13 years ago, Sarah and I went to Yangshou for a fun trip in a quaint town. We wanted to take the kids there. We had a slow start and only a frantic cab ride and a lot of luck got us on the train with minutes to spare. We had to go to Guilin since our train tickets to Yangshou were canceled and took a car down. We finally arrived to find the town had blown up into a city. A fish foot spa and lunch started the trip. That night we attended the famous light show on the river, enjoying the amazing choreography and colors as the mountains were lit up and performers used the water as a stage.
We took the cable car up the mountain for the view, but fog kept the potential of a breathtaking site somewhat low. We had a fun hike around the peak and headed to the water cave, an underground journey typical of caves with nice lights and cool features. After a gross shopping experience underground, we hit the main purpose for our visit: the mud bath. All 4 of us (reluctantly) wandered into the mud, topped with a layer of cold water. Eventually, we all got submerged with the help of the mudslides. We were happy to shower off and head to the hot spring pools for a relaxing soak.
The next morning we borrowed bikes for a ride out of town. Frustrated with Taelyn for lagging behind, we soon learned she had a flat tire and gear problems. It was quite an adventure trying to get someone in this little village to help us inflate the tire but we made it. After a long ride along the river, we hiked the final portion to the waterfall. With our town walk that morning, we probably hiked 6k and biked another 18 miles. Everyone was toast. Unfortunately, our high ropes course outing was canceled so we opted to stay in and the next day we were joined by friends from work. We spent the day eating, drinking, playing games, and took a bike ride into town for a craft beer place and then a German restaurant. West Street at night was chaotic and a challenge to say the least. But the next day we flew to Xi'an, the ancient capital in the north.
In the 1970s, farmers digging a well happened upon clay remnants of warriors. The site became excavated and soon we had the Terra Cotta Army. Pit 1 is the largest and contains possibly 6000 soldiers. Much of it still has yet to be uncovered. We saw Pits 2 and 3 as well (the only 3 of the more than 630 that have been found that are open to the public). Our journey was not complete without a VR experience and a look at the museum. We learned more this time and enjoyed the experience, appreciating the massive size of the site and the 30 years of work by more than 700,000 people to construct it. Most all of the soldiers have been destroyed by raiders and their weapons taken. Other pits contained entertainers, acrobats, musicians, and animals. The tomb of the emperor remains untouched, surrounded by bronze, booby traps, and mercury. It may never be opened. We had lunch on the way out, learned how to tell real jade from fake, and marveled at the thousands of shops that have sprung up to make a buck (many of them probably on top of pits of soldiers that will never be uncovered.
Sarah really wanted to bike on the walled city so we rented tandem bikes and cruised the 8.5 square of the ancient wall. Most sections were bumpy but it was a nice car-free look at the area.
After biking, we just wanted to enjoy a beer and a meal. After searching online, we discovered several options opening a couple of hours later. We walked to the first to scout the location, but nothing walk there. We found another, the building was locked up. Didi wouldn't connect, and we finally got the to the third location. A vacant alley lined only by a waste management plant. This was not going well. We went to the furthest away now since we spent two hours for nothing. Upon arrival, we wandered the mall for a bit before coming upon it. Service was slow but the beer and food were good at Xi'an Brewery.
In order to travel back north to our hotel to collect our bags and onto the rail station, we needed about 52 minutes (according to the map). 2 hours later we had yet to reach the train station. Our train had left and we ran to book another, only to be told there were no more trains from that station that night. We were stuck.
Having booked the first train out the next morning, we headed to a hotel we found online. It was identifiable only as H. Hotel (named the Hanting Hotel) and we checked in. They wanted $86 for the room. We said no, and booked it for $49 on Booking.com standing in the lobby. Sarah went to the desk to ask them to call our hotel at the mountain and hold the room for us but was told that the government just told them that no foreigners were accepted and we needed to leave this room. Sarah said no, we had kids sleeping and an early train out and we weren't leaving. They came knocking and woke us up asking for our passports which we gave up just to get some sleep.
A new cab and train ride and we were off to Haushuan. Once we arrived we were told that we could not climb Mt Hua as foreigners at this time. 4 train rides and 3 nights of hotels (5 rooms) all for only a glimpse of the mountain. What a bust. We headed back after a day of watching movies to Xi'an only to be hassled more at the train station about our health status and registration. We were quite glad to leave Xi'an.
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