Limping Through Banpo Village

Friday night saw the crew and I going to the Train Bar (more on this later) for some much needed drinks after a long week.  The events on Wednesday caused quite a bit of stress for my colleagues, while myself, more or less unfazed by the unsurprising chain of events (I learn quickly), I was still recovering from my illness and in dire need of a beer or three and then a good sleep.

As it turns out, there was no good sleep for Graham.  No good sleep at all.  The owner of the Train Bar seems to be on good terms with a bunch of the foreign teachers here, so when he showed up he immediately had a round of shots brought over for us.  Then a round of beers.  Then a round of that weird Jack Daniel’s-mixed-with-cola drink.  This was on top of the beers we had already been drinking.  Then it was decided we should go out clubbing.  It was Friday after all.  Definitely no good sleep for Graham.  Woe is me.

So we spend Friday night out at the clubs and I did not get home until very early in the morning.  A bit of a throwback to my days in Buffalo, but my days here of getting up at 6:30 every day did not appreciate it.  Not one bit.  Bleary-eyed, sleep-deprived, and hungover I stumbled out of my bedroom to get showered, dressed, and caffeinated in preparation for our trip to the Banpo Village that Saturday afternoon.  At some point, for the second time already, I was not paying much attention to the angle of my step and I quite forcibly stubbed my little toe on the edge of a large chair.  Damn did it hurt.  Upon immediate inspection it appeared as though the nail had been bent in half and it very quickly turned purple.  OK, now it’s really hurting.

I slip on my shoes-very carefully I might add-and don’t bother to tie the left one.  I limp out to meet my friends.  Pain, pain, throbby, hurty.  I limp to the closest street and we catch a cab.  The drive is about 15 minutes outside of the city.  I try to relax and focus on the scenery, which is mostly just dirty buildings, dust filled air, and excavations.  Throb, throb, throb.

We arrive and enter the site.  At the front there is a couple of small museums holding various tools, implements, containers, and a number of prehistoric bones.  I limp through them, trying to keep my interest piqued despite the pain in my foot.  Shuffle, shuffle, throb, limp, throb.  Incensed by the pain, I try move quickly through the museums so we can get to the good stuff and subsequently get the whole ordeal over with.  This, of course, just causes my foot to hurt more, which in turn makes me want to move faster, which causes my foot to hurt more, which in turn … you get the point.  Eventually we made it through the entire thing.  So without further ado, here are some pictures:

This Neolithic village was occupied between 4500 BC and 3750 BC and was discovered in 1953.  It is the biggest and best-preserved site of the Yangshao culture.  According to Chinese historians, the Banpo clan was a matriarchal society.  So why not have a fountain statue of a woman right up front?  Also, historians claim that the clan was a primitive communist society.  Quite frankly, I find this laughable.  And according to our fellow teacher and resident expert, Andrew (he has a masters degree in Archeology), that the Banpo were matriarchal is based on unsubstantiated evidence and is virtually impossible to prove given the current findings.

One of the best preserved house foundations.  After 5000 or 6000 years, there’s not going to be much left of anything.  There were plenty of foundations, like this one, as well as burial plots, storage holes, and part of the moat that surrounded the entire village.  That’s right, they had a moat.  Bad ass.

Looking out over part of the excavation site (That’s Vera, one of the German teachers at the school).  In some ways it was like looking at a model of the moon or something.  It all seemed so alien.

This next part is described by Fodor’s guide to China as “one of China’s great tourist oddities” and by The Rough Guide to China as “a waste of time.”  I thought it was hilarious.  The museum attempted to construct a life size model of the Banpo residences, an attempt to recreate what they thought the village might have looked like.  I seriously doubt that in 4500 BC every hut in the village was covered by giant naked women with humongous breasts.  Seriously doubt it.

So was the Banpo Village worth the trip?  I would have to say that while it holds a vague intellectual interest for me, it should be far down on anyone’s list of things to see in and around Xi’an.  From the city, the taxi will be 35 to 45 RMB and the entrance to the museum is 35 RMB.  A hefty price to pay for what is offered.  I live here in Xi’an so I figured that since this ancient village is there I might as well go see it.  If you only have a few days there are plenty of other things to see that are much more rewarding, satisfying, and reasonably priced.  And while serious travelers and sight-seers on a schedule will think the model village is a complete waste of time, I thought it was absolutely hilarious and totally made my day.  Stuff like this is all part of what you have to put up with while in China.

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