We woke up on the 6th with another full day ahead. We had breakfast and some time to catch up on e-mails or sleep. Around 9 AM we met our tour guide for Xi'an, Jeff, outside the hostel. From the hostel we walked to the south gate of the state wall. On this visit to the wall we were given more information about the city from Jeff.
Lindsay and Adam on their bike built for two.
Nikola stops to looks at a piece of history.
Some of the bike gang
Bridget and Kristen take a break on the wall.
Rob, Ryan and Codie taking a breather.
Danielle riding her bike.
We spread out quickly.
Some warriors headed to work.
Kristen and Bridget are all smiles.
Dr. Chow getting some exercise as well.
Some of the group relaxing after our 8 mile journey.
The way the Chinese potty train.
When we first picked out our bikes.
The Xi'an wall is about 8 miles long, and shaped in a rectangle around the city. The Chinese used to build walls around the city for protection. The wall was built with a gate on each wall and each gate was built with a bridge tower, an arrow tower and a main gate tower. There are 98 enemy towers on the wall for protection. The west wall is the start of the silk road and the east side runs along the Yellow River. Xi'an was the capital of China for 1,100 years and 13 dynasty's. Xi'an is still considered the cultural capital of China. After learning some facts about the wall all 33 of us climbed on bicycles and took the 8 mile trip around the tower. This ended up to be quite a sight but we all made it, with a great story to come home with.
The Xi'an wall is about 8 miles long, and shaped in a rectangle around the city. The Chinese used to build walls around the city for protection. The wall was built with a gate on each wall and each gate was built with a bridge tower, an arrow tower and a main gate tower. There are 98 enemy towers on the wall for protection. The west wall is the start of the silk road and the east side runs along the Yellow River. Xi'an was the capital of China for 1,100 years and 13 dynasty's. Xi'an is still considered the cultural capital of China. After learning some facts about the wall all 33 of us climbed on bicycles and took the 8 mile trip around the tower. This ended up to be quite a sight but we all made it, with a great story to come home with.
Lunch at the dumpling restaurant.
Next we traveled to the center of town by bus past the bell tower. We were given some time to wander through the local markets and practice our bargaining some more. We met back up around noon and headed to the famous dumpling restaurant for lunch. This lunch was full of a wide range of dumplings and at the end we had dumpling soup. We were told that if you find 3 mini dumplings in your bowl of soup you will have good luck. After lunch we returned to the hostel to freshen up for our governmental seminar and dinner.
Around 4:30 we all were dressed up and off to the Environmental Protection Office to hear Mr. Lee talk about his job. We learned about the province and how they are trying to clean up the environment. Mr. Lee gave us some presents including a cloth bag promoting going green.
Dr. Riley introduces Mr. Lee
Finally it was off to the Hyatt to have dinner with the governor of the Shaanxi province. This dinner was a test for our Chinese etiquette. There were 8 students randomly selected to sit in on the televised meeting between Dr. Riley and the governor. In this meeting the two discussed the cooperation between West Virginia University and the Shaanxi province. After the meeting we all had dinner in the room with the governor and 4 lucky students were able to sit at his table. At the end of dinner the governor gave us all a framed piece of art for which the province is known. He told us you could only find this item in the Xi'an area. After a wonderful evening that left us a bit humbled we went back to the hostel for the evening.
Dr. Riley and the governor converse via a translator about the cooperation of our University and China.
The beautiful table settings for dinner.
Awaiting the Governor
Introducing the presents he had given all of us.
Ryan displaying his gift with Mr. Lee.
Ryan sharing a drink with the Governor.
The whole group, before heading home for the evening.
