On the way back to the hotel our local guide Sally tried hard to persuade people to take the optional evening excursion known as the Tang Ever Bright City tour which involved visiting a mile long pedestrianised street, lined with buildings in the Tang Dynasty, which is famous for its night decorations and people wandering around dressed up in Chinese imperial costumes. In fact Sally also thought it would be a good idea if we all dressed up too!
Ian and I had already decided it wasn't for us and we were keen to venture out alone and take the metro somewhere - probably to the same area - but just to be free to wander at our own pace. Steve and Tony overheard us talking and were amazed we were so brave and then asked if they could tag along which we were more than happy with as a) they're two lovely guys and b) safety in numbers. Then I mentioned it to Dave and Julie whose son lives in Shanghai as to be honest I thought they might have some knowledge on how to buy metro tickets etc and they were keen too. Unfortunately the very annoying solo Australian woman (who we've Christened Foghorn) heard about the plans and without being completely rude (had it been the end of the tour I wouldn't have hesitated!) I couldn't really say no.
We met in the lobby after dinner and walked to the metro station just a few blocks away. The rest of the group hadn't done the research we had, so they weren't very keen on trying to visit the illuminated district or a water display in the grounds of the Giant Pagoda. So we decided to keep it simple and head for the city walls which are also lit up at night.
These are durian fruits, which are alleged to be the smelliest things in the world, but with a beautiful mild and sweet taste.
More rental bikes.
This lady was setting off to sell her tat.
Street food of some kind, looks like seafood.
But quite what this trailer load is I really don't know.
Luckily for us there was a manned ticket booth in the metro station and the cashier was more than happy to try and interpret what we wanted so we got our tickets easily and had a short 15 minute ride with just one change. This is Xi'an's Bell Tower (early Ming Dynasty c.1384) which stands in the middle of a huge roundabout and is one of the grandest in China.
Coming up from the metro station we were on the wrong side of the road so headed back down underground to cross the road.
Unlike a lot of city walls in China, including Beijing's ramparts, which are mostly flattened, Xi'an's walls are intact and form a 9km rectangle around the city centre. At night they are illuminated and locals/domestic visitors like to promenade along the ramparts, many in costume. Naively I'd assumed it would be free but in fact we had to pay around £13 each (considerably cheaper for Chinese).
There were plenty of young ladies dressed up.
We spent around 1 1/2 hours wandering up and down as it got progressively darker.
Modern Xi'an in the distance
l-r Ian (obvs), Steve, Julie, Dave and Tony. Foghorn declined to have her photo taken. Unfortunately my denoise programme has distorted the faces a bit.
This lovely building is actually a hotel and I presume not original.
Looking back towards the Bell Tower
A few of the tat stalls along the walls.
I'm not sure who/what this is meant to be - Captain Pugwash?
We had rather a long walk back to a metro station with differing ideas as to which was the right way, but we got there eventually. There was no one selling tickets so we attempted to use the self service machines and eventually worked it out.
A bit of street massage near our hotel.
In Beijing eating/drinking etc on the street is not allowed, but here there are lots of places offering food but as the Chinese are not big drinkers most of them didn't serve alcohol and we all fancied a beer. Luckily sharp eyed Ian spotted a beer sign on one of the buildings where all these locals were eating.
So we checked we could just have a drink and plastic seats were produced for the 7 of us.
The Chinese seem to eat huge amounts of food - just look how much there is on these two tables.
Our beers came in glasses but maybe we should have had a barrel like this chap.
A nice way of serving pineapple.
Tempting as it was to stay for another beer, we decided to call it a night and head back to the hotel. Dogs are quite popular pets but there are strict hours as to when you are allowed to walk your dog.
This looks like quoits or similar.
As I’ve already said, the Chinese seem very keen on signs telling you what to do and what not to do - the one on the bottom right of this sign in the hotel lift is an absolutely classic.
