2Independent-Travelers

Hard to tell if the statues are welcoming, threating…or both! After our 2 hour flight to Yinchaun  we met our new tour guide Jackie and his driver. While waiting for our luggage, there was a tap-tap on my shoulder. Looking down into a smiling Chinese face,  I said “ hello” (badly in Chinese), she laughed and said “How old are you?”

I used my fingers to demonstrate. She and her 2 companions laughed and then they all bowed to me. The Chinese do respect their elders…and I loved it. Jackie then told me that this question, plus “How much money do you make?”  was asked of all Westerners.

We stopped at our assigned Chinese Holiday Inn Hotel, quite lovely and very different from our American chain. We then were immediately off for the first winery visit.

The Chateau Chang Yu Moser.

New building but looked like a beautiful aged French chateau.

The owners, the Changyu Company began operating a winery near Beijing in 1892, but this structure was 3 years old. The winery guide did not know what to do with us so she just led us through the HOT Vineyards until our guide Jackie convinced her that Mike wanted to confer with the Winemaker.  Keith then joined us, and speaking English, pointed out various vineyards and the wines produced from them.

Entering the cooler chateau and descending to the much cooler basement, we found a museum of wine-making artifacts  covering one hundred years! Keith then led us to the tasting room (much anticipated) past glass fronted storage areas with hundreds of wine cases stored for the owners. (Many buyers did not have temperature controlled storage.) The tasting was marvelous!

Next to the Chateau Bacchus Winery.

What an appropriate name for a winery! So far the Chinese wines we had tasted were up to international standards but their buildings certainly exceeded that. Mike was delighted with the information from the Bacchus wine maker especially that all the wines produced here came from their own vineyards, unlike many of the wineries in the U.S.

Back to our Holiday Inn and a quiet dinner. We asked our waiter for menus and he replied “They are right in front of you.” And there they were. “I pads”! How modern.  10 pages of salads in brilliant color ….but my first two choices were “not available”, 5 pages of chicken  and so on. It took us awhile because Mike’s first 2 choices of wine were also not available so we had beer……..but our hotel room was lovely!

The next morning we were off to Sumeru Grottoes.

This is a continuation of The Great Wall  from Beijing to Ningxia and beyond. Although a definite tourist attraction, there was no comparison or renovation as with the Beijing Great wall.

Good exercise climbing up and down and certainly fewer people than on the Beijing Wall.

We had choices of walking to the Ningxia Museum, riding in an open cart, or on a camel.

One camel , eying us, chewing and accumulating moisture….and we were in the cart!

Ningzia Provincial Museum was outstanding: artifacts from ancient times, the Silk Road era and a mind boggling 3D film with spectacular holographs on the indigenous Hui people. All spectators stood on different levels of rock shelving. The theater darkened. Low music began, wind sounds, stars blinking above and thunder and lightening boomed out.

Here we were bombarded with storms, land reshaping,  wild winds,  as the topography changed: an ancient land evolving over centuries.

The film paused  and we see actors/natives descending from rock caves down to the streams for water and fishing.

As time and civilization advance, we see 2 natives in front of an elaborate  bamboo house, perhaps sharing food.

The beginning of the hunters and gatherers and the sharing of food.There were also wars between the natives with the losers being absorbed into the winners’ tribe.

We wanted to see the presentation again but the next showing was in Chinese. This unbelievable presentation covered 30,000 years of change in China with the scenes being superimposed over each other  and bonded with a voice over and music.

We saw many sights like this. The original farms and vineyards were consumed for apartment/condo  expansion.  Most of the towers were empty. Many farmers were originally allocated  15 acres of land for crop growth, and sold if they moved to the city.

Buying a condo on a 10 year lease, (the building owned by the government), and getting a  job ……it could work out. But, if you moved outside the province of your farm, you lost medical and educational benefits.  Not an easy decision.

The next day Jackie took us to The World Rock Museum in the mountains.

This building contained rock art sculpture and carvings from the last 30,000 years. The carvings in the area were discovered by the military around 1960—but not pursued until the  “80’s” when archaeologists started digging.

Suitably named “Ancient  Rock Carving” dated  20,000+ years ago. If they’re  specific animals from that time…I’m mighty glad they are extinct!

While resting on the steps outside waiting for the others, I heard some noises from the shrubbery. Finally a small white and black nose poked through: a baby goat!

We stared at each other and he had the confidence to move to the edge of the steps. The bushes rattled behind him and suddenly there was a small herd of Momma and Baby goats nibbling on the greenery. What a way to end our visit to the Ancient Rock Carvings ….and to Yinchuan!

We flew into Xi’an  and were greeted by “The Botwins”  sign held by our new guide Julie and her driver. A bit more expensive to have guides, but worth every penny!

Off to our Hotel Xi’an Tang Dynasty.

Another lovely courtyard hotel with the added advantage of being centered in the middle of the Old Town. The white, 6th century 12 story Pagoda, the Great Goose, stands just behind the hotel. The monk who officiated at the Pagoda translated  hundreds of scriptures from Sanskrit into Chinese.

Since it was after 5, we told Julie we wanted to walk around the Old Town and find our own dinner. Our bedroom opened onto a private patio, a very old but extremely well designed complex. The courtyard was centered by this miniature Pagoda.

You had to pass it going out  and coming in……not a hardship!

We walked to the Town Square and were delighted with all the early evening activity.

People on one side dancing to music while on the other was a group doing Chinese calisthenics and all around were small groups drinking and conversing.  Very friendly people.

We also got an occasional smile and nod. Julie had recommended a restaurant in a modern shopping mall called “Make My Day”. Irresistible.

Mike ordered some bottled water…and the waiter apologized  for his poor English. Mike said “I was speaking Chinese!”  The waiter answered  “ Oh, I didn’t expect you to speak Chinese so I didn’t understand it.” We hadn’t thought of that aspect.

The next morning, off to Jade Valley Winery.

The winery was built on a hill across from the village and facing the Black Mountains. Javier, the Spanish wind maker, was very knowledgeable about the wind process. He explained  that the owner wasn’t sure his building on the hill top would be a winery or an elaborate resort.

Whild we were tasting the wine, Javier explained that the “terroir”  here was unsuitable for making a quality cabernet  but the winery owner was “assigned”  to produce it by the government.

(Maybe that encouraged thoughts about a resort!)

The next day we went to see one of the most fascinating sites in Xi’an.

Our driver dropped us off but we still had to walk a mile to get to the Terracotta Warriors.

This shot is an overview of the valley and the mountains surrounding their resurrection.

The Terracotta Warriors were discovered in I974 by peasants digging a well. These ranks of life-sized pottery figures were made to guard the tomb of Qin Shi Huangdi  who unified China over  two thousand years ago. This pit contains the infantry with every face unique.

This pit, with ongoing excavation, is filled with cavalry, soldiers and their horses.  The pottery horses have been reassembled from their broken body fragments, the same as the warriors around them. (I had to label my picture “The Headless Horsemen”.)

The poor light resulted in a blurry view but this shows the actual excavation and difficulty in resurrecting the body parts and assembling them.

In 221 BC, Qin Shi pronounced himself  the First Emperor of China. At age 13 he began the “Warriors” as guardians to protect him in the after-life from his numerous enemies. (7000 soldiers so far but the excavation is unfinished.)

The Emperor died 1 year before the complex was finished.  A fantasy army to protect him after death….much like the Egyptian Pharos. A wonderful storied history.

Then we visited the enormous City Wall.

Again, more steps and walking…but worth it! Following this we saw the bustling Muslim Quarter and the Grand Mosque…and needed assistance  to get to the car and our hotel.

The next morning we flew to Taiyuan, meeting our new guide Miller and driver, Mr. Yao, who  drove us to the Hotel Taiyuan Grace Vineyard.

Our suite is top floor, left, with an over view of vineyards. This lovely hotel is used for visiting vintners  and wine educators: we fit the second category. Immediately out to the vineyards for the field tour. During the cold winter months they “buried”  the vines, so we were seeing much new growth. Most of the wine was red Bordeaux varieties  although they are experimenting  with Italian and Spanish grapes.

This is their fermentation and production area. Now to the best part: the tasting room!

Our “following” of 8 winery employees, including the business manager and the wine maker,  smiling (as was I) and 3 bottles of wine to taste.

Even our 2 translators (one to English and the second to Chinese) perked up.

The Chinese eat many vegetables but not much meat.  That evening our hotel served the best spare ribs I’ve ever eaten….and I mentioned this to our waitress. The next morning we had them again for breakfast…delicious.

Today, on our way to Piangyao, we stopped at the Jin Ci Temple (above). Built of wood  during the Song  Dynasty (960-1279)  for The Sacred Mother  (Shengmu Dian) with a 2 thousand year old tree shielding it. Mike had just requested that we stop for a drink and Miller said “Certainly, we can stop at a tea house.”  Mike said “No wine?” Miller answered “No wine or alcohol here.”

What looks like a smile is really a grimace.

So we drove on to Piangyao Ancient Town  considered the best historic walled city in China.

The banking center in China began here.  That certainly helps explain the mammoth walls that surround the city and the beautiful buildings within. And one of these was our 600 year old Jing Hotel, a smaller courtyard hotel, in the city center.

And this was the city center and the mobs of people that we had to walk through to get to our wonderful hotel in the center of the city. But you’ll notice no cars, only taxis if necessary.

Our suite is on the left, and although  old, everything was extremely modern.

It was a wonderful small town for China, only 60 thousand people. No cars (except taxis) on the main streets…what a delight, you could walk!

Tomorrow we leave to go home…..and our gentlemen friends will make sure of it.