Pedometering in Xian

Shopping center, traffic, from the Bell Tower, ground zero,
Xian

New pedometer

September 10, 2008, Xian, Wednesday

Today we decamped, bidding farewell the luxurious Sheraton Four Points/Haidian, taxied to the airport, and, with only a little e-ticket difficulty, flew to Xian, the ancient capital. The trip was made ever more pleasurable and informative by a fellow passenger, Mr. Jim Kim, sales manager/Asia for InfoTrust Group. He travels frequently to the US, speaks superb English, and was able to answer the 1,001 questions we have been formulating about contemporary China. Lunch aboard the Air China flight was a treat (not pretzels, to say the least). The terrain we flew over was largely mountainous, dry, then later very green, with terraces, rivers, gorges, and, finally, the fertile plain we are now on in Xian. The 40 km shuttle ride from the airport featured massive bucolic scenes—lots of corn—dotted with ancient imperial burial mounds, most as yet unexcavated. At length, we arrived in the central city, within the ancient walls, and found our hotel, the Prince International. (It apparently goes by many names). It's plenty nice enough.

Xian is a sleepy little Chinese town of 8 million. About the size of NYC or LA, I guess. We walked the downtown a bit, booked our tour of the Terra Cotta Army tomorrow, and visited the 14^th century Bell Tower, which is ground zero in Xian. The view from the Tower enabled us to gain greater perspective on Chinese traffic phenomena and driving behaviors. We have formulated the following hypotheses:

Pedestrians have no rights, no priority, whatever.

Wheeled vehicles have rights and priorities in accordance with their size. Even bicycles outrank pedestrians. Buses have great priority. Taxis, however, appear to be bound by no rules nor priorities.

Everyone drives pretty slow. In10 days in China, we have seen only two wrecks, both very minor, both today (one in Beijing, one here). Top speed on the freeways we have observed is 80 km/hr. We have seen some pretty close calls, however, and were involved in one with our pedicab ride last week.

We believe the entire country is engaged in a massive game of “chicken.” Tour buses and taxis rule.

After the Bell Tower, we decided to check out a massive department store nearby. It was comparable to anything we ever saw in Dallas, with every upscale brand of every conceivable article. We were about to head for the food court/epicurean market in the basement when there, at the foot of the escalator, was a huge counter of Omron products. My beloved Omron pedometer had ceased to function properly back in Missoula, after going through the wash and most of the dry cycle; I had borrowed Rebecca's, but neglected to pack it for the trip, and had been missing it for days, especially with all the walking we're doing. So I am now the proud owner of a new Omron pedometer (as seen on the You docs). It's China-red, has Chinese language markings, weighs me in kilos (76 currently), calculates my mileage in kilometers, but counts steps just like the old one. It was meant to be.

After an unremarkable dinner, we headed back to the hotel. Tomorrow we will do the Terra Cotta Army and associated tombs and sites. We leave late Friday afternoon for Guilin, so will see more of Xian Friday, hoping to use the evenings catching up on photos, blog, learning our various gadgets, including camera.