Tang Dynasty Hotel Xi'an

Hey Hey and a Big G'Day toya,

I just had the most wonderful weekend in Xian.

My buddy Angel and I finally caught up for the first time in many months and spent Friday night sitting in Subway Restaurant laughing and giggling our way through our assorted Subway ...

... stay. Certainly the reception staff thought that we should be grateful - despite the fact that we were kicked out of that room before our next room was ready! Brusque waiting staff in the hostel cafe compounded our impression that Xian hospitality isn't what we are used to in China. Unfortunately, these admittedly small points combined with our next day tiredness and lousy weather, started us off on completely the wrong foot.
Xi'an, Shaanxi, China caraghandben

... place I sometimes go to nearby in Guilin for an hour-long massage, but I must admit was a bit better and longer! Moving on to the next leg of their trip, that evening we flew into Guilin (separately since I bought my flight online) and I met them at their hotel, which just so happened to be situated very close to my University. After having discussed the tour group's plans, we figured in order to see my campus while it was daytime the best/only time would ...

... sammen eller skælde ud, men man må nok i stedet håbe på, at dyrevelfærden får bedre dage i Kina med udviklingen i den generelle levestandart. Her i Beijing går det helt klart fremad, og man ser mange gode hundeejere, men på landet er alt nok det samme. Før vi tog nattoget hjem mod Beijing, spiste vi aftensmad på vores hostel. Her fås glimrende pasta med god klokketårnsudsigt. Så opdagede vi også, at der var en lækker brunch på menukortet og ærgrede os over, at vi ikke havde opdaget det før.

We arrived in Xi'an after being on the bus in the puring rain for most of the day. We checked in to a hostel and then went to find food. Xi'an is much more modern and developed that the last couple of cities we have visited, and it is much cleaner. We walked along in the city centre with all the neon Chinese signs all around us, and ate dinner in Xi'an Roast Duck, where surprisingly, we ate roast duck! The ...

... all down to Sarah mis-counting our cash or forgetting payments made. But all the beans added up in the end so she is happy. It's great to look at... It's hot and humid. A short and fairly comfortable flight and we're in Xian. The flight was with DragonAir (renamed especially because Sarah was on board). We arrived early evening - no change in time zone as the entirety of China is on the same time. First ...

... in 652 during the reign of Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty (618-907), it functioned to collect Buddhist materials that were taken from India by the hierarch Xuanzang. The final stop of the day was the Grand Mosque. This was a Muslim site built in 742AD during the Tang Dynasty. Since it was ...

... popular in the west, this treatment involved sowing gold thread into peoples faces. They were found out and closed down at about the same time the owners of the hostel were looking for premises, so the end result is fairly grand. The american owner tends to employ local students that study english. It helps them practice english and I guess they probably don't cost much. In fact I'm sure they don't as ...

... badboys, each with different expressions and garments. Originally they were all painted aswell. Bought the compulsory fake outside (the local guide gave us more time in the shop than to see the warriors!!!) and had our book signed by the grumpy farmer who discovered them. He's met the potential first man, Bill Clinton, so I guess we were a bit of a come-down. Xian is also home for our illustrious tour guide, Vivian, and the original capital of China. More ...

... to reach the summit for sunrise, and make it up accompanied by what seems like truck loads of Chinese tourists, many literally dragging along their deshevieled women and children who look like they wish they'd stayed at home! Sunrise is a non-starter as it is cloudy, but we press on to complete all of the other impressive 4 peaks as our legs totally turn to jelly. We deserve a drink, so were off to ...