The convention was over and sightseeing time begins. The group going to Xi'an was up early and ready to travel. There are only twenty people in our group. This is much smaller than the 180 people we have been traveling with in Guiyang. We are back at the airport to travel north to Xi'an. I am excited because this is the home of the Terra cotta soldiers! I have always dreamed of going to see the soldiers. We have no troubles with seat belts this time and everyone is ready to go. We eat lunch on the plane and land in Xi'an. We are taken to our hotel first before our next excursion. I am so excited it is a Hyatt! The hotel is also decorated for Christmas. I make good use of my time by ordering room service and washing out some clothes. There is a great item on the menu! A cheeseburger!!And french fries!! It is good to eat American again! HMMMMMMM!! I never knew one could be so good!
We meet in the lobby for the trip to the Wild Goose pagoda.
http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/shaanxi/xian/bigwildgoose.htm is the link. Paste it into the browser and see it for yourself. It was beautiful weather with clear blue skies and a bit of wind. The park in front of the pagoda is full of people flying kites. Every kind of kite you can imagine. The street people are surrounding us with kites to buy and trying out discount each other. Several people in the group buy kites as souvenirs. The temple courtyard is beautiful with two towers. One tower is a Bell tower to call monks to prayer at the beginning of the day. The other is a Drum Tower to call the monks to prayer at the end of each day. We look at all of the surround buildings. One building is the Temple for the beautiful Golden Buddha. Several of us light incense to Buddha and ask him to bless our loved ones at home. Another building has the Jade Story of Buddha's life, it starts with his mother being told she would have a special baby. It is an angel who tells her this news. The child is born and has a very good life in the palace. The angel said if he saw anything bad in his life, his life would be changed forever and his parents would lose him. Buddha escapes his parents and sees bad things in life. He cuts his hair and lives in the forest for seven years. He becomes enlighten and starts a new life helping people. It is like seeing a stain glass window of the life of Christ, but made of Jade with the story of Buddha. How amazing! It was for people who couldn't read to know the story of Buddha. The same reason we have stain glass windows with the story of Christ. I find a gift shop and buy a book about the Temple. One of my friends discovers pray cards you can buy for various reasons. One card is for students to use. The Students ask the monks to pray for them to have good grades and do well on test. Education is important in China. Everything is done by your test grades; where or not your go to a good middle school(high school) or even have a chance at university.
We have a coffee and sit in the garden. It is so nice to rest. The buildings are so amazing with very detailed paintings. The garden even has caged birds singing to make it relaxing.
Time for dinner and another lazy Susan full of food! This time the restaurant is pink inside. It looks like a Barbie dream restaurant! You boys would hate it! Home to the hotel and sleep! Tomorrow the Terra Cotta soldiers!!
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