Xi'an, China: Small Wild Goose Pagoda & Calligraphy

We had the chance to see the Small Wild Goose Pagoda today.  I loved this one so much better then the Big Goose Pagoda, because it was more authentic and way less of a tourist spot.  The Small Goose Pagoda is owned by the locals and it is mostly locals that are found around the grounds.  It also has a more warm, homely and loving feel from the people here compared to the Big Goose Pagoda. When we entered the Pagoda, Celine took us to the left past the pagoda with promises of the best view of the pagoda.  Sure enough, we found ourselves in a gorgeous garden.

As we were walking around the gardens, we were able to watch many Chinese locals as they did their morning Tai Chi on the sacred temple grounds.  There were so many people dressed in black or white or red clothes finding their inner peace.  Celine took us to one side of the garden to show us some stone work.  Some of the stones were used for the royal horses and were made to tie the horses.  They had hooks and little holes around the creature.  As we marveled at the stone we were able to sneak a picture of one of the locals doing Tai Chi.

After passing through the gardens, we made our way through the grounds.  There were some gorgeous doorways, windows and plants all around the property. One of the cools plants that we saw was a tree that is 1300 years old.  It was bent and windy and so cool looking.  We learned from Celine that instead of the government taking over this temple and the pagoda for tourism, the locals in the village around the temple came together and purchased the land, so the temple and pagoda are owned by the locals.  This was why we had a more authentic Chinese experience here and why it felt so real.  

We saw some pretty neat buildings around the pagoda.  I'm not sure what the names are of these different buildings, but they were pretty neat.  You can tell the locals love this temple and the temple grounds because it was kept up so beautifully.

The two buildings I do know are the bell tower and the drum tower.  The bell tower houses a bell that was made in 1192 during the Jin Dynasty.  This bell originally belonged to another temple, then went missing.  It was found in a river bed and then moved to the bell tower here by the Small Wild Goose Pagoda. For a small fee, we were able to ring the bell.

The Jianfu Temple has been turned into a museum, so we were able to go in and learn about the history of Xi'an and about the Pagoda.  The temple was beautiful and displayed beautiful big red lanterns.

So this pagoda was built about 707 AD and had 15 stories.  In 1487 a big earthquake hit causing the pagoda to crack down the middle and then in 1555 another earthquake hit and since there was already a crack, the pagoda lost two stories in the earthquake.  The inside of the pagoda is completely unsafe and not open to the public or privately.  But it still stands today and is such a beautiful piece of architecture and history. The missing two stories were my favorite part and what I felt brought charm to the entire thing.

There are actually many trees on the property that are hundreds of years old.  Each tree was crazy looking and the girl enjoyed finding the older trees.  The ones that were super old had plaques with the type of tree and the age of the tree.  Here are a few of them.

One of the highlights of the Small Goose Pagoda was taking a calligraphy class.  We all got to sit down and write "Eternal" and "Happiness" on rice paper.  We had an instructor who taught us a little bit about calligraphy and the Chinese characters, then showed us how to write the characters.

We used ink, like the real deep black stuff that stains, and real calligraphy brushes to make the characters. All the kids did such a good job listening to the instructor and then using the brush to make the characters.  Even little Monster was trying to write on the rice paper.  I was keeping close to make sure he didn't decide to paint his shirt, face and shorts permanently black.

After our calligraphy class, while we waited for the ink to dry, we walked around the little art shop and admired the paintings.  There was a calligraphist on site, that for a fee would write all the kids names and a Chinese character on a painting.  We decided to have the three girls names written with the symbol 'love'.  The girls got to stamp the painting with the official and authentic red Chinese stamp.  They were so nervous and each took a practice turn, then it was decided that Kylee would stamp the real paining.

Since the Small Goose Pagoda was not a tourist attractions and was mostly locals, there were so many people taking pictures of the kids.  Unlike touristy places, these people were super respectful and would ask to take pictures.  Our girls are probably in about a hundred pictures, they were very popular here.  As we were getting ready to go, a group of young boys came shoving each other towards Kevin.  When one of them finally had the guts to talk they asked for a picture with Kevin.  I loved it!  He said yes and even busted out the big guns for the pictures, the boys all went crazy.  It was a fun way to leave the Small Goose Pagoda.