Another day, another breakfast buffet. The selection at the Shangri La Golden Flower Hotel wasn’t bad, but things weren’t as well prepared as the hotel in Beijing. They did have an interesting selection of dim sum though, and I liked being able to eat dumplings for breakfast.
Shrimp dumplings, steamed bun, fried egg, hash brown, spring roll filled with red bean paste
Congee with pickles and pork floss
Miso soup, assorted dim sum, dragon eyes, assorted other fruit
Soy milk with over-fried, stale cruellers
After breakfast we went to see the Wild Goose Pagoda, a tall Buddhist pagoda built in the Tang Dynasty and is now leaning slightly. We walked around for a bit and saw the bell and drum towers in front, a few of the temple buildings.
After walking the grounds of the Wild Goose Pagoda, we got on the road towards the Terracotta Warriors. They’re a bit outside of the city, so we stopped for lunch along the way. The tour guide warned us beforehand that the food wouldn’t be great, and sadly, it was true. The restaurant had a salad buffet that was decent, but the family style items were a bit lacking.
Soybean salad
Cucumber salad
Bean curd salad
Bean sprout salad
Crunchy clear noodle salad
Tomato, cucumber, lettuce, and orange salad with mayo dressing
Shrimp crackers
Dense flatbread
Pieces of chicken
Sweet potatoes with a sugar crust
Broad flat noodles
Sauteed celery
Sauteed cauliflower
Beef with a kind of winter melon
Sweet and sour chicken
Hand pulled noodle soup
After lunch, we made our way to see the Terracotta Warriors. They were built to guard the tomb of the first emperor of China, who founded the Qin dynasty. It is believed that there are over 8,000 of these warriors buried, each one unique and modeled after an actual person. In addition to the warriors, there are horses, chariots, and weapons.
There are four pits that have been excavated, though one is empty. When the soldiers were first discovered, they were covered in bright paint and intricately detailed, but the paint has faded over time and due to oxidation. They were also found in millions of pieces, having been looted and burned over the years. Archeologists are still digging for more soldiers, and continuing to restore ones that have already been found.
Standing in front of the pit and staring down at the terracotta army is a bit surreal. It’s astounding to think about how much effort and how much manpower went into building this emperor’s tomb. Each warrior is in a specific type of pose and wearing a specific type of clothing that indicates his rank, yet each face is very different.
After spending several hours walking around all of the pits, we headed back into the city for our imperial dumpling banquet dinner. I was super excited for this meal because I had great memories of the last time I was in Xi’an, with my mom in 2002. The dumpling banquet we had was one of my favorites, due to the intricately shaped dumplings and tasty fillings. I don’t know if we went to the same place, but this time we were at De Fa Chang, or DFC for short, which is one of the most famous places in Xi’an.
The dumplings ended up being decent, but not as good as I remembered. And the shapes weren’t the same as I remembered. I remembered have duck dumplings in the shape of ducks, little rabbit dumplings, etc. These were more generic in shape, and they brought a whole bunch of them all at once so I lost track in the middle of what was what. We were pretty stuffed by the end though, and really, who doesn’t love dumplings?
Driving by the old Xi'an city wall on our way back into the city
The drum tower
Park with the bell tower in the distance
The entrance to DFC
Cute dumpling display at the front of the restaurant
Giant golden dumpling statue
Roasted peanuts
Bean curd salad
Pork ribs
Sauteed greens
Cabbage and jellyfish salad
Sauteed spinach
Corn on the cob
Soy sauce noodles
Boiled pork and leek dumplings
Fried pork and leek dumplings with thin skin
Flaky dumplings filled with a sweet paste
Veggie dumplings
Shrimp dumplings
Spicy pork dumplings
Chicken dumplings
Dumplings filled with wood ear
Ham and mushroom dumplings
Pumpkin and pork dumplings
Spicy chicken dumplings
Grape dumplings
Tomato dumplings
Ok now is when I started to lose track, because they were bringing them out faster than I could write down what each one was. But here are the pics:
Last but not least, we had dumpling soup with miniature chicken dumplings, each about the size of a fingernail.
The tiny dumplings bubbling away
See how teeny they are
After dinner, we went back to the hotel and promptly went to bed, as was our custom in China. We had hoped to take a walk on the city wall, which was beautifully lit up, but our hotel was a bit far and our guide was worried about us getting back safely. Too bad though, because Xi’an did seem like it had a more lively nightlife than Beijing. Maybe next time.
The drum tower all lit up
Tags: China