China

Xi'an - May, 2016

Breakfast

Travel to Xi'an

Early Morning Smog

Temple eaves

Simple Local Restaurant

Traditional Prayer Ceremony

Smiley face

The first two photos show a meal we got outside our AirBnB. It was breakfast time before our tour of the Terracotta army. The lady restauranteur is pedaling a cart with a stove and huge wok selling these deep-fried omelette things. It was delicious and filling.

The AirBnB was interesting in and of itself. The guy who rented was a medical technician at a hospital. The apartment building was on the campus of the hospital he worked at. Everything in the apartment was controlled by the iPad remote - lights, curtains, TV, stereo, fans throughout the house could all be adjusted by the iPad. Karen was trying to figure out all the controls (because the iPad was in Chinese) and kept turning one light off and on. It turned out that light was in Matts room. Needless to say he was annoyed.

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Here is a small sidewalk restaurant we liked. The seating are very low cheap plastic chairs. The perimeter of the dining area was defined by a string of lights. You order your food at a glass case on the sidewalk. The food in the case was raw until you ordered. The identity of the food was not clear. There was no English translation. It is an adventure of course but it turned out very good. This was also right outside our AirBnB.

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Below are views from our long overnight train ride from Beijing to Xi'an. We chose an overnight train and were very happy with the choice. The beds in our cabin were the best we experienced in China. We had a wonderful experience in the dining car where the whole car full of people were helping Karen learn to use chopsticks. Early in the morning we began to see interesting views of the Chinese countryside. As we approached the city of Xi'an we clearly saw the smog which inhibited our views of mountains and even large buildings. Upon our arrival at our AirBnB we could see major pollution through our window.

Train Views

Xi'an

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There were a wide variety of transportation options that were widely used including bicycle, motorbike, car, train and buses. The enclosed 3 wheeled motorbikes were interesting. Motorbikes also carry a great deal more than is common in the US. The tour car was powered by natural gas. While we were on the tour our driver stopped to fill the tank. It is located in the trunk. He asked us to stand aside while he filled up.

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Wild Goose Pagoda

Worship

Below are photos of the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda in Xi'an. It is centrally located in Xi'an and is a large area with several buildings on the campus.

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This is the largest steamer I've ever seen with the most levels as well. The fish on the top step in the other photo kept jumping out of the tank to escape death. The restaurant owner kept retrieving it. These are photos from the neighborhood market where we stayed in Xi'an.