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// Northwest Travelogue
#import "/template-en.typ": *

#doc-template(
title: "Northwest Travelogue",
date: "January 14, 2026",
body: [

#set heading(numbering: none)

In early December, I took a trip to the northwestern provinces, mainly Xi'an and Linfen in Shanxi (although Shanxi is more often categorized as North China). The Seagull 4B TLR camera I bought earlier had never been used, except for a few black-and-white film photos taken around the West Lake and near my residence. So it's a good chance to use it this time. This trip also happened to be the first time I used color film for photography.

As for the transpotation of travel, because my power bank is quite old and lacks 3C certification, and I didn't want the film to pass through X-ray machines, I still chose to travel by high-speed rail. The whole train journey took 8 hours, crossing the Yangtze River and the Yellow River, passing through the Central Plains, and entering the Guanzhong Basin through the Hangu Pass. It can be said to be a classic "entering the pass" route. Finally, I arrived at Xi'an North Railway Station at dusk.

At first, I thought Xi'an would be quite cold, but having not been to the north for a long time, I had forgotten that the dry cold here is not very scary. Down jackets were almost completely unnecessary. The homestay I booked was in a place called "Nanshaomen," which is relatively close to some nearby attractions. After meeting up with Silicon Neko at the subway station, we ate ice-boiled mutton hot pot nearby. The first day of travel exhaustion ended there.

= Day 1

On this day, I originally wanted to visit the Xi'an Museum and the Shaanxi History Museum, but I couldn't make it because the reservations were full. So after lunch, I chose to go straight to the Xi'an City Wall.

The entrance ticket of Xi'an City Wall is quite expensive, costing more than fifty yuan. However, after going up the wall, I found that there was actually not much to see. It was mainly for walking and feeling the historical atmosphere.

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There were many tourists taking photos in Hanfu (traditional Han clothing) on the city wall. Among the tourists taking photos in Hanfu were both men and women, but the Hanfu for men often looked a bit like something out of a xianxia TV drama, which was very inconsistent with the ancient style of the city wall, making it a bit distracting.

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The current Xi'an City Wall is a Ming Dynasty wall, and the Ming Dynasty wall was basically built on the basis of the imperial city wall of Chang'an in the Tang Dynasty. So there is a ruin museum of the Tang Dynasty city wall in one place. However, due to the vicissitudes of time, only a few broken walls remain.

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After coming down from the wall, two subways stops away are the Bell and Drum Towers, which should be considered the center of Xi'an. The Bell Tower is quite beautiful, but I made a small mistake when operating the camera, resulting in a double exposure, leaving only a shadow of the Bell Tower.

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After dinner in the evening, I wandered around the Bell Tower area. Silicon Neko saw a horror-themed escape room experience hall and suggested we try it. Then, as expected, I was so scared that I was still shaking long after I came out. Because I don't like this kind of horror experience, I don't want to recall it much. But to be honest, their horror effects were indeed very powerful. I can understand why many people just love this.

That's how the first day went.

= Day 2

The main arrangement for this day was to visit the Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum Site Museum (Terracotta Warriors). Taking a lesson from yesterday's failure to book museum tickets, I made a reservation early this time. However, the Terracotta Warriors tickets did not seem to be in very high demand; a reservation was not actually needed.

The market for paid guided tours of the Terracotta Warriors is very competitive. From the moment you get off the subway and get on the bus, various organizations begin to promote guided tours. However, the most authentic guided tour should be from the museum staff at the entrance of Pit 1. Pit 1 is the most classic Terracotta Warriors pit, with an atmosphere of thousands of troops and horses:

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The other two pits are relatively small, but you can see the Terracotta Warriors on display in glass cabinets up close, with the rich details clearly discernible.

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In addition, there is an auxiliary museum in the Terracotta Warriors scenic area, which exhibits some artifacts unearthed nearby.

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There is also a display board with color reconstruction drawings of the Terracotta Warriors, which look quite good. Unfortunately, the chemical properties of these dyes were not stable; they oxidized as soon as they were unearthed and could not be preserved.

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There is actually a Lishan Garden scenic area nearby, which is the real location of the mausoleum of Emperor Qinshihuang. However, because it was a bit late when I came out of the Terracotta Warriors scenic area, I didn't go there but took a direct bus back to Xi'an city center.

= Day 3

Today was mainly for visiting the attractions in the city that were missed on the first day. Since today was a weekday, the tickets for the Small Wild Goose Pagoda and the Xi'an Museum were not as tight, and I could easily make a reservation. However, the Shaanxi History Museum was still unavailable, so I had to give up this time.

The Small Wild Goose Pagoda was originally a temple, but it seems to have no traces of Buddhist activities at all; it's just a historical site. Although its name is "Small Wild Goose Pagoda," the pagoda is actually not small at all.

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In addition to the pagoda, some ancient small sculptures in the scenic area are also very interesting.

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Next to the Small Wild Goose Pagoda is the Xi'an Museum, which mainly displays ancient artifacts.

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The next stop after coming out of the Xi'an Museum was the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda. The Giant Wild Goose Pagoda is also very close to the Small Wild Goose Pagoda. Taking a taxi only cost five yuan. I was a bit embarrassed; probably the platform has subsidies, and I hope the driver gets more than that. The Giant Wild Goose Pagoda is inside the Ci'en Temple, and the Ci'en Temple was where Xuanzang translated scriptures after he returned from his journey to the West.

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After entering the Ci'en Temple, I found speakers everywhere in the temple constantly repeating "Namo Amituofo" (Homage to Amitabha Buddha), which is entirely the practice of the Pure Land school, and it felt a bit wrong. Later, I found out through research that the "Faxiang/Ci'en school" founded by Xuanzang after his return from India had its lineage broken and most of its scriptures lost since Emperor Wuzong's Huichang persecution of Buddhism in the Tang Dynasty. Although the current Ci'en Temple highlights Xuanzang elements, and there is a not-so-good-looking Tang-style building "Xuanzang Sanzang Master Hall" at the back of the temple, for the reasons mentioned above, this place is actually more like a new temple built on the original site of the Ci'en Temple. From the perspective of Buddhist lineage, it no longer has anything to do with Xuanzang.

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A road in front of the Ci'en Temple is the "Great Tang All Day Mall" (Everbright City). In the daytime, it is just an ordinary commercial pedestrian street. The buildings on both sides are quite distinctive, but the texture is a bit plastic. After eating something at KFC, it was getting late. I watched a flying dome movie on the street with Silicon Neko. The special effects were quite good, not inferior to Disney's. By the time we came out of the flying dome movie, it was completely dark. The lights of the nearby imitation ancient buildings were all on, looking very magnificent. It seems they only considered the visual effect of these buildings at night and didn't consider the daytime. Xiaohongshu said there would be various performances here at night, but maybe because it was the off-season, I didn't see any after walking a few times. Only a few influencer live-streaming stages looked very lively. So we took a taxi back from another exit of the pedestrian street.

= Day 4

Silicon Neko had other arrangements and left for a while on this day. So today I wandered around by myself. I chose a relatively desolate attraction: the Daming Palace ruins.

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There was nothing particularly beautiful about this site. The core area of the Daming Palace was its three major halls: Hanyuan Hall, Xuanzheng Hall, and Zichen Hall. Historically, the three major halls here were far more luxurious than the Forbidden City in Beijing, but times have changed. The Daming Palace was destroyed by fire as early as the rebellion of Huang Chao and Zhu Wen. Today, only a few rammed earth platforms remain. Visiting here was mainly out of nostalgia for the past.

#myquote[
  Luxurious carriages and embroidered hubs have all dissipated, \ 
  Not half of the grand mansions and red gates remain. \ 
  On the Hanyuan Hall, foxes and rabbits run, \ 
  In front of the Hua'e Tower, thorns are full. \ 
  The past prosperity is all buried, \ 
  Looking around, it's desolate with no old things. \ 
  The inner treasury was burned to embroidered ash, \ 
  The Heavenly Street trod upon the bones of officials.
]

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= Day 6

There were no arrangements for the fifth day. It was mainly traveling from Xi'an to Linfen to stay, so it's skipped. Today's one-day trip was the highlight. Originally, I planned to go with Silicon Neko today, but due to some force majeure, Silicon Neko left early, so I went out by myself again.

The first stop was the Guangsheng Temple in Hongtong County. The glazed pagoda of the Guangsheng Temple is a very famous attraction. CCTV's "Journey to the West" TV series was also filmed here. Compared with the simple and plain Giant Wild Goose Pagoda and Small Wild Goose Pagoda in Xi'an, the glazed pagoda of the Guangsheng Temple is exceptionally magnificent. Unfortunately, I wasted too much color film in Xi'an, and only black-and-white film was left when I got here.

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Guangsheng Temple is divided into Upper Temple and Lower Temple. The glazed pagoda is located in the Upper Temple, while the most famous part of the Lower Temple is the Yuan Dynasty Water God Temple murals. The murals seem to have used very powerful pigments, and the colors are still incredibly vivid after hundreds of years.

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Next to the Water God Temple is a Yuan Dynasty stage. Standing here, you can see the glazed pagoda in the distance.

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There are also suspended sculptures (xuansu) in the Buddha halls of the Guangsheng Temple. This is a unique sculptural art of northern Buddhist temples, mainly located in the air. But among the suspended sculptures, the most impressive one was the second stop of this trip, the Thousand Buddha Temple in Xi County, also commonly known as "Little Western Paradise." Little Western Paradise is a Chan Buddhist courtyard, and the temple buildings are small and exquisite. Here, thousands of exquisite and magnificent Buddha statues are gathered in a space of about one hundred square meters. The degree of shock is beyond words. Although "Black Myth: Wukong" has many points for criticism, it is also a great achievement to promote such excellent ancient art from the unknown Shanxi county to the public eye. Because the light in the Buddha hall was dim and it was difficult to shoot with film, I could only take a few photos with my phone as travel souvenirs.

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The last stop was the Hukou Waterfall of the Yellow River. Although it was already winter, there seemed to be no signs of low water, and the weather was not cold enough for the river water to freeze. Therefore, the Hukou Waterfall was able to maintain its original appearance, and one could feel the majesty of "the wind is howling, the horse is neighing." There are Hukou Waterfall viewing platforms on both sides of the Yellow River, with Yan'an in Shaanxi on the opposite side, but the viewing angle didn't feel as good as on the Shanxi side.

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= Return Trip

After resting in Linfen for one night, I returned by high-speed rail the next day, continuing north all the way to Taiyuan, then east out of the Taihang Mountains, passing through Shijiazhuang, reaching Dezhou in Shandong, and then changing trains all the way south back to Hangzhou. On the way, I also encountered the first snow in North China this winter. The Taihang Mountains in the snow were exceptionally beautiful.

A week's journey ended there.

])