Big Goose Pagoda, Ancient City Wall & Dumplings
Trip Start
Oct 08, 2010
1
10
16
Trip End
Oct 22, 2010
Where I stayed
Xi'an, Shaanxi, China
Saturday, October 16, 2010
After an unsettled sleep on the train, was up at 6 to see the sunrise. Pretty. After a quick breakfast in town we checked into the Golden Flower Shangri-La. Just enough time for a shower and change. The hotel is comfortable enough, but not up to Shangri-La luxury.
We checked out the Big Goose Pagoda. Story goes that a monk thought how nice it would be to have a goose for dinner when he saw a flock fly over head. The leader goose broke his wing and fell to the ground. The monks believed it was a sign for greater piety and vegetarianism. They built the pagoda on the spot the goose fell. Anyway, the guide (Winnie) is very good and she showed us around the place.
Next stop the ancient city wall. Very impressive and still in very good condition. We saw the main features and were told about the purpose etc. Then we hired couple of bicycles to ride around the top of the wall. We went from the South gate to the East gate and back - tool almost an hour at a fairly slow pace. It was a warm day, but Xi'an is dusty and hazy.
After the ancient city wall we had a hot pot lunch. Yummy. Back to the hotel for a rest.
Went to the Sunshine Theatre for Tang Dynasty show. It was mostly modern dance sequences telling Tang dynasty stories. Bit girly and not my thing. The acrobatics and kung fu are much more fun.
Dumpling dinner followed. Lots of different flavours and shapes. There was a little duck with duck meat in it, a coral looking one with seafood, etc.
Back to hotel for much needed sleep.
