End of the Year Study Trip: 14-days through Southern China! (pt. 1)

CSI students Traveling — Group photo with our suitecases

It’s the end of the semester and you know what that means? 14 days of glorious, glorious travel through China. This semester there were two trips to choose from. The first option was a trip to Tibet, centered around Buddhism. The second, a trip through Southern China learning about China’s ethnic minorities. All but nine of us chose the Tibet trip. Since I will be with the program next semester, I decided to choose the Southern China trip, and will go to Tibet when its warmer next semester. The end-of-the-year trip is easily one of the best parts of this program. Hotels, transportation, and tours are all paid for, and students only need to bring meal and spending money.

First up on our trip was Xi’an. We traveled by high-speed train, my favorite. We almost took up an entire car!

Students on the high speed train — Group photo in the train on our way to Xi’an

After settling into our hotel, we set off to find some dinner and headed to the famous Muslim food street.

Xi'an Muslim Street — Xi’an Muslim Food Street, lights line each side of the busy street advertising each business

Here you can find all the specialty dishes of Xi’an, as well as many souvenirs! I have to say, Xi’an has some of my favorite food in China.

Eating cotton candy in Xi'an — Group of 3 students eating cotton candy in the middle of Muslim Food Street

A couple of Xi’an specialty foods include biang biang noodles, roujiamo, and lamb soup with pita bread. Biang biang noodles are some of my favorite noodles in China! They’re thick and chewy and so, so tasty. Actually the character for “biang biang” is so difficult and complex to write in Chinese, that most keyboards don’t even have the character option for it.

Biang Biang nodles — Biang biang noodles on a plate with chopsticks

With skewers and pomegranate juice — My Friend and I eating lamb skewers

You’ll often find it written in pinyin or English on restaurant signs or online. One of my favorite snacks at Muslim street were lamb skewers. They were perfectly seasoned and cooked right in front of you!

Also located in Xi’an are the famous Terracotta Warriors! It was my second time visiting this site. The Terracotta Army and Horses are modeled after Qin Shi Huang’s (the first Emperor of China) army.

Each statue is unique, with distinguishing facial features. There are a couple of different soldiers, including archers, standing calvary men, and riders, which were on top of the horse-drawn carts. Their purpose was to protect the emperor in his afterlife.

Standing man — Terra cotta soldier ready for battle in display case

After the Terracotta Army, we went to Xi’an’s City Wall. When Xi’an was the capital of China, this wall protected the city. It is one of China’s oldest, largest, and most well-preserved walls. It kind of reminds me of the wall that protected the Earth Kingdom of Ba Sing Se in Avatar: the Last Airbender. It was built under the rule of the Hongwu Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang.

At the City Wall — Group photo on steps leading to the Xi’an City Wall

On the wall — China likes walls almost as much as we like group photos! Group photo on the City Wall!

Friends on the wall — Three friends on the wall with dust masks on

Group dinner in Xi'an — Group dinner around a circular table in Xi’an

Group dinner — Dishes of every kind of food in the center of the round table

Extra, extra! Here are some pictures from our visit to the Great Mosque in Xi’an! There was no one there, but it had some beautiful architecture!

Chengdu was our second stop, located in Sichuan Province and known for its crazy spicy cuisine! Hot pot is the speciality dish here, and I had it all every night I was there. I actually have a friend who lives in Chengdu. We used to work together in Alaska at her family’s Asian restaurant. A Chengdu native, she took us out for the best hot pot in the city.

With my friend Joyce — My friend Joyce and I in front of a storefront

Eating hot pot at a round table with all my friends

I’m not going to lie, after three consecutive nights of hot pot, my stomach was a little upset. That being said, it was totally worth it. Besides the deliciously addicting cuisine, Chengdu has a lot of sights to see. About two hours from the city, visitors can travel to see the Giant Leshan Buddha.

The Leshan Giant Buddha is around 230 feet tall, carved out of a cliff face. The trek to the buddha feels never-ending, but believe me when I tell you, it is SO worth it. I’ve never seen Mount Rushmore, but I imagine it’s a similar experience to seeing this buddha. The carving is so well done, and the massive scale makes it a feat that everyone should see.

Leshan Buddha from a lower perspective showing the enormity of the statue in the canyon

Posing with the Buddha — Group photo with my friends and the giant Buddha in the background

Chengdu’s other popular attraction is its Panda Conservation and Research Center. Famous in China and the world, we were fortunate enough to be able to visit it and see all the pandas! We saw pandas of all ages and all personalities. At the site they have red panda as well as giant pandas.

Panda Conservation Center visit — Photo in front of Panda Conservation Center

Panda eating — Panda in the enclosure smiling at me!

We also had some time to check out a beautiful Buddhist temple in Chengdu, and walk along some ancient streets of the city. I really enjoyed that we had a lot of free time to explore and experience the cities we were visiting.

Exploring Chengdu — Colorful red and yellow lanterns in Chengdu

Aesthetics inside the temple — Perfectly sculpted plants inside the temple

Ancient street in Chengdu, with red lanterns hanging on the second story of the buildings to the left

Next we were off to Lijiang! Check out End of the Year Study Trip: 14-days through Southern China! (pt. 2) for the wrap up of my study trip and fall semester!