Xi'an Hotels
|
  | |  |
Two more days in Xi'an
Entry 9 of 103 | show all | print this entry |
Friday 10 June:
Today was a free day in the ancient old city of Xi'an: a chance to explore. A few of us headed out early to catch Tai Chi in the park outside the city walls - Chinese generally seem to have a healthy approach to exercise and early mornings in the city parks are a bustle of ballroom dancing, Tai Chi and ball games.
We got down to the park for about 8.30am - evidently the Tai Chi was over, but instead we came across what seemed to be a traditional dancing competition - teams of women dressed in all sorts of colourful costumes took their turn to perform to judges, to the sound of clanging cymbals and drums. Very amusing. Most of the participants were middle-aged or elderly, took it all very seriously while their husbands and familes looked on.
From there we scaled the city walls, hired some bikes and rode the 16km circumference (See piccie attached to previous entry). The ride gave us some interesting views of the city and its slums - boy, I would hate to be a city dweller in China! We had plenty of fun on the rickety old bikes including one tandem, which we took turns to ride (Rich and I had never been on one... we got off to a wobbly start, with much screeching and giggling, as you can imagine!).
THe rest of the day was spent exploring the back streets and their markets. At the end of the afternoon, Rich and I headed for one of the many electronics shops he'd been staking out, and bought a super dooper camcorder - a Sony Handycam (thanks for all your info and advice, Nev!) We paid the equivalent of about 300 pounds. So now we'll be able to bore you all with endless footage when we return next year (fingers crossed we won't lose the thing! That's my greatest fear).
On our final night in Xi'an, Natasha, our guide, led us to some really tiny little noodle eatery, tucked away and almost dirty looking from the outside. However, the food was excellent, and we all overate! Washed our meals down with a few beers on the 'Coffee Bar Street', an alley with plenty of plush drinking holes. We were treated to a terrible live band and the sight of two accidents right in front of us on the street (we were sitting out on the pavement) - a kid knowcked over by a bike, and a small prang between two cars. The latter turned into a shouting match, amusing to watch!
Satuday 11 June:
Took a bus out to the Little Goose pagoda, set in a Buddhist temple complex and surrounded by peaceful gardens. After a climb to the top of the tower, we explored the courtyeards and buildings, and came across a very very large bell which one could ring for a fee of 5 yuan. Rich saw the movie-making potential in this, and I took the lead role of bell ringer - all captured on the new Handycam.
We returned to our hotel after some shopping, and got our things together for the night train ride to Chengdu. This time, the journey was 17 hours, and we had been booked into soft sleeper class... much more comfortable, 4 to a compartment with a door! Plenty of peace and quiet meant that we could all get a good night's sleep. But first, some serious drinking was done - the boys bought two cases of large beers between them, and drank the night away playing cards. Annetta and I settled down for a chat and a bottle of Chinese red wine. At 9am on Sunday 12th we rolled into Chengdu - another city and hopefully plenty more adventures. The highlight will undoubtably be our visit to the panda sanctuary tomorrow.
|
|
If you like this entry, search for other entries by idarich, from China or try a new search. |
| |
| Table of Contents |
| 9. | Two more days in Xi'an - Xi'an, China Jun 11, 2005 |
|
|
|
|
Back to Entry - Back to Home
|
11 votes 
This is a top pick!
