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| This became the site of a Tang Dynasty palace because there were natural hot springs on the premises. Sounds like a good reason to place a palace here. |
There's a lot to see here, even on the periphery of the palace grounds, in the park area before you enter.
Still in the parking area here:
And there is this cool statue/fountain, honoring a dance from an emperor's favorite consort.
Time to enter. There is always an ornate gate to pass through.
The grounds are very green and relaxing. This is good since the sun is coming out for the first time this whole trip. It's been very overcast (but not raining) the entire time up to now.
You can take a cable car up to some temples at the top of the mountain. Our guide is referring to them as "tourist temples," but I don't think she meant the term to be as derisive as it sounds to western ears.
Or maybe she did. I'm exhausted at this point, so we stay in the lower grounds area, rather than taking a cable car up to the "tourist temple."
I cable carred at the Great Wall. Now if they were offering funicular service, I'd have reconsidered. But cable cars/aerial trams? Been there.
And this is the star of the show:
The Emperor's Favorite Consort. Barely dressed.
And this was her bathing pool.
Not that big, but bigger than my hotel tub. And the tub in my hotel room is pretty decent sized.
I found this sign intriguing:
This was the first and only time I saw a sign with this directive in China. Usually, pushing and shoving are actively encouraged at all tourist spots.
Anyway, this was the emperor's bathing pool.
Crowds were modest.
This was a surprise. An area devoted to Chiang Kai-shek, the leader of the Chinese nationalists, the ones who fought a civil war with the communists, lost, and went into exile in Taiwan.
This was his meeting room.
Time to leave the Hua Qing Palace grounds. Not much time before I need to catch the dinner show.
The show was a dance spectacular about a Tang Dynasty emperor's lifelong love affair with his chosen empress. Some of the show performers used the dining area as a passageway.
The city of Xi'an might be living off the Qin Dynasty Terra Cotta Warriors right now -- at least its tourism trade is -- but the city itself loves the Tang Dynasty.
Soon it was time to be seated in the theater.
And the show began.
And the show ended. The dancing was not my thing, but the accompanying traditional Chinese music was excellent and enjoyable.
All in all, it worked out better than lunch. When I ended up in a Qin Dynasty period costume.
One of my rules of vacationing is when you are offered a funny costume, wear it. I may reconsider that rule.
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