{"id":16461,"date":"2007-08-17T16:40:04","date_gmt":"2007-08-17T20:40:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/?p=16461"},"modified":"2020-08-11T13:29:17","modified_gmt":"2020-08-11T17:29:17","slug":"xian-steles-music-the-wall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/?p=16461","title":{"rendered":"Xi&#8217;an: Steles, Music, &#038; The Wall"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>August 17, 2007<\/p>\n<p>After a delicious Chinese breakfast in the hotel, our guide escorted us to the Stele Forest, also called the <em>Beilin<\/em> Museum.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-16462\" src=\"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/IMG_2830.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"285\" \/><\/p>\n<p>A stele is a stone slab erected in the ancient world as a monument. There is text or decorations carved into the surface of the stone. Chinese steles commemorated writers and officials through poems, portraits, or maps. Steles were also used at tombs and temples.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-16463\" src=\"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/IMG_2832.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"400\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The Beilin Museum has a huge collection of ancient steles and stone sculptures. \u00a0There are 3,000 steles in the museum, many are considered national treasures.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-16464\" src=\"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/IMG_2835.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"318\" height=\"400\" \/><\/p>\n<p>There was a demonstration of ink rubbings while we were there. The characters on the stone below depict four Confucian virtues.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-16466\" src=\"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/IMG_2843.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"289\" height=\"400\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-16467\" src=\"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/IMG_2845.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"322\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-16468\" src=\"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/IMG_2856.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"273\" height=\"400\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-16469\" src=\"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/IMG_2861.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"284\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-16470\" src=\"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/IMG_2868.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"328\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-16471\" src=\"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/IMG_2828.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"290\" height=\"400\" \/><\/p>\n<p>One evening we attended the Tang Dynasty Music and Dance performance. Musicians played traditional instruments and dancers wore elaborate costumes. It was great fun!<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-16472\" src=\"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/IMG_2952.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"322\" height=\"400\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-16473\" src=\"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/IMG_2912.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"277\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-16474\" src=\"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/IMG_2921.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"364\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-16475\" src=\"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/IMG_2902.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"304\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-16476\" src=\"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/IMG_2927.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"303\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-16477\" src=\"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/IMG_2936.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"298\" height=\"400\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The last tourist destination in Xi&#8217;an was the ancient stone City Wall. This was a fortification built around the original city of Xi&#8217;an.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-16484\" src=\"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/08\/IMG_2989.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"269\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The wall was initially built during the Tang Dynasty (616-907) and later the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) enlarged the fortification to its current size.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-16479\" src=\"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/08\/IMG_2964.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"340\" height=\"400\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The rectangular wall is 8.5 miles long with four main gates and 14 smaller gates. A deep moat surrounds it. \u00a0The wall is 40 feet tall, 45 feet wide at the top and 50-60 feet wide at the bottom.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-16481\" src=\"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/08\/IMG_2983.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"300\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-16480\" src=\"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/08\/IMG_2998.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"313\" height=\"400\" \/><\/p>\n<p>There are a total of 98 ramparts which extend out from the main wall.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-16482\" src=\"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/08\/IMG_2960.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"360\" height=\"400\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-16483\" src=\"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/08\/IMG_2971.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"285\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-16485\" src=\"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/08\/IMG_2975.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"300\" \/><\/p>\n<p>In the photo below, local people are having lunch just outside the City Wall<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-16486\" src=\"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/08\/IMG_2814.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"316\" \/><\/p>\n<p>We ate at this restaurant (sorry! I don&#8217;t remember the name) and the food was delicious!!<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-16487\" src=\"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/08\/IMG_3009.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"317\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-16488\" src=\"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/08\/IMG_3012.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"265\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>August 17, 2007 After a delicious Chinese breakfast in the hotel, our guide escorted us to the Stele Forest, also called the Beilin Museum. A stele is a stone slab erected in the ancient world as a monument. There is text or decorations carved into the surface of the stone. Chinese steles commemorated writers and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[74],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16461","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-china"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16461","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16461"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16461\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16672,"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16461\/revisions\/16672"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}