May
28, afternoon
Huaqing Pool
After visiting the Terra Cotta
Warriors, we drove to a nearby town and had another feast. Like all of
these group meals in Xi'an we had a private room with our own servers and lots
of food.
The restaurant was across the street
from the
Huaqing Pool, which we visited after lunch. This was an
imperial site, where the court came to take advantage of the hot springs.
Once again, we hired a guide, who, like many of the young Chinese women
I met, carried a parasol. 
The spa was the home of an early emporer, who build the spa to take
advantage of the natural springs. The story associated with spa tells
of the emporer having to execute his favorite concubine because his
generals feared she wielded too much power. The story is told in a
display at the entrance to the spa. 
Also at the entrance is flower garden including the following
impressive ornament.
Such
beautiful floral displays were omnipresent throughout the sites I
visited in China.
Also popular are ceremonial masks, such as the following
one. 
Once inside the spa, there
is a larger-than-lifesize statue of the concubine and several
impressive outbuildings.
The spa was also the site of the Chiang
Kai Chek
incident, where his generals attacked him because he would not
sign a
truce with Mao in order to fight the Japanese in World War II. There
are bullet holes and
restored rooms. Chiang escaped to a near-by cave and eventually
signed the truce.
After visiting the spa, we returned to Xi`an, where I had a nice buffet
dinner with Ross in the hotel.