Advertisement
Published: March 12th 2013
Edit Blog Post
Our journey to Xi’an was interesting to say the least. Arriving at the airport in Beijing we were greeted by signs saying all the flights were being delayed due to snowfall. We settled into some uncomfortable airport chairs to wait.
Four hours and several gate changes later we ended up being shuttled out to the plane on a bus. An uneventful flight later we arrived in Xi’an. Spotting a tourist information point we decided to find out how we could get into Xi’ans city centre and our hotel.
The girl on the reception desk, Suzie, was very helpful although she did try to sell up all sorts of group tours and private taxis. Realising the futility of her actions she pointed in the direction of the bus stop for the city centre but not before giving me her mobile number in case we changed our minds.
The bus dropped us off at the Drum Tower in the city’s centre. Orienting ourselves we walked in the direction that Google Maps had indicated the hotel should be. Getting confused as we arrived at a Chinese government building, we started asking locals for directions with pidgin Chinese and lots and lots
of hand gestures. Getting several conflicting sets of directions we found ourselves near an Apple Store. Inspiration struck as we realised these stores often have an internet connection and we could probably find more information online.
Inside we tried to sidle up to an iPad without getting accosted but soon realised that Apple employees are the same the world over, very, very excited about their products. Seeing nothing for it we tried explaining that we were trying to find our hotel and wanted to use their internet. We showed one of the guys the address we had been given and a long discussion ensued between several employees who eventually began shaking their heads. One of the guys then took the paper and realised we had a Chinese phone number on it to contact the hotel. Helpfully he called and asked for directions. Hanging up he gestured to us to gather our luggage and follow him. Next thing we knew we followed him down the street a couple of blocks to the building which had a very non-descript lobby. We thought the lobby area was where we checked in but found that it was in fact an apartment building with
several “hotels” operating in it (i.e. these hotels rented out various apartments as a hotel). Gesturing at the lift and indicating the 5
th floor our friendly Apple employee left us to return to the store. Arriving at the 5
th floor we soon found several “hotels” operating out of various rooms and eventually located the one we needed.
The guy running the place was very friendly with absolutely no English. He had a translation program running on his computer and after a couple of dodgy translations leading to some misunderstandings we acquired a room. I should say an apartment! It was one room with 3 beds, a futon and a bathroom with a small kitchen area. It was quite late by this time and after a quick Skype call we headed outside to find food.
As we walked through the street stalls nearby we quickly came to the conclusion that we couldn’t really identify anything. Taking a punt we got a couple of fried dumplings and a plate of what looked like fried cubes of possibly potato. We couldn’t have been more wrong. Biting into a cube we found a very slimy gel-like substance with a pretty rank flavour.
I’ll admit now that I’m more picky than I thought. I couldn’t eat anymore and spit out what I’d just bitten into before throwing the whole mess into the nearest bin. Later, we did a bit of internet searching to find it’s some sort of bean jelly. We walked through the streets trying to find something we’d like to try before giving up and heading to McDonalds. Yes, we went to McDonalds. In shame.
As we only had one night in Xi’an, the next day we tried to cram in some sightseeing before our flight at 6pm. This meant an early start and lots of grumpiness as the beds in the apartments were more like wooden platforms with a straw mat on them leading to a distinct lack of comfort or any sort of softness. We checked out right away and left our luggage with the friendly hotel guy who wanted a picture with us. Must admit we are starting to get papped with amazing regularity.
We walked up North st towards the bus station and Dave spotted a street vendor serving some sort of meat in bread. Decidedly more wary we bought one and, joy of joys,
Dave pronounced it edible and in fact one of the best things he’d had in China. It seemed we’d found a Shaanxi sandwich.
At the bus station we safely skirted the touts and boarded one of the local buses heading towards the Terracotta Warriors. The conductor came along and rightly assumed we were heading to the Warriors. Deciding to help out the poor confused travellers, she let us know that she would tell us when we had to get off. The bus trip seemed interminable but couldn’t have been more than 45 minutes or so before we arrived. With a smile, the conductor let us know we would be arriving soon. We needn’t have worried, it was the terminus of the route with the bus driver exiting for a nap nearby.
With directions to the ticket office from the conductor, we wandered along but not before several offers for a guide service reached us. We had previously decided we didn’t want a guide and declined them. Closer to the ticket office a persistent lady told us we should have a guide because the signs weren’t in English and the entrance and exits had moved and there were new
pits opened up. We ignored her and went to get tickets. She popped up again as we started towards the entrance telling us we should listen to her and we were wrong. Taking exception to this we very firmly told her to bugger off. We didn’t use those exact words but the gist was the same.
As we walked through the clearly signposted entrance (in English) I was fuming at the attitude and Dave made a suggestion that we stop for a coffee. We planned what we wanted to see and soon walked into Pit 2 to see some of the current excavations. As we toured around the complex we were staggered at the sheer size of the undertaking and impressed with some of the preservation work that was taking place. Unlike some of the other sights we’d seen in China, a lot of care was being taken and the sight was not being allowed to fall into decay with sort of concrete propping it up.
Somehow we’d run out of time and we had to rush back to the bus to Xi’an. It took a lot longer this time as we were travelling in the middle of
the day and we had to rush through the city to get our bags. Once again timing was everything and we managed to get the last couple of seats on the bus back to the airport. I’m guessing we were pretty lucky too because otherwise we would probably would have missed our flight to Shanghai.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.098s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 11; qc: 52; dbt: 0.0467s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb