Xi'an, the place where I studied, has considerably changed over the last years. There were some parts that I could not recognise any more. We arrived with the night train from Taiyuan in the morning. In the hotel I met my friend Liu Ying and we went through the city the first day. Somehow I still had interest to see some monasteries, but I only took pictures from the Great Mosque, which I had already visited in 2000.
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The next day I also skipped the obligatory tour to the Terracotta Army, which I already had seen twice in 2000. Instead we went
to the Huaqing Hot Springs, where some Tang dynasty emperors dwelt. One of those had some special pleasures with his concubine Yang Guifei.
So we could also enjoy a Tang Dynasty dance performance including a real emperor. Apart from that there are many pomegranates, the
city flower of Xi'an, which give a nice background for pictures.
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In the evening a last glance at the Dayanta (Great Wildgoose Pagoda). The surroundings have completely changed after 2000.
Several small houses had to give way for the construction of a park.
The next day we left Xi'an and headed to Luoyang. Inbetween we had a stop at the Huashan. The Huashan belongs as well to the five
holy mountains of China. There is a tradition to hang red bands into the trees, which shall bring luck to those who have done it.
Locks that are locked at a famous mountain shall make sure that a relation or a marriage lasts forever. I noticed similar habits
also at the Taishan. Hopefully nobody will go around to open the locks. Otherwise the number of divorces in China will increase significantly.
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