Donkey Restaurant

Ini foto waktu saya ada di Xi'an, bulan April yang lalu. Di deket hotel, ada restoran yang memakai keledai sebagai maskotnya. Kurang tau apa keledai ini juga bagian dari menunya, tapi yang pasti sekitar dua kali sehari sepasang keledai ini dibawa jalan-jalan keliling blok-blok di sekitar restoran untuk promosi. Keledainya cantik, dihias dengan pita di kepala dan ada iklan restoran di punggungnya. Foto ini diambil sore hari, sekitar jam 6 sore, waktu restoran siap-siap buka untuk makan malam. Selain si keledai, para pegawai restoran pun bersiap-siap untuk mulai shiftnya dengan acara briefing sembari baris teratur di depan restoran. Di akhir briefing mereka teriak (mungkin) slogan mereka supaya semangat kerja kali......... seperti ganti giliran jaga di kemiliteran aja! Ini juga dipraktekkan di mal-mal sebelum ganti shift. Pernah di satu mal tiba-tiba ada teriakan keras sekali, bayangin mal 6-7 lantai berapa orang pegawainya dan semuanya teriak berbarengan! Huh bikin kaget aja!

The photo was taken in Xi'an. There's a restaurant by the hotel that uses donkey as their mascot. Not sure if donkey is in their menu as well (never been there), but for sure, about twice a day, this pair of donkeys are herded around the blocks I guess to advertise the restaurant. The donkeys are accessorized with bows and restaurant's advertisement. This picture was taken in the evening about 6pm when restaurants along the streets are getting ready for the evening shift and dinner hours. Besides the donkeys, the staffs are also getting ready to start the shift by attending a briefing in lines in front of the restaurant. At the end of the briefing they will shout out loud their slogan (perhaps)... remind me of a changing guards in the military! The shopping malls also practice this ritual. Imagine a 6 to 7-storey mall during a changing shift... it made me jump!

Camera Sale & Lunch at Chihua Mountain

Pedicab on the Xian City Wall

Xi'an city wall stands 12 meters (40 feet) tall, 12-14 meters (40-46 feet) wide at the top and 15-18 meters (50-60 feet) thick at the bottom. It covers 13.7 kilometers (8.5 miles) in length with a deep moat surrounding it.

Small Wild Goose Pagoda

The Small Wild Goose Pagoda stands in the Jianfu Temple in the southern suburb of Xian City. It was built in the year 707 during the Tang Dynasty (618-907). Unlike the grand Big Wild Goose Pagoda, it is dainty and exquisite in its appearance. It is an important cultural relic and one of the remaining symbols of ancient Chang'an (the name of Xian in the Tang Dynasty).


This multi-eaves brick pagoda is 13 stories tall, reaching 43.38 meters (142 feet). It is square on plane and rises skyward in an elegant spindle shape. Above the ground floor, the height of each storey diminishes, rendering a graceful curve to the contour. Mutli-eaves are made by overlapping bricks curve inward, a characteristic of the Tang Dynasty construction. The grond floor has arched doors facing north and south; the other floors have arched windows instead. Inside, a narrow wooden stairway winds its way to the top of the pagoda.



The construction of the pagoda is a wonder. As Xian is located in an area where earthquakes sometimes occur, the pagoda base is made from packed earth in the shape of a hemisphere. In case of an earthquake, the pressure can be evenly divided, thus the pagoda has remained standing after over 70 earthquakes. After so many earthquakes, only the pinnacle and the two upper floors (the original pagoda has 15 stories) have been damaged. A big earthquake in 1555 damaged and reduced it to the present's 13 storeys. A crack ran from the top to the base and the upper two tiers toppled off. Remarkably, cracks in the pagoda which have occurred during earthquakes have closed by the quakes that came later.


A giant iron bell 3.5 meters (114 feet) in height and about 10 tons in weight resides in the Jianfu Temple. It makes a magnificent clear sound that can be heard more than 3 miles away. The elegant pagoda along with the bell is known as "The Morning Bell Chimes of the Pagoda" and is considered one of the 8 major cultural sites in the province.





Text from: http://en.xian-tourism.com/

HuaQing Hot Spring

Located at the northern foot of Mt. Lishan in Lindong County of Shaanxi Province, 30 kilometers from Xian, Huaqing Hot Springs is a state place of interest as well as scenic spot.


According to the record, as early as the Dynasties of Zhou, Qin, Han, Sui and Tang, temporary imperial abode was constructed here. In the 6th year of Emperor Xuanzong, Reign in the Tang Dynasty(747) it was expanded on a massive scale by turning the hot springs into bathing pools, ringing the Mount with palace buildings, which were to be protected by an outer circular defensive wall and renamed it Huaqing Palace. As the palace was built upon the hot springs, it was also called Hot Spring Pools. In 756, it was reduced to ruins by the flames of war. Most of the existing buildings were constructed in the Qing Dynasty and after the liberation of China.





Huaqing Hot Springs was very famous and used to be bathing site for imperial families during the Zhou, Qing, Han, Sui and Tang Dynasties. Lady Yang, the highest-ranking imperial concubine was also rivileged To Bathe in Huaquing Pool, In Time Of Freezing Spring, And In Slick Hot Spring Water, Rinsed Her Soft Creamy Skin.. As the poem goes.



At the present, there are four springs flowing out with a total capacity of over 110 tons of water per hour at the constant temperature of 43 degrees centigrade, which is good for bathing.



(Text from http://www.legendsofchina.com/xian.htm)

Terracotta Warriors

For 2200 years the Xi'an terracotta warriors silently guarded the tomb of Qin Shihuang, first Emperor of China, remembered chiefly for uniting China in 222 BC thanks to a judicious mix of torture, murder and cruelty.By the time he'd pulled the country together, standardised the currency and made a good start on the Great Wall of China, the Emperor had made more than a few enemies. None could touch him while he strutted the earth, but he feared the afterlife was a different story. To ensure his safety from the petulant gods of the netherworld, Shihuang had a terracotta army made and buried with him in a massive tomb to protect and follow him into immortality.




The warriors stand five to six feet tall and were originally painted in bright colours (now faded to white).



Although they look similar at first glance, they're frozen in different poses and garbed in outfits ranging from armour and belted tunics to coats of chain mail and wind-proof caps. Closer scrutiny reveals slight differences in their complexions, expressions, ages, hairstyles and beards. Emperor Shihuang had the best artisans of the day create the warriors, and walking among the figures can be an unnerving experience - like mixing with the dead of another time.






Shihuang was a cruel emperor who ordered those working on the project to be buried alive with him so that no secrets of the tomb could be revealed. If there were Gods in the afterlife stalking him, let's hope his army didn't help.
(Lonely Planet: Xi'an Terracotta Army, China)

Mr. Yang, 80+, one of the 4 farmers

In 1974, farmers digging a well in the northern Chinese city of Xi'an were disappointed in their search for water. Instead, they uncovered the major archaeological discovery of the 20th century: An underground vault that for over two millennia had been home to more than 8000 beautifully crafted, life-size terracotta soldiers.



The site of the well:

Xi'an Pagoda & City Wall

The Big Wild Goose Pagoda



The South city wall