Had a bit of a journey into the ancient past of Xian. As some of you may already know, Xi'an was the capital city of China for (and don't quote me on this) like 13 dynasties of rule. Today, we, Tommy (from Ireland) and Richard (from England) decided to hire some bikes and go for an 8.5 mile right around the ancient city walls.
Remember the harsh juxtaposition of ancient and modern I wrote about yesterday. Today was exactly like that, except even more crazy! Inside the ancient wall was a thriving municipality. Building. Cars. People. The houses are plastered with old-style designs, tiles reminiscent of something straight out of a Chinese movie like Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.
.
And then on the outside of the wall, is also a thriving municipality. Building. Cars. People. But the highways stretch outwards in all directions, arterial intersections are jam packed with cars and buses. Buildings aren't the same, they're larger, taller, bigger.
In many ways it feels like as though the city walls, once a barricade from foreign attack, are now a barricade from foreign, futuristic onset of globalisation and industrialisation. It's like as though the materials which have stood the test of time via physical degradation and weathering, now face a greater and more omniscient threat - modernisation.
I'm glad to know that Xi'An is being developed by the Chinese government (along with Shanghai and Beijing) as it's "capital cities" with Xian becoming the tourist capital because of its rich cultural heritage and ancient architecture. Hopefully this will be more than enough incentive to protect, or "bao hu" the ancient city.
Heading to the Big Wild Goose Pagoda tonight to check out the water-symphony-light show. Should be fun.
Tofa
No comments:
Post a Comment