Xi'An

Our first stop on our journey was the ancient city of Xi'An. After a pretty good sleep on the night train, we arrived early morning in a rainy Xi'An. As we knew that getting train tickets could at times be quite a challenge, we immediately bought onward tickets to Jiayuguan.

On leaving the station, we saw a small Chinese boy dutifully urinating in an empty noodle box. But just as we were impressed by his cleanliness and aiming skills, he joyfully threw the box and the contents in the air... A warm welcome to Xi'An indeed.

We found a nice youth hostel near the Bell Tower, right in the centre of the city. It was good value for money, and there was a nice and easy travellers' atmosphere. A good breakfast and a adorable kitten made the picture complete.

We then set off to the Terracotta Army, about 1 hour bus drive out of the city. It was still pouring down with rain, but as the terracotta army is sheltered in several buildings, this didn't bother us.

The army itself was quite amazing: about 8000 life-sized statues of warriors, archers and horsemen, burried underground for over 2000 years. This incredible undertaking was ordered by emperor Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of a unified China. He must have been quite afraid of being conquered after his death, or plainly mad - or both of course.


On the following day, back in Xi'An, we wandered about at a relaxed pace. The city was quite nice, but not so very different than other Chinese cities we had seen before. With the old monuments (bell tower, drum tower, great mosque and of course the city wall), it felt quite "Chinese" (i.e. less Western than Shanghai), but knowing that the monuments are mostly replica's from buildings that have been destroyed during the cultural revolution gnawed more than a bit off of our wonder and amazement, especially as it was nowhere shown that it were replica's..

However, the Muslim quarter was quite a nice place to stroll around in. Nice small shops, vendors selling dried fruits and road-side restaurants fuming out inviting smells of foods. All this in the backdrop of the great mosque, which is built in Chinese architectural style - rather weird but interesting. Our visit to the mosque was quite enchanting: we visited it at nightfall, when the last prayers were performed.


We enjoyed a dinner of a local speciality: different vegetables and meats, boiled in a spicy broth and dipped in a tasty sesame-paste. Really nice.

Xi'An was a good place as a first stop. From there, we took a night train to Jiayuguan, deep in Gansu province.