XI'AN, CHINA
Today I stayed close to home (er, hostel), and walked to some of the sights of the inner city.
I started with Xi'an's Bell Tower, a huge brick structure at the center of the walled city, originally built in the 14th Century and rebuilt again in 1739. Inside the building and up the stairs are displays of ancient musical instruments and a few antique ceramic plates and vases. There's also a concert stage where they hold daily musical performances on traditional instruments (yang chin, various bells, harps, flutes, etc.). Since I arrived about 45 minutes before a show, I amused myself by looking at the numerous scenes carved on the wooden doors of the tower. Some of the captions were pretty interesting: "Playing the Xiao to Allure Phoenixes," "Zhen Long Eulogizing Roosters," "Dog Sending Letters," and "Patriotic Yue Fei Has His Back Tattooed by His Mother," among others. I wish I knew what story or stories they were illustrating, because I would definitely read that book! Anyway, the musical performance was really interesting as well; definitely worth the wait. The big set of bells, especially, was fun to hear and see. Bizarrely, one of the tunes they played was "Auld Lang Syne," which makes sense I guess since it's in a pentatonic scale.
From there, I crossed the street and visited the other big tower in town, the Drum Tower. And sure enough, there are rows of big red drums around the building. I think originally they were used as signals to open and close the city gates, but now they're just for show. For some reason the inside is dedicated to a display of Chinese furniture through the ages. Whatever.
Behind the Drum Tower is the Muslim section of town, featuring lots of restaurants and food stalls, as well as a market selling lots of dried fruits and nuts (I bought a giant bag of apricots there that should last me about a month). It's also the location of the Great Mosque (built in the 18th Century), one of the largest in China, which is sort of hidden behind a maze of narrow alleys. I eventually found my way there and walked around the gardens, which are nicely landscaped and provide a peaceful escape from the busy streets just outside. It was interesting to see a mosque that looks more like a Buddhist temple, since it's built in a totally Chinese architectural style. You never think of Chinese Muslims, either, do you? But there they were in their white skullcaps, kneeling in the prayer room.
Today I stayed close to home (er, hostel), and walked to some of the sights of the inner city.
I started with Xi'an's Bell Tower, a huge brick structure at the center of the walled city, originally built in the 14th Century and rebuilt again in 1739. Inside the building and up the stairs are displays of ancient musical instruments and a few antique ceramic plates and vases. There's also a concert stage where they hold daily musical performances on traditional instruments (yang chin, various bells, harps, flutes, etc.). Since I arrived about 45 minutes before a show, I amused myself by looking at the numerous scenes carved on the wooden doors of the tower. Some of the captions were pretty interesting: "Playing the Xiao to Allure Phoenixes," "Zhen Long Eulogizing Roosters," "Dog Sending Letters," and "Patriotic Yue Fei Has His Back Tattooed by His Mother," among others. I wish I knew what story or stories they were illustrating, because I would definitely read that book! Anyway, the musical performance was really interesting as well; definitely worth the wait. The big set of bells, especially, was fun to hear and see. Bizarrely, one of the tunes they played was "Auld Lang Syne," which makes sense I guess since it's in a pentatonic scale.
From there, I crossed the street and visited the other big tower in town, the Drum Tower. And sure enough, there are rows of big red drums around the building. I think originally they were used as signals to open and close the city gates, but now they're just for show. For some reason the inside is dedicated to a display of Chinese furniture through the ages. Whatever.
Behind the Drum Tower is the Muslim section of town, featuring lots of restaurants and food stalls, as well as a market selling lots of dried fruits and nuts (I bought a giant bag of apricots there that should last me about a month). It's also the location of the Great Mosque (built in the 18th Century), one of the largest in China, which is sort of hidden behind a maze of narrow alleys. I eventually found my way there and walked around the gardens, which are nicely landscaped and provide a peaceful escape from the busy streets just outside. It was interesting to see a mosque that looks more like a Buddhist temple, since it's built in a totally Chinese architectural style. You never think of Chinese Muslims, either, do you? But there they were in their white skullcaps, kneeling in the prayer room.
posted by John Kuge at 11:03 PM
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