Xi'an

We began our tour of Xi’an this morning at 6:00 am. Susan and I got up and walked from our hotel to the City Wall and walked next to the wall where we watched people doing a number of different exercises, such as bad-mitten, table tennis, dancing, running, sword “fighting”, spinning tops, and using this equipment that looked like a playground for grownups. There were many trees that were covered with pomegranates. They were brought to China from Afghanistan thousands of years ago. It was nice and quiet, and not many people out. And the weather here is so nice without the humidity! It was in the 90’s, but would have been so much worse without it being a dry heat. In fact the clothes we washed in the sink today dried in one day instead of 3! And the clothes that are in our suitcases are feeling dryer too! I think we were starting to get mold.

We had breakfast at the hotel, as usual, and then met our group at 8:30. We first drove to the Terra Cotta Museum/store and watched them making the Terra Cotta figures. I have thinking of buying a large one for the yard since the last trip to Xi’an, and I broke down and did it. I did some serious bargaining, and think I got a pretty good deal. At one point the lady selling was watching me figure out prices on the calculator of my iphone when she saw a photo of Ryker on it. She asked who it was and I told her my grandson. She said she would throw in a free miniature figure for him. Well, I told her I had 7 grandchildren and I needed one for each. She was quite surprised, but in the end I got the deal! It will take about 3 months for it to arrive in Salt Lake City. Susan outdid me and bought lacquer furniture there! So, I don’t feel so bad on the price! LOL I’ll post photos of it below! We are not going to reveal the prices we paid! What happens in China, stays in China!

Walnut Dumpling

Duck dumplings

Part of our group

Duck dumplings

Terracotta

Crafter

Susan's new furniture

My new guy

My new guy

New Boyfriend

What is a Terra Cotta warrior? Visit this site for a great description.

http://www.imperialtours.net/terracotta_warriors.htm

Next we visited the beautiful gardens of Huaqing Springs. This is where the emperor and his concubines spent their winters. There is a hot spring still working there, and we toured many bathrooms built for the emperor and his concubines.

Next we headed for lunch where we had another Chinese banquet with many, many dishes. One of the dishes we hadn’t had before was potatoes covered in burnt, caramelized sugar. Yummy! The dishes here taste more like “American” Chinese food, and there was no fish! We are further inland so there is more wheat and corn.

We spent the rest of the afternoon at the Terracotta Warriors museum. It was very hot, and quite crowded! You can’t imagine how many Chinese people there were. Okay, there were a lot of other tourists too!

We headed back into the city of Xi’an and hit rush hour traffic. With over 8 million people in the city, and more and more people buying cars, it is looking like Shanghai. We went to a Dumpling Restaurant where we sampled about 18 different dumplings. There were the following and some were shaped like their flavor. Goldfish, fried pork, Lilyflower shrimp, bacon and pork, chicken, mushroom, celery, pork, duck and pork, pork pan fried, and even a walnut dumpling. They are following the one drink policy. One small glass of beer, soda or water. Pay on your own if you want more than that!

Some people paid extra for a play after dinner, and some came back to the hotel. Anita and I went for a walk around the wall at night and took in the sights.

We are heading for Beijing tomorrow morning, so more from Beijing, if we are lucky enough to get internet in the hotel again.

A mention about the beds here in China. And Xi’an has been the worst so far. We are sleeping on the box springs, not a mattress. I don’t know if it’s because of the cost with so many millions of people, that they don’t have mattress’, or if they just think it’s better for you, but wow, the beds are so horrible. I have to admit my back hasn’t been hurting like it usually does, but it takes me a few minutes in the morning to get moving after sleeping on a rock. Very stiff in the morning. I’m looking forward to my soft bed when I get back. Oh, and I’m really looking forward to a washer and dryer instead of a sink to wash clothes in!