Monday in Xian

There is a job in China and Japan that does not seem like much fun. All bathrooms have a person whose job it is to stand in the public washrooms, help people and clean. It is a nice service though. Toilets in Asia are not like toilets in America but they do have some western style for the tourists.

There is a lot of building and renovation going on in China. They have beautiful new buildings among the old styles.The pagoda styles with the gold trim paint are elegant. We are staying in a new motel, the Paradise Resort, on a new street.

We visited the tomb area of Emperor Shi of the Quin Dynasty with the realistic, and detailed terracotta soldiers and horses. It is impressive. They have found over 8,000 life size terracotta warriors plus many horses buried around 2,000 years. They are beautiful and no two are alike. Every soldier has a different face, different outfits and different features, just like real people.. They were definately advanced in many ways long, long ago.

The emperor was conqueror who unified China by doing battle and killing many people.The culture is hard for me to grasp but their religion played a big part. When he died, we are told his 1,000 concubines were buried alive with him. The peasants did not like the way he treated them so, just after he died,they revolted and tore up a lot of the country. It was a very different way of life.

There was a lot of walking to get to the terracotta soldiers, about a mile to get there, but it was worth it.

We visited Shaanxi Provincial Historic Museum which was nice. There are a lot of good things to see.

One of the things I cannot get used to is the people who follow the tourists around and try to sell them something. I know this is their living, but it feels like flies buzzing around a picnic when they follow you. I want to be polite and treat them like human beings but, if you are nice to them,they are in your face. If you buy one thing,they want you to buy more and more. For someone who wants to be kind but does not have a lot of money to spend on tourist items or a desire to own a lot of the items,it is a no win situation. I have heard about these vendors in many countries around the world, so it isn't just here.

Poor people in many countries will go to great lengths to make money. I am told that some of the beggars on the street who are physically handicapped,such as missing a body part, were born normal but their parents did it to them so they could beg and earn more money. It is very hard for a Christian to imagine doing such a thing to a child. Every human being is of value to God and we must respect that and act accordingly.

We visited a large Buddhist temple and area.There was much incense being burned and many people were worshiping there. There were many statues of Buddha for people to pray before throughout the complex and they were doing so. There were huge crowds,as in every city in China.

Several people went to the theater tonight,about half of our group. The rest of us are tired and opted to come back to the hotel. John and Grady, and a few others, like to walk a little bit at night after sitting and touring all day. They do that at home too. They are out walking around a few blocks. We're in a tourist area so it should be safe.

We have new game here. We have heard of the children's books called, "Where's Waldo?" and you have to look at a very busy picture to spot the Waldo character. We have "Where's Grady?"going. Grady is having a great time exploring everywhere we go, but we often have to look for him when it is time for the group to move on to the next place. He is never very far away.

The group likes ice cream. Most places we go sell ice cream bars so there will be a bunch of people standing around eating ice cream. We are eating very well on this trip. Rice is a staple of every meal but there is plenty to go with it.

The people in the group are buying many things. We haven't bought much yet though. I heard a rumor that a few people are going over their weight limit for their suitcases. Speaking of airports, they vary in what they allow. China is not like the US. The US allows liquids up to 3 oz in a plastic ziploc bag but they did not allow that at the airport yesterday. They made people throw away their shampoo and hand sanitizer and other things. Rules vary a lot but we try to be careful to follow them.