Lamb...& Warriors

By Pete
25-29/04/2019
I had visited Xi’an a few years back while traveling to China for business and really liked its vibe. Chompu and I visited the terra-cotta warriors, indulged in the famous dumplings and got lost in the vibrant Muslim quarter, I couldn’t wait to show Bea around the town I had so enjoyed years back.
We arrived at the Han Tang House hostel late in the evening and booked both the terracotta warriors and the evening dumpling feast (and show) for the next day.

It’s a bit of a recurring theme in these blogs but Chinese domestic tourism has completely changed the tourism landscape over the last 10 years. When we visited the terracotta warriors previously we took a taxi down a road lined with shops selling imitation warriors to a small ticket office before wandering through the three main exhibition halls. The actual farmer who first discovered them back in 1974 (while digging a well) was hanging around near the exit signing books for people.

Today its an expressway to an imposing new visitors center and mall area with large parking areas for tour busses. We had been told we would arrive by 11.00am but by the time we entered the exhibition it was well past 12.00 and already pretty crowded, by the time we left an hour and a half later you could hardly get standing space in the main hall!

If you are going to visit go early and go independently you can then explore at leisure.
The actual exhibition is still amazing and has improved over the intervening years with additional displays, greater information and the opening of an ‘open research space’ where you can view the archeological ‘work in process’. I have to admit that the warriors are one of those things that need only be seen once but, as it was her first time, Bea was really blown away by the whole experience.

We finally arrived back at the Hostel and after a quick turn around headed off to a dumpling feast and show... now this is not something that I would ever (almost ever) indulge in but it was something that we did last time and I have to admit it was pretty good. The show we went to was not quite as indulgent as previous but the dumplings were really tasty and the performance well produced.

We woke the next morning to a grey rainy day and as I needed new jeans we headed to the shops then the Muslim quarter via the bell and drum towers.
The first thing that struck me was how easy the Muslim quarter is to find now its Main Street is flooded with flashing lights and neon with venders hawking food for its entire length. Fortunately once we turn off, into the back lanes, we found the Muslim quarter of my memories.

By early afternoon the rain began to ease so after an excellent lunch of yangrou paomo, a famous lamb and pita bread broth at a small family run eatery in the back streets, we headed to the city wall.

The city wall is one of the oldest and most complete in China and one of the largest ancient military defensive systems in the world. It was originally built under Zhu Yuanzhang, the first Emperor of the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) as a military defense system. It has been refurbished many times since, most recently in 1983. You can hire bikes at the top of the wall and cycle around its entire 13.7km length, which we obviously did.

We headed back to the hostel late afternoon where we had arranged for the hotel to show Dockers V Western Bulldogs, unfortunately their best plans failed with the poor internet and we ended up watching the dockers victory on the iPhone over a few beers.

The rain continued on our final day in Xi’an so armed with new umbrellas we headed out to the little goose pagoda, big goose pagoda and the site of the famous dancing fountains that were closed for May!! In the evening we headed back into the Muslim Quarter for a final lamb fix and to pick up provisions for the following 22 hour train trip to Dunhuang, some lovely roast lamb, yogurt and flat breads, which would have been a great train meal if we hadn’t left them in the hostel fridge when we set out early the next morning!!