Off on vacation. 西安 (Xī'ān) the 1.

Saturday, 23.06.2018

We took a week off. It's kindergarten vacation for Philipp anyway, and I still have enough vacation days, unlike my Chinese colleagues, which I will take.

We want to go away for a week, first to Xī'ān and then to Chengdu. We'll leave early in the morning. With the car to Wuxi airport, a city west of Suzhou.

We could have also taken the High Speed Train, but that would have taken 6 hours, 2 hours longer. The flight was delayed. Without further information, it was said 'Your flight is delayed'. We had enough time to look around the airport. Since planes are waited for here more often, karaoke cannot be dispensed with. There are two 'KTV' machines. 🎤

Philipp and Jule made friends with the other waiting kids, and at some point our plane suddenly arrived.

An hour and a half later, we landed in Xī'ān. The city welcomed us with 35 degrees Celsius. You can feel the difference between the lake and continental climate. The fresh breeze is missing.

After checking in and taking a nap, we started exploring the city. A few streets east of the hotel, there is the 'Daming Heritage National Museum.' The site is a former imperial palace plus gardens. It is 3 square kilometers in size and is on the list of 'Chinese Cultural Heritage Sites'. Archaeological excavations have been taking place since the 1950s. Xī'ān was the 'capital' of the empire for a long time. From here, the empire was first unified and many dynasties of emperors lived and immortalized themselves here. Accordingly, there is a lot to discover in and around Xī'ān.

We started the tour at the west entrance and were greeted by a caravan. Xī'ān was the eastern end of the Silk Road.

Fortunately, there is a train that takes us around the site. That helped considering the temperatures and the advanced time of day.

The main attractions are probably in the museum that we skipped on this day. Outside, the entrance gate is worth seeing.

In a central square, locals gather to fly kites, and not just the ones from the supermarket.

Phillip had a lot of fun waving to the people and saying 'Ni hao', which the Chinese appreciated👍.

That was an interesting start. Now all we need is good food and the day would be perfect.

We had the taxi driver take us directly to the 'Muslim Quarter'. Many members of the 'Hui Minority' live in Xī'ān. These Chinese Muslims have shaped the city and made it a melting pot of cultures. It reminds a little bit of Istanbul.

The street where we end up looks like a bazaar, of course, everything a little prepared for tourists 😉.

There are shops and stalls with trinkets, fruits, oriental sweets, and skewers 'fresh from the lamb' 😅.