Disneyland or Xi'an, China? I can't really tell...

“I think if we were to visit the country China at Disneyworld’s Epcot Center, it would be eerily similar to the China we’re experiencing here,” remarked Laura in the final days of our visit. I could not agree more. It is no wonder that China limits visitors’ stays to 30 days. It seems that each day longer we stayed in China, we began to see past the pretty facades of hastily-erected new structures and started to notice the fissures. Even without China’s artificially advantageous exchange rate, everything seemed and felt cheap, and not in a good way.

Our introduction to China came in the form of Tibet’s euphemistically named “Friendship Highway” and the newly-completed and very impressive Lhasa-to-Beijing railroad. After discovering what the Chinese government had done to the ancient and historical Buddhist religious center of Tibet, we were not too surprised to see greater(?) development when we arrived to Xi’an, the midway point on our transcontinental trip. Xi’an is most widely known for the famous Terracotta Warriors, and dictated, in large part, our decision to visit this classic, walled city.

The Dallas Cowboys' "Jerryworld" can't compare to China's Terracotta Superdome

This theme of making a strong impression was evident all around the city of Xi’an. The city walls, ancient even by European standards, are an incredible sight to see. Tourists and locals are permitted to ride atop the extremely wide city walls and take in a bird’s-eye view of the city. All around us as we rode, we saw cranes knocking over the old and building the new. Only the new was meant to look old – that’s the weird part. Instead of protecting the original structures or working to refurbish them, the Chinese government seemed to have decided that it would be cheaper, easier and faster to tear down and build from scratch. So, as much as I was absolutely blown away by how advanced China’s infrastructure seemed to be, I couldn’t help but wonder how long it will last.

Riding bikes atop Xian's city walls in its circular park

In many ways, through my verbal and written critiques of the Chinese, I feel hypocritical. The first Americans did painfully little to preserve Native American art, cultures, traditions and worse yet – peoples. As a country we’ve done much to denigrate our environment. But, it’s because of these mistakes why I expect more from a developing country like China. Learn from our mistakes is what I’m asking.

I guess if our visit to China taught us one thing, it would be that one month is way too short to understand its past and too long for us to want to understand its future. The facades may fool you at first; they certainly did me. But stay long enough, and you’ll come away with more questions about China’s future than you had when you arrived.

Meet Beijing, where old greets new.

Reason enough to visit Beijing (nee Peking) this traditional meal blew us away. Available at more places than you can shake a chopstick at, our host ensured that we would try this traditional Beijing dish at only the finest establishment.

Up on a terrace overlooking one of Beijing’s leafy parks (yes, they exist), bow-tied waiters brought out all the elements of the quintessential Peking duck feast. First, there is the duck – deboned and carved in a very specific manner. The meat is crispy on the outside but absolutely succulent on the inside with just the right amount of fat to flavor and crunch to please. Next are the accompaniments: doughy crepe, plum sauce, spring onion and thinly-sliced celery. They arrive to the table separately; it’s up to you to put the final product together. And it goes like this.

Take a crepe and place a few pieces of the duck inside. Add a few slices of the cucumber and spring onion. Finally, spoon a dollop of plum sauce on top. Wrap it up like a mini burrito (or mu shu pork) and enjoy! Oh man, enjoy. Just writing this now is killing me…quack quack.

Yeah, you read that correctly – I said spiced donkey. And not just any spiced donkey, we’re talking pre-packaged, vacuum-sealed spiced donkey. The type of spiced donkey that you’d only order on a dare from a passing cart vendor on a 36 hour train ride from Lhasa to Xi’an. That kind of spiced donkey.

It was only a matter of time. With a fun group, plenty of Budweiser and rice wine, nowhere to go, nothing else to do and a ridiculous (ridonculous?) amount of time on our hands, cheap entertainment was abound. Someone in our group noticed a label with the words “spiced donkey” on it and that was the end of it. It had to be ordered and had to be sampled by all within its stench.

Let’s talk about that stench. Once that vacuum-sealed pouch was broken the dining cart never smelt the same. Wretched, horrible, ill, disgusting – plug in any adjective describing something terrible and it will fit. I will, however, give credit where credit is due. The taste was not all that bad. The texture was a bit chewy, but the flavor and taste was, at least, palatable.

It was a sort of “breaking bread” experience for the group. After the train ride, we were all to go in different directions, but no one will ever be able to take this experience away from us, say we didn’t do it – this one special thing together. It is a part of us and we are a part of it. For that I say, “Thank you, Spiced Donkey.”

Trying to master the hot pot with fellow American traveling friends in Xi'an

China’s version of fondue, hot pot experiences are meant to be shared with a good group of friends. It works like this; in the middle of the table is a hole where a “hot pot” of boiling water and oil sits.

Patrons choose from a variety of meats, vegetables and fish to put into the pot. Additionally, you can add in different spices including red chili peppers, basil and my personal favorite, the mouth-numbing Szechuan peppercorn, sending your taste buds into such confusion you’ll think it was a dose of Novocain. Hot potters throw the contents into the boiling oil mixture and after a few minutes and sips of Tsingtao beer it’s time to put your fishing skills and chopsticks to work. Fight your neighbor off and fish out what you’re after before the final step – dunking all that goodness in the spicy peanut sauce. Our Sino-based friend, Rory, said it best, “this sauce is so good, you could dunk a pair of shoelaces in it and it would taste good.”

Sharing a hot pot with friends in Beijing

If you are really lucky or in the know, your hot pot restaurant will come with its very own “noodle ninja.” This samurai noodle-maker will take a ball of dough and knead and stretch the dough into sinewy-thin noodles. Like a raver at an Ibiza nightclub, the noodleman will chuck his edible glowsticks into the boiling pot for you to enjoy with the rest of your meal (check out the video here if you need a visual explanation).

This, my friends, is stinky tofu. This fermented tofu has one hell of a strong odor and one smelly taste. Wait, can a taste smell bad? Let us assure you, it most certainly can.

On our visit to Beijing we left the food ordering up to our veteran pal who we were staying with and who has lived in Beijing for the past four years. When this ‘delicacy’ showed up to our Peking table, we didn’t bat an eye. Afterall, our buddy hadn’t let us down before. That was our first mistake. The second mistake was sampling the stinky tofu, which made an unforgettable, repugnant impression. Imagine chewing on a pair of sweaty, dirty socks that had been laying in the hamper for two weeks. Get the picture?

We had the pleasure of sharing the meal of stinky tofu with fellow round the world traveling friends at www.FollowOurFootsteps.com. This scene of our pal Ashley sampling stinky tofu tells it all.

This snack can be found all over China but is particularly popular in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Taiwan, where it is usually found at night markets or roadside stands, or as a side dish in lunch bars. To make stinky tofu, you marinate fresh tofu for a couple of hours in a brine of vegetables and dried shrimp that has been fermenting for six months or more. Once it has been correctly fermented, it’s cut into bite-size squares. It’s then either steamed or most commonly deep-fried. A typical dish is deep-fried squares of tofu drizzled with black vinegar, chopped black beans and kimchi sprinkled over the top.

We’ve had our fill and won’t be going back for seconds.

Click on the photo for more details on our around the world trip.

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

Many outdoor activities are offered including rock climbing pitches first ascended by the late American free climber Todd Skinner. We took advantage in every way: rock climbing, mountain biking and a more leisurely boat cruise down the Li River. We were glad to have our pals at FollowOurFootsteps along for the ride.

Music
Artist: Peter, Bjorn and John
Song: Young Folks

The Terrocotta Warriors

Xi’an is home to the great Terracotta Warriors. The army of 8,000 warriors was discovered underground in 1974 after nearly 2,000 years of going untouched. They were built under the Chinese emperor in 220 B.C. to defend him in the afterlife. Aside from the size of the army, what makes the discovery so incredible is the level of craftsmanship that went into each one. No two are the same with everything down to their facial structure, attire and hairstyle differing. Truly a sight to see.

Biking the Great City Walls

As one of China’s oldest cities, Xi’an is also home to one of the oldest and best-preserved Chinese city walls. At 8.5 miles it’s one of the oldest pieces of architecture to survive China’s history. Standing 40 feet tall, the wall still has strong presence over the city today and continues to be used regularly by its residents. Over a million people pass through the wall’s gates each day. We decided to tackle the wall on bicycles. No ordinary bike would do – a tandem bike it would be. Cycling the old city wall at sunset lined with red lanterns, leafy trees and classic Chinese pagodas, was a fantastic way to experience the city.

Street Eats

During our month in China, we sampled a lot of street food, but nothing rivaled our culinary adventures in Xi’an. We were staying right in the heart of the Muslim Quarter, where you can find a great variety of exotic foods. This area has been home to Chinese Muslims for over 1,000 years so the food traditions here are strong and something the people take seriously. From the multitude of ka-bobs to the street snacks and desserts, the selection is unique and various. In the twisting alleyways of the tree-lined neighborhood, we feasted on homemade noodles, fresh-baked breads, candied dates and even rice lollipops topped with crushed nuts and molasses. Check out more video highlights here.

First stop was dining at a sophisticated restaurant where we rubbed elbows with Beijing’s elite. My buddy treated us to a memorable feast of succulent Peking duck – a meal I’ll be dreaming about until my return.

Next up it was time to play tourist with a visit to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City (what happened here is a story in and of itself and deserves its own post – check it out here). Most memorable was watching the sunset over the Forbidden City from the hill at Jinshang Park. Breathtaking!

The culinary food adventure continued (and would be a theme of our visit to Beijing). We were scheduled for a big night out and were excited to have two of our pals and fellow round the world Chicago travelers (check out their blog here) along with us for the ride. To get things going we headed to Beijing’s hottest hot pot destination. This meal consists of a huge pot of boiling water in the middle of the table with a variety of herbs and spices added to it. You dip in your meat and vegetables and cook them to your liking before dunking them into a delicious peanut sauce. I liked to call it China’s version of fondue. Best part was undoubtedly the noodle-making ninja (see video here) who brought his skills tableside.

The lively hot pot meal was followed by a licentious night out on the town. It was time to get serious. We moved the party on to a karaoke bar. Let me tell you, though, this wasn’t any karaoke bar. It was a five-star, exclusive karaoke ‘club.’ Pictured above is the posh lobby of the joint, appropriately dubbed ‘Party World.’ Here we were lead to our private room, which, with leather sofas and plasma screen TVs, looked more like a lounge for some high-rollin businessmen. We sang our hearts out to some karaoke favorites and even tried our luck on some new Chinese tunes, including the memorable and epic “One Night in Beijing.”

Hoping to save the best for last, we headed to the Great Wall of China on our final day in Beijing. This was a huge mistake, as our debauchery in Peking had us out till the wee hours of the morning for three consecutive nights. By the time our Great Wall visit was in order, we were unfortunately feeling exhausted…and yes, I must admit, a wee bit hung-over. We were in less than ideal shape to enjoy the splendor of the Great Wall, but amidst this gloomy, foggy day, we did our best to take it all in.

Next time, on the eve of seeing one of the world’s greatest sights, I’ll be sure to pull the reins our nightlife activities. Lesson learned.