Xi'an 2

City wall

The following day started off with a cycle ride around the city wall (this time an actual bike was involved, not a circular walk!). The bikes had no gears and were pretty hard to get going on but we managed to go all around the wall in about an hour. The views of the city weren't too fantastic, partly due to the fog, but also because the nearby high-rises blocked out the view. However, the wall was a good view in its own right. With pagodas and awesome lamp posts with dragons holding lanterns in their mouths, even very extravagant bins! The ride was a little uncomfortable in the heat but definitely worth it!

Museum of stone tablets

Giant pomegranate!

The afternoon started off at the museum of stone tablets, also known as the stele forest. It is full of commemorative stones, mainly from funerals, and stone statues. It also houses an old bell from the bell tower. Whilst the first room of steles - which was indeed like a stone forest - was interesting, the following rooms were less so, particularly as we couldn't read any of the inscriptions or information. The last room however, was more interesting as it consisted of stone artwork and statues, including huge tigers. In the middle of this cultural site, housed in old temple grounds, was a giant plastic pomegranate man! The pomegranate is a symbol of Xi'an, and a anthropogenic character has been built to advertise this. Although quite a lovable character, I found it funny that it kept cropping up in the middle of these historic sites.

Big wild goose pagoda

This is one of the largest pagodas in China and is situated within a Buddhist temple site. We didn’t get to go in (or actually that near to) the pagoda but we did wander around the temple grounds and shrines. The main shrine had a huge gold statue of the Buddha, the photo doesn’t show just how large and imposing it was. We also all got given a card of our Chinese birth year animal (I’m a goat) to be stamped with a blessing. Living in China, we seemed to have gained so many blessing and so much good luck I reckon I’m set for the next few years! All around the temple were also THE best ‘keep off the grass’ signs I’ve ever seen. For example, one said “may your hands show mercy and may your feet care for the green earth”.

Night out

We asked our guide, Bing, if he could tell us anywhere to go out in Xi’an. He called his friend, Yaya and she took us to a street, through a China-town arch, lined with bars. This is when we discovered drinks from a bar in China were a lot more like prices in England, rather than the beer for 25p from our Hotel shop. Having failed to barter free mixer, we ended up at a jazz bar, where we could sit outside in the warm night air. Although the days were too hot and stuffy the evening temperatures were just right. We suddenly saw women dressed as Disney princesses on the street, who came to our table and handed roses to all of the girls (don’t forget, it was Chinese Valentine ’s Day) – what a lovely surprise! We then moved on to a club. If this was a typical Chinese nightclub, England has a lot to live up to! Entry was free and I walked down a corridor only to come out into a room that looked like Cheltenham town hall! There were marble floors and pillars and chandeliers in a massive high-ceilinged room with a bar in the middle. There was a wandering balloon modeller (!) and performers on a stage. The one thing it lacked? People dancing. Turns out, the Chinese don’t really do dancing, which I found surprising given their complete lack of inhibitions karaoke-wise. The only dancing space in the club was the stage (when the performers had finished) and the rest of the huge room was full of tables, which people just stood or sat around. Of course, we took it upon ourselves to demonstrate the correct use of the dance floor! Unfortunately, by the end of the night my rose had got extremely crushed and I had to throw it away on the way home. That aside, it was such a good night out.