The City of Western Peace

Our little guy is from a town nearby Xi'an in the province of Shaanxi. We got to spend about five days there, not nearly enough time to take it all in but certainly enough time to get a feel for the place. I'm having a difficult time putting into words what it felt like to be there and to express my observations.

It's important to me though to recount our time in Xi'an and to have a picture in my mind so I can one day tell my son what it was like to be there, so close to where he is from and where it was that we met him and spent our first days together. I suppose I would tell him that it is a city steeped in history. It was after all the first capitol of China. There is still, to this day, a city wall which surrounds the inner city. The inner city was originally the emperor and his staff's domain. Outside of the wall is where everyone else lived and conducted business. Today, inside the wall is bustling with activity of all kinds, highly populated with people, vehicles and buildings. Outside of the wall is just as populated and dense with parks, schools, restaurants, shops, hotels and neighborhoods. In order to preserve the feel and maintain its sense of history, the local government has prohibited any further development of high rise buildings inside of the city wall. As it is now, the wall is visible from almost every direction from the city's center. If more high rises were to be constructed however, the city wall would become invisible from the inside. The wall is a reminder of the importance, both past and present, that the city of Xi'an plays in Chinese history.

We were reminded of Xi'an's past and present each time we left our beautiful and well appointed hotel as it was in the city's center. Our room's view was situated directly towards the historic Bell Tower. Looking down from our hotel window we could gaze across at the beautiful tower, and be reminded often as we heard the tower guards ring the bell, as we also watched the very large traffic circle that surrounded it. From this bell tower, one can view the city wall in all directions. It was magnificent. I will absolutely keep a vivid picture in my mind to recount this to our little guy when he is older.

And while he'll be too young to remember the visit, I will also tell him about our time at the Terra Cotta Army museum. I'll happily tell him all about one of the largest and the most important archeological finds of the 20th century and how it was discovered by a few simple farmers when they started digging a well for water in 1974. One of those same men now spends many of his days sitting at the site, which now houses the museum, signing books written about that truly incredible discovery. I should know because we were fortunate enough to get a signed copy from him on the day we visited.

There is so much more I will tell him, but for now, I think this is a good start. One day, when he is older, we hope to visit again when he can have his own reflections. And may he truly discover the literal translation of Xi'an: western peace.

View from the Bell Tower - notice city wall is visible even through the haze

Our own terracotta warrior

Neighborhood outside of city wall