Today we spent most of our time at a Buddhist site named the Famen Temple. After fading into obscurity, the Temple continued to deteriorate until it partially collapsed after an earthquake in 1981. Five years later, the supposed finger bone of Siddhartha Gautama was found in a crypt underneath the temple’s foundation, and so some serious renovations were undertaken.  Modern constructions and a walkway were paved right through the village surrounding the Temple, with parts cut out of pre-existing buildings on the perimeter where it was necessary.  The bone was one of many Gautama relics spread across the Buddhist world and one of 19 in China, but the rest have been lost to time.  It was buried with three other similar bones, which were meant as decoys in case someone tried to loot the tomb.  Each was enclosed like Russian dolls in layers of containers made of precious metals and stones.  While replicas and select items discovered in the tomb are on display, the finger bone itself is hidden high in the modern Namaste Dagoba–a gigantic, diamond shaped building containing statues of Buddhist gods that stand stories tall.  While touring the nearby museum, we saw one of the monks texting.  I’m not sure where they keep a cell phone in those robes.

A restaurant at the temple serves traditional Buddhist food, which is essentially the Chinese version of vegan dining.  The lunch we had there was probably the consensus least favorite so far among members of our program due to its surplus of tofu and utter lack of meat or dairy.  However, as far as vegan goes, I thought it was pretty good. 

One of many statues along the pathway

The Namaste Dagoba

Looking down from atop the Dagoba

Farmlands behind the Dagoba

The reconstructed Famen Temple

Our next trip was to the tombs of one of the fist Emperors and of the Empress who ruled after his death.  Each left behind a stone obelisk, but the while the Emperor had his inscribed with his legacy, the Empresses’ remained blank.  Some believe that she chose to do this because she thought herself already famous enough that a written record was not needed, while others believe that she wanted to permit history to judge her reign instead of expressing it superficially in stone.

The walkway to the tombs  

For dinner we went to a restaurant that specializes in dumplings and sampled 10 or 15 of the Chinese staple.  My favorites had a sweet taste, and included walnuts in their filling.  It took us about half an hour to figure out that our waiter was speaking German to us.  Before then we knew that she wasn’t speaking Chinese but couldn’t figure out why she called the pork “swine flesh.” 

The duck dumplings looked like ducks!

Later in the evening, some of our group opted to pay about 120 RMB each to see a traditional Chinese dancing show at a restaurant near our hotel.  However, I decided to take the time to catch up on the blog and sleep instead. 

Tomorrow we’ll spend one last afternoon in Xian and then hop on a two-hour flight to Shanghai for a five-day stay.  We’re all really excited for Shanghai, especially because it’s the host city of the 2010 World Expo.  

Location: Xian, China