Xita!

Way back when in DC I took language classes with Mike. It was 8 hours a day, 5 days a week of learning (attempting, cough cough) Mandarin. Once we got to China, Mike and I had a tutor two afternoons a week. But then it got to be winter, and I was tired of spending two hours in transit to and from the consulate for a one hour lesson two days a week, so I left Mike to his own devices and teamed up with Donal to have joint lessons closer to home. And that sort of devolved from actual lessons with actual learning of words to adventures around the city with teacher in tow (Amy is very patient with us). I may not be expanding my vocabulary much but I've seen a lot more of Shenyang than before and I know some useful things now, like where to buy a train ticket and the history of Zhongshan Park. And this week we went to Xita!

Xita (pronounced shee-tah) is Shenyang's Koreatown. Or street. It's basically a couple of streets, but it's packed full of Korean markets and barbeque restaurants and Korean people, and it's very interesting. And I actually took pictures, so we will narrate this adventure with photos.

This is the gigantic drum/tower/sign marking the beginning of Xita Street. 

So the first night we were in Shenyang two of Mike's coworkers took us out to dinner in Xita. We took a cab to Xita, but there was some confusion over where the restaurant was, so we took another cab while Luke and Jonathan tried to figure it out, and after 15 minutes of driving in circles around Xita, got dropped off EXACTLY WHERE WE WERE PICKED UP. I'm pretty sure we made that cab driver's night. This is the restaurant we were aiming for--literally 30 feet from where we were dropped off the first (and second!) time. It was very good. I want to go back, but without the scenic tour.

This is the Korean food street market where you can get every Korean ingredient under the sun. Kimchee for daaaaaayyyyyss.

Dried fishes and peppers and, uh, I honestly have no idea. There were all kinds of dried and packaged goods. I saw fish of all shapes and sizes, cut and dried veggies, fresh greens, medicinal roots, some really terrifying sausage, SO much kimchee, and bags and bags of chili powders.

There were stands like this all over the place, with pots of endless varieties of pepper pastes. Even the air was spicy.

In one of those weird quirks of language, the word "xita" actually has nothing to do with Korea or Koreans. The Korean district takes it's name from a nearby temple-- Xita literally means "west tower". Shenyang has four towers (or possibly temples, I'm a little fuzzy on the details)--east, west, north, and south--but the west tower is the most famous and well-kept. Amy said that many older cities have four towers like that. The towers were supposed to help keep the city stable and grounded. The Xita tower is a small collection of Buddhist temples and open to the public. I loved it. It's the prettiest thing I've seen in Shenyang, and so peaceful and serene.

The actual tower. At the base there is a trough of earth where you can plant your taper of incense and pray.

Part of the temple complex.

Detail of the temple decoration. It's so gloriously bright!

There were stones like this in front of each building. I'm not sure what they are for, but I do love the lotus blossom.

Temple complex. This is behind the big white tower.

Shrine? I don't know. I wish I did.

This is a sign on the main temple building. I wish I could read. 

Inside the main building they had three statues like this along with lots of saffron cushions to kneel on.

Bougainvillea! A little taste of home. Except less...large and viciously spiky.

Amy said that in the olden days all the large temples had bells like this one on their eaves, which must have been something to hear when the wind blew.

The tower again.

This was over the entrance to the complex. Beautiful artwork EVERYWHERE. 

A++, would recommend another visit. Especially if you can get there on the first try.