Xi’an, Part II

After visiting the residences of Mao Zedong and his fellow Communist leaders, we toured a museum in Yan’an dedicated to the Communist Revolution. The exhibits glorify the history of the Chinese Communist Party and its leader Mao.


Here is a showcase of Mao’s writings.


There were pictures and portraits of the Communist Party.


Here is the famous little horse that Mao rode. I think this might be its real preserved body!


I feel like the museum, while acknowledging the true actions of these historical figures, was very biased in its portrayal of history. For example, here is the explanation of the end of World War II below.


It doesn’t mention the U.S. bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at all, which is surprising, since the atomic bombs were a huge reason for the Japanese surrender in World War II. Maybe something was lost in translation, since the English translation of the original Chinese paragraph isn’t very well done. Otherwise, the museum is sending a skewed message to its visitors.

That night we drove all the way back to Xi’an where we were able to try a specialty, translated as shredded pancake in lamb soup. The grand restaurant we ate at is apparently very famous for this dish and has served national heroes as well as foreign dignitaries. President Hu Jintao ate here once. Here is the tableware that he used.


So the famous dish requires a process, and starts like this: everyone is given a bowl and a hard flatbread, which I guess translates to pancake, even though it isn’t sweet and resembles a stale, thick piece of pita.


Then, one rips the bread into small pieces and places it in a bowl.


A waiter takes away all the bowls. A few minutes later, after the chef pours steaming hot lamp soup into the bowl, we receive our portions back. The hard chunks of bread are now softened in the savory soup, which includes noodles and shreds of meat.


I didn’t particularly enjoy the dish, but that was okay, since there were 21 more dishes served!


There were all kinds of food, including roasted lamb leg, pork buns, noodles, tofu, mantou, etc.
Needless to say, we were all stuffed at the end of the meal.