The journey into mainland China was epic – 2 ferries, 2 taxis, 1 plane, 1 train, 2 buses and a long walk with many bags….from Hong Kong via Guangzhou to Xi’an – in a mere 13 hours! We were all pretty tired but the connections all worked out well. The Guangzhou airport was massive and fairly new. The first reality that hits you is that you have never heard of Guangzhou and it has somewhere around 8.5 million people. There are several cities in this huge country with several million people and we had not heard of many of them. It gives you a sense of the enormity of China not just its geographic size but its level of “busyness” and economic clout.
Xi’an seemed somewhat sane with a population of less than 8 million people. The airport was about 40 km from the city centre so it was a long (and very slow) bus ride into the city centre.
For the first time since leaving Australia, we had booked an apartment. We thought it would be a good change. It was a 2 bedroom apartment off the Muslim Quarter in the heart of the city. Xi’an was once the capital of Imperial China and at least two dynasties ruled from Xi’an. The old part of the city is enclosed by a 14 km wall and moat thus protecting the old part of the city.
Our first day was pretty calm. We explored the Bell and Drum Tower. These were situated at the centre of the walled city, these 500 year old towers house the city bells and drums that kept time for hundreds of years. They were classic Chinese architecture with sloped roofs, tall wooden pillars and of course, souvenir shops on each floor! It was a nice way to get a good view of the city.
The (interesting and weird) highlight of the day was a local Sichuan restaurant we visited for dinner that night. As was the case throughout our time in China, we had to get used to being stared at constantly and this venue was no different. We have now learned that this is a Chinese habit (along with the disgusting and constant spitting everywhere). We were relieved that the menu was translated into English but as the title of this blog suggests, we think that the food translations were…well…not that appealing. We had to contain our laughter (and keep our appetites) when we saw that they had braised sea cucumber, boiled snake but also something called “Old People Boiled Heads”….mmm mmm good! We think we are adventurous but we were challenged by this menu. And then “foul smelling eggplant” – we gave that a pass as well. Luckily, what we did order was great AND Joshua was able to satisfy his dumpling habit.
Another oddity which we got used to after awhile was that we had several people everyday throughout China ask to have their pictures taken with us - particularly the kids. This strange white family is now in the family and trip photos of at least 50 other people!
A great introduction to Mainland China.
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