People’s Unifying Rainbow of China – Part 21 - Day 15 – Xi’an Sightseeing
Another day – another small dose of breakfast Chinese TV. This time - there was a Chinese aerobics show – but the girls were all dressed up like a Pussy Cat Dolls video (eg: like hos). None of the outfits looked that conducive to aerobics (tight jeans, push up bras, etc)…
We had breakfast at a bakery called “Holiland” (not sure if they were trying to spell Holland?). It was OK but Ant couldn’t finish his baguette filled with cream (needs to stop ordering those cream filled baguettes dammit!).
The weather at Xi’an is cold cold cold. Did I mention cold? It is really ski jackets, gloves and beanies material. After walking around for about half an hour outside – we had to make a bit stop at McDonalds for some tea and coffee (shame I know – but at least it was just tea and coffee – and none of that McEspresso McCafe crap back in Australia – vomit city).
We were wanting to walk to the Shaanxi History Museum (Shannxi being the province we were in) but we wanted to kill off as many tourist sites as we could along the way (not literally speaking).
We snapped up a 2 pass mecha pass for the Bell and Drum Towers for only 25 yuan (right near McDonalds). The Bell Tower is situated right in the middle of a big roundabout intersection (don’t get me stared again on roundabouts in Xi’an!). It was a huge tower with great views of the surrounding areas – you just had to put up with a bit of frost bite because of the temperature. We also quickly discovered that we weren’t the only gays in the village – Ant was semi stalking another gay couple at the Bell Tower. They are fairly easy to spot – but it doesn’t feel like the whole Thailand (old ugly white guy/ young thai guys) thing happening yet in China – although there are heaps of old ugly white guys and young chinese women here.
The Drum Tower was situated about 500 meters away from the Bell Tower and gave good views of the Islamic Quarter of Xi’an. Another DK magic moment – there was a collection of antique Chinese furniture inside the Drum Tower – but alas – DK made no mention of this. The Drum Tower (unlike the Bell Tower) was pretty much deserted.
We quickly checked out the Islamic Quarter of Xi’an. It was really quaint and pretty – with a big cobble-stone road, a cool Islamic food markets (probably the most practical market I have seen thus far in China – no fluoro Calvin Klein knickers) and a really cool street market – which has the classiest things we have seen in a market thus far in China (and yes – no fluoro Calvin Klein panties!). Ant and I pretty much heart the Islamic Quarter.
Through the classy street market (this time spelt with a “c”) – we checked out the Great Mosque. It was cheap as chips to get in and was very very Chinese (pretty unexpected). All of the architecture was very “Chinese Gate-y” and “Chinese Temple-y” – the only giveaways that this was a mosque was all of the praying mats in the main mosque and a couple of paintings of Mecca and some Arabic inscriptions here and there (and I guess all of the Muslim dudes hanging around with their hats on). (Thanks CNN for educating me about the Hajj: the Essential Journey). I guess you don’t normally think of Chinese and Muslim in the same sentence – but Xi’an has a pretty big Muslim population. I would have thought that Chinese food and Muslims couldn’t work (just when you think you have ordered something vegetarian – you probably will get a big chunk of pork in the meal or something) – but all throughout the Muslim quarter were Halal friendly fast food places and restaurants.
On our way out through the street market – I picked up a copy of the “Chairman Mao Quotebook in Engrinsh” but was getting completely different prices from shopkeepers for it. I finally haggled my way down to 10 yuan (under $2AUD).
We made our way back to the “Bell Tower” area and stopped off for lunch at a “ticket food court” deal. You have to buy a card and put money on it – then you wander around the food court – get what you want and pay with the card. It is fairly simple as all of the food is displayed for you Japanese lacquered style. I had a spicy soup and Ant had some yummy fried rice. We also ordered the smallest Taro Milk Teas in the “not-of-free” world.
After warming up somewhat – we recommenced our hike over to the History Museum. The centre of Xi’an is somewhat big (a la Nanjing style) so it probably took us an hour and a half to walk over to the Museum. Ant sort of wanted to take a taxi – but I had felt like we hadn’t done much exercise in Guilin (no real walking anywhere) – so I wanted to walk instead.
We walked past the Xi’an City Wall. Xi’an’s City Walls are mostly intact (unlike most parts of China) and are fairly impressive. As we were on a mission to get to the History Museum – we gave the whole “paying money and climbing onto the top of the wall” thing a miss for today. Xi’an had felt a lot less “commercial” when you got out of the main shopping area in town – a lot like Nanjing.
After about 45 minutes or so of “death camp marching” – we reached the Shaanxi History Museum. It was a fairly impressive museum, housing everything from pre-historic Shaanxi (shaanxi being the province we were in) stuff to Qing Dynasty antiques and treasures. Believe it or not – Xi’an used to be the capital of China until the Ming era – and it showed as all of the things on display got a lot less “glitzier” when you moved into the Ming Dynasty and beyond. There were heaps of tourists (of the chinese variety) – and some of the tour guides were giving Ant and I the complete sh##s. We sort of like our museums to be on the quiet and peaceful side – but one tour guide’s volume level was about a 12 – when Ant and I wanted her to be about a 2. Several death stare glances were given by both us to her and vice versa.
In an attempt to try and knock over most of the tourist attractions in Xi’an in one day – we decided that we should give the Great Goose Pagoda a go. This involved travelling through the “Great Goose Pagoda Park” which was Xi’an’s version of Darling Harbour (eg: tacky, touristy, klassy with a “k”, etc). What was totally hilarious were the bizarre restrictions placed on visitors to the site including:
- “Forbidden to gather a crowd to engage in an affairs, undermining public order, insult females, or conducting any other illegal behaviour”;
- “Violators will be criticized”;
- “Forbidden to scrabble on any trees, buildings…”
- “Forbidden to carry large covered knifes or tools”; or
- “Forbidden to dump hot water and sewerage on trees, flowers – 50 Yuan Fine”
What u talkin’ about Great Goose Pagoda Park?
We made it through the park without dumping sewerage on the trees and flowers (but I did call Ant “bitch” – but I don’t think he is a woman) and we decided to give the Great Goose Pagoda area a go at the steep 25 yuan entrance fee (equating to $4AUD – we are becoming tight wads). We had relatively low expectations (given the hokey surrounding park area) – but it was an impressive temple site, full of beautiful Buddhist temples and gardens… It was also full of white people (agggh!).
On our way back to the hotel – we stopped by at the “Tourist Information Centre” in the Great Goose Pagoda Park (aka Xi’an Darling Harbour district) in order to find out if we could book a Terracotta Warrior tour. However, upon entry – we discovered that it was the most confusing tourist information area in the “not-so-free” world with a complaints desk right next to the front door (reassuring!). Given the “Complaints Desk” being right out front – we gave this over-bureaucratic centre the big heave-ho.
Being daring (and a little bit crazy) we decided to avoid Lochie Daddo’s advice on the Qantas China TV Channel – and attempt to catch the local bus system… We waited for about 2 minutes for a number 30 bus (whose route takes us back near the Accor Gated Community area) – and jumped on what would have to be the most decrepit looking bus in the “not-so-free” world. The bus ride was relatively cheap – only 1 yuan to travel across downtown (1/6th of a AUD) but the clapped out motor kept dying on the driver everytime he came to a complete stop. There was a time where the driver got the conductor to “pull the hood up” so that he could attempt to start the engine manually. I was a little disturbed at this (sitting right next to the engine) and was fearing that my travel insurance doesn’t cover “Chinese Bus Engine Explosion” – but alas – he got it going (slightly) and we made it back to the hotel in one peace. We had survived our first Chinese Public Bus Experience! (I need to buy a t-shirt with that written on it).
Back at the Accor Gated Community (aka our hotel) – Ant used the Sofatel pool facilities (swanky) and I used the Sofatel gyme facilities (swanky). You even get your own personal TV on each treadmill so you can watch CCTV 9 which makes your jog all the more punishing.
Ant was feeling a little off – but we sort of slacked around in our hotel room for a while watching a Hong Kong screwball comedy which occasionally broke into full-blown action complete with ripping off the music from Aliens. There was a little fat kid who was the Chinese version of the little fat kid from “Hey Dad”. If only the triads had shot that little ba$tard in the head – it would have made for a more enjoyable movie.
After a little snooze – we headed off to town for some dinner. Feeling unadventurous – we headed back to the “First May” restaurant but I could have sworn I had eaten pigeon (luke warm pigeon at that!)…
Ant had his heart set on buying a small Terracotta Warrior that he had seen at the Islamic Street Market (classy with a “c”) – so we headed out to the Islamic Quarter only to find that the market was shut. To take matters into our own hands – we attempted to rectify the situation by buying a couple of “Halal-friendly” Cornettos from the “Halal-friendly” convenience store.
Another day – another small dose of breakfast Chinese TV. This time - there was a Chinese aerobics show – but the girls were all dressed up like a Pussy Cat Dolls video (eg: like hos). None of the outfits looked that conducive to aerobics (tight jeans, push up bras, etc)…
We had breakfast at a bakery called “Holiland” (not sure if they were trying to spell Holland?). It was OK but Ant couldn’t finish his baguette filled with cream (needs to stop ordering those cream filled baguettes dammit!).
The weather at Xi’an is cold cold cold. Did I mention cold? It is really ski jackets, gloves and beanies material. After walking around for about half an hour outside – we had to make a bit stop at McDonalds for some tea and coffee (shame I know – but at least it was just tea and coffee – and none of that McEspresso McCafe crap back in Australia – vomit city).
We were wanting to walk to the Shaanxi History Museum (Shannxi being the province we were in) but we wanted to kill off as many tourist sites as we could along the way (not literally speaking).
We snapped up a 2 pass mecha pass for the Bell and Drum Towers for only 25 yuan (right near McDonalds). The Bell Tower is situated right in the middle of a big roundabout intersection (don’t get me stared again on roundabouts in Xi’an!). It was a huge tower with great views of the surrounding areas – you just had to put up with a bit of frost bite because of the temperature. We also quickly discovered that we weren’t the only gays in the village – Ant was semi stalking another gay couple at the Bell Tower. They are fairly easy to spot – but it doesn’t feel like the whole Thailand (old ugly white guy/ young thai guys) thing happening yet in China – although there are heaps of old ugly white guys and young chinese women here.
The Drum Tower was situated about 500 meters away from the Bell Tower and gave good views of the Islamic Quarter of Xi’an. Another DK magic moment – there was a collection of antique Chinese furniture inside the Drum Tower – but alas – DK made no mention of this. The Drum Tower (unlike the Bell Tower) was pretty much deserted.
We quickly checked out the Islamic Quarter of Xi’an. It was really quaint and pretty – with a big cobble-stone road, a cool Islamic food markets (probably the most practical market I have seen thus far in China – no fluoro Calvin Klein knickers) and a really cool street market – which has the classiest things we have seen in a market thus far in China (and yes – no fluoro Calvin Klein panties!). Ant and I pretty much heart the Islamic Quarter.
Through the classy street market (this time spelt with a “c”) – we checked out the Great Mosque. It was cheap as chips to get in and was very very Chinese (pretty unexpected). All of the architecture was very “Chinese Gate-y” and “Chinese Temple-y” – the only giveaways that this was a mosque was all of the praying mats in the main mosque and a couple of paintings of Mecca and some Arabic inscriptions here and there (and I guess all of the Muslim dudes hanging around with their hats on). (Thanks CNN for educating me about the Hajj: the Essential Journey). I guess you don’t normally think of Chinese and Muslim in the same sentence – but Xi’an has a pretty big Muslim population. I would have thought that Chinese food and Muslims couldn’t work (just when you think you have ordered something vegetarian – you probably will get a big chunk of pork in the meal or something) – but all throughout the Muslim quarter were Halal friendly fast food places and restaurants.
On our way out through the street market – I picked up a copy of the “Chairman Mao Quotebook in Engrinsh” but was getting completely different prices from shopkeepers for it. I finally haggled my way down to 10 yuan (under $2AUD).
We made our way back to the “Bell Tower” area and stopped off for lunch at a “ticket food court” deal. You have to buy a card and put money on it – then you wander around the food court – get what you want and pay with the card. It is fairly simple as all of the food is displayed for you Japanese lacquered style. I had a spicy soup and Ant had some yummy fried rice. We also ordered the smallest Taro Milk Teas in the “not-of-free” world.
After warming up somewhat – we recommenced our hike over to the History Museum. The centre of Xi’an is somewhat big (a la Nanjing style) so it probably took us an hour and a half to walk over to the Museum. Ant sort of wanted to take a taxi – but I had felt like we hadn’t done much exercise in Guilin (no real walking anywhere) – so I wanted to walk instead.
We walked past the Xi’an City Wall. Xi’an’s City Walls are mostly intact (unlike most parts of China) and are fairly impressive. As we were on a mission to get to the History Museum – we gave the whole “paying money and climbing onto the top of the wall” thing a miss for today. Xi’an had felt a lot less “commercial” when you got out of the main shopping area in town – a lot like Nanjing.
After about 45 minutes or so of “death camp marching” – we reached the Shaanxi History Museum. It was a fairly impressive museum, housing everything from pre-historic Shaanxi (shaanxi being the province we were in) stuff to Qing Dynasty antiques and treasures. Believe it or not – Xi’an used to be the capital of China until the Ming era – and it showed as all of the things on display got a lot less “glitzier” when you moved into the Ming Dynasty and beyond. There were heaps of tourists (of the chinese variety) – and some of the tour guides were giving Ant and I the complete sh##s. We sort of like our museums to be on the quiet and peaceful side – but one tour guide’s volume level was about a 12 – when Ant and I wanted her to be about a 2. Several death stare glances were given by both us to her and vice versa.
In an attempt to try and knock over most of the tourist attractions in Xi’an in one day – we decided that we should give the Great Goose Pagoda a go. This involved travelling through the “Great Goose Pagoda Park” which was Xi’an’s version of Darling Harbour (eg: tacky, touristy, klassy with a “k”, etc). What was totally hilarious were the bizarre restrictions placed on visitors to the site including:
- “Forbidden to gather a crowd to engage in an affairs, undermining public order, insult females, or conducting any other illegal behaviour”;
- “Violators will be criticized”;
- “Forbidden to scrabble on any trees, buildings…”
- “Forbidden to carry large covered knifes or tools”; or
- “Forbidden to dump hot water and sewerage on trees, flowers – 50 Yuan Fine”
What u talkin’ about Great Goose Pagoda Park?
We made it through the park without dumping sewerage on the trees and flowers (but I did call Ant “bitch” – but I don’t think he is a woman) and we decided to give the Great Goose Pagoda area a go at the steep 25 yuan entrance fee (equating to $4AUD – we are becoming tight wads). We had relatively low expectations (given the hokey surrounding park area) – but it was an impressive temple site, full of beautiful Buddhist temples and gardens… It was also full of white people (agggh!).
On our way back to the hotel – we stopped by at the “Tourist Information Centre” in the Great Goose Pagoda Park (aka Xi’an Darling Harbour district) in order to find out if we could book a Terracotta Warrior tour. However, upon entry – we discovered that it was the most confusing tourist information area in the “not-so-free” world with a complaints desk right next to the front door (reassuring!). Given the “Complaints Desk” being right out front – we gave this over-bureaucratic centre the big heave-ho.
Being daring (and a little bit crazy) we decided to avoid Lochie Daddo’s advice on the Qantas China TV Channel – and attempt to catch the local bus system… We waited for about 2 minutes for a number 30 bus (whose route takes us back near the Accor Gated Community area) – and jumped on what would have to be the most decrepit looking bus in the “not-so-free” world. The bus ride was relatively cheap – only 1 yuan to travel across downtown (1/6th of a AUD) but the clapped out motor kept dying on the driver everytime he came to a complete stop. There was a time where the driver got the conductor to “pull the hood up” so that he could attempt to start the engine manually. I was a little disturbed at this (sitting right next to the engine) and was fearing that my travel insurance doesn’t cover “Chinese Bus Engine Explosion” – but alas – he got it going (slightly) and we made it back to the hotel in one peace. We had survived our first Chinese Public Bus Experience! (I need to buy a t-shirt with that written on it).
Back at the Accor Gated Community (aka our hotel) – Ant used the Sofatel pool facilities (swanky) and I used the Sofatel gyme facilities (swanky). You even get your own personal TV on each treadmill so you can watch CCTV 9 which makes your jog all the more punishing.
Ant was feeling a little off – but we sort of slacked around in our hotel room for a while watching a Hong Kong screwball comedy which occasionally broke into full-blown action complete with ripping off the music from Aliens. There was a little fat kid who was the Chinese version of the little fat kid from “Hey Dad”. If only the triads had shot that little ba$tard in the head – it would have made for a more enjoyable movie.
After a little snooze – we headed off to town for some dinner. Feeling unadventurous – we headed back to the “First May” restaurant but I could have sworn I had eaten pigeon (luke warm pigeon at that!)…
Ant had his heart set on buying a small Terracotta Warrior that he had seen at the Islamic Street Market (classy with a “c”) – so we headed out to the Islamic Quarter only to find that the market was shut. To take matters into our own hands – we attempted to rectify the situation by buying a couple of “Halal-friendly” Cornettos from the “Halal-friendly” convenience store.
posted by NicknAnt @ 6:10 AM
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