Forest of Stones

September 12, 2008, Xian/Guilin, Friday afternoon

We are sitting in a coffee bar at the Xi'an airport. Mark having an expensive Bud—no soft drinks here—only bar drinks or coffee and tea. For me it is too hot for tea. Mark is not too happy that we have been eating a lot of American fast food—of course, he doesn't like it even at home. Me, I love having at least something familiar to put in my stomach. I haven't been really sick yet—but my cast iron tummy has not been too happy most of the last ten days. So far we have eaten KFC, McDonalds, Subway, Dairy Queen and have seen outlets for Burger King and Pizza Hut and Haagen Das. Of course Starbucks is everywhere—even inside the Forbidden City. Mostly when we have had fast food it has been a time issue rather than a deliberate choice to avoid the real thing. Fast Chinese food means a street vendor cooking a pot of something or offering you a skewer of something—usually mutton, if there is a label. Many of the food vendors in Beijing and Xi'an have been Muslim—don't know why.

This morning we got in some yoga and then went to the old city wall—quite impressive. Big enough on top for many cars to drive—though only official ones allowed. But bicycle rentals, pedicabs and even an electric mini bus for tourists. It takes about 1 ½ hrs to bicycle the full way round. 4 main huge gates, many smaller ones and 98 guard posts that jut out from the main wall. Large moat and between the wall and the moat a beautifully landscaped city park with trails, boats to rent for pedaling the moat, exercise equipment, etc. The wall is the largest and oldest extant in the world, dating from the sixth century, renovated in the 15th. It is huge. I will let Mark describe the street of the calligraphers and the Stele Museum.

At the south gate to the walled city is a university of traditional arts and many streets and arcades of calligraphy shops, both art works and equipment. There is also the Forest of Steles, or the Forest of Stones, the oldest and largest collection of stone tablets in China. They are all huge, over 2 meters high. All the classics of ancient China, Analects, Confucius, Mencius, et al. We got some pix of Confucius (on a tablet) and also bought a rubbing of a mountain in western China we liked.

Then a mad dash back to the hotel, packing, on to the travel agent (no deal), shopping for a camera filter, a aquick non-Chinese lunch, and the bus ride to the aifrport. Unfortunately there was no time for the Muslim quarter nor the Grand Mosque. We got on the plane just fine and enjoyed the 2 hour flight south to Guilin, via China Air--nice Chinese meal, choice of fish or spicy beef and noodles, salad, beer, tea, fruit, dessert--then the usual 40 km shuttle ride from the airport to town, then an easy taxi transfer, thanks to a young woman who wrote "Sheraton" for us in Chinese (also Mark's resourcefulness). We are at the Sheraton/Guilin, on the Li River.