Shanghai, City on the Make, Xi’an, City with a Past

Shanghai, City on the Make

Shanghai is a city of hustlers, players, pimps, scammers, dreamers, climbers, and wannabes. 17 million people live in the metropolitan area, so it’s roughly the size of New York or Calcutta, bigger than London or Rio. Thanks to the People’s Republic of China’s experimentation with free markets, Shanghai’s growth is explosive. The skyline is expanding by the minute – everywhere you look, cranes are straining away to create new buildings of 40, 60, even 100 stories. Architects top these creations with whimsical turrets, pagodas, fountains, ziggurats – seemingly with whatever springs to mind. They’re like designer hats, or children’s toys. Another sign of exploding growth is the super fast train in from the airport –traveling at a top speed of 301 kph!

The old city lies slowly crumbling under the weight of its gaudy new dreams, coming through in brief flashes at the Yuyuan Garden or on the art deco edges of the Old French Concession. The Bund alongside Huangpu River is also a look back as it was once the financial center of the Far East. It is often referred to as "the museum of buildings", due to the many different styles of European buildings and shows the imprint of the west on the city. For decades the people of Shanghai lived with work collectives and the guaranteed jobs of the “iron rice bowl” system; now they’re scrambling to negotiate their way through the glorious jungles of capitalism. The results are decidedly mixed. On an extraordinarily lame “cruise” along the Huangpu River to the Yangtze, we saw industrial sludge pouring from numerous drainpipes into the drinking water of the city’s masses, as barges filled with garbage floated amidst barges filled with coal, all of it on its way to be burned and choke the sky, obscuring the view of those fabulous new skyscrapers. Meanwhile thousands of people arrive every day from the countryside to add to the population of the “most prosperous” city in the most populous nation on the Earth. We jumped in the capitalist stream trolling the “fake” markets and eating the most decadent brunch ever at the Shangri La for a quarter of the price it would have been in the US! Contrast that with the equally delicious and cheap dumplings you can buy almost anywhere. We ventured just outside the city to see the botanical gardens, part kitsch part beautiful and the Longhua Si Temple and Pagoda – replete with fun for the family!


Xi’an, City with a Past

Xi’an (pronounced “she-on”) is no pastoral paradise – it’s a city of 5 million people, nearly as populous as the San Francisco Bay Area – but it seemed mellow after Shanghai. Xi’an was the capitol of China for a thousand years, and the starting point of the Silk Road that China used to trade with Central Asia, India, Egypt, Greece and Rome for millennia. It’s traditionally considered China’s gateway to the vast West (meaning China’s West, not the “Western world,” and not Dodge City). It definitely has a different feeling than the big cities of the East (i.e. Shanghai) or South (i.e. Hong Kong).

The area has preserved some of its ancient heritage, either intentionally, like its city wall (practically brand-new, since construction began in 1370 -- we took a great eight-mile bike ride on this seeing glimpses of life that looked like glimpses into the past with kids playing with hoops and people in the park enjoying traditional music), or unintentionally, like the incredible Terra Cotta Warrior Army. As with the Pyramids, this is a monument to a ruler’s ego – the 8,000 warriors were made to guard the tomb of the megalomaniacal Qin Shi Huang, first emperor of the Qin (pronounced “Chin”) Dynasty. Qin Shi Huang is famous for unifying China, as well as starting construction of the precursor version of the current Great Wall of China, and a massive national road system, at the expense of numerous human lives. To ensure stability, he outlawed Confucianism and buried many of its scholars alive, banning the possession of (and burning) all books other than those he decreed and enforced laws brutally by branding, chopping, strangulation, and by burying violators alive. Amazingly, no two warriors are alike, and scholars speculate that each one was modeled on an individual member of Qin’s actual army. The life-sized terra cotta statues were sealed up, and intended never to be seen by human eyes again, around 210 B.C. Then, in 1974, peasants digging a well discovered them, archeologists (and eventually travel agents) got wind of it, and now the site is one of China’s most popular attractions.

The first glimpse we had of the unromantically named “Pit #1” was breathtaking – the soldiers and horses are massed in rows for more than three football fields. Each of the 11 passageways had four warriors marching side by side; there are over 6,000 infantry in battle formation. Originally painted in bright colors, they were constructed from interchangeable parts luted together by clay. Qin Shi Huang's army was drawn from all over his vast empire, and this ethnic diversity is reflected in the variety of hairstyles, headdresses, and facial expressions. Even on the mass-produced bodies, the level of detail is striking, down to the layering of armor and the studs on archers' shoes that prevented them from slipping. Pit 2 holds 1,400 soldiers and cavalry and a taller (nearly 2m/6 1/2 ft.) general; pit 3 houses the headquarters, with 68 senior officers. A small hall just to the right of pit 1 contains a display of two magnificent bronze chariots, reconstructed from nearly 3,500 pieces excavated from a pit to the west of the tomb. That Qin really went out in grand style; he built himself a little mausoleum next door, too – in the photos, you’ll see us climbing it. Nearby the Tang emperor Xuanzong built gardens at the hot springs at the foot of Li Shan in Lintong County so he could frolic with his favored Imperial Lady Yang to his heart's content.

Xi’an is about two hours from Huashan (Mt. Hua), one of the five sacred mountains of Buddhism in China. We took a gondola partway up, then hiked thousands of stone steps, through temples on rocky ledges, alongside Chinese pilgrims and tourists (mostly the latter), to two of Huashan’s five summits. We left a lock with our names on it on the mountain, like many thousands of others have before us. We were impressed with the dramatic views, and by the determination of our fellow climbers, young and old. Folks broke out into song and others joined and we had to chuckle at the business suit clad people sweating and panting their way up the paths.

We also visited several other temples, pagodas, and museums around Xi’an; sometimes I had to remind myself to appreciate the jade carvings and stone relics, rather than focusing on the butchered English translations on the signage (check out the pics). Hey, at least they’re trying – I don’t see too many Chinese-language signs in American museums. The Cultural Revolution’s impact was obvious, it is estimated that over 90% of all religious buildings were destroyed – now they are rebuilt for tourism and are a garish disconnect with the communities that built and prayed in them at one time.

A major highlight of Xi’an is the Muslim Quarter. The city has a significant Muslim minority (and in fact there are tens of millions of Muslims in China who you rarely hear anything about). It also has China’s largest mosque, founded in 742, with an exquisite courtyard and garden that was an oasis of peace in the midst of the old city. We loved the area around the mosque filled with food stalls of all kinds and tourists treasures galore. We also sampled other Xi’an local fare.

Overall we felt like we were truly in China. The babies wore no diapers (they have slits in their clothes and are apparently potty trained by 6 months for lack of soap and water) and many people vied to practice broken English and Welcome us to China.