Bell Tower (Zhonglou) Xi'an

Is this the way to Amarillo...I mean Xi'an?

Whoever said a lot of people speak English in China clearly didn't try to find them in the bazillions of people that roam China. The words needle and haystack come to mind.

We hadn't realised but apparently we were traveling on a Chinese national holiday and because of this the HUGE …

Hello from Xian!

Another easy transfer, another hotel I managed to find without asking for directions and another day without getting seriously lost. You know, I might start to believe this is competence rather than luck. No, can't be. It just doesn’t sound right!

So far, my impressions of Xian is that the only reason people …

Ah ha! My internet works again (for now at least). Anyway, during the 国庆节
(National
Holiday... it marks the birth of the CCP on October 1^st,
1949) I went to 西安（Xi'an）.< br> It was a good trip. I went by myself; had to lie to everyone
and tell them I was going to meet up …

Up early this morning and had a great breakfast at the Hotel to get us started for the day. Rang Mum in New Zealand for her 79th Birthday. She is having a great day. At 8.30 we headed out of the city to the northeast for 40 or so kilometers to the Terracotta Warriors and Soldiers Museum. Firstly we called into a Government Factory that manufactured …

We arrived in Xi'an early and had an adventurous ride to the hotel. The first order of business was a shower after my first experierience on the hard sleeper. I'm not sure how the youngsters slept so well on the middle and top bunks!

Once we were settled, Harvey took us for an orientation walk around his town. And, a fabulous meal. He …

The last two days have been spent in Xi'an (pronounced Shi'an - a bit like my name). This is the start of the official silk road.. although the goods traded along the silk road headed east from Xian to markets in Shanghai, Xian is the point at which the caravans got together to head on the dangerous western routes..

I have to confess - i …

Entry containing 4 photos titled: Xian

Hello all,

Xi'an was once home to emperors, courtesans, poets, monks, merchants and warriors but despite the old glory days being over Xi'an is still renowned for its ancient city ambience. This is mainly diue to the fact that the historic walls that surround the city still remain intact as well as the 14th century Bell and Drum Towers …

... of Mimi's. We got up too late for the bus for the woman emperor so se saw the sights in the city including the Bell Tower, the Drum Tower, and museums. We met a girl from Xi'an I met on the internet before the trip. She was born and lives in ...

... a good old fashioned theme park (roll on Hong Kong). We've looked around on tuesday the Drum tower and the Bell tower of Xi'an - two very recognisable sights in the centre of Xi'an. I however spent most of my time filming some chinese driving around the ...

... in Xian the capital of Shaanxi province after a very hot and sticky train ride from Taiyuan. We found a great hostel overlooking the Bell Tower in the centre of the city and adjacent to the Muslim Quarter. Xian has one of the three best preserved city ...

... my sight a good 40 kms from the airport, but it turned out to be the most convenient system I've ever used. On to Xi'an, I get in after dinner and meet up with Christine (from Cape Town) and her friend Nadia (living in Shenzen but from South ...

... pretty hungry looking at all the delicacies cooking away on the outdoor stoves.   After finding some food we continued to the Bell Tower, which is set in the centre of a huge roundabout at the junction of several busy roads. Again we opted to ...

... . For now. · Pollution I never noticed it in China as bad as I have noticed it here but the pollution here in Xi'an is chronic. A bell tower 100 yards away is typically shrouded in a haze and the taxis whizzing by are sure to give you a lung full ...

... on a later train. I also met Joe and Lewis for the first time. The first day was pretty relaxed, walk around the city, up the bell tower and onto the ancient wall that surrounds the old town. In fact we sat there for a while just gassing and having a ...

... definately still worth visiting and quite amazing given the period they were made. The rest of our time in Xi'an was spent visiting the drum tower and bell tower, where we were lucky enough to catch a performance of traditional music, and giving into ...

... it may only have been 25 yards!). We went to take a look at the Bell Tower and the Drum tower in the centre of the city. The Bell Tower was used to signal time and the drum tower was used to get the men fired up for war. You can go inside, but there ...

... similar Drum Tower. The Drum Tower would have been fantastic if it wasn't for the fact that we'd already visited the Bell Tower. Rather unsurprisingly there was only one major difference between these towers (can you guess what it is?). At least the ...