Tom & FeiFei's Chinese part of the wedding. We were really excited to go to Xi'an, not only to catch up with friends and to be part of a real Chinese wedding, but also to go and check out the Terracotta Warriors. Our hotel, in Xi'an's old quarters within the city walls took it's name sake from the bell-tower which was right outside. Once we settled in and said hello to everyone we explored Xi'an's Muslim quarter the first evening we arrived as it was right next to our hotel. After sampling some local delights we called it a night as we were getting up to head to the Terracotta Army on the outskirts of Xi'an. Thousands of Terracotta soldiers, together with horses and carriages were buried with the First Emperor of China around 210 BC for protection in the afterlife. The site was only discovered in 1974 by local farmers who were digging a well and was soon made into a UNESCO World Heritage site. Many of the warriors are remarkably well preserved with an incredible amount to detail and even colours. Many of them are also broken and shattered to pieces. The excavations are still ongoing and it is painstaking work. It is an incredible site.
Upon taking leave of the Terracotta Warriors we had a phone call from Tom saying that there were riots happening in Xi'an and outside of the hotel and that currently no-one could get in and out. The riots were caused by tensions between China and Japan disputing the Senaku Islands (or Diaoyu Islands). The islands are claimed by both China, Japan and also Taiwan and riots similar to Xi'an took place in over 11 other major Chinese cities. We were a 1hr bus-ride away so we slowly made our way back hoping everything would have calmed down when we'd get back. Far from it. Our friend Phil was stuck in the Muslim Quarter outside of the hotel. Tom and his family inside the hotel and we were trying to figure out what to do next from a small internet cafe near the train-station. We agreed to try and meet up with Phil and organized a cab to get us close to the hotel and the Muslim quarter. The cab had to drop us off about half mile away from the hotel as the whole area was cordoned off by the police. As we walked we walked past overturned Japanese cars, riot police and the army. The closest we got to the hotel was the opposite side of the bell-tower. The police was trying to get us to move outside their cordons towards onlookers and protesters. We refused feeling much safer inside the police protected zone than with the angry mob outside. So there we stood for a long while watching the riot police pushing the protesters further out bit by bit . In the end we got word from Tom saying we would be let back into the hotel, so we crossed the square past more overturned cars. The front of the hotel was totally smashed in and the army had taken over the hotel. Tom & FeiFei's rehearsal dinner was cancelled. The wedding was still on the next day. That evening everyone shared their riot story. Tom's family had prime footage on what had happened on the square.
Ian had to get up early the next day to go with the boys to FeiFei's house as it is tradition. After paying bribes and finding shoes the whole party returned and the wedding started in the hotel around lunch-time. a large banquet hall with 26 tables for 10 people each was laid out. Wedding proceedings followed and afterwards lots of tasty food was provided. After lunch most people had left and the bride and groom could finally relax a little and also get some food. It was then when then when the rioting kicked off again and everyone had to go back to their rooms. Hotel staff was running around grabbing all the vases and other breakable items. We went with Tom's family into one of the rooms which had front row seats overlooking the riots. The army and riot police had built a barrier outside around the hotel, as the hotel like yesterday was one of the main targets of the riots (apparently there were rumours that the hotel was part Japanese owned). The rioting continued the whole afternoon and only in the late afternoon did the army dispel all the protesters.
We spent an eventful 2 days in Xi'an and fortunately by Monday morning things were returning to normal and we could leave the old town (which for the time of the riots was closed off) to catch our flight back to Hong Kong
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