The trip started off on a 9 hour train ride. Fortunately for us, and for the rest of the train, we got a train car to ourselves (there were about 40 of us). The train ride was really fun but we were all pretty exhausted when we landed in Xi’an at 8 am.
Our first stop was the Great Mosque of Xi’an. It is a Muslim mosque and was extremely beautiful. The weather was about 70 degrees and the sun was shining. This was the first day since I’ve been here that I actually saw the sun so you can imagine how happy I was.
For lunch we went to a really nice restaurant but the highlight of it was there was a wedding reception taking place in the restaurant. The wedding party was very delighted to have us partake in the festivities. It was also really cool to see what a Chinese wedding looks like.
After lunch we headed to the Terracotta Warriors. There were three pits all filled with warriors and horses. You could even get a picture and signature of the farmer who stumbled upon the warriors for 300 kuai (about $40). Considering this man is now loaded I figured it wasn’t worth it. The warriors were really impressive but I was more in love with sitting outside since it was such a beautiful day.
That night we headed to a few bars and one huge Chinese club. We were the only foreigners in the club so we quickly got greeted with free beer and VIP seats. It could have been a really cool experience but unfortunately my friend Charlie got pickpocketed so we left in a bad mood.
Sunday we woke up and had the day to do whatever we want. A few of us headed to the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda. It was a really pretty Buddhist pagoda. There was also a huge water fountain show that we got to enjoy. But of course, we were the local tourist attraction. Numerous people asked to take our pictures but even more people just took our pictures thinking we didn’t notice. Having been in China almost 6 weeks I am still not use to having my picture taken by strangers. Not sure I’ll ever get use to that though.
After the Pagoda we headed to bike the city wall. The city wall is the most complete city wall to have survived in China. This was the highlight of the trip and perhaps one of the coolest things I’ve ever done in my life. We decided to rent a tandem and bike around the city wall (its 8 miles around). My biking partner, Charlie, and I were quite the site to see on our tandem. He is a about 6’4 and 260 lbs so we decided it would be best if he steered the bike. The only problem with this is I could not see anything over him. However, when we tried to switch positions I could not even peddle the bike one foot. To say the least, it was a hilariously amazing experience.
That night we headed back to Beijing on another train ride. It was definitely a less energetic train ride since we were all exhausted.
The only problem with the city (besides Charlie getting pickpocketed) were the taxi’s. There always seemed to be ample taxi’s around but none of them would ever stop for us (not sure if it had to do with our skin color..). But this just made our adventures around the city even more fun.
I was really bummed that I wasn’t going to be at the Cup this year but I am glad I got to experience a beautiful and what seemed like a calmer city than Beijing. Hope everyone at the Cup had an amazing time. I thought about y’all all weekend. Much love.
Market near the Muslim Mosque
Mao's inspirational words come in many languages
So beautiful!!
All the babies here wear slit pants so they can just pop a squat where ever they feel like it
At the Mosque
A Chinese bride
Pit 1 (the largest one) of the Terracotta Soldiers
Giant Wild Goose Pagoda (and yes, we climbed to the top!)
Getting my picture taken with a Chinese stranger
Of course we won the Tour de Xi'an
My view from the tandem
The city wall
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