Huaqing Hot Springs

While on the bus to see the Terracotta Warriors, two things worth mentioning happened. The first is that there was one other foreigner on the bus, a slightly manic Israeli. He was stunned at how little people earn per month over here ("Seriously? I spent that in a day!") and his accent was very thick. It took me most of the bus trip to adjust to it enough to understnd more than half of what he said. He was very busy, too - he had one of those hectic tourist schedules that means he only has X amount of time for this because he has to be on a plane to somewhere else that evening.

That was why he didn't succumb to the bus conductor's spiel about Huaqing hot springs. It took me a while to work out what she was saying - she knew exactly enough English to almost articulate what it was she was trying to say. I didn't even realise she was saying "hot springs" until I got off the bus - it sounded more like "hostel". I did manage to figure out it was a garden of some kind, with several thousand years' worth of history behind it. Much more than that was lost in translation. The girl tried hard, though, and I figured, why not? I'm already pretending I'm a tourist today, I might as well see everything. Having figured it out for myself I was able to tell the Israeli guy what the hell she was going on about, since he understood her even less than me. He declined, due to his schedule.

Once I got off the bus and saw the signs saying "Huaqing Hot Springs" I realised what it was the conductor was trying to say, and laughed. I read the description outside, and figured it was worth a look. And, it was.

Huaqing hot springs are famous for two reasons. The first is that they're the scene of a famous romance, between an emperor and his concubine. That's obviously the main focus of the tourist attraction. The second is that they're the site of the "Xi'an incident" - a chapter in China's more modern history. I'll relate that here, since I never did figure out which building it happened in, so it doesn't turn up in the photos.

Sometime between the first and second world wars, China was divided, and in the middle of an attempt at a communist revolution. Unfortunately for them, they were also being attacked by the Japanese. One general took the leader of the the not-communists prisoner at the Huaqing hot springs, and the resulting negotiations led to his release and a truce between the two parties, allowing them to unite against Japan. The main reason the leader was recovered by negotiation rather than force was because of Stalin's involvement; China needed Russia's support at that time. It's a bit more involved and political than that, and I've probably botched something important in my retelling; go research it yourself if it interests you. At any rate, it's called "the Xi'an incident", and Huaqing is where it happened.

The first thing that happened was that I was persuaded to pay for an electric car to whisk me around. I did this because I thought it would be necessary. It's really not. All the places the cars will take you to are entirely walkable, and why else are you there if not to dawdle and see the sights? I got off the car at the first stop.

Once I got off, this is where I found myself:


If you look carefully, you can see that the people in the background are lined up at the edge of a pool. This is what they're looking at:


This is another shot of the same pool. I have no idea what the building is for. All the other tourists (all Chinese - I didn't see any other foreigners while here) were keen on taking photos of it, though.


Just around the corner was this much less crowded, and very picturesque pool:



As well as this secluded little spot:


A bit more wandering took me to this statue of, it seems, naked women with water pitchers. It's a nice statue, but I couldn't help but feel I was there at the wrong time of day - there must be a time when it catches the sunlight.


I'm fairly sure the naked statues are because people at a hot spring were probably naked a lot. This particular statue was very popular amongst the other tourists, as you can see. I don't know who it is, but given the story of this place, I imagine it is the emperor's courtesan. As a side note: the statuary here is, as you can see, very good, easily on a par with the more famous Greek statues. Given the tendency for two-dimensional Chinese art to lean towards symbolism and minimalism, it came as something of a surprise.


Speaking of two-dimensional art, this was inside one of the bath houses. All the bath houses are empty of water, by the way; this is strictly a tourist destination now, you don't go here to actually bathe.


This picture is part of a series of a few dozen, telling the story of the emperor and his concubine. This one isn't particularly descriptive; I chose this one to take a photo of because I liked it. It was a wonderful moody atmosphere, with a bare minimum of brush strokes (that part is not so obvious from the photo). However, all the pictures were, when it comes down to it, excellent. They told the story on their own, although it would undoubtedly have helped if I could read the captions. I probably should have taken photos of all of them, but I couldn't be bothered, and I wasn't sure how well any of them would come out in the dim interior anyway. As it is, I've forgotten most of the story that I was able to figure out; but the most lasting image is of the emperor and the concubine planting a seedling together, and seeing the same seedling in later images as a grown tree, as a recurring symbol of their love.

There's no story to this next photo: I just love ivy-covered buildings.


It's not immediately obvious from this photo, but if you keep looking you will notice what look like terraces in the background. They are actually part of a very windy staircase that looked marvellous, but that I couldn't find a way to get to. I suspect it's not one of the parts tourists are supposed to go to.


And finally, an empty pavilion. This is a rare find in a tourist attraction with tourists all over the place, but here it was. Naturally, it was in a more out-of-the-way corner of the hot springs.


Next up: the Terracotta Warriors!