Xian - night market

---

I joined the 3 UK travellers at a hostel in Xian, just inside the south wall. They were staying in dorm beds, so I opted for the same. It only cost 40RMB or $6Can for a dorm bed.
We ended up moving rooms 4 times. The problem was that we were trying to stay in the same room together. The first room we had to ourselves but the door lock was broken. The second didn't have 4 beds available, even though the front desk claimed there were 4 beds available. Next we were moved to another room where there were 4 beds, so we put our stuff on them and went out.
The night market was great fun, it was in the Muslim section of Xian. Xian used to be the capital of China and was at one end of the Silk Road that travelled across asia from the Middle East. They have had a muslim community since the 16th century or longer. I bargained for several items that I needed - a tea flask, a flashlight and a knife for peeling fruit. I bought a tea flask as a small tea shop where the owner, an elderly gentleman, made us sit for a tea ceremony. His low tea table was beautiful, it was made from a large tree stump. The stools were the same. The table had a carved out area for the tea to be poured and a drain to take excess. He started by steeping the tea for a moment and then splashed the tiny cups with the tea and drained them. Then he poured again and we were to sip the oolong tea. He repeatedly filled our small cups - the tea was excellent, but expensive. 53RMB for 50 grams!
We ate from the street stalls, barbaque chicken and pork on a stick, slices of deepfried chicken or beef in a bun, even quail's eggs on a skewer. I didn't eat the eggs, but Helen and Matt claimed they were excellent.
After dinner we went out for beers. I'm not up to partying all night anymore, so I headed back to the hostel at 12.30 pm. I get to our room only to find that someone is in my bed! There are only two beds available for our group of 4!
I argued with the front desk clerk, first they wanted to put us all in seperate rooms with a bed available. Eventually they agreed to put 3 of us in a nicer room with attached bathroom. One had to stay in the original room.
The next night we were all supposed to be together again, but again someone was in my bed. I had to move to another room to sleep. I am definitely not enthusiastic about hostels in China.

---