Day 44

October 3, 2010 - Xi'an, Shaanxi Provence, China

I slept in today. It was much needed as yesterday wore me out. I had plans with Ianuar and Shelly to go to the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda to see the night version of the fountain show. We set out around 6:30 to try and find some dinner along the way. Our choices were limited until we stumbled upon a giant, Chinese mall. Outdoor mall, I guess. It reminded me of a Chinese St. Johns Town Center. We ended up eating at Papa John's, of all places. I didn't take any pictures, but let's just say the place looks like the Ritz. The food? EXACTLY the same as in America. But, you know, I like Papa John's.

The mall, as it turns out, backs right up to the pagoda. I found this sort of funny since the other side of the pagoda is that giant water feature. The plaza around the pagoda was PACKED with people:



Everyone is Out. I guess Sundays are big Giant Wild Goose Pagoda days.

We made our way around to the opposite end of the complex and staked out standin' spots right in the center. Forgive my blurry photos, but it was night time and I was trying to take pictures of moving water.


Giant Wild Goose Pagoda. a view of the pagoda at night.




Waterworks. The fountains at night.

I have a nice little video, but unfortunately uploading it doesn't seem to be working. Oh well, you get the idea.

Apart from the light show on the ground, there was quite another light show happening in the sky. About half way through the performance, I noticed what I thought was a helicopter hovering around the top of the pagoda. The "helicopter" floated silently around as the show went on, then moved over the top of the fountain field. Ianuar and I had a discussion about what it could be: There were just too many lights on it to be a helicopter, and it seemed really, really big. The lights were strobing from end to end on its edge. I figured it was maybe a part of the show, or something of that nature. I leaned over to a guy in the crowd, figuring the Chinese might have a better idea about this than the foreigners, and asked "那是什么？" ("What is that?"). He turned around and said, in English, "I don't know. But its WAY too big to be a helicopter." His girlfriend jumped up and down going "UFO! UFO! UFO!"

As the show ended, we decided to walk toward it, hoping to get a better angle. As we approached it, we realized it was shaped like a giant triangle. Ianuar said something about hoping it was a kite, and I said it was a kite the size a building. Then, as if it had never been there at all, it vanished. Not a trace of it, not a flash of light, not a jet stream. Nothing. Just gone.

Hayden