It is library actually - a beautifully-named library. Big Wild Goose Pagoda
is Xi’an’s most sacred monument. The original
pagoda was built in the
Tang Dynasty (618-907) for the study of Buddhist scriptures. An intrepid Buddhist monk called Xuanzang travelled across India for 18
years and returned with a precious collection of Sanskrit scriptures
and Buddhist sacred texts, and the pagoda was
built to house those treasures.
Most of the
original 5-story earth structure has gone, but the current 7-story pagoda was
built in the same style using traditional building methods. Even
though it is basically an empty shell, it stands out on the skyline and is
beautifully lit up at night. Maybe if was renamed as Big Wild Goose Library
Pagoda that would help the cause of libraries everywhere.
Knowledge is not always venerated, and in
1966, Red Guards burnt the pagoda’s scriptures, silk wall hangings and other
relics in a bonfire that raged all night. But that tragic destruction has
largely been forgotten by the crowds that flock to the Pagoda complex.
The northern square of the Pagoda boasts the biggest sound and light
extravaganza in the world. Every night there is a Fountain
and Music Show featuring synchronised colour, water and sound effects.
 |
North Plaza and Big Wild Goose Pagoda in the distance.
Statue is of a large book that symbolically tells of the richness
of the Tang Empire |
And to the south is the Tang Paradise, a vast
adventure park themed to show off the cultural richness of the Tang Empire.
I visited the Pagoda on a Sunday, when the
spacious modern plazas around the monument were packed with families. I skipped the theme park and instead went to
the nearby Shaanxi History Museum. Locals get in free, and there were queues
for hundreds of metres in both directions, which should have put me off. But I
was only in Xian for a couple of days, and I was here now, so I skipped the
queue and bought my ticket so I could go straight in (more or less, there was
another queue for the ubiquitous security check). Just me and 4,000 other
people.
It’s a fantastic museum but negotiating the crowds and the stuffiness
meant that after a couple of hours I felt totally exhausted.
A big hot-stone bowl of bibimbap later, and
fully restored, I walked to the famous Muslim street. More crowds, more food
temptations, more noise.
 |
| Roujiami buns |
 |
One that should take off in Australia - the fruit salad bar. You take a container (plastic) and fill it with the
fruit of your choice, it's weighed at the end and you pay accordingly |
I tried roujiami, the signature dish of this part of
China. The smell of the huge vats of steaming meaty stuff was less than
appealing, but the bread that was being kneaded, flattened and tossed onto the
hotplate looked pretty good. It’s a version of something in between a pie and a
hamburger - the flat bread is split and filled with fragrantly-spiced meaty
stew stuff. It was greasy, possibly mutton-y, had lots of soft gristly bits and
gravy, and the roll was both soft and flaky, a cross between bread and pastry,
and the whole was – absolutely delicious. Take noted, pie entrepreneurs, this
will become a Thing. Pig totters, maybe not so much.
 |
On the walk from the Pagoda to the Muslim Street - this flower wall. There were beds and
installations like this all the way along the 35km route to the Terracotta Warriors, and in so many
places around the city. I cannot even begin to imagine the size of the nurseries that
produce this many plants, let alone the labour force required to put them in place.
Hire bikes - everywhere, all across the city. |
