华山: Living Life on the Edge

I admit: since I have come to China, I have become a mountain nut. The first mountain I ever climbed was Mount Blue when I was spending the summer in Maine in 2005. I was tired, wore the wrong shoes, was not prepared, and hated every moment of it (I was also a super moody teenager at that time and, therefore, hated everything). At that time, it would have been safe to say that I would probably never set foot on a mountain (or outside in the wilderness) ever again. Looking back today, I cannot believe that I could have ever felt that way! Throughout college and beyond, I grew to once more adore the outdoors--camping, hiking, and (most recently), mountain climbing. My first mountain that I attempted was not in China, but in Nepal (go big or go home, I suppose... catch up on that adventure here!). I hiked through the Himalayas with my girlfriend and made it up to 2,440m (that's 11,290ft) and found that I loved the way my body felt after an intense day of hiking. Back in China, I visited Zhang Jia Jie in May with the one and only Big Four adventure (check it out!) and Yellow Mountain with Adam just last month (right over here!!). I have definitely tried to make up for lost time when it comes to traversing one of God and nature's greatest creations so when I knew we were going to Xi'an for National Holiday, there was something else, just 75 miles outside the city that I wanted to do.

Hua Shan (华山) is a little different from the other mountains that I have climbed in China. Like so many beautiful places in nature, Hua Shan has been given a role of spiritual and religious importance (even in the atheist country of China). As early as the second century BC, there have been Taoist temples on top of the mountain due to it's immense natural beauty. Taoists actually believe that the god of the Underworld lives beneath the mountain and the mediums at the temples communicate with the god. Equally interesting, Hua Shan has also always been a beacon for immortality seekers due to the rare and coveted herbs that grow on the peaks... some of them believed to give you eternal life. Today, the China Taoist Association helps to run and maintain the peaks, discouraging poaching and logging and keeping the mountain a holy place even today in the secular 2014.

It's importance in the Taoist faith can be seen in it's title--it is one of the Five Sacred Mountains of China. Originally I thought that Yellow Mountain must also be included and maybe even Zhang Jia Jie... but in truth, I don't know if I have heard of any of the other mountains. Tai Shan (泰山)the "Tranquil Mountain" in the east, Hua Shan (华山) the "Splendid Mountain" in the west, Heng Shan (衡山) the "Balancing Mountain" in the south, Heng Shan (恒山)the "Permanent Mountain" in the north (yes they have the same name), and the great central mountain, Song Shan (嵩山), the "Lofty Mountain." The five mountains are arranged according to the traditional cardinal directions in geomancy (divination using markings in the ground) and their fame grew during the reign of Emperor Wudi in 140BC (so their title of being sacred has definitely been around for awhile now). 

Of course, geologists and scientists know that the  mountains are millions of years old, standing through the tests of time, earthquakes, and a modernization of a nation. But legend has a very different origin to these five sacred mountains... 

According the legend, the five sacred mountains originated from the body of Pangu, the first being and the creator of the world. It is believed that in the beginning, the chaos of the universe formed an egg where yin and yang were perfectly balanced together until Pangu hatched from the egg and split yin and yang with his great axe. He formed the earth (yin) and the heavens (yang) and to keep them separated, he continued to stand between the two, pushing up the sky. This took 18,000 years and after Pangu placed the heavens where he wanted them to be, he laid down and died. His breath became the wind; his voice, thunder; his left eye, the sun; his right eye, the moon; his blood, the rivers; his facial hair, the stars and Milky Way; his bone marrow, sacred diamonds; his sweat, rain. On top of all this, his body also helped to form the five sacred mountains (and I'm assuming all the other mountains in China, too): Tai Shan was his head, Heng Shan was his right arm, the other Heng Shan was his left arm, Song Shan was his belly, and Hua Shan was his feet.

Pangu is kind of giving me a Yeti vibe...

 Enough history lesson!

Hua Shan is one of the tourist attractions in the Xi'an area; it's a bit further out but definitely worth the trip and a nice way to get outside of a big city, even if it is just for a few days.

We got our train tickets (standing room only but we managed to nab seats anyway!) and took the two hour train ride from Xi'an to the village of Hua Shan where (after a bit of difficulty), we found our hostel, Bao Lian She, which was literally two blocks from the base of the mountain. 

There is a wonderful vibe in the village of Hua Shan--a feeling of adventure! I haven't felt anything like it since I was in Kathmandu; a sort of feeling like everyone is sharing the same amazing adventure together. Everyone who is in that village will climb, is about to climb, or just finished climbing Hua Shan. There are stores selling back packs, walking sticks, head lamps, gloves, and maps. It is actually super popular to start your hike at twilight, climb all through the night to the East Peak, and watch the sun rise. I don't know about you, but that sounds dangerous. So instead, Adam and I woke up right before dawn to start our trek up Hua Shan.

Baozi at 5am... Champion level reached.

Hiking in China is very different from hiking in America, or really anywhere else I have been in the past. Where you hike through winding dirt paths through a dense forest in America or Sweden, in China, there are rarely ever forests and the paths are always one of two things: concrete slopes or stairs. Yeah. Stairs. Let's just say that climbing a mountain up thousands of flights of stairs SUCKS.

 

We started our hike at about 6am, just as the sun was starting to rise. It was quiet (which is hard to say in China) and there were only a few other hikers on the trail. We hiked uphill, up countless steps, the cold Autumn air keeping us cool and upbeat. The stairs were so steep at some points that they resembled a ladder where we had to cling to the rusty chains to try and pull ourselves up, not thinking of the dangerous fall behind us.

I'll be honest: Hua Shan was really nothing special. I had already been to Zhang Jia Jie that was so expansive and massive and Yellow Mountain that was so unique and tall being hidden in the clouds. Hua Shan was the same shade as Yellow Mountain but lacked the impressive peaks and sights. If I had to recommend a mountain for you to go visit, it would not be Hua Shan.

EXCEPT!

The Plank Path in the Sky.

If you have ever seen one of those slideshows on random websites like "20 Unknown Travel Destinations" or "Craziest Hiking Paths" you have probably seen photos of the plank path. I saw photos of it years ago and instantly added it to My Life List. When Adam and I decided to go to Xi'an for National Holiday, THIS was the reason why I wanted to go to Hua Shan... The Plank Path and to cross it off the bucket list.

It is (technically) the deadliest hiking path in the world but if you are smart and calm, it is a walk in the park (1,000 feet in the air).

We waited in line for about an hour because of the holiday traffic but it was well worth the wait and I would do it all over again, getting pushed and bumped by hundreds of strangers.

We paid the 30元 for the safety harness (yes, we were safe the whole time) and we slowly made our descent to the side of the mountain.

You walk along this path until it ends at a rock face. The wind whipping around you and blasting your hair in your face, you look down to see a small hole, just big enough for a person to fit through. Ever so slowly, you lower yourself down into the hole and grab onto the iron bars that act as a makeshift ladder, leading you lower and lower down the side of the mountain. I tried to see if going backwards or forward would be better. I  prefer to look Death in the face so I went down the ladder forward, the wind biting at my cheeks and putting the biggest smile on my face.

Once you are down on solid ground (I use that term lightly), it is onward along the side of the mountain. There is a thick, rusty chain that you can hold onto as you slowly make your way along the plank path. The path is about two feet wide and slippery from years of adventurers going ahead of you and just one step the wrong way will send you plummeting thousands of feet into certain death (but a pretty cool way to go... even if it would be considered a stupid mistake). The first few steps are small ledges carved into the rock face but soon you are safely on the crudely made path making your way along the world's most dangerous hiking trail.

We hiked along the narrow plank for about fifteen minutes before we reached another makeshift ladder but this time without the crude metal bars--just some holes dug into the rock. Trying to ignore the fact that slipping and falling would probably be a bad idea, we slowly made our way up the crowded ladder, trying to work together with the people around us (trying doing that without speaking the same language). Our blood pumping, our hearts pounding, and our muscles shaking, we pulled ourselves up that final step of the ladder, quickly bopped along the cutout openings along the rock wall once more and landed on (legit) solid ground. We had made it to our destination!

Now you might think at the end of all this there might be something that is actually worthwhile--worth the 30元, worth the terror, and worth the whole ordeal. Maybe an ancient Taoist temple? Or better yet! A restaurant selling beer?! How about C). None of the above.

At the end of the road, was a very small altar built into the wall of the side of the mountain and a large carving in the rock that read, "Congrats, loser! You didn't die!" (Not really... I honestly have no clue what it says...). I think it was at this point that Adam thought of divorcing me before we even said, "I do." Not exactly the exciting destination that websites make you think resides at the end of the dangerous and mysterious plank path...

But you know what? I'm okay with it just being an altar and not a restaurant selling ice cold beer (seriously, I'm not bitter). It reminded me of just exactly where I was. This amazing experience didn't end at a restaurant or a gift shop but rather an altar--an altar on one of the holiest mountains in all of China. It was sobering--you feel like you had just conquered this great thing (whether it was death, a fear of heights, or the mountain, itself) and suddenly you are taken down off of your high horse and once again reminded just how small you are in the shade of Hua Shan.

We turned around for the return trip and this time we were a bit braver actually looking down and stopping to pose for a picture or two(thousand).

I was thrilled to be able to do this for so many reasons. First of all, it was on My Life List (#129... CROSS IT OFF!!) and I always get this amazing high when I can cross something off my List (sadly, I left the actual list in my apartment in Hangzhou so I couldn't cross it off on the mountain). But another reason why I loved this was that it pushed myself once more. It might not have been in the same way as hiking through the Himalayas and pushing my body physically but it was a similar sensation. As I was climbing down to the plank for the first time, the sun was beating down on me, the sky was blue, the mountains were laid out beneath me like a cooky carpet, the wind kept me cool and messed my hair up at the same time. Nature was all around me, coursing through me, enveloping me in its grasp. As I danced with death (even just the slightest bit), I felt so connected to the world around me and that was one of the times in my life that I have felt the most alive (that and the feeling of my heart pounding so rapidly that I could hear it in my ears).

I think, in the end, Adam enjoyed it too... Even though I forced him into it!!

Feeling like we could fly, there was a new bounce in our step as we decided to keep going just a bit further to the summit of the mountain--the South Peak. It's not nearly as high as I was in the Himalayas but it is the highest peak I have climbed to in China (Zhang Jia Jie was 1128m and Yellow Mountain was 1860m). At around 3pm, we made it to the summit of the South Peak at 2155m.

Add our medals to the collection!!

Once again, nature has dazzled me with it's beauty and greatness. The stairs that I had to climb in order to experience both nature and adventure were nearly impossible (and showed me that I need to try and get into shape). Adam and I managed to weave our way through the sea of humanity, safely navigate the paths of Hua Shan, and had a once in a lifetime experience on the side of a mountain, thousands of feet in the air... If that is not living, then I don't know what is!

“Mountains are not stadiums where I satisfy my 

ambition to achieve, they are the cathedrals where

 I practice my religion.”

--Anatoli Boukreev

Until Next Time,

Amanda 

The Army of the Dead

Ever since I was a little girl, I have been fascinated with other cultures and things older than I could ever imagine, both ancient and prehistoric. At the age of seven, I wanted to be a paleontologist. At eleven, I wanted to be an Egyptologist, memorizing facts about the different pharaohs, dynasties, and teaching myself how to read and write ancient Egyptian. Today, my focus is on the Vikings... not quite as ancient but still equally fascinating. Instead of faerie tales, I would read "Eyewitness" books about Mesopotamia, Pompeii, and the famous Terracotta Army in China.

A trip to Xi'an is incomplete without a visit to the Terracotta Army just 30 minutes down the road (and for the most part, the main reason why people travel to Xi'an at all is to see the warriors), so when Adam and I decided to go to Xi'an for the National Holiday, we knew we had to dedicate an entire day to the Terracotta Army.

The army was constructed over 2,000 years ago by Emperor Qin Shi Huang (and, boy, is he quite a character). Originally the king of the State of Qin, he ended up conquering all the other warring states and united China in 221BC and became the first emperor. During his reign, his generals greatly expanded the size of China taking over parts of Hunan and Guangdong. He also united a series of city walls and turned them into what we know as The Great Wall of China, today. He established a national road system, reformed the political and social system (which sadly resulted in book burnings and executions of scholars), and he searched all his life for the elixir of immortality. He seemed to fear death while he searched for the elixir... but his fears are made even more famous when we look at his Terracotta Army built to guard him even in death. He died in 210BC, buried with his treasures and his army... the terracotta soldiers and a river of mercury in his tomb seem to have done their job quite well because, even to this day, no one has entered his mausoleum.

Like so many cultures in ancient times, the Terracotta Warriors are a form of funerary art--some examples can be seen in King Tut's treasure, the Pyramids, the catacombs of Rome, and the Taj Mahal--and can even be traced back 50,000 years ago to the Neanderthal's burials. Funerary art can have many uses--a part to play in burial rites, an article for the dead to use in the afterlife, and to celebrate the lifetime accomplishments of the deceased. The purpose of the Terracotta Army was not to show how lavish the emperor's wealth had been in life (though it had been quite impressive), but rather, to protect him in the afterlife.

Construction of the Terracotta Army took thousands of artisans years to complete--the arms, legs, torsos, and heads all being made separately. The soldiers vary in height depending on their rank (generals are taller than archers), their hairstyles differentiate between the ranks, and each face is unique--no two men look alike. There are more than 8,000 soldiers along with 130 chariots with 520 horses, and 150 cavalry horses... That is, indeed, an army! Each one is more than 2,000 years old, constructed of terracotta or clay, and was once painted with bright colors. 

The army remained hidden until (like so many archaeological discoveries) it was discovered by accident by a group of farmers digging a well in 1974. Archaeologists arrived on the scene, less than a mile east of Emperor Qin's famed burial mound and they were shocked to find the largest "pottery figurine group" ever found in China (and maybe even the world).

If that is not enough to get archaeology nerds and history buff's mouths salivating, I don't know what would do it! Either way, I had read books, seen documentaries, and heard stories about Emperor Qin's undead army and I knew I just had to go!

***************

It was our last full day in Xi'an and we decided that instead of trying to navigate our way outside the city to the most popular tourist attraction in the area, we would just sign up for a tour through our hostel that included transportation, admission, an English tour guide, and lunch. Adam and I piled into the van with a girl from Paris and a mother and son from London and we were on our way!

Now I will say that with this being probably the #1 tourist attraction in the area AND it still being the National Holiday, it was pretty crowded... However, I have a feeling that it is always that crowded [Just a warning if you ever find yourself there: A). Don't let the huge crowds take you by surprise and B). Don't let the pushing and shoving take away from the magnitude of what you are witnessing]. I will also say that, like Pompeii, it was nothing like what I expected it to look like and, just like when I was in Pompeii, I had to try and not feel a wave of disappointment.

In Pompeii, the history books make it look as though you can walk into different houses and buildings and see the figures of people lying in bed or sitting at the table which is not the case at all--all of the figures are under glass and behind bars in large warehouses scattered around the ancient city (right next to the cafe and gift shop).

Pompeii, August 2010: 18 year old pregnant girl removed from the site of her home.

NERD ALERT: 20 year old Amanda

At the Terracotta Warriors, the history books make it look as though the archaeologists pulled away a layer of dirt and found this enormous army standing in regimented lines, perfectly preserved which is not the case at all. In truth, the warriors were buried with sloping roofs over them to protect them, but 2,000 years buried in the ground where earthquakes are common caused all of the warriors to crumble and break. When archaeologists found the army, it was in pieces and they have spent the last 40 years collecting the pottery and piecing them back together--the completed and standing soldiers you see in books and in documentaries have been put back together by hand over the last four decades (which might not be as incredible but I find that pretty damn impressive anyway).

There are a total of four pits (but only three of them had anything in them and only three are open to the public) and each one holds different ranks in the Terracotta Army.

Our guide had us go from Pit 2 to Pit 3 to Pit 1 (from least impressive to most impressive hindsight tells me). She would give us a brief introduction and then send us on our way to explore ourselves (the complete opposite of a Chinese tour)!

Pit 2

This was our first glimpse at just how grand Emperor Qin's army was. This pit is thought to house the infantry and cavalry units of Qin's army. You walk into this huge building that is bigger than a warehouse and you look down into a pit to see these rolling waves of dirt and every so often, you would find a narrow path that might have resembled a hallway thousands of years ago and a pile of what looks like rubble. But upon further inspection, you realize that what you are looking at is not rubble, but rather, broken pieces of pottery--you see a leg, a head, part of a torso and you realize that this is Qin's great and terrible Terracotta Army. 

It was here that I finally realized that the army was not how it was depicted in books--it was broken up in pieces--and I had to try to fight off the disappointment that I was starting to feel... a disappointment I hadn't  felt since I visited Pompeii four years ago. 

The pit is in the center of the building with walking paths all around it and on the perimeter of the building there are several completed figures--kneeling archer, standing archer, a general, and a horse--each of them life sized, each of them different, and each of them put perfectly back together.

I was a bit disillusioned with the warriors at this point, if I am being completely honest. I was worried that I would have to be okay with just looking at the reconstructed warriors standing behind the glass (not that that is a bad thing--I was still seeing the warriors but not at all how I had envisioned them). 

Pit 3

We moved onto Pit 3 right next door, leaving the crowd of Pit 2 and replacing it with the crowd of Pit 3. This building was much smaller, you could easily take a rock and throw it over to the other side of the room (or drop your cellphone in the pit like one person did...::sigh::). In Pit 3, we have what was the command post of the army and it houses high ranking officers, horses, and even a chariot. And it is in Pit 3 that my disappointment began to fade away--it is filled with nothing but completed warriors, standing once more in the places they had been left to guard 2,000 years ago. 

Pit 1

Pit 1 is the one that you will see if you go online and look up the Terracotta Warriors, open up a textbook, or watch a documentary. This is the site that is the largest and most impressive and has the most warriors reconstructed and returned to their posts in the ground.  And it is this pit that made me a happy Amanda once more. 

Pit 1 is the main pit with 6,000 warriors inside. It is still an active archaeological site where researchers are still piecing together the warriors. When you walk into the back entrance, you are greeted with, not the army, but a work space--tables, chairs, and computers are in the middle of the pit where archaeologists continue to put the warriors back together, even 40 years later. As you move down the pit to the main entrance, the warriors become more and more whole--there are some with no arms or a missing head or a piece of their chest is still open. But as you make your way further down, they become more and more whole and soon the pit is just filled with completed warriors. When the warrior is completely restored, they are returned to the area in which they were found--the result is narrow passageways dug out in the pit just filled with thousands of warriors (somehow China 200BC in a burial pit looks pretty similar to China 2014 on the street).

This is Pit 1 from the back entrance--you can see how big it is!

You can see the work spaces, totes, and plastic wrap around the warriors

Warriors in various stages of repair

Still some missing pieces

You can clearly see the different pieces put back together!

Still in the early stages of reconstruction

Completed for the most part

Completed and returned to their posts

THIS is what you expect to see at the Terracotta Warriors

Despite my early disappointment, I did thoroughly enjoy the warriors!

Like so many important archaeological discoveries, I do think that the Terracotta Warriors have become painfully commercialized. Hordes of crowds flock to the pit's, pushing past each other to try and get a good shot on their cameras. Things like cellphones are dropped into the pits, tampering with the site and potentially harming the artifacts. Gift shops and cafes have sprouted up everywhere--they see that there is a market. Just like Pompeii, it is sad to me that these sites--these time capsules of human history--now have price tags and an entrance fee on them. It makes you so much more appreciative of places like the Lascaux Caves where there are prehistoric cave paintings and very strict rules and regulations when it comes to visiting. 

China is very good at seeing potential in something and running with it. The dozens of factories that produce warrior replicas, the amount of people who flock to the museums, and the warrior cartoon characters everywhere are proof enough. We are so focused on the warriors today--how we can get the best photo of them, what cute cartoon can we get, and what is the cheapest price we can find a replica soldier (Adam won that battle between the two of us). We don't really focus on the emperor's mortality and fear of what happens after death, instead we focus on something that we can still see--his Terracotta Army.

An emperor who was afraid of death tried to fight it off for as long as he could and, in the end, he lost... but his army remained strong and firm even 2,000 years later. And that is something to marvel at.

Up next is the epic (and exhausting) tale of our trek up to the summit of Hua Shan! Stay tuned!!

Until Next Time,

Amanda