Day 14 - Xi'an, China

Day  14 – Hers

The first really solid night’s sleep since we arrived in China saw us up, showered and dressed by 7:30.  We set off with our group at 8:00 to walk to the city walls and hire cycles to ride the 8.5 miles around the city on top of them.  It was fantastic!  To the accompaniment of traditional Chinese muzak, we pedalled our tandem past towers and battlements, overlooking parks, tearooms and busy modern streets, shouting ‘Ni hao’ to the Chinese tourists that gawped at us.  By the time we had made it all the way around, there was a queue for tandems, so Tory had got the timing just right.  We climbed off our bikes, a bit saddle sore and, as a group (sans Tory – she obviously had a morning of paperwork to attend to), managed to find our way back to the hotel. 

Tory, bless her, is lovely and works very hard – but she sometimes forgets to tell us little details, like keep your ticket stubs because she needs to hand them in somewhere and pay attention to where we’re walking because you have to find your own way back.....

 Day 14 – His

We know the plan for the day. The plan for the day is to cycle for a couple of hours in the morning, back to the hotel for a shower and rest, then off to see the Muslim quarter before setting off for the train. Let me summarise for you – Walk, cycle, walk, rest for a bit then more walking and a bit of running. So, we had about an hour in the day when we were going to be able to rest and that was just after getting back to the hotel. The minute we got back and I had collapsed into a chair, Patti was champing at the bit to go see more of the area we are staying in. Which essentially means more walking as far as i was concerned – not a good idea – so, i just looked at her. The looking didn’t do any good. In the end i had to politely say – ‘ my love, if you want to go for a walk by all means do – but i am not moving!’

 That seemed to do it. We spent the rest of the hour chilling and I am certain it was a good idea. But then, if I think about it, when do I ever think I am wrong!

After a rest and shower we set off as a group to the Muslim quarter to have dinner and say goodbye to two of our group who are leaving today. They are joining another group to continue onto Hong Kong. For dinner we went to a Chinese Muslim restaurant all ordered a dish we wanted and put it on the huge lazy susan in the middle of the table. Everybody seemed to enjoy the dish i ordered, except me – but that was mostly because i was the only person who didn’t get any of what i ordered. The others seemed to have decided mostly on dishes containing a lot of chilli and cardamom – so as far as i was concerned dinner was a bit like eating hot soap. I really can’t stand cardamom.

 The Muslim area was mostly like an Arab souk without the Arabs. There was street after street of the usual knick knacks and trinkets that glitter in the sun, are almost impossible to resist buying and break in a week. Of course i bought something. A bit of plastic masquerading as bone and pretending to be a cigarette holder – i figure i can affect it some time when i am in the raffles club in shanghai – but then again maybe not.

 The train station is an amazing crush of humanity – not quite as glossy as Beijing but certainly more human – i think i prefer it. It’s a bit shabby and far too small to accommodate the crowds it must serve but somehow more earthy and real in the grubby kind of working class way that was the topic of so many films in the 50s.

The crush of humanity charging for the train is something to behold – preferably from a distance – as we were  caught in the middle and carried along by the tide it was perhaps less comfortable than it could have been.  We squeezed between people and luggage, through barriers, up stairs, down corridors, down stairs, and far, far along the platform until finally we reached our carriage.  We settled in, opened our pot noodles (the Chinese version – twice the size and slightly less chemically) and chatted until lights out at 10:00. Tomorrow, Suzhou – city of canals, gardens and silk.