Smog, silk, dancing and dumplings
Trip Start
Sep 23, 2008
1
11
40
Trip End
Oct 31, 2008
Xianyang,
China
Friday, October 3, 2008
Our day started with a brisk walk along the city walls. This soon turned into a slow amble and then into sitting whilst some poor bloke pedalled.
The city walls are Ming dynasty (13th-16th century) and are 14 kilometres in length. The day heated up a bit (mid 70s with quite high humidity) and the smog didn't lift all day.
So the heat and lack of breathable air resulted in our walk decreasing in speed, enthusiasm etc.
In the end, we found an old bloke with a rickshaw who pedalled us back to the gate we started at. He was obviously used to tourists stopping regularly and therefore getting regular rests. So us saying no to every possible potential photo stop meant he really had his work cut out. The fact that he didn't have a heart attack was quite surprising.
After lunch there was a trip to a silk factory (no not a factory that makes silk but one that makes stuff from silk). A bit of shopping was done, hopefully everything on our gift list.
The evening started with a show of Tang dynasty music and dance. It thankfully had an English translation so you had some hope of knowing what was supposed to be going on. The costumes were really exotic and colourful and thankfully the music did not include women wailing, although it did have a guy playing the trumpet and making duck noises.
This was followed by a dumpling banquet. The quantity that arrived has meant that neither of us has any desire to see another one ever!
Tomorrow involves an early start as we're off to see Terracotta Warriors and then flying to Beijing.
