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The Terracotta Army Pits / On the Legacy of a Life
A Korean proverb says that a tiger leaves its skin when it dies, whilst a person leaves their name. However, Qin Shi Huang left behind much more than just the title of the first emperor to unify the Chinese mainland. One of these legacies is the Terracotta Army. Although this was my first time in…
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Muslim Street, Birth of a family
Xi’an, All things start The loud voices of street vendors rang in my ears.Before me stretched another world entirely. The scent of spices stung my nose. The sweet-tart taste of pomegranate juice—my first—lingered on my tongue. In the Muslim Quarter of Xi’an, I surrendered myself to these unfamiliar sensations. The gloom from a failure to…
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BELL TOWER, Adapting to unfamiliar things
Xi’an, All things start I’m pretty much fucked. For a moment, the first line of The Martian came to mind. “Excuse me, I want to buy a ticket to the city centre. Would you mind explaining how to get here?” The clerk at the bus counter smiled brightly when I pointed at the address saved…
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At the Incheon Airport
Xi’an, All things start Life had grown dull, so I decided to ruin it beautifully.(From an Instagram post, October 14, 2017) The dry sandwich had no taste. My eyes, still heavy with sleep, ached as I stared blankly out the window. Outside, a plane cut through the air with a low whirr. The sky was…
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SUM: Prologue
I’m going to climb that mountain. I will see the lake at its summit. That was the resolve I set out with. From the very beginning, sleet began to fall. Before long, it turned into a raging snowstorm. Everything before my eyes became a white hell. Meltwater streamed beneath my feet. The wind lashed against…