Craig's Pictures: Xi'an, P.R. China

Craig's Pictures: Xi'an, P.R. China

I have been to Xi'an in October, 1996 and August, 2002. These pictures are from the latter trip. I attended the International Congress of Mathematicians Satellite Conference on Scientific Computing, help at Xi'an Jiaotong University (there are three others in P.R. China and one in Hsinchu, R.O. China). My host was Li Kaitai.

Xi'an is best known for its Terracotta Warriors and its city walls. The walls are about 23 kilometers in roughly a rectangle. They are quite high and are surrounded by a moat. They are thought to be the best example of old city walls of any real size on Earth.

When clicking on the thumbnails, remember to use the arrow keys to move around the pictures. The pictures are 1800x1200 by default.

The Forest of Stone Tablets

Just inside the city walls is the largest collection of ancient stone tablets in China. There is philosophy, calligraphy samples, and history stored on about thousand stone tablets.

A map of the forest.

A fountain and building by the entrance.

In China, two or three A's are not enough...

Three photographers (my dad, Dongwoo Sheen, and Xiaobing Feng).

A bell with a posing person.

A collection of pagodas with a large stone tablet in each. Most of the pagodas were open, but some were chained and padlocked shut.

The rest of my group of tourists: Xiaobing Feng, my dad, Xiu Ye, and Dongwoo Sheen. The building in the background was building number 1 (out of four labeled similarly).

Xiu Ye posing inside one of the buildings.

One of the tablets that was not just calligraphy, this one has nice pictures, too.

Is it a lion, tiger, cat, or dog?

Can you see us? We are in the rather large mirror that guards the entrance to the loo.

The City Walls

We continued on to the walls. It was hot, we had arrived from Beijing that morning, and we were 12-13 time zones out of whack. We did not care. We had lectures to listen to the next day an needed our excersise to put us onto the local time zone. The walls are long... really long. Did I mention that they are tall, too?

This is the story and the politics of the wall. I am not sure it is completely readable without a magnifying glass..

A plaque on the wall. It says... uh, I need a little help here.

One of the towers from down below.

The stairs up the the top. Up we went.

The view one way.

The view the other way. You just think you can see the ends of this side from either of these photos. You are wrong. There is a slight bend in the wall that precludes seeing either end from where I took the photos.

The moat and one of the main entrances into the old city.

The view of the entrance of the Forest of Stone Temples.

A piece of the old city that has not been torn down and replaced in the last 6 years.

The Terracotta Worriors

Yes, worriors, not warriors. The signs in English on the highway are very specific. This is the largest collection of burned earth (terracotta) figures on Earth known to date. Fifteen thousand of them on exhibit in 2002, up from 7000 in 1996 when I last visited them. Building 1 is the second largest room on Earth, too. It is amazing. Even more so, is the attack of the street vendors when you leave the museum grounds. It is marvelous: hey, one dollar... two for one dollar... come back here. I have more. How can anyone resist?

A description of Pit 1, which is covered by Building 1.

A view of the interior of building 1. This does not really do justice, but it gives you a hint.

A side view without the flash. This is how dim the building really is.

One of the two most famous terracotta worriors since there is still color left on these.

The other one.

A description of Pit 2.

The site where one or both of the chariots were found in Pit 2.

One of the rebuilt chariots.

The other rebuilt chariot.

Hua Qing Hot Spring

There is a hot spring nearby to the worriors. Behind the spring museum is a mountain with a number of temples or pagodas on it. I have never managed to get up the mountain, but Stan Osher found a way almost all the way up (he stopped for tea and the view) and could have made the summit if he had had a few more minutes before the bus left.

The most beautiful woman in Chinese history.

The Pagoda on the other side of the lake.

The goldfish. People stand on one side or the other and clap. The fish come to the clappers in a school of fish. This is lots of fun.

An aerial view of the back end of the museum buildings.

One of the bath houses. The water is 43 C (or 110 F). This is hot tub temperature. No wonder the hot springs were so popular.

Another bath house.

My dad before scaling the lower part of the mountain by the stone stairs.

Conference People

In 1996, I came to give a lecture at Xi'an Jaotong University. This time I came with 240 of my friends. We stood during the first break and had our group picture taken. The picture is physically quite wide, but I managed to get my copy home and scanned. I would be happy to put other pictures from the conference here, too.

The American co-organizer, Zhangxin Chen. We were sitting in the lobby after walking through the Forest of Stone Tablets and walking on top of the City Walls. Frankly, we were enjoying the hotel lobby's nice chairs and air conditioning when Zhangxin breezed in, looking cool and collected.

In front of the Nan Yang Hotel (the international hotel for the university). We have (not sure), Qun Lin, Li Kaitai, Jim Douglas, Irena Gamba, and Qiang Du.

At the Terracotta museum during a short break in the tour. Roland Glowinski is making a strong point to Stan Osher.

My dad, me, and Jerome Jaffre (who is making a number of points).

Mohamed Othman and me

Finally, the stitched together scanning of the conference picture, taken the first morning. Be forewarned, the picture is wide. My apologies to the three people who are slightly mangled.

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	A map of the forest.
	A fountain and building by the entrance.
	In China, two or three A's are not enough...
	Three photographers (my dad, Dongwoo Sheen, and Xiaobing Feng).
	A bell with a posing person.
	A collection of pagodas with a large stone tablet in each. Most of the pagodas were open, but some were chained and padlocked shut.
	The rest of my group of tourists: Xiaobing Feng, my dad, Xiu Ye, and Dongwoo Sheen. The building in the background was building number 1 (out of four labeled similarly).
	Xiu Ye posing inside one of the buildings.
	One of the tablets that was not just calligraphy, this one has nice pictures, too.
	Is it a lion, tiger, cat, or dog?
	Can you see us? We are in the rather large mirror that guards the entrance to the loo.

	This is the story and the politics of the wall. I am not sure it is completely readable without a magnifying glass..
	A plaque on the wall. It says... uh, I need a little help here.
	One of the towers from down below.
	The stairs up the the top. Up we went.
	The view one way.
	The view the other way. You just think you can see the ends of this side from either of these photos. You are wrong. There is a slight bend in the wall that precludes seeing either end from where I took the photos.
	The moat and one of the main entrances into the old city.
	The view of the entrance of the Forest of Stone Temples.
	A piece of the old city that has not been torn down and replaced in the last 6 years.

	A description of Pit 1, which is covered by Building 1.
	A view of the interior of building 1. This does not really do justice, but it gives you a hint.
	A side view without the flash. This is how dim the building really is.
	One of the two most famous terracotta worriors since there is still color left on these.
	The other one.
	A description of Pit 2.
	The site where one or both of the chariots were found in Pit 2.
	One of the rebuilt chariots.
	The other rebuilt chariot.

	The most beautiful woman in Chinese history.
	The Pagoda on the other side of the lake.
	The goldfish. People stand on one side or the other and clap. The fish come to the clappers in a school of fish. This is lots of fun.
	An aerial view of the back end of the museum buildings.
	One of the bath houses. The water is 43 C (or 110 F). This is hot tub temperature. No wonder the hot springs were so popular.
	Another bath house.
	My dad before scaling the lower part of the mountain by the stone stairs.

	The American co-organizer, Zhangxin Chen. We were sitting in the lobby after walking through the Forest of Stone Tablets and walking on top of the City Walls. Frankly, we were enjoying the hotel lobby's nice chairs and air conditioning when Zhangxin breezed in, looking cool and collected.
	In front of the Nan Yang Hotel (the international hotel for the university). We have (not sure), Qun Lin, Li Kaitai, Jim Douglas, Irena Gamba, and Qiang Du.
	At the Terracotta museum during a short break in the tour. Roland Glowinski is making a strong point to Stan Osher.
	My dad, me, and Jerome Jaffre (who is making a number of points).
	Mohamed Othman and me
	Finally, the stitched together scanning of the conference picture, taken the first morning. Be forewarned, the picture is wide. My apologies to the three people who are slightly mangled.