Last week me and Siqi went on a four day excursion to Xi’an. Despite being in China for almost two years, I hadn’t ever visited this tourist “landmark” and so I thought it was about time I headed over to have a look.
To save money, we took the evening train there and back (12 hours either way) – which cost only £26.00 for the return ticket. Not bad considering it’s approximately the same distance as doing a trip from London to Berlin! The downside is that it’s fairly cramped, smelly and noisy in the carriage and you don’t feel particularly fresh when you arrive at your destination. The upside is that you get to meet new people, eat lots of snacks and drink lots of tea and have a real idea of what it’s like to be an ordinary Chinese person.
We stayed in the lovely Xiangzimen YHA Hostel which again was great value for money (only £1.75 per person per night for a shared dorm) and had plenty of character.
There is plenty to see and do in Xi’an – partly because it is China’s old capital city and has plenty of history, partly because lots of money has been thrown into developing it’s thriving tourist industry.
We started off with some tasty grub at the Muslim Quarter…
After that had digested nicely, we went for a look round the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda…
China wouldn’t be China without a stroll around a new manmade park created specifically for tourists…
We decided evening was the best time to catch a glimpse of a panoramic nightscape from the top of the Bell Tower…
After a good nights sleep and an early start, we caught the bus and went for a stroll around the grounds of the “Imperial Bath of Lady Yang” (华清池)…
From here it was only a couple more hops to the impressive Terracotta Warriors…
On our last day, we first went for a look around the Drum Tower, not far from the Bell Tower…
Later on, after a brisk stroll around the impressive Shaanxi History Museum, we finished our trip off with a 14km tandem ride around the city walls!
Now if you add in the fact that the temperature was a staggering 38°C over our four day stay in Xi’an and the fact that I got a dodgy stomach from some dubious lamb kebabs at the Muslim Quarter, I think we actually did quite well to visit so many of Xi’an’s attractions! All in all, it was a great trip and a welcome break from the smog of Beijing.
