Xi'an city walls

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Today I arrived in Xi'an, famous for its Terracotta Warriors but also well known for its entact city wall. Built during the Tang dynasty, the wall is 12 meters tall, 14 meters wide at the top and 18 meters wide at the bottom. There is also a deep moat surrounding it, although it isn't as full as it would have once been due to water shortages in the province of Shaanxi. There are four gates through the city walls (north, south, east and west) and each has a gate house, along with further buildings at each corner.

I joined a fellow Welshie called Paul and two Danish girls to cycle the city walls. We hired the most rickety old bikes for 100minutes and set off calmly, the weather was gorgeous just like a clear spring day in the UK, with a slight breeze making the cycling calming and pleasent. We stopped along the way, taking pictures, chatting with people and people watching above the hectic Xi'an train station.

However, we got to the north gate (having started at the south) and realised we had only 20minutes left to get around the second half. Now we could have paid the 50p fee for an extra half hour but the Danes made some comment about being naturals and of course that started a competition. Off we set, Paul and I peddaling for all we were worth while the two Danes made it look easy. We completed the remaining 8km in 20 minutes (that may not seem much but I am not kidding, this was a stone wall and the bikes were real bone rattlers!) and while Paul and I were looking decidedly red in the face and wobbly in the leg the Danes laughed at us and looked just fine. They had an excuse though, they were both 6ft and they cycle every day at home. I hate being beaten!

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Photos

Xi'an train station
View of the hectic train station from the city walls