Virtual China '98

We were all awakened by the morning call at 6:30. Breakfast was from 7:00 - 8:00. All the groups were very excited; we were going to the highlight of our trip, the Terracotta Warriors. It was very amazing, and quite appropriately decreed to be the eighth wonder of the world. I had seen it once already, but it was just as spectacular the second time around. Nowadays, a family and a funeral home organize a funeral, but in those days, important men and women’s funerals would have everybody involved. In the case of the Qin emperor, wooden figures, pottery figures, models of his palaces, and rivers flowing with mercury were all created for his afterlife. In addition to that, the craftsmen who made the tomb were all buried alive to make sure the secrets of the mausoleum would remain safe.

All the tourists around the pits containing the soldiers were murmuring to each other in awe of the dead Emperor of Qin. Even though he had died more than 2000 years ago, his power was evident as we see those thousands of pottery figures before us, some restored, some still broken, a reminder of the fact that the tomb was plundered by the rebellious peasants. All the figures had different facial features, hairstyles, and expressions.

Outside the pits’ buildings were many stalls, a shopping paradise indeed. One special thing in the souvenir shop was the farmer signing his autographs. This wasn’t an ordinary farmer, but one of the farmers who first discovered the terracotta army.

We went back to the bus at 12:00 and ate our box lunches. Everyone was babbling about how delicate and beautiful the figures were and how it was such a pity that one can’t take any pictures and how they would write their journals. The lunches did not taste very good, but we were already full…of the beauty of Qin ShiHuangdi’s tomb.

Hi! My name is Jason Lui. This was my first time to interview someone. I think it was a great experience. At the very first I felt uneasy because I thought people would think that I was a weirdo. Also it was really hard to decide who to interview. But finally I had chosen the right person to interview. He was an old man but he still looks very active. He was a really nice man.

My first word that I said to him was "ni hao"(hello). Of course, he replied "ni hao". When we went in his house his family members all said "hello". They all were smiling, and they all asked us to take pictures with them. They were one of the nicest families I ever met. The first question they ask me was, "Are you from Hong Kong?" And I said "yes". While I was talking with them I had already told them my name, my school, and I described myself. They really listened to me carefully. I think my group is really lucky because we met such a nice family. They joked with me and told me that my Mandarin was not as good as my teacher’s.

I asked the old man what is his surname and his answer was "Hong".

I asked him what he did for living and he said he was a farmer. I asked him what he grew and he told me corn, barley, strawberries, wheat, and pomegrantes. I was impressed.

I asked him about his family and he told me that he has 5 family members. He really loved his grandson and he said he was his most precious treasure.

Mr.Hong was a really friendly man and he said he really enjoyed talking with us. He didn’t really mind answering any of our questions.

We really appreciated the Hong family's hospitality and their friendliness.

Hi! My name is John Liang and I want to share my afternoon experience with you. Today at 12:00 I had my lunch on the bus. Then at 12:30 I departed to go to the Wei Jia village. I saw lots of interesting things there, such as: a baby pig, baby goats, wells, interiors of cave houses, strawberries, primary school students and lots more. The Wei Jia village was very beautiful and peaceful. There was a cool breeze on top of the mountains and the beautiful flowers and trees made me feel very calm. The people there were very nice and helpful because when we didn’t know the way to go to the different places they would show us the way. When we just came into the village lots of the people said "hello" and "hi" in Chinese. Then while we were walking we saw a house, and a family called Hong invited us in. We went in, then we had a little chat in Mandarin talking about their ages, the kinds of crops they planted, how many people they had in their family. We asked all sorts of other questions. Then Hanson, my friend, asked if he could take a polaroid picture and all of them said yes . When we were about to take a picture of a 4 years old baby boy he started to cry. So in a very quick time all of the polaroid film ran out and when people asked us to take polaroid pictures, we said "Sorry, we are out of film". After that this old man took us to a cave and inside the cave there was a KANG. A kang is a thing warm bed which is used in winter. When winter comes they burn hay in the KANG so that the people will be warm. Then after that Mr. Dratz took us up on the breezy mountain , and we picked some very very sweet strawberries and we ate them. And after that, we went back down the mountain. And while I was walking down I noticed that there are lots of farm animals in such a small village. Then we went to a public primary school. There were lots of kids writing Chinese characters, and they were all working very hard. We tried to go into a temple but we couldn’t find an opening. So we gave up, and went back to the bus and took a 30 minute ride back to the hotel, and while riding on the bus I did a little of the journal. Then when I got back to the Bell Tower Hotel I relaxed a little, and then I finished off my journal. After all, I thought that this was one of the best days out of the Xi’an trip. And I am looking forward to other days here.

Hi my name is Reebok. Everyday I have to walk a lot. Today I went to the terracotta warrior museum. I hated it because I was a shoe and on the floor there was a lot of dust. I had to walk up and down the stairs to see the different types of warriors. I also took a picture with my other friends Nike and Adidas. Well I thought walking in the museum today was way better then yesterday because the floors were very straight and the building was air-conditioned.

Then, I went to the village. I hated the floor on the village because the ground in the village was not straight and it was very bumpy. I also hated the floor on the village because I stepped on the chicken droppings. I am very dirty now and I am covered with dust, because my owner Hanson Chan was so stupid and didn’t walk properly. He was kicking stones and stuff.

Now I feel so good because I am lying on the floor of the bus. On the bus there is air conditioning and the floor is flat and cold.

But I think I should practice walking on these floors because I am too spoiled in Hong Kong. In Hong Kong the roads are flat and wherever I go in Hong Kong there is air conditioning.

Over all I think the trip in Xi’an is really great and I have had a very good experience walking on dusty and rocky roads. I think my owner Hanson agrees that we should both experience not only walking on dirty roads but eating different foods and living in different hotels.

Now that I have rested a long time, I am ready to start walking again.