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Published: October 17th 2006
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Dumpling Party
Shuyuan Hostel, Xi'an Hello again,
Well, we have definitely found our favourite place so far! Xi'an is a fantastic city. There are only 5 million (!) people here apparently so its got a really homely friendly feel to it. You can easily walk around the inner city walls in the day Its also incredibly affluent, we are just two minutes walk from Prada and Louis V! Obviously we haven't made many purchases in that part of town but we've spent today wandering around markets in the muslim quarter which was great. Tasting all the fruit and pastries We bought quite a lot but only very small bits and bobs and nothing breakable this time! Obviously we had to start buying again after we finally managed to send Sam's tea set home surface mail - Sophie, it should reach you before christmas if we're lucky!
We've also seen a lot more local life and night life here than anywhere else hence the title of this entry! On Friday evening we ate a gorgeous meal of sweet and spicy pork in the hostel not realising that a free dumpling party was about to kick off. So after eating, and meeting a great couple (Donna
Chicken feet anyone?
They're lovely honestly! and Kio) from Staines, we all rolled up our sleeves and got stuck into making the dumplings under the close supervision of a very serious chef! It was great fun until it dawned on us that we also had to eat them all! Luckily there were a few hungry volunteers to help out with that (think Chicken Licken)! After a couple more beers, the four of us decided to hit bar street together which is only five minutes wander from the hostel (and is actually called Bar Street on a map!). We picked one of the first chinese bars we saw with a drag queen belting out some chinese hits. No sooner had we ordered our first drinks than we were invited to join a group of Chinese twenty-somethings on a large friday night out. They were really lovely. The main man, David (Chinese Biage!), used to own the bar and was obviously still fairly big in town. He introduced us to his colleagues Tiger and Dragon (really their names!) and his sister and her friend (Lucy Lui's double). Will drinks flowing freely Donna and Kio decided to treat everyone to their rendition of Knocking on Heavens Door while Sam
and I danced around like fools. About 11.30 they said they were going to a nightclub just round the corner and we were wlecome to join them. So we thought as long as the four of us stick together we can go in and out as quickly as we like. We were expecting the Rock. What we actually got was what looked like a 5 star hotel with a hostess on the door in full ball gown and bell boys! We went up to the fourth floor, past some working girls in the corridor and were shown into a room about the size of the back room in Somewhere Else. The walls were black marble and mirrors with red carpet. it felt like being inside a box of black magic! There were two glass tables infront of massive sofas all facing a huge Karaoke plasma screen. It was full of David's work friends all getting stuck into the beer and fruit on the table. Naturally all four of us newcomers stopped at the door thinking "Hmmm, not sure about this, when do the drug lords appear and how much will it cost us to get out of the building?" but
after about five minutes we were having a whale of a time. We managed to murder 'A Hard Day's Night' for them which they seemed to enjoy and myself and Donna even indulged in some of the spicy chicken feet that were offered around. I think Sam was a little full because she insisted she couldn't manage one! What a fantastic night! We did get out of the building easily and were put in a taxi together which cost 6RMB (about 45p). Safe and Sound!
It was a bit of a struggle getting up for our Terracotta Warriors bus but we made it and just in time for a free breakfast. We were driven to the Warriors via the imitation factory where obviously we had to buy our very own warrior to..ahem..send home! The warriors themselves were every bit as impressive as we had hoped. They are superb, so detailed and fascinating to find out about the different ranks of soldiers in their battle formation. We had great Chinese guide (Kevin Spacey look- and soundalike!) who knew pretty much everything there was to know about them. We're so glad because there was a lot we could have missed by just relying
Terracotta Warriors 1
Check out how different their faces are. on the museum information alone.
We got taken round the houses on the way back via a silk workshop where we were treated to a slightly bizarre fashion show with Blue as the soundtrack. Despite their efforts nobody was pursuaded to buy anything which probably didn't go down to well. I think these little shopping detours are how they subsidise the trips but nevermind.
We've had anothe couple of comedy nights since the Chicken feet night. One in the hostel and another night on Bar Street with some great people we met. Another five am finish I will leave the photos to paint the picture!!
Off to Chengdu on yet another sleeper train today. Lucky we like sleeping!!
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Katy
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Fantastic
Such ace pictuires! Keep them, coming girls. Lots and lots of love - Katy xxx