Oct 22nd, 2007 by scott
Well, on the third day in Xi’an, I went with my hosts, Zhao Xi Hu and Wang Ya Ling, to a Daoist mountain about an hour’s drive from Xi’an. This was apparently the place where Lao Zi made medicine for longevity. It is a state park now and the walk up and down the mountain was very beautiful. We stopped at a couple of places to enjoy some of the fruits and nuts the local people were selling. These included kiwi fruit, walnuts and persimmons. It was very nice and relaxing and the food was delicious! Finally, we walked back down the mountain and visited the Daoist temple there.
After that, we went to one of the two restaurants in town and had a fantastic lunch, which included spicy peanuts, a chicken dish, a sliced beef dish, a spicy dofu dish, ma la mien (hot and numbing noodles) and a soup. These were local dishes that were very tasty!
There was another surprise after the late lunch. We went to a zoo of sorts where they had 12 pandas, as well as red pandas, crested ibises (they said there are only 1000 left and they had over 100 of them), etc.
On the way back to Xi’an, we stopped by a couple of building sites where Zhao Xi Hu wants to get a house. These neighborhoods are being built in traditional Chinese style and look very nice. The prices are comparable to American prices, though, as they want nearly $300,000 for a 2700 sq ft, 3 story house (that is completely bare, without any finishing (such as bathroom fixtures, etc.) at all. Also, the commute might be an issue, as it is about 40km from work in Xi’an. It was very interesting to see what is going on in the real estate world in China.
After checking out the building sites, we went to a tea house and had some oolong served in the traditional tea ceremony style. The proprietor is a friend of Wang Ya Ling’s and he took us on a tour of the second and third stories of his shop, where he has a fantastic collection of teapots, antique furniture and calligraphy. It was really nice to see a collection like this. I felt very privileged!
To end the evening, they dropped my off at the theater where they conduct a show of traditional dances and music. This was definitely a tourist type show, complete with the obnoxious tour bus types, but the costumes, dancing and music was really good and made up for the tourist trappings.
Finally, I got a taxi back to the hotel and went to sleep, since my flight was leaving at 9:40AM today.
The driver arrived late and sped me to the airport, but, as it turns out, the flight is delayed due to mechanical problems, so I took out my computer and wrote this. I’ll add pictures and post it when I get to a place that has an Internet connection.