Xi An Day 2 - Fa Men Si - 10.30

After hearing about how syl couldn't get a ticket out of Luo Yang, the first thing I did at the train station was looking into my Xian - Beijing route. There were 27 windows, each had a line of about 10 deep, all thankfully moving fast. Most of tomorrow's sleepers were already sold out, so in my rush I got the T42 6pm-6:30am hard sleeper ticket. Second thoughts started as soon as I paid the impatient clerk.

I circled the parking lots in front of the train station twice without finding the Tour 2 bus ran by the gov't that goes to Fa Men Si. In china when you ask for directions to anything, the most you get would be a half-sentence reply and some vague finger pointing. I was almost gonna give up and take the private ones when it just appeared in front of me. They should have kept the gov't ones separate.

Fa Men temple was recommended by everyone, for it contained one of the only publicly recognized Buddha relic on the world - a small finger bone. Or was it a toe bone? Supposedly when Sakyamuni Buddha (founder of buddhism) died and achieved Nirvana, his cremated body left behind 84,000 She Li Zi, bone pieces that became holy relics of Buddhism. Some years ago they discovered the existence of this one under the old Fa Men temple tower after it collapsed, hidden inside a 1100 years old crypt. It made headline news since then.

Thousand buddha heads	Tower guarding the Relic

In my view, the temple was a nice stroll at best. They didn't have a particularly big or beautiful statue, they didn't let people ring bells, and they didn't even offer vegetarian meals (i inquired with 3 different monks)! But I suppose this was like a mecca for the religious. The underground crypt was quite cool though. They built an impressive new crypt but also exactly preserved the old one. All the old grandmas and grandpas got on their hands and knees for a look at down the real original crypt tunnel.

Dim room + zoom	Original Crypt
Discovery after collapse of last Tower	Original crypt inner door

I could picture the generations of Tang emperors that built this crypt, each coming here every thirty years as dictated by their royal decree to kneel and pray and "invite" the relic back to the court for worshipping. Everyone would be wearing red and purples and golds. Rows of old monks chanting and waving ceremonial Zhang. It'd be so awesome to see that in a time machine. The actual relic was displayed in a pure gold miniature palace. The lighting was so poor it could've been a stick of wood and I wouldn't have been able to tell.

An adjoining "museum" (an excuse for a double entrance fee) showcased beautiful buddhist ceremonial items and the box containers that stored the relic as well as its 3 decoys. They employed series of boxes in decreasing size, made of everything from gold to silver to wood and jade and crystal. Imagine the first person who unearthed these priceless treasures. It would have been like Indiana Jones, braving countless dangers to finding unspeakable treasures. Where there poisons and curses and mechanical traps in around the crypt? Supposedly the crypt was never robbed in all the 1100+ years it laid asleep after the last Tang emperor sealed it.

Other relics unearthed

Set of containers housing one of the decoys

I tried to find a bus to Qiang Ling (Tomb of emperor Gao of Tang dynasty and his wife/empress). But I guess everyone just goes with tour groups and there were no public buses available. For the 4 hour round trip journey, and the price of transportation, it certainly was an expensive way to tour Fa Men Si. But I was resolved on not taking another packaged tour so long I had a breath left in me.

Back at Xian, I had the 8 treasure cake again at a different stand, Lao Sun Jia. Definitely better than the first time I tried. I considered going to the Mosque, but bought a Drum/Bell tower double ticket instead. Good deal. For 15Y I got to see the Drum tower, a Ming/Qing furniture display, the biggest drum in China, and a blood-pumping drum music show. The band director was an interesting looking fella in a stick tophat and trench coat. I saved bell tower for tomorrow so I could catch the Bian Zhong (bronze bells) concert.

Drum-Bell Square	Painting on the eaves
Little snow, Big snow	It sounded less communistic than it looks

Dinner was spent sampling another Shan Xi specialty, Suan Cai Chao Mi (sour mustard fried rice). I was beginning to think what the northerners think of as good eats were pretty rough dishes compared to the delicacies of the south. Their foods mostly revolved around lamb and grain products. The fried rice was ok enough, but not the tomato+egg soup. A good drink called Suan Mei Tang (sour plum "soup" went well with the spicy rice.

A simple meal

This looked so good but I couldn't fit it

Tonight I left the Postal Hotel and checked into a dorm room in Shu Yuan hostel just for its close proximity to the wall and to Bei Ling. Plan was to visit that famous Bei Ling snack place tomorrow morning before I head to Qiang Ling. Oh and I had my train ticket moved a day back at a cost of 46Y. I went through three windows and even pretended to only speak english to find out all ticket exchanges/refunds cost 20%, foreigner or not. But I was willing to pay the 6 bucks to stay another day in xian.

Shu Yuan hostel was much like Sim's cozy in CD. No single rooms. 50Y for a bed in a quad. Clean shower and toilets. Lots of western-oriented services and atmosphere. But the dorm had mosquitos that assaulted my face multiple times that night (it was cold and the rest of my body was wrapped in duvet).

Warm milk bag 1Y. Tour 2 18x2Y. Fa Men Si 28. Fa Men Museum 32. Tea 4Y. Train to beijing upper sleeper 256. Train exchange fee 46. Bus 1Y. Bell/drum tower 30Y. 8 Treasure Steamed cake 1Y. Dinner 8Y. Hostel 1 night quad dorm 50Y. Water + tea at hostel 8Y.