Xi'an

Saturday, 17 May 2014

He obviously enjoyed the lunch

Genuine plastic lion

 

 

We had a VERY early start to the day, with a 5.00 am wake-up call, breakfast 5.45 am and a 6.30 am departure from the hotel.  We had a choice of an 8.00 am flight on China Southern or a later flight on a small Russian aircraft.  Not hard to guess which flight we elected to take!  Once it was light, about all we could see was fog; we thought it was warm and humid inside the air conditioned hotel, but once we stepped outside, my glasses immediately fogged up.  The humidity must have been about 90%!!!  By the time we reached the airport, the fog had turned to rain.

With the flight to Xi’an expected to be about two hours, a quick trip to the ladies was called for – and then quickly called off.  I have no objection to using squats but drew the line after a few stomach heaves.  Not sure if everyone had bad curry for dinner last night or were afraid of flying.

The flight was smooth and we were once again seated at the back of the aircraft, with no upgrade to premium economy this time.  A young male tour guide was seated beside me and he was very upset when told he was have to place his handbag (sorry, manbag) under the seat in front.  He kept telling me it contained very important documents and he wasn’t happy.  Perhaps he thought I was going to reach over and grab it!

The sky was nearly blue when we landed at Xi’an and there were actually shadows on the ground – the temperature was much warmer with much less humidity.  As we drove the 50 kms to the city, the air became much smoggier – the two large coal power stations and numerous factories probably didn’t help the air quality.  This would have to be the nicest looking city we have visited, with leafy streets, numerous parks, a mixture of old and new architecture and a much more prosperous feel to the place.

Lunch was at a local restaurant and apart from the usual assortment of dishes offered, we were even treated to a place of French fries which looked as if they had been brought in especially from the local KFC.  Evidently, one of the men had been having extreme withdrawal symptoms …

Following lunch, we were taken to a provincial museum to view some genuine and some pretend antiques of the area – the large plastic “terracotta” lion was most impressive.  We enjoyed the two floors of the museum, along with quite a few thousand locals, but managed to see all that we wanted.  This museum is starting to catch on, and the exit for tour groups was through a special gift shop only for tour groups.  I’m sure the prices were adjusted accordingly.

Wild Good Pagoda

Incense sticks

Another 3 legged pot and tourist

I want to go to the hotel

 

Next stop was the Wild Good Pagoda, along with all the locals who hadn’t been able to get to the museum.  Our local guide, Jimmy, is full of information and probably works for the government in his spare time – if he can use 200 words instead of 20, he will.  The pagoda was interesting, with its 1,000 year old bell and drum, as well as numerous Buddhas and temples.  Our guide was very kind and let us dash ahead to the Haagen Dazs shop for an ice cream while the remainder of the party dawdled back to the bus.  Then we couldn’t find the bus – the driver had not only moved it in the car park but parked it out of sight behind a much bigger bus.

Our accommodation is at the Sofitel, which is also very nice.  We have an enormous room, which is nearly a suite.  It is a rather strange set-up though, with the hotel comprising two separate wings a couple of hundred metres apart and the dining room is not in our wing!  We can either walk on the road, walk along an underground tunnel (which isn’t easy to find) or talk the golf cart shuttle.