One Night in Hancheng

by Jane Bell (Australia)

A leap into the unknown China

'You will be the only foreigners there', joked our guide Celine as she wrote out the instructions in Chinese, 'Two tickets from Xi an to Hancheng on the 10 o’clock bus'. On Friday afternoon she had walked the half hour from our hotel to the bus station with us. On Saturday morning we did it ourselves, bought the tickets and got on the bus! Hancheng is best known as the hometown of Sima Qian(145-90 BC), a legendary Chinese historian who recorded life in the Han dynasty. But our reason for visiting was to see the unique Ming dynasty village of Dangjiacun, about 9 km east of Hancheng. This very well-preserved village, located in a sheltered valley, was once the home of the merchant clan of Dang. The bus trip, along a motorway with three lanes in both directions, took about three and half hours. We disembarked in Hancheng just off the motorway and climbed into a tuk tuk after showing the driver the address of our hotel. It wasn't very far and was inexpensive: aha, the wrong hotel! The driver put on his spectacles, had another look at the address and we set off again through the town. It was a much longer and more expensive ride! We had an interesting time checking in to our hotel as not a lot of English was spoken. A translation app on Amy, the receptionist's, phone helped! The app and Amy were also able to provide us with a map of Hancheng and directions to the village of Dangjiacun. We chose to first explore the old town of Hancheng: ‘just out the hotel door, turn left and keep walking for 100 metres or so’ the translation app told us. For about an hour we explored the old town: a clear blue sky and well laid out gardens made for very pleasant walking. We looked inside several temples including the Confucius Temple, which is the pick of the temples here, according to our Guidebook. Feeling peckish, we bought some tasty snacks: one curry flavoured, another with a tasty filling (sweetish bean/nut combination) and the third, like a doughy pretzel. It had been a while since breakfast. While we walked about, we were often stopped for photos and waved and smiled and pointed at! Maybe we will feature in someone else's travel blog!? On Sunday morning we enjoyed a Chinese breakfast which included an omelette, prepared by four chefs! And next, with help from Amy at the front desk, a taxi picked us up at 8.45 and took us to the old village of Dangjiacun. We spent a memorable two hours here. Apart from a couple of smallish tour groups, there were not a lot of visitors in Dangjiacun and again, we were something of a curiosity. We admired the variety of architecture and furnishings from the Ming dynasty and walked along cobbled streets. While some English titles, explanations and a map were provided, it was easy to walk around the village because it was small. The whole village is like a museum! We called our taxi driver and were back at the hotel by 11.15, where we freshened up, finished packing and checked out. We said our goodbyes and ‘thank yous’, with many smiles, to the reception staff, including Amy. The taxi dropped us at the bus depot where, like old hands, we confidently bought tickets for Xi an, ¥45 each, and boarded the bus in the bay. We left Hancheng at 12.30, and arrived at NW Xi an bus station around 3.30 pm. It wasn't the relatively small bus station we had departed from yesterday! This was a huge place so there was a bit of to-ing and fro-ing before we found the escalator to exit. Then we had the dilemma of where to wait for a taxi! After a 45-minute taxi ride we were back at our hotel, collecting our suitcases that had been stored for us and checking in again. Perhaps it was small steps into the unknown rather than a leap, but we were the only foreigners in Hancheng: at least that's our story!