Yanbo and I had a great time in X'an. We interviewed a government official at the Xi'an Business Incubation Center / Pioneering Park Development Center. We also interviewed Wu Wang President and Founder of Xi'an Landsea Sci-tech Enterprise Co.
Those were our last interviews together so we spent the rest of the time touring Xi'an. We went to Hua'Qing'Chi or the Beautiful Clear Bath, the most famous concubine's bath-house, the Terra Cotta soldiers of the Qin Dynasty, the Forest of Stone Pillars, the Big Goose Pagoda, and some great restaurants along a Muslim street. We stayed at the Bell Tower Hotel and ended the last night with a dinner with a professor at a local university there.
The Goose Pagoda is in honor of Xuan Zang, a monk. "In 652, Xuan Zang returned from India where he had spent 18 years studying Buddhism. When he returned he brought manuscripts of Buddhist texts to translate into Chinese. He must have had an excellent advance agent, because the emperor sent a huge escort to meet his party and the entire city celebrated his return. The crown prince Li Zhi had built the surrounding temple in 648 and dedicated it to his mother. The Big Goose pagoda was added for the manuscripts brought back by the travelers. When Xuan Zang moved into the temple there was another feast and celebration. Xuan Zang was the equivalent of an astronaut returning to a ticker tape parade. His journey was at least as dangerous and certainly took longer."