Peking to Lhasa : vol.1 / Page 56 (Color Image)

0056	Peking to Lhasa : vol.1

CHAPTER IV

SIAN

ON his return from his visit to the sacred mountain

Pereira set out for Sian. He found all the towns

and big villages filled with soldiers. They had not

been paid for eight months. At Ling-tung-hsien,

about 15 miles east of Sian, he saw some hot

sulphurous springs. There were two big pools,

one in the open which was patronised by the

crowd, and one with four small rooms by it, where,

by going early or late, a bather could get a bath in

private.

Strings of camels, usually forty or fifty together,

and travelling with loads from Kansu to the rail-

way at Kwanyintang, were passed, and wheel-

barrows with sails, which are also common in other

parts of China, the sail being a piece of cloth,

about 4 feet square, sewn on to two pieces of

bamboo, fixed on to the front of the wheelbarrow

and supported there by strings tied on to the

handles.

An interesting feature on the way was a stone

bridge at Pa-ch'iao. It dates back to the T'ang

dynasty, some 1200 years, and is built of some

eighty to a hundred low stone pieces.

Sian is one of the four capitals of China, the

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