2-25-12-13 Xi'an

 Saturday is Market Day!

Continuing my tradtional Saturday morning routine, albeit in a non-tradtional place, Pippa, Penny and I went to the Dongcangmen Morning Market, which operates every day. The day was clear; the rain and snow had washed the air and the clouds had gone, but it was quite chilly in the morning, around -2C, but bearable if you were in the sun.

An interesting experience. with barbers cutting hair in the street, with patrons sitting on stools with a cloth around them, butchers cutting up meat from the carcase, vegetables in wild profusion, fungi of all kinds, accompanied by cries from the vendors and street stalls selling hot and cold foods from all kinds of vehicles and barrows.  It is a wonderful experience; I got some biscuits for our next train journey on Sunday, Pippa had a soup from a shop fronting the street.

After that we made our way to a fancy coffee shop a few streets away, where the price of a cup of coffee is comparable to Australia, and so probably out of reach for the casual consumer here.

Toby and Isaac met us there; Isaac having a well deserved sleep in after a long night before.  It was into a Didi to go to the Daxingshan Temple, where we wandered about, with Isaac running after the profusion of cats that have a safe place in the temple grounds.  Also in uneasy co-existence with the cats seem to be a profusion of pigeons and doves, which Isaac was also fascinated by.

Inside the temple grounds is a vegetarian restaurant, where we had a big lunch, including vegetarian peking duck, and an interesting dish of almond and greens which tasted almost of marzipan, and another dish of fried fungi served in a dish of Sichuan peppercorns and chilli flakes.  After I almost gagged on my first mouthful, Pippa explained that the pepper and chilli is not meant to be eaten, but to infuse a gentler flavour by absorption.  BTW Sichuan pepper is nothing like the tame black peppercorns we have in Australia - they are searing and numbing at the same time.

Penny and I elected to go back to the hotel after this, as we oldies can't keep up the pace of the young'uns - Toby, Pippa and Isaac went to the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, where Isaac got dressed up in a period outfit, and looked very cute.


Watchtower at the top of the wall in the sun this morning

The oldest and most run down car I've seen in China; must be abandoned, as there are no plates

Getting a haricut in the street next to the market

Fungi

More fungi

Glossy eggplants and round ones too

Persimmon stall
More fungi

Apples by the lorry load and strawberries

Someone's pet

Pippa's soup dish; a complimerntary serving of chilli oil is available for those that want it

Other patrons at the street restaurant

A nice car; no idea who makes these

A misnamed kangaroo near the coffee shop



One of the many pavilions at the Daxingshan Temple complex

Daxingshan Temple

Daxingshan Temple; plenty of devotees around on a sunny Saturday

Daxingshan Temple

One of the many cats abounding in the place

Isaac and feathered friends

Peking Duck and Almond Greens (all vegetarian)

Another cute little car

Isaac in period cosume, Big Wild Goose Pagoda

Isaac in period cosume, Big Wild Goose Pagoda


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