Xi'an: Jade Factory, Wild Goose Pagoda and City Wall

Ancient city wall and modern skyscrapers

With another long day ahead of us we put our luggage outside our rooms ready for transfer to the airport at 7am.  One of the advantages of travelling in a large group is having our luggage taken to the airport for you and having it all checked in on arrival.  But before we got to the airport we had another full day in Xi’an.

choosing breakfast

cake for breakfast

Before we got on the coach we both left the hotel to explore the local street where we could see there was a market. It was very busy with people picking up their breakfast from local stalls as well as their shopping. Traffic was really struggling to gain access with motorcycles and cars jostling for space often at the pedestrian's expense. 

Jade buddha

silk work

Our first stop for the day was at Jade factory.  Jade is very important to the Chinese and is a precious stone. I had never really appreciated the different colours of jade that were available or how intricate some of the sculptures were.  So this was a trip that I felt very indifferent about beforehand but actually enjoyed and I even treated myself to a pale green jade bangle with support in the decision making from Mike.

The Little Wild Goose Pagoda

From here we were driven through the busy city to the Little Wild Goose Pagoda. On our travels our local guide filled us in with some very interesting historical facts about life for the average Chinese person and how this has changed dramatically in the past decades.  For example we heard about the one child policy and how if you had a second child you were fined a year’s income. We heard of a famous film director who paid over 7 million yuan for his third daughter. Other examples included stories of foot binding (10cm feet were preferred) and arranged marriages where the couple did not met each other until their wedding night and the generally lower place of women in society. It was all very interesting to listen to.

Calligraphy demonstration

The Little Wild Goose Pagoda was situated in a relaxing green park. It was of Buddhist origins and whilst many religious buildings were destroyed in the Cultural Revolution along with so many artefacts this building was saved by the local people.  It even survived two earthquakes.  The first splitting it in two and the second a few years later putting it back together!  There are photos to prove this. We also were given the opportunity here to practise our calligraphy skills with a lesson in the writing of Chinese characters. Not easy with a large brush and dark ink but good fun.

From here we drove to a more modern part of Xi’an which locally is called ‘china town’ for our lunch. It was another opportunity to try various local dishes but Chinese food is beginning to be less appetising. What I was really looking forward to was visiting the City Wall which was over 600 hundred years old. It was a complete wall encircling the older part of the city. Originally we had hoped to spend some time cycling around the Wall but heavy traffic cut into our allotted time such that we only had 40 minutes there. Mike and I were quick to get off the bus and to make the most of the time here. Despite the very hot temperature 28-30C we walked quickly along the ramparts so that we could take in the local views.  I am still astounded at the number of skyscrapers that are being built here and the mix of old and new is very interesting.

The Silk Road

Our final visit before heading off to the airport was to the Muslim quarter. Mike got quite excited when we passed a Chinese laundry!

Squid waiting to be battered and eaten

The Muslim Quarter is at the beginning of the Silk Road – the famous trading route that goes from East to West.  This was a very lively area, full of the hustle and bustle you would expect in an Asian market with lots of exotic smells with some very strange food preparation going on. A quick tour of the main street with just enough time to pick up a couple of bargains was had but it would have been good if we could have spent more time here. 

By now feeling hot and exhausted we boarded the coach for our final trip in Xi’an to the airport for our 7pm flight to Chong Quin.

Fruit and icecream cups

The flight took just over an hour and another hour to get to the Hotel. It was difficult to get a first impression of the City as it was dark until we reached the central area near the river where we were treated by a spectacular light show.  All of the skyscrapers on the river bank were illuminated with constantly changing colours.  It made you think of that Chong Quin was a modern and vibrant city. However the access to the hotel was not so good.  The coach got as close as it could to the hotel but there were lots of steps to gain access  to the hotel which was difficult for our group members that were using walking sticks or had heavy baggage so Jacqui helped a few down the steps and carried their bags for them.   It was an upside down hotel in that the lobby was on floor 11.

Jackfruit

Inside the access to the rooms was not much better as the lifts were small and so could only carry a few members of our party at a time to their rooms. However once there the rooms were of a good size and good standard.

More skyscrapers in Xi'an

The lights across the waters encouraged both of us out of the hotel (even though it was late and had been a hectic day) to explore the waterfront further so we headed out into the bustle of Chinese evening life.  It was very noisy with music blaring from all the bars.  We eventually met up with two more couples from our group who had also gone exploring and had a very enjoyable beer.  Shortly after midnight we headed back knowing that we had yet another early start the following day.