I feel like I’ve covered this before but as a reminder, despite what people think because I am living in my fourth country, I am a big baby who is scared of trying new things.
So when invited to join colleagues from Beijing on a long weekend in Xi’an my first reaction was “ugh…that sounds hard.” But I also knew the sooner I start to travel, the sooner it will become less scary, leading me to do more of it. I said yes.
Then I learned the Xi’an government has a new requirement: visitors need to come with the results of a within-the-past-48-hours COVID test.
Obviously at that point my immediate thought was “I SHOULD JUST CANCEL!”
Instead I girded my loins and my Amex card (my Beijing colleagues’ hotel preferences are FANCY), expecting that post-nasal swab I’d be good to go.
Except…the Guangzhou health app doesn’t cut it in Xi’an, which I learned in the Xi’an airport where they guard the exits and I literally could not leave until I had loaded all my info (name, passport number, flight and seat number) into the Xi’an app. Only after another temp and app check could I grab a taxi.
Then my WeChat started to blow up with messages about how they found two cases in Guangzhou and were mass testing in some neighborhoods. We all decided to get tested again, the day before our departure, lest we be barred from returning to our respective cities. Fortunately we had time on our hands because…wait for it….Xian’s blockbuster sight, the Terracotta Warriors, was CLOSED.
Why? Hard to say. Something about how Xi’an is hosting these national games and a month ago they had a single case, so the city government ordered many sights closed.
The mascots of the 14th Annual China National Games: Monkey, Yak (I thought goat), Panda, and Crane (I thought bird in a plague doctor’s mask).
I swear this was not information that Google had at hand. If we’d been researching our trip on Baidu (Chinese search engine) perhaps we would have stumbled across a clue. But with few foreign tourists making their way to Xi’an these days (my taxi driver said it was two years since he’s spoken English), we were completely in the dark.
So was the trip a total loss? Fortunately no.
First there was the company. Fellow Office Managers, including one I knew from my 2018 orientation class, another who turned out to be from Minnesota (Edina!), and another a returned Peace Corps Volunteer. Conversation definitely flowed. About people we know in common, stringent yard care requirements in Linden Hills, navigating life in China, the pros and cons of Foreign Service life in general and our job in particular.
Then there was the hotel. I cannot stress how little I belong at a fancy hotel. But wanting to be amenable to my colleagues’ preferences, I found myself cuddled up in a heavenly bathrobe on a heavenly bed in a heavenly suite. Which I didn’t even realize–I figured all rooms came with a living room and a guest bathroom. “Tiffany, you’ve clearly been upgraded,” my fellow-travelers patiently explained. Apparently thanks to all those points gathered during six months of COVID-related life in another (much less fancy) Marriott. I don’t know if I’ll ever splurge like this again but it was fun while it lasted.
Then there was the food. Xi’an is known for its Muslim quarter’s food. We booked an excellent tour with Lost Plate that took us by tuk-tuk to holes-in-the-walls within and around the Muslim quarter. We ate handmade “biang biang” noodles, dumplings, secret spice blend kebabs, and fall off the bone chicken; we drank beer, “yellow wine” (not inside the Muslim restaurants) and a delicious sour plum soft drink. YUM!
We also went for hot pot at a restaurant we’d read about in the South China Morning Post. The hot pot was delicious but some people aren’t really there for the food. See if you can puzzle out the additional attraction.
Finally, Xi’an does have sights besides the Terracotta warriors. True, many of them were also closed (the great mosque and the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda), but not all.
The city’s second biggest attraction is its wall. Xi’an is a walled city with history as a capital city (then known as Chang’an) situated at the beginning (or end, depends on which direction you were traveling) of the silk road. In 1370 a Ming Dynasty emperor built fortifications with drawbridges and a moat. Over the years the walls were re-fortified and today we are left with well-preserved walls over 14 kilometers around. Perhaps China’s second greatest wall? We did not circumnavigate. But you can hire bikes or golf carts if that’s your thing.
We later enjoyed a visit to the temple of the Eight Immortals, Xi’an’s only Taoist temple and a place of refuge for Empress Dowager Cixi during the Boxer Rebellion. Also home to an excellent vegetarian restaurant!
So is the travel anxiety vanquished?
I mean, I did it. And lived to tell the tale. So there’s that. But for the past year I heard how while it’s hard to get to China, once here I’d be thrilled with how normal life was. Not sure I’m on board with that assessment. Navigating last minute COVID testing and city-specific health apps was definitely stressful. I also had a flight delay which, while neither China nor pandemic-era specific, added another layer of worst case scenarios for me to imagine.
Perhaps the solution is to stop spending on fancy hotels and instead invest in some organized trips? I know I usually organize myself but this isn’t Europeland or Morocco. Sometimes places and circumstances leave you needing a little help. Or you know, I could just stay home and play video games for the next two years.
In Foreign Places 