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We have just got home from a massive tour today in Xi'an.
We spent our first night at the Grand Mercure Hotel last night and neither of us had a good nights sleep and we really needed it. The beds are like concrete, we may as well be sleeping on the lobby floor. We have also had a problem with the large shower flooding the whole bathroom. We had to get more towels so Tam went to ask at reception. No-one understood English so she acted out drying her back with the towel. What a free show the reception staff got - i am kicking myself I missed it - too funny! I started my shower this morning while Tam was waiting for the hotel to bring us 2 towels. They arrived with 2 facewashers - like that was going to do anything. Eventually we were both ready and had breaky. There was a lot to choose from but we realise now how spoilt we were at the Novotel in Beijing.
Our tour started at 8:30am this morning and as we were the only people booked on it, we got a private tour guide and driver. Our tour guide was Kylie (yes they all have English names) and she was lovely except the fact she wanted to ask us 1000 questions ALL day. We never got 5 minutes of silence till we got back to the hotel just before 10pm, very tiring. Here is how our day went:
1. The Ancient City Wall - not a lot to do here except climb to the top of the wall and we got a few nice pictures. There was also a museum for fengshui which we were told was only open on Chinese 'Lucky' Day which it was today. We had a tour and felt up a black jade dragon horse for good luck & fortune. You literally rub your hands over it in a certain order ending by rubbing around the bottom - interesting!!! We were also told how LUCKY we were that the jade collection was for sale for this one special day - how convenient...and like sucker tourists were purchased a couple of items..
2. Jade Factory - like we now haven't seen enough Jade, we had another tour and pretended we were seeing it for the first time when they showed us how to tell real from fake. We left that place quickly!!!
3. The Big Wild Goose Pagoda - The grounds were lovely and it was interesting to learn that the 7 storey Pagoda built of bricks has no cement in between the bricks. We walked to the entrance of the Pagoda to be told we weren't going to walk up as it was having renovations. This was not true so we had to fork out more money to climb it. It was very boring, nothing to see inside but stairs. We walked up a few levels and gave up. There are also 200 monks who still live in the areas but we didn't see any :(
4. Factory for making terracotta warriors - this was very interesting to watch how they make the warriors for people to purchase. It can take 1 year to handmake a full life size one. They are made of the same clay as the originals in the ground. I bought one for myself and hope it makes the journey home in 1 piece.
5. Off to lunch - by this stage Tam and I were starving. We went to a government owned restaurant for lunch and were given a private room as it was warmer. We shared with 2 other people so there were 5 of us and we had a massive lunch. There was heaps to eat such as, julienne potatoes, bok choy & mushroom, chicken & celery, pork & onion or should I say onion & pork (was a plate of onion with a few pieces of pork), flat wide oily noodles (suprisingly good), soup, etc. The restaurant was next to a silk factory and thank god we had mentioned within the 1000 questions our tour guide had already asked that we'd been to one, we got to save ourselves the trouble!
6. Terracotta Warriors - this was amazing. I could stare at them all day - it was fantastic. I got heaps of pictures and a few little videos. We also watched a film at the cinema there on the history and process of making the Terracotta Army. I purchased some more post cards and also a book on the warriors and had it signed by the man who discovered the warriors when trying to dig a well on his farm land. We also went to the tea house there and it was really well done. They make your tea in front of you by washing the tea leaves, etc and you drink out of a pot that changes design. I bought one, a dragon that changes into the Great Wall - way too cool! We also both got some tea and are hoping we are allowed back into Melbourne without having to give it up!!! Tam got Jasmine and I got Lychee Black.
7. Huaqing Hot Springs - This place was beautiful. Unfortunately the 5 springs that were used by the emperor, empress, servants, etc were empty of water and disintegrating.
8. Full Body Massage - we had some spare time before dinner so again were conned into spending more money by getting a foot massage. This was apparently our only option to fill in time. It was a food massage that also included arms, hands, legs and back - so really full body. It was GREAT!!! A little painful on the feet for Tam and also a little ticklish!!!
9. Dinner - Dumpling Banquet - Well, did we eat some unusual dumplings, including Bamboo Dumpling, Red Bean Dumpling, Celery & Ham dumpling, duck dumpling, walnut dumpling, etc. We drew the line at Sea Cucumber dumpling though as it was just a little too weird.
10. Tang Dynasty Show - this was entertaining and 100 times better than the Beijing Opera we saw. The costumes were really pretty, dancing good too and a strange man who played a high pitched trumpet like instrument and then made even higher pitched noises with his voice - was quite funny and bizarre.
The day ended by us forking out even more money when our tour guide asked for a tip and said she got no salary for the tour and her wage was our tip. Ahhhhh.
We are back in the hotel and have to pack as we have a flight tomorrow morning to Lijiang!
Click and see more information about Xi’an Tour information.
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