The inner city is the old part of Xi’an and the buildings are fairly small. Our hotel was in the inner city. The wall is surrounded by a moat and gardens and the outer city buildings are very tall. Some apartment buildings up to 40 stories high.

We had a great view from on top of the wall and noticed some very interesting events occurring below us. On the outer side, many people were in the parks dancing, exercising and cracking whips. Decorations were still up from the Chinese New Year.

  

On the inside the local markets were underway. There was a free health clinic operating on the pavement where local people were getting the blood pressure taken. In front of one restaurant the staff were lined up being spoken to by the managers / bosses. Irene explained that this is common for businesses to stand their staff in front of their premises each morning for exercises and training. 

  

   

There was a rally of some young people who were chanting something we could not understand, but they all looked happy.

  

On the drive to our next stop we passed a protest underway in front of the provincial government buildings. There were a lot of police controlling a crowd of protesters unhappy about the lack of compensation they had received for their homes they had to move from. We have noticed enormous construction underway in China, obviously keeping the Australian economy growing. Very tall apartment buildings are being constructed and older smaller ones being torn down.

We arrived at the Muslim Quarter where we to tour the Great Mosque. We thought it funny that in many cities we have visited there is a China Town and this is the equivalent in China – a Muslim Town! Irene tried to walk us quickly through the streets to get us to the mosque but we were too interested in the stalls, many ladened with wonderfully smelling foods. She ended up being successful and we toured the mosque for men. Irene explained there are about 200,000 Muslims in Xi’an and they identify themselves by wearing a white cap for the men and scarves for the women. The adults are unable to speak or read Arabic, Slough some are teaching themselves, but the children study Arabic at school and can speak and read it. Only since 1974 when China was opened up to the world did the Chinese Muslims commence wearing the hats and scarves.

  

  

The food was fantastic and we did buy some of the foods, but not to eat then as our next stop was lunch with a local family, a couple the same age as us who were both retired from working in the hospitality industry. In China the females keep their family name when they marry, so it was Miss Ho and Mr Chow. I was a bit sceptical when we passed through a boom gate and drive through a series of buildings that looked in pretty bad shape, before pulling up in front of one of them to be told this was where we were having lunch. I was pleasantly surprised when we walked inside the two bedroom apartment where this couple had lived for 35 years to be seated in their lobby (dining/lounge room). Miss Ho proceeded to bring us out later of food she had prepared for us. Some of the food we had not eaten before and it was very nice. She offered us some of her homemade white wine, made from alcohol she purchased at a store and then mixed with persimmon seeds and Chinese herbs for 3 months. It was really tasty. Through Irene as interpreter she told us it was about 40% – “not too strong”! Mick had shown too much enjoyment of one of the snack biscuits on offer and Miss Ho insisted that he take five packets of them with him. She could not be dissuaded.

   

I was amazed to see a western-style toilet in the home. Apparently all the apartments are the same. The bathroom consisted of the toilet, a wash basin and a shower nozzle but no shower cubicle. This was obviously the laundry as well.

Miss Ho then took us to the local Mahjong House where we watched some women play using a specialised electric table that sorted the tiles before each game. Most of the women were retired, but one of the ladies was a doctor who was on her day off. The women play using chips which are cashed in at the end for money. The owner of the Mahjong House is paid about 5RMB by each player.

  

We really enjoyed today’s tour and finished it with some free time walking around our hotel and downtown Xi’an. We ate a very light snack for dinner as we were still pretty full from Miss Ho’s lunch. 

We catch a train tomorrow to Beijing so we have prepared a bag of food, with noodles, breads and mugs for tea and coffee. Unsure what the G Train will be like, but we believe it is better than the K Train as it is a fast train. Irene will meet us in the morning and give us our tickets. She did not trust us with them which we thought was funny.

We are hoping the train journey is more pleasant than our last one.