May 9 Xi’an - the local scene

The street wiring in Xi’an is astonishing!  But it all seems to work

By our second, and last, day in Xi’an we were feeling rather overwhelmed and physically drained. So we opted against the touristy things in favour of exploring the city alone on foot, to see more of how the people live. We walked almost 10 km down wide boulevards through the South Gate of the City Wall to stroll along the old city’s moat outside the old City Wall and through the beautiful road- and moat-side gardens where people danced, practiced martial arts, flew kites high over the city and, to our surprise, sold caged birds.

Line dancing had many people joining in.

The kites at the end of these strings were huge and flying way above the tall buildings.

The moat around the City Wall is quite lovely with many gardens bordering it.

We ended up in the Xingqinggong Park opposite the Jiaotong Uni. What a place! People everywhere - line dancing, some Bollywood, playing musical instruments in secluded corners, paddle-boating on the lake. We eventually emerged on the other side of the park in a street market - apparently these are daily affairs. The selection of vegetables looked wonderful and freshly picked. Really tempting but ..... Not a bad day!!

We've seen roses everywhere we have been in China

No idea what this game is but there were many tables of them under the trees

Flautists quietly playing in secluded spots

I had to take a photo of these pretties and captured a bee having a sip of nectar

That night we left to travel by train to Urumqi in the far NW of China. What a shemozzle! The taxi dropped us way too far from the station and then took off with our hiking sticks still in the back of his car - he was apparently in a hurry! And that was just the beginning of that long journey. Ah the joys of travel particularly when you don’t speak the language - we’ve had some interesting experiences!

One of many daily fresh-food street markets - the vegetables looked beautiful

I wonder if he could have fitted anymore on his load!

This was delicious except for its name - Man's Human Life Blood Meat Pie