Xi’an is the capital of the Shaanxi region about 2 hours south of Beijing by air - 744 miles SW. Xi’an has served as capital to 11 dynasties over 4,000 years. The Chinese trace its lineage back even further to the mythical Yellow Emperor, who made Xianyang his capital (2200-1700 BC). Xian peaked during the Tang dynasty, when its position at the eastern end of the silk road transformed it into a bustling metropolis. Xi’an’s walls were built in 1370 and are still intact, forming a 9-mile (14km) long rectangle around the city centre. It has a population of approx 6.6M.
We arrived at the hotel on Monday 8th Feb and met up with our friend, Shuang Ya Zhany/Fiona (who we'd met in Shanghai for the Tea ceremony). We took a hotel taxi into Xi’an which seemed to have even more traffic on the roads than Beijing! We got dropped off at the Bell tower and walked to the impressive, Hui street ethnic market.
1st thing we brought was a couple of kites for £1 each to fly back in Hong Kong with my nephew Ben
Each kite consisted of 25 kites linked together and the guy had strung them to give 60-80 kites in a line or as far as the eye could see...
The peanut vendor – everyone seemed happy and ok for us to take their pictures unlike the guards in Beijing..
Nuts of all types
Figures made of both donkey and cow hide
People drive up and down between the market stalls on bikes and motorbikes
The Caligraphy shop
Stef, Fiona and Vee - everyone wanted to be in the picture..
Great statues in the market and the street worker had to wear 3 hats to keep warm!
This is real life...
Stef bought some casual shoes
Not only were the people and the stalls great, but so were the buildings
Vee bought Isabella a cow
Lovely bread
Roasted chestnuts
Quite a few hot salted walnut vendors and they tasted great – there are some in Hong Kong – just got to find them now!
You probably think I’ve included too many photos from a street market and we saw some impressive sights in Xi’an but this market and it’s people was my favourite (Note: The Terracotta Army, a 70-minute drive outside of Xi’an were yet to come).We visited the Drum Tower built in 1380 residing by the market.
The Drum Tower background
The Drum Tower taken from the Hui st market
The Drum Tower
We banged all these drums...
Some history of furniture in China
Inside the Drum Tower
View from the Drum Tower to the Bell Tower
Drum Tower roof detail in the rain
We also visited the Bell Tower built in 1384 and situated where the city’s four main streets converge.
The Bell Tower
The Bell Tower
The Bell Tower
Stef braving the cold and the rain
View to the city wall from the Bell Tower - Chang'an Lu
View from Bell Tower - Bei Dajie
Interior of The Bell Tower
We visited the City wall at the South Gate (Yong Ning Gate) and were surprised at the size of it! The top of the wall is a street where you can hire bicycles, tandems, bike rickshaws and take rides on electric transport. We could imagine the markets they held on the wall.
Some bearings
Some info on the Bell Tower from the city wall
Cool transport for the street atop the wall
The City Wall
I told you it was like a street up there!
Some info on the wall
In readiness for Chinese New Year
More detail on that Drum Tower
Fortified with toilets
Wenchangmen - cool part of town..
Chang'an Grand Castle Hotel
Chang'an Grand Castle Hotel roof detail
The South Gate
a little piece of England..
As evening drew in we visited the Great Goose Pagoda (aka. Dayan Ta). First we tried to get a bus, then a taxi although it would have been a squeeze with 5 of us! Finally we managed to negotiate a ride with a 3 wheeled motorbike death wish suicide driver.. 5 of us squeezed in the back which felt very precarious - myself and Fiona facing backwards and Carlo, Vee and Stef forwards. Facing backwards turned out to be the less stressful trip as the driver took the shortest route between the Bell tower and the pagoda. This meant that he drove down 2 lane carriageways the wrong way and with many buses grazing past us the screams of the girls were justifiably ear-piercing!
The square at the Great Goose pagoda
Gates at the Great Goose Pagoda
View across Northern Square to the pagoda
In the foreground were fountains all the way up the pagoda square
Fiona, Stef, Carlo and Vee happy after the music/fountain/lights display
Originally built in 704, The Great Goose Pagoda looked peaceful lit up
Lady Gongsum the folk flying sword master-hand of the Tang dynasty
There were many bronze statues all around the square, as in Beijing and Shanghai
The GWGP
The lamp posts looked cool..
Spooky...
New Year decs go up
Afterwards we ate a 'hot pot' (fondu type of dish with hot soups to dip the food in - hence the bibs!) at the Chong Qing restaurant.
We finished around midnight and slept soundly before rising at 7:00 to go and see the Terracotta Army.
The Calligraphy shop looked like my idea of heaven! The bike ride sounded scary though. I just got back from Morocco where people randomly jump into your taxi's and it gets pretty hairy! Thats the fun of travelling I guess, risking your life to see the sites lol xxxxx
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