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26 August: Xi'an

We slept well the evening, but were up just after 07h00, eating our breakfast of noodles while sitting at the window. The rest of the morning was spent staring out of the window at the oncoming scenery, mostly flat, but uninteresting due to the white mistiness covering all of the valleys. I was able to catch up a little more on the writing, but due to the bumpy ride all Leanne could do was look out at the surroundings, waiting for Xi'an station.

We arrived just after 14h00 at Xi'an, the train station was more of an airport than that of a railway station. Intercoms buzzing, thousands of people getting off, getting on or just waiting for their trains. It was immense to say the least. We made our way through the crowds to the ticket office to purchase our tickets to Baotao (Inner Mongolia) before they were sold out. We were trying our luck because our guide book had commented that there was no direct train and we would have to take 3 buses to get to the destination.

The line was long but moving fast and while I looked after the bags, Leanne steadily moved forward to purchase the tickets. When she reached the front of the row it was a process to explain where we were going and what seating we wanted. By this stage because of Leanne taking longer than other passengers to purchase tickets (language barrier), some of the people in the line were getting annoyed and started shouting and pushing, Leanne even had to give one an elbow in the ribs after he started pushing her - this made him stop quickly. Fortunately for us there was a direct train and we could take it on the 28th, unfortunately a day earlier than we wanted to go. This left us 2 days in which to do and see all that was in Xi'an, just a little tight. There was the possibility of going the 29th but we would have to go to another line which was extremely long and in the end we decided to leave it and do the best we could with the time we had.

After our admin was complete we left the station in search of bus 603 which would take us to the south gate where ShuYuan guest house was situated. The bus cost us Y1 and took the better part of 20 minutes to cross from North to South gate. The place was the same as Sim's and Mama's, huge and the rooms weren't cheap. We opted on staying in a dorm and in the end each paid the same as we had paid for some double rooms at other places! At least there were only 4 beds in the dorm and we were sharing it with two American school teachers, currently on a teaching program in Malaysia.

We left our things in the room, locking away that which was most valuable and enjoyed our welcome American coffee, before heading off to the famed Muslim district of Xi'an. Walking from the hostel we passed through streets that were only name branded, everything from Calvin Klein, Louis Veton, Armani etc. There were a few malls along the way but one especially was massive and was really beautifully designed. From there we walked past the Bell Tower built in the center of a round-about and 5 lanes of traffic circulating it. We walked further to the Drum Tower and from there into the Muslim quarter, known for its tasty delights.

The streets were filled with merchants selling souvenirs, jewelery, dried fruits, nuts and snacks along the road with small restaurants tucked in behind them. It was now near 17h00 and hunger was getting the best of us, we bought some dried mango and another packet of several types of fruits before looking for something more hearty. Our first dish of the evening was their specialty, a soup containing pieces of beef and pita bread broken in small pieces and glass noodles. In addition to this we added 5 beef kebabs although there was limited meat on them. Next was a fried douw pancake with spring onions, after this we found what looked like different types of dumplings, three to be exact. Problem was they weren't - it was only a ball of douw and we ended up giving them to a man and woman cleaning the trash.

We walked further through the narrow streets with stalls all around us and everyone wanting to sell us something, but never pestering us, rather drawing our attention to their stall and leaving it at that. It had started to get dark and the lights were slowly being turned on in the dark alleys we wandered through. The street life was still abundant and locals gathered in small groups as they chatted or purchased goods for home. Along the way hunger struck again, so we purchased what looked like a Turkish kebab hamburger cut from a rotating skewer and a deep fried vetkoek with sweet beans in for desert. Yes, it was our big snacking on street food day!

Walking back we took a shortcut leading us through some shops selling swords and also Terracotta chess sets, we spent some time looking before continuing onwards. Our chosen route had taken us through the residential area, with its thin streets, power cables hanging low and children playing while adults talked. Just before reaching the main streets again we met up with a vendor trying to sell some funky type of hair tying elastic band with beads on. We listened and looked as he demonstrated its flexibility and differing functionalities before purchasing one of our own.

We were again at the bell tower now waiting for a bus to take us to the Big Goose Pagoda, we had some difficulty finding the correct bus but with the help of some locals we managed. The bus took us all the way through the city completely to another district. The lanes were filled with trees and before long both Leanne and I were contemplating the same thing, Xi'an really was a beautiful modern city, with exquisite ancient architecture and we would actually not mind working here. After the better part of 20 minutes drive we were dropped off just short of the BGP, we walked over the busy street to a square filled with thousands of people, much more than Newlands even holds, everywhere people crowded to watch the fountain water and light performance. There were about 5 or 6 small squares in the larger one which were fitted with water pressure nozzles shooting water into the sky. We made our way up to the top one looking down over the rest. We were there just before 20h20 for the 21h00 show and we really had to push and shove to get a good standing spot. In the end we got one of the best places there were, right in front of everyone standing almost in the middle looking down over the squares.

The show started with 3 different announcements declaring its immanency, then the music started and water shot 20m into the sky with back-lighting of different colours. In total there were 6 songs, 3 western and 3 Chinese songs. The show was spectacular and the crowd loved it, some of the youngsters would run in between the water shoots with umbrellas trying to make it to the other side without getting soaked, few made it. The atmosphere was of utter jubilation. After the show we walked around the square and around towards the park, everywhere were games stalls almost the same as at a carnival and other curio stalls, we even joined in and bought our first candy-floss since being toddlers. We also found out later that it was the Chinese equivalent of valentines day, indicative of woman walking around with plastic red roses. The park was beautifully lit with couples sitting on the seats between the trees and statues. From there we walked further to another square opposite the one we had been, here there was a type of choir, although it appeared they were all visitors who had joined in and all knew the words, there was even a conductor spurring things along. On the opposite side of the congregating people was a little girl of about 8 painting Chinese calligraphy with a brush and water on the tiles, it really looks like an art form!

We walked all the way around the Pagoda on our way back to where the water show had been, here people were dancing slowly together to music being played in the square. From there we passed a mall filled with western restaurants in the most beautiful ancient Chinese architecture. From there we caught the bus once more and headed back to the hostel, another 40 minutes drive. At one intersection there were more than 8 lanes of cars circling round a round about! Back at the hostel we met the Americans and chatted with them about their work and how we had found Malaysia until the clock struck 01h00 and we decided it was time for bed, considering our alarm was set for 06h00!