City Tripping X’ian Day 4 03 May 2019
On the previous day, we had benefited from Kathy’s local perspective. Today we ventured out on our own and started where we had left off. We walked to the centre of town and went to a restaurant for a late brunch. We grabbed a table and tried to work out what was going on and how to order. We saw ladies pushing trolleys like dim sum at home. But no one seemed to be grabbing them. We were saved by an English speaking manager who pointed out how to order at a payment counter and then mysteriously the food turned up delivered by the trolley ladies.
We then went to the bell tower which is right in the middle of the city where a road from each point of the compass converge. From this vantage point, you can see the city wall as it encircles the centre. We could also look over towards the Drum Tower another major feature of central X’ian.
Coming down from the tower we headed towards the South Gate and Shuyuanmen Street which is described in the guidebook as an “Ancient Cultural Street”. It was an area of learning and today it contains many shops selling calligraphy brushes and art.
We had tea at a trendy little hipster cafe called “Summer Rain” before heading to the Beilin Museum also known as the Stele Forest. This is because the main exhibition is of three thousand stone steles with magnificent calligraphy and drawings etched into them. There was also an exhibition of various stone sculptures one of which was a ten-ton stone rhinoceros!
We then had a walk to the South Gate along the city moat amidst beautifully sculptured gardens. We then bravely took the metro with another million of our nearest and dearest and headed back to Big Wild Goose Pagoda to see the night lights. Arriving there in daylight we found crowds gathered around the lake in the pagoda square watching the dancing fountains. On to dinner after some sunset snaps of the pagoda.
We found a Sichuan style restaurant where after much pointing at menus and the use of google translate we had a tasty dinner. Heading back to the metro after sunset the dancing fountains now featured coloured floodlights and the surrounding buildings were an extravaganza of neon.
Back on the squeezey metro and a final look at the now lit towers in the city centre before heading back to the hostel.
