’m actually not sure if the Shanghainese are proud or ashamed of this past, but I’m quite positive that they think extremely highly of their current position in China and the hopes they have for their future on the world wide stage.

It’s because of this sense that Shanghai is the next “It” city for business and development that so many of our friends are here.  As I mentioned, Shingo is here from Japan.  When he came to pick us up from our hotel, in the car was Mits (a friend I hung out with in New York way back when) and Jeff (a Taiwanese guy who went on an exchange program with Di in Japan 13 years ago)!  It was crazy to see those 2 with Shingo, having lost touch with them and not knowing they all knew each other; such a small world.  In addition to that, sitting at the table next to ours at the club was our buddy Areef, who lives in Jakarta but was also in town for business.  What are the chances?  Oh, and our French friend Martin who we met on Kilimanjaro was also in town and partook in the festivities of the night.  What I’m trying to say is that people are gravitating here.  I met many others throughout the nights here, and they were from all over the world.  When I asked them why they were here, pretty much the universal answer was “to get rich”.  Most of the Asian guys had family business from other parts of Asia to expand into the China market, but pretty much all the European and American guys were here to seek new opportunities and make new contacts.  I haven’t witnessed that kind of energy in any other city we’ve hit so far on our travels.

It was also good to grab dinner with Di’s parents and their friends.  Since there was so many of them they split everyone up into 2 tables, with dudes on one side and women on the other.  So I got to chill with Di’s dad and 10 of his Taiwanese speaking buddies.  These guys were all from the South of the Island, which typically has a more pro-Taiwan/anti-China sentiment.  However, at dinner it seemed as though the sentiment was more towards cooperation on the business front (I didn’t get into the political front as that would have opened up a can of worms).  They were talking about how in their youth when they had to do military service, China was their enemy, but now those times are past and the future is about teamwork and mutually beneficial relationships.  I for one was ecstatic to hear these guys say that, as I’m all about building bridges and I’ve been hearing the negativity in China/Taiwan issues for way too long.

We were able to visit most of the areas of the city we wanted to see, such as the Yu Yuan gardens, Nanjing Road, Xin Tian Di and the Bund.  We lived in the French concession too which was a nice part of town.  In addition we went to the world Expo for a day, which was immense, though not in a good way.  We basically only entered 2 pavilions, which was enough for us as we had no interest in lining up over 2 hours to check out another one.  In addition our friend Heidi hooked us up with river cruise tickets as her friend owned the nicest boat on the water.  The views at night on both sides of the river were quite stunning, with one side the historic European waterfront of old Shanghai (the Bund) contrasting with the other side, the modern steel and glass financial powerhouse district of new Shanghai (Pudong).  For those who visit I definitely recommend this cruise to get a glimpse of the new architecture (a lot of it nice, some like the TV tower, not so nice) that is being built at breakneck speed.

One quick note about food.  Shanghai’s most famous dish is probably xiao long bao, a small steamed dumpling that’s ridiculously good when done right.  Well, there’s been the argument that Taipei’s are better, so Di and I went out all over town to the most famous joints to give them a try.  I’m sorry to disappoint the Taiwanese readers out there, but Jia Jia Tang Bao in Shanghai was tastier for us than Din Tai Fung in Taipei.  And yes we know Din Tai Fung well, Di lives across the street from them and we eat there almost every 2^nd day we’re in Taipei.  When you’re in Shanghai you have to give Jia Jia a try.

5 days here gave us a pretty good feel for Shanghai, especially with so many local friends.  I was here 5 years ago, and though it was developing a lot already there were still a lot of visible social issues, especially begging.  This time around, I didn’t see even one panhandler on the street.  And though the odd person still budges in line, it’s definitely rarer than my first time here.  This city is evolving, and fast at that.  The infrastructure is first rate, and the new buildings rival those of any built in the rest of the world.  Though China is still a developing country, Shanghai is confidently leading the charge for its transition into a first world powerhouse.  Being here, in the front line of change, almost made me want to grab a suit, a cell, and a notebook to join the army of entrepreneurs looking for excitement and their piece of the pie.  Then I remembered I was travelling the world with Di, and Phil and Ta were along for this part of the ride, so  I emerged from my stay-here-and-get-rich daydream and happily we moved on to Beijing to let the adventure continue.  Shanghai definitely impressed us though, and I’m sure all of us will be back.  Maybe by then it will fully attain that international city status the Chinese government so wants it to have.