Xi’an, Shaanxi

Friday, August 7, 2015

Xi’an is our base to explore the Army of Terracotta Warriors, but the city itself is an interesting place to visit. It has a walled old city, and you can walk or ride a bike on the 13 km long city walls.  There is a picturesque quarter where Chinese Muslims live, where women wear colorful scarves and men wear caps.

There are many delicious lunch options in the Muslim quarter, and we had a nice lunch although a bit spicy. So far, China over stimulates all our senses – very noisy, very spicy, intense smells, many people everywhere. Where ever we go, we are in a crowd.

We also visited the bell tower in the heart of the old city.  The ringing from its bells used to mark dawn. The tower dates from the 14^th century.