After a few days in Beijing we flew to Xi'an for New Year. I was planning on trains but i couldn't get tickets, so we flew. Xi'an is an old walled city in the middle-ish of China, home of the Terracotta Warriors. I was there about three years back when i was travelling so I very vaguely knew the city, always handy when going somewhere. We even stayed in the same hostel as I did, the Han Tang Inn right next to the city centre. Well our first night was in a very posh hotel around the corner as we had turned up a night early. It was a huge room and very impressive but freezing cold, however the beds were very comfortable so we were happy to stay in them.
The hostel itself was also very nice, clean, well looked after. a few things had changed since the last time i was there but three years is a long time in hostel years. New Year in Xi'an was very very quiet, there is a Chinese TV program that has become very popular, its almost a variety show with lots of music and silly mini shows and sketches. (similar to a children in need style program.) Well there is a much longer version for Chinese New Year which last several days and many people will sit and watch the whole thing, so i wasn't surprised to see people sat watching nearly 12 hours of it. The hostel was full over the New Year but the bar was very quiet, we were bought a beer at midnight and were given several more from others in the bar. Dad went on a mine sweeping mission and we finished all the discarded beers. In Chinese culture saving face is very important, so you cannot turn down a beer regardless of if you want it or not, so lots of drinks get wasted all the time. Dad attempted to put a stop to this waste and we finished most of the unwanted beers. So a quiet night but it was not without perks.
New Years day we went on a tour with the hostel to the Terracotta Warriors. we were put on a mini bus with about 8 other people and a very nice tour guide. She had been telling us about the history of the Warriors and Xi'an and would throw random test questions at us to make sure we were listening. The warriors visitors centre consists of 3 pits currently (one more under construction) a museum and a few little other shows and cafes. Pit one is the biggest and three the smallest so we visited in reverse order, it actually wasn't too busy so we were able to wander about and take as many pictures as Mam wanted. in the middle of the visitors centre was an old style 360 film, it was basically 15 screens and projectors showing the building and hiding of the Warriors. It was a very low budget film that was good fun to watch, it showed the initial war, the capturing of the slaves, the sculpting of the warriors, the hiding of them and the eventual destruction of them by the following emperor. We were all taken for lunch and then back on the bus back to the hostel for about 5 pm.
Xi'an has an old Muslim Quarter near the centre of town which has been turned into a mini shopping district, its all very similar souvenir style things but much bartering was done and Dad had a great time. It took Dad ages to barter with one guy over the price of t-shirts, eventually they settled and the guy ran away. eventually he came back clutching Dad's t-shirts but we had no idea if he was coming back at all, at one point Dad was yelling about selling the shirts from his shop himself. They defnatly did not know what had hit them when we went shopping.Like i mentioned early Xi'an has a city wall which was restored in the 80's, its 12 or 14 kilometres all the way round with 4 gates, North,South, East, and West to get on and off. You can hire bikes and cycle all the way round. We only walked one quarter of it but that was plenty, the wall itself doesn't look to change but the city below the wall was interesting to look at.
It was surprisingly difficult to find places to eat in Xi'an, I couldn't guess why. There was no shortage of street food and lots of very posh looking places but nothing in between. We found a small place on the same street as the hostel whose English Menu was 4 pieces of paper which were very old looking and ripped. The food was fantastic and the people who worked there were really friendly, they kept trying to bully their son into practising his English but in the three or four times we ate there he always look too embarrassed to say anything, Chinese or English! like I say the food was amazing and stupidly cheap.
After 4 days in Xi'an we headed back to Beijing for a final few days of shopping and site-seeing, Dad terrorised the people in the shopping market again and bough nearly a full bag of clothes for Tom not to mention the silly hats and gifts. I think last count was 14 hats but i may be wrong, it was definitely double figures. Combine that with a handful of DVD's clothes for Mam and Dad and a visit to a tailor and they were going home with a fair amount of stuff.
I gained lots too, Mam and Dad had brought out all sorts of stuff for me including a Christmas cake (which sadly did not survive January) and all sorts of clothes and things.
After Mam and Dad left I had a whole day on my own which was spent doing my own shopping and bartering. I left Beijing with a new superman jumper and several pairs of earrings. A fairly profitable holiday i would have said. I dont really want to go back to work anymore!
