2025-12-11 Xi'an

Roaming around the ancient capital of Xian

We breakfasted early to head out to see the great walls around the former imperial capital - these are huge, and form a rectangular perimeriter of just under 15 km, with a water filled moat that also goes the full length of the walls. Along with the main gates and watchtowers, these surpass anything that I have ever seen before in scale.

Perhaps a harbinger of things to come, Penny and I were unable to hire bikes to ride around the city walls, as bike hire is restricted to those aged between 12 - 65 years. Somewhat disappointed at this flagrant ageism, Penny and I encouraged Pippa to have a go, and she rode the full length of the permissible route (a section around the South Gate is closed to bicycles; you can hire and drop off a bike at various points along the almost 15 km of wall).

Contenting ourselves with a walk along the wall for a bit, then down to the street market and food vendor area next to the Wumu Gate, a spot near the historic Xi'an City Wall, often mentioned for local snacks, history, and as a starting point to explore the well-preserved ancient fortifications, with nearby attractions like the Bell Tower and Muslim Quarter making it a convenient base for tourists. While not a main gate itself, it's a local landmark associated with the wall's perimeter and nearby food stalls.

After getting some preserved persimmons and flat bread, we went through the gate and sat and watched a group of enthusiastic ladies doing early morning dancing, and a very serious couple doing ball-room dancing nearby.

Wandering along between the moat and wall, in a lovely green space, we eventually met up with Pippa, Toby and Isaac at a coffee shop in the Beilin district, and then proceeded on to a restaurant for lunch, which for Penny and I was a dish of 'belt noodles', long thick and very wide noodles exactly like a belt, and covered with a spicy chilli sauce.

From there it was a short Didi ride to the Muslim quarter, where we wandered a bit before seeing the Great Mosque and the Gao house, taking in a short shadow puppet performance there, then wandering through the busy streets back to our hotel, we had a bit of a break.

Dinner was at a nearby vegetarian restaurant, located up the top floor of a shopping mall, but somehow recreating inside the atmosphere of a village tea shop, complete with a waterfall feature and stream running through the restaurant filled with goldfish!

After dinner we headed off to see the Datang Everbright City, a wonderland of light shows, statues, people dressed up in Tang era costumes, with performances of all types going on all over, and with crowds of people, all very chill, wandering around having a good time.