Xi'an

Oh today is my lucky day! I've been waiting for so long to get to this post but I had to get through Hangzhou first which was difficult. I think it has something to do with the fact that there was no good food associated with it!!

The old town of Xi'an is compact and quaint. Yes, there are lots of people but you should be used to that by now! And the main attractions is... the FOOD (Ah! And you thought it had something to do with terracotta warriors, didn't you?). Oh I so wish that we had stayed longer so that I could have eaten more.

Getting Around:

There are plenty of options here. As usual there are taxi's everywhere but they might not take you if you are not travelling for a long enough distance. There is a subway that runs north south but if you have luggage it's not the easiest to get to from the old train station, which is where the sleeper trains arrive. The high speed trains come into a different station further north of town and this station is hooked up to the subway. The buses are not crowded and are pretty easy to use.

Of course you are here to see the terracotta warriors which are on the outskirts of Xi'an so you'll need to either take the bus or hire a taxi to go there. There are air conditioned buses that leave from the old train station and they are very comfortable and reasonably priced. Read about our experience for some insider tips on catching the bus :)

Hotel:

We stayed at the Jiahe Hotel which goes under many different names!! That totally confused me and I was really worried that I might have been hoodwinked. The reason is, that just like in Shanghai, Expedia has the hotel positioned incorrectly on the map! This 陕西省西安市碑林区南大街4F伊莎美尔美容院, cut and paste into Google maps, will give you the correct location.
The hotel was nice and clean. The staff were grumpy when they were busy but otherwise they were helpful. They spoke English, which was nice. Don't take the breakfast the other alternatives are fantastic and cheap.
Our room looked something like this (without the couch, with a dinning table by the window and two double beds):

The windows are thin and don't quite close properly so there is a bit of noise from the street. A great price for four people, plenty of space and the best location ever. During our stay we only used motorized transport to get to and from the train station.

Day 12

So arriving refreshed and well slept in Xi’an we decided to catch a taxi to our hotel. It proved to be a challenge even with the address written in Chinese and my husband speaking the language (albeit brokenly). Most of the drivers claimed to not know where it was. We think that the hotel was just too close by and they wanted to get a better hire. This seemed to be a common problem all across China and it only got worse when we got to Beijing. Finally we found someone who was willing to take us and he was really nice. The hotel we stayed at is in an area that is difficult to access with a taxi (at least not without driving around in circles) so we were dropped off on the main road and pointed in the right direction. We had no idea where we were supposed to go and could not figure out where the front door was to the hotel. The best thing to do is to walk around the big shopping mall on the corner and eventually you will see it since it looks out onto the mall (or alternatively inform yourself before you go by pasting the Chinese address above into an online map).

Of course we were too early so our rooms were not ready so we left our bags at the reception and went out to explore. First of all we walked south along the main north-south road, appropriately named "south road" on the southern side of the bell tower.  A short walk brought us to the city walls and gate. On one side was a small side street with loads of shops selling calligraphy stuff. At the beginning of the street we picked up some noodles and tofu for lunch from a friendly street vendor. Be careful almost all the food in Xi’an is hot. And when I say hot I mean HOT! Ask for no chili … it will still be hot.

We took our noodles up to the city walls and ate under the only patch of trees on the wall overlooking the courtyard.

From here we had a nice view of everything. If you are lucky you might get to see an enactment of how people were greeted in years gone by when they entered the courtyard. My husband saw it last time he was in Xi’an but we did not. It’s apparently a bit like Disney Land and my husband thinks that it’s performed when the big tourist buses pull in.

After walking around a bit we decided to rent bikes and bike to the Northern gate. This was not as easy as it seemed because the office we first went to would not rent us bikes because our kids were too young. The minimum age is 10 years and although our eldest is 10 she does not look it. We were a bit bummed and wondered what we could do. We finally decided that my husband would go to the rental office on the other side of the gate and try to rent two tandem bikes. This was not a problem. With the kids and me not in sight they were happy to rent him two bikes. We left our 8 year old on a bench and told her to wait there until we had picked up the bikes. Neither of our two had a problem riding on the backs of the bikes. In fact they peddled way too fast for me and I had to keep shouting at them to stop pedaling, but I’m not too good at riding a bike.

We biked around the west side and stopped along the way to take in the old buildings inside the wall, which was an amazing contrast to the skyscrapers just outside the wall that stretched as far as the eye could see. 

Half way around there is a decent toilet which was welcome. We handed our bikes in at the north gate and headed down to the main street. We now had the option of taking the subway, catching a bus, or walking back to the hotel. We chose to stay out and walk back passing by the Muslim quarter on the way.

It’s a pretty long walk but don’t fear you cannot get hungry or thirsty along the way. There are so many cool places to buy food. We stopped at a place on a side road and got some bakery type stuff. We got a couple of large cookie like things and some bread like stuff. It was delicious. At that point we were wondering if it would be possible to go back to the place to get some more. This thought did not last long as we past a small shop that was making bread in a tandoori oven. This stuff not only looked delicious but it also tasted delicious. We bought a bread, sprinkled with sesame seeds, straight out of the oven. Oh! So delicious that my mouth is watering right now. 

On Maixian Street parallel to North Street

Our next culinary stop was at a sweet store where I bought a box of candied peanuts, sesame and goodness knows what else. Again delicious (on Beiyuanmen St.). Our journey continued and we walked along a small side street to get to the mosque. We had an off-line map to help us navigate our way there. There were so many side roads and so much to take in that we would have otherwise been lost. I was told it was a small mosque so we would not take long to look it over. The walk to it was amazing. There were so many cool looking things to eat. So many that we could not stuff in our bellies. We decided to come back and sample everything for dinner. Especially the crisps (chips) on a stick.

The mosque turned out to be anything but small! It was delightful to walk around the gardens and see the mixture of the cultures. Naturally Chinese culture was the dominant one. 

After the mosque we walked out towards the drum tower and back to our hotel so that we could check in. The bazaar between the mosque and the drum tower is very touristy and was not to our liking so we took a side street to get away from it and out into the open. At the hotel we were finally able to check in. The lady at the desk was really apologetic to us because they didn't have the room that we had booked. So she asked if we would mind terribly if we were given an upgrade!!! Of course we were devastated at the thought of a free upgrade!!

After settling in we headed out for dinner. We went back to Beiyuanmen St. where things were now bustling. And oh I can't even list all the things we tasted while walking down the street. 

Making Peanut Brittle

Quail Eggs on a Stick

Some Type of Candy

Stretching the Candy

Something Like Pittu

Tofu

Oh shoot! We didn't get to take a picture of the crisps on a stick. They were consumed too quickly!

Once we had walked the whole block plus more we were soooo stuffed. And not just stuffed, we also had bags with food in them. Wonderfully flavourful fried stuff, which we munched for days. Even though they lost their initial taste they were still good a couple of days later.

We were pooped and headed back to our hotel stopping only for a couple of photos of the illuminated bell tower.

 Day 13:

The next morning we were up early to make the trek out to see the famous warriors. My husband went out and purchased breakfast and lunch for us from a hole in the wall place (or should I say open air place) around the corner. The kids dinned on sesame balls and long doughnuts that we haven’t had since we left San Francisco. Everyone was in heaven. We packed up some vegetarian dumplings for lunch along with the left over goodies from last night and off we went. We asked at the front desk which bus to take to the train station and it turns out it stops right outside the hotel on the main road. Fantastic, it was a double decker bus! 

The terminal stop was the train station where the buses to the warriors leave. We crossed the road, went under the city walls and turned right. There was a long line but my husband had been here the year before on a conference and said the bus stop was quite far away. So we assumed that this line (which was worse than any Disney Land line I have ever seen) was for something else. However, as we got closer and closer to the bus stop we realized that we were wrong. This line was indeed to get to the warriors. Not willing to wait for so long we wondered up towards the private buses that were waiting for passengers. The first lady tried to sell us seats to all the sights and probably some shops too but when we explained that we ONLY wanted to see the warriors she pointed us to some other buses. We went over, confirmed that that is where they were going and got in. The bus was full of locals and I just hope we did not jump the line. The price was fractionally higher than what our guide book quoted but well worth not having to stand in that long line.

The ride was exciting with the bus driver bumping into another bus. Luckily he only lost his side mirror. Then the bus broke down!! Great we thought, but they were so, so nice. The bus conductor, who was female, apologized profusely and got out with us to take the next bus. The next bus was full but we all agreed that it would be better to stand the short way to the warriors in the air conditioned bus than to stand in the scalding heat waiting for the next. And who knows the next one might be full too.

Finally we arrived at the bus stop and took the long walk through the hawkers to the ticket counter. Again there were long lines that moved very quickly. Something that might be useful is that they had a large counter opposite the ticket counter for storing large luggage. This might be useful to know if you go to the warriors straight from the train, which was initially our plan but we didn’t know about the luggage storage.

You can either walk to the warriors or you can take an electric car. The electric car ride is very short and the walk is very long. Of course they make you walk a long way past all kinds of shops. Being on a budget we walked. Starving by the time we got through the first gate we stopped under some trees to eat our lunch. It didn’t seem common to picnic here. I thought that someone would come at any moment and tell us to get off the grass. But they didn’t. The only problem was the mosquitoes that smelled fresh blood and started to swarm around us. But we were ready for that and first sprayed ourselves with repellent.

After lunch we headed out to see the warriors. And I’ll just post some photos because there is not much to say except that they are truly amazing!!

Back to the bus and back to Xi’an. In Xi'an finding the bus back to the hotel was easy, it starts its route exactly where it stops it. This would have been useful for us to know (that’s why I’m putting it here!). Back at the hotel we refreshed ourselves and headed out for dinner. My husband had discovered a small hole in the wall noodle place last time he was in town so we went back there for dinner. The great thing was that you could pick what you wanted them to put in the soup. My girls were ecstatic: lots of thick noodles and tofu and NOTHING else, please. The cook was a bit perturbed by their orders but none the less he made the soup exactly as they said and they gobbled it all up. The whole adult sized portion! You could go in and sit inside but we preferred to sit on the side walk on the other side of the road on tiny little plastic stools. It was definitely an experience and the food was good too. Hot and fresh.

The Store on MaiXian St. (Cross Street: Dapiyuan)

Outdoor Seating across the Road (Indoor Seating also Available)

The Cooker

Enjoying the Noodle Soup

After dinner we had promised ourselves ice cream. We discovered this ice cream place the day before but were too full to eat any so we went there after dinner. Oh my, what heavenly ice cream. It was delicious and the flavours were from produce all around the province (okay there were some others too). The smallest portion was two scoops and they were big scoops. One topping of your choice comes with the ice cream and, get this, a cup of hot tea. I so wish we could have stayed longer but I had to find a toilet and they didn’t have one L

That was it for the day. Tiered and full we fell into bed.

Day 14:

Today was bell tower and drum tower day. We still hadn’t seen them! We managed to see both of the shows. The bell tower one was packed and although we could hear the musicians we could not see them. The drum tower was set up with a huge space at the front of the stage where all the kids went and sat. And the drumming, my it was wonderful. One of the lead drummers was female which we really enjoyed. The kids had a ball and listened intently standing at the side of the stage. Well worth watching. A pleasure to both the ear and the eye.

By now we had done all the usual sightseeing and the question was “what to do next?” If we’d been without kids we would have gone to see some more temples but the kids needed some time off. So we went to a mall that had an indoor ice rink on the topmost floor. The ice was not well kept but it was still a lot of fun. The room was not cold either. After skating around we went to find lunch. 

Being really hungry and a bit grumpy we took the first decently priced restaurant that we could find. It was not our type of place. All the staff were dressed up like 1950’s in Chicago, there were fairly lights all over the ceiling, the décor was all white, glass and chrome and the clientele looked all filthy rich. When we saw how over staffed they were we were rightly worried about how long the food would take to get to us. But it was still decent by European standards. The food was good but a bit pricey.

Leaving here we went to dunking doughnuts for dessert, walked around the streets a bit and did a bit of shopping at the lower end places (or at least our kids did). Then we picked up our packs from the hotel and headed to the train station to catch our train to Beijing, stocking up on noodle soup on the way.

Riding Around Kemnadersee

Not something I usually find myself doing... sitting in Starbucks on a Sunday afternoon. However, having to wait for two hours before my kids perform, on the stage just outside the window, was just too much time to waste. The free Wi-Fi, which is hard to get here in Bochum (especially on a Sunday), was too tempting. Plus of course I do get a cup of tea for the price, a warm environment (yes, it is just 20 degrees Celsius in August with no sun) and access to a clean toilet. Definitely worth it. I didn't realize that I'd get live classical music thrown into the package played by the Jungendsinfonieochester, Bochum!

Jungendsinfonieochester Bochum - Dr.-Ruer-Platz, Bochum

Initially I was a bit bummed that there were no free seats outside but now that a table has just freed up I've decided that I'm just going to stay inside so that my tea and my hands don't cool down too quickly. After all the view is not that bad.

The view from my seat

Although today is quite chilly, yesterday was perfect and a perfect example of how you can have fun in your own backyard and it doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg. My girls were a bit disappointed since we decided the day before yesterday that we wouldn't go to Mallorca for 7 days over the fall vacation. They really want to make the trip because everyone else does. They expressed real interest in seeing what others do while on vacation. After all we are just a boring family. Pottering off to places across the world, never staying for long at one place, and always having something to do. So it was good to have a perfect day to have a vacation at home.

The sky was so blue yesterday and it was just warm enough to go out with a sweater. My husband and I could not help but have to go outside, so we decided on taking our bikes and riding around Kemnader See. I was reminded that a friend was coming over to play so we quickly called her up and asked her to come early with her bike. After blowing up everyone's tires and adjusting all the bike seats we were ready to go.
The weather turned out to be really great for biking and we all got rid of our sweaters within a short period of time.

As we headed down the hill we met the local grass management. Now it's not like we live in a rural area. Bochum has a population of about 370 thousand and we live right next to the Ruhr University. So it might strike some people as an unusual technique:

There was even a shepherd and a sheep dog :) Of course rather modern day with an SUV parked nearby and a radio blaring!! The kids were a bit unnerved but a short blast with our bicycle bells made the sheep move out of the way. Actually I'm rather glad it was sheep, we've had goats before and they are a bit shifty!

One thing that I realized on this trip was that it is really difficult to take pictures while biking! I didn't have any pockets that I could use while biking so my eldest took my camera in her backpack. That made things even more challenging.

The biking path around Kemnader See is just over 10 km long. It's mostly flat so quite easy for the kids to manage. For us the hard part is going back home since we live on a hill. But you could also drive down to the lake and then take your bikes around. Another wonderful thing about the biking path (which is separate from the pedestrian path) is that a lot of it has been newly paved. In actual fact it's been made into a, soon to be officially opened, inline skating trail but since the "inliners" (as they are called here in Germany) go as fast as the bikes it's not a problem to share with them.

I've made a map of the path we took on Google maps


Our first stop was for lunch.

We had fries at an Italian restaurant by the side of the lake. Not the cheapest fries but we got huge portions and huge amounts of ketchup and mayonnaise (yes, in Germany you eat your fries with a mixture of ketchup and mayo and it rarely comes for free, in this case each portion was 0.50 € ). This place also has regular Italian food and a fancy looking pizza oven. As the weather was good we sat overlooking the lake and enjoyed our lunch which we supplemented with cherry tomatoes and grapes.

As we were sitting there having lunch we noticed that there was a bike and inline skate rental place in the same building as the restaurant. We'd lived here for almost 5 years and never stumbled on it! This could have been really useful before I bought my bike last year. We didn't check the prices but I'm tempted to rent some inline skates next time and skate with the girls..

After lunch we continued our trip around the lake. The lake has been artificially created by damming the Ruhr so you have to cross the water at both ends of the lake. On the south western side one crosses alongside the dam itself. It's a bit hidden, and not marked, so you have to be a bit careful. At some point you come to a junction with 4 options. At this point you basically have to take the path that turns very sharply left (basically a U-turn). Once you've taken the turn you will see the bridge and the dam. There is a huge sign asking all bike riders to dismount and push their bikes across the bridge but, as you can imagine, most bikers ignore the signs. This really disturbs the kids. After all it's very clear, even they can read it, any adult must be able to understand what they are expected to do!

Once we were over the dam we turned left but had to stop immediately because one of the kids bikes started rattling. Hubby inspected the bike but couldn't figure out what was wrong. Luckily my older one figured out that it was just a piece of metal hitting the spokes of the tire. That was easy enough to resolve and then we were on our way.  If you go straight, instead of left, you arrive at Haus Kemnader which has a nice little music museum that is free of charge. They also have a fancy restaurant if you are up for something more fancy and relaxing. It does not over look the Ruhr. Just after the damn there is a small kiosk if you need to pick something up. It does not take long to get here from where we had lunch so we didn't stop. I've been there before though and it sells drinks and ice-cream. I don't think it sells any hot food.

I really like this part of the path even though it's squeezed between the highway and the lake. It's higher up than either the highway or the pedestrian path and both sides are densely overgrown with trees. This dampens a lot of the noise and makes you feel like you are in a forest somewhere as opposed to squashed between a highway and a lake.

At the end of the forest path we passed under the highway. Apparently, so I was told later, you can actually take a short cut and cross the river alongside the highway. There are ramps going up on both sides which are rather difficult to see, which is why I missed it even on my second time past! If you don't take the short cut just keep turning left at every junction. One of them actually opens up onto a main road and there are no signs as to where the bike path continues. But here you need to take a left turn which will bring you to yet another pub and most importantly an ice-cream van!! We really enjoyed having ice-cream here last time we were riding around the lake. This time we decided to have ice-cream once we'd finished the loop because we still felt like we had lunch in our tummies.

After crossing the bridge turn left again and follow the path all the way around back to the beginning. Once you get to the end you'll start bumping into people. I nearly had an accident with a zigzagging toddler. I didn't realize he was zigzagging because he had just got onto the path and his father just left him behind and rode off. I assumed he could ride. So since he was riding on the left I passed him on the right. On the right... probably a  big mistake but I was riding fast and he slow, really slow and he was almost on the grass on the left side of the path. My goodness he cut back into me and then after almost knocking me off my bike he cut back to the left and nearly knocked off the on coming rider (who was riding very fast). You know, if you're child can't handle the rules of the biking path it's totally fine to have them ride on the pedestrian trail. At one place, see map, even we rode on the pedestrian part because the bike path is just wide enough for two well experienced riders to pass. Last time when I took it it was disastrous, but I didn't know any better and was just following the signs. It's really dangerous to be  riding on a path with people whizzing past you especially if you don't know which is your left and right. The first time we did it, earlier this year, I spent my time riding behind the girls continually shouting, "bike coming, move to the right!" I felt like a broken record.

We ended our circuit with an ice-cream. It's not the best ice-cream but at least it is "homemade".

Of course once we got home it was time for a nice pot of tea and a cookie.

Right, the kids are ready to sing so it's time to for me to get going. Enjoy!