Fellow Virtual Travelers and Historians,
We are now in Xi'an for a couple of days of rest from our travels and research. We reconnected with a guide from our original 2002 expedition, Sunny, who bought us a wonderful dinner the first night in this city. It was awesome to spend some time catching up on what has happened in our lives over the last 14 years.
On our 2002 trip to China, Sunny's tenacity in climbing Huashan while carrying a suitcase, so impressed us that we wrote about him in the '10,000 Steps Straight Up' book, starting on page 96. We gave him an autographed copy of the book, much to his excitement! While he no longer leads tour groups (he has become a certified convention planner - there are only 18 such certifications in the entire country), our 2002 expedition is one of the tour groups that he remembers with fondness!
After a restful night at the Howard Johnson hotel, we decided to tour inside the Old City Wall on our first full day of 'taking it easy' and ended up walking 7.4 miles!
https://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/shaanxi/xian/citywall.htm
No wonder our feet were hurting, after shopping in calligraphy shops, visiting small and hidden temples, and climbing the Bell Tower.
Our mission today, is to visit the Big Wild Goose Pagoda:
http://www.chinagreattravel.com/xian/big-wild-goose-pagoda.htm
https://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/shaanxi/xian/bigwildgoose.htm
http://www.greatwalltour.net/xian/attractions/big-wild-goose-pagoda.html
http://www.chinamaps.info/Big%20Wild%20Goose%20Pagoda/Big-Wild-Goose-Pagoda.htm
This evening we're off to Wudangshan to finish research there. Our monk friend, Victor, will meet us at the new Wudang mountain airport after we arrive this evening. There is no more need to travel through rural China on a 10-hour train ride to get to Wudang mountain! We'll have one evening in the city, then head up the mountain for 4 days of hiking and photography.
We'll be in touch with email updates, as we can!
Blessings,
Dennis&Anita
The Three Musketeers with our Huashan guide from the 2002 expedition, Sunny.
The old city wall of Xi'an with its moat.
Low ceilings for Master Karl, in the old Bell Tower within the old city wall.
Hidden garden in old Xi'an.