After breakfast we met our guide to go visit the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. Which is just a crazy name for a Buddhist temple here in Xi'an. it has a story related to it. I can't remember all of it but it was something similar to manna or quail (is that the right bird?) being provided for Moses' people. There are apparently many "Wild Goose Pagodas" around China and this just happens to be a "big" one - meaning tall. It has been rebuilt several times during different dynasties, sometimes taller, sometimes shorter. There aren't very many pictures to share as this is still a temple that people frequent (and where monks live) so it is considered a sacred place and they asked for no photography. That didn't stop a lot of people from taking photographs anyway, but I'm a rule-follower not a rule-breaker so I didn't take any. I would have liked to though as the decorations are amazing and very intricate.
This is the entrance.
Here is the actual pagoda. You can climb stairs up to the top if you'd like but it costs extra (yes, they charge to get into the temple!) so we opted not to do that. Plus is was CRAZY freaking hot and we had like 20 more people than the average group so it would have just been miserable. The outside view suits us just fine.
She was not pleased with riding in the stroller. It was just too hot to carry her around though.
There are lots of separate temple buildings on the property. Each one had a different Buddha and each one has a different meaning. One you go in to pray at for prosperity, etc.
None of the places we have visited so far in China are stroller or wheelchair friendly. There were a few ramps but they are all crazy steep so pushing around a stroller is almost more trouble than it's worth.
Here's a better picture of the pagoda.
It is pretty amazing considering when it was built for the first time - 652 BC.
There are also some memorial pillars built there in a little garden.
On the way out we stopped at a stand selling some ice cream. We were all melting by this point and ice cream sounded SO good! S agrees.
G was NOT a fan. We all snarfed ours down pretty quickly though. Then it was time to head out. We walked over to Pizza Hut to grab some lunch. Pizza Hut is considered a very nice restaurant here. (So weird!) They serve lots of things - not just pizza. We ordered a couple of pizzas to go and that was weird to them. The veggie pizza we ordered for Josh and I came with peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes, CORN and PINEAPPLE. So strange to eat corn on your pizza. I ended up getting a little sick from the pizza too. :(
For dinner we ended up ordering a plate of lasagna from the restaurant downstairs and some congee for G. There was some leftover pizza too. We all crashed pretty early again. We still haven't adjusted to the time difference and being so hot all day long really takes its toll too. Tomorrow - the Terra Cotta army!
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