Dancing with strangers at the Big Wild Goose Pagoda (Xi’an, China)

In Xi’an, the Big Wild Goose Pagoda has a fountain show at noon. It is near the city wall as well, so I could go there before heading to the high-speed train station to catch the bullet train back to Beijing.

The plaza around the BWGP is quite fun. First, it has a Burger King, which made me happy as I’d found where I was getting my lunch. Second, because it’s got fountains, and food, and coffee, and statues, and bathrooms, and, well, pretty much anything you could want in a public space. Even a drinking fountain.

I took pictures and got my picture taken, then headed off to get an entry ticket to the enclosed area. The grounds there were even more attractive to the eye.

The Pagoda

When you go in, the first thing you should do is go up to the metal sculpture and wait in line to perfectly frame the Pagoda through one of the holes. Then, off to look at all the buildings. Beautiful artwork, including one incredible, incredibly large, carved Stone bas-relief sculpture. Words do not do it justice. I can’t imagine the work that went into producing such brilliant use of all the colors of stone.

The area has a lot of buildings that you can go into and you can even see the abbey with freshly cleaned clothes set out to dry.

Dancing and eating

The fountain show is at noon, so I left the Temple portion to go to the other end of the park. On the way, I rambled past a square where people were dancing. All ages, mixed and same sex, different dances, but all together having a great time. I stood there watching and smiling and videotaping and one guy came over and gestured for me to dance with them. I don’t dance, so I turned him down. A few minutes later another woman just grabbed my hand and off we went around the area in what was graceful for her but was like a clumsy ragdoll for me. She knew a few words in English: Hello, Thank you and Jesus loves you. She said a lot more in Chinese but I have zero ideas what any of it meant.

I wanted to get lunch before the fountain show so after a bit, I left and went to the BK. I got a relatively tasty burger, fries, and diet Pepsi. From that vantage point, I people-watched the plaza from the safety of a window seat. There was even American music, two songs that I immediately recognized were Blank Space (Taylor Swift) and Royal (Lourd).

Fountain Show

While waiting for the fountain show, the woman who danced with me was walking nearby. I caught up with her and started walking beside her and she was surprised. She said hello again, and then we went on our ways.

The fountain show was pretty impressive. There were hundreds of people surrounding the fountain area by the time it started and it went on for about 20 minutes. I’ve posted some of it on my YouTube page (or above): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8zK4eZe-kc