Day 39 - Dunhuang to Xi'an

Day 39

We had breakfast at the hotel and then had to be on the bus by 8:30 so we could get to the airport and get on the flight to Xi’an.  It was a really nice flight on a roomy plane.  It was a small plane but had lots of legroom and at first David and I were not seated together, but one guy moved and we got to sit together.

This was what it looked like at the airport in Dunhuang.  We had to walk from the building to the steps that went up to the plane, like in the old days.  In the winter, when tourist season is over, Dunhuang only has one commercial passenger flight per week that flies from here.

From the airport in Xi’an, we were driven to the hotel where we had a really big lunch waiting for us, and where the six that had flown into Xi’an the night before would meet us.  Very little of it was Chinese food, of which we were all kind of glad because to this point, we had had so much of it, we were getting tired of the same dishes.

From the lunch, they drove us to the museum where we spent a quick hour.  It was so crowded that we hardly enjoyed much of it.  It was a free day for the people and they were taking advantage of it with the long lines and crowded conditions.

Lion at the museum.

This was showing what they did to build the wall around Xi'an.

After that we went to the Great Wall that surrounds the city of Xi’an and walked around on it.  The city was the home of several great dynasties, including the Tang and Han, and so it has a lot of old history.  We only had 45 minutes to spend there, which was not enough time to rent some bikes and go around the whole thing (about 9 miles), so we just walked around and took pictures and talked.  Bargained with a vendor for some t-shirts.

The Great Wall of Xi'an has for gates into it.  North, East, South and West.  We are at the South gate.  There was a general's residence at each one of the gates so they could be the first to know if someone was attacking the city.

These are the steps to go up to the top of the wall.

This picture is for Rachel, "Mind the Step (Gap)"!

This is from down in the inner courtyard of the South Gate.

The soldiers lived in this building.

A view of the wall from the top looking East.  It goes about 1 1/2 miles East and West and 3 miles on the North and South directions.  The did say that they keep the bricks replaced as they need to.

There was also a moat around the wall.

These wheels didn't say it, but they could have been from one of the dynasties that ruled there.  They looked pretty old.

Dinner was at a place where we could see a show.  There was a dumpling festival and we had about 12 different varieties of dumplings.  Most were good, but some were too hot for me.  The show was dances and music from the Tang Dynasty and it included a lot of pageantry.  Some said that the shows in Vegas and Brandson, Missouri were better, but I have nothing to judge it on, so I thought it was great.  There was a guy that performed an act with some “trumpets”.  One sounded like a kazoo with an amplifier.  Then he did a whistling sound and was bouncing around between the two trumpets and his whistling.  Almost too funny!  It was a birthday for a woman in the audience, so the dancer who was depicting Tang’s favored concubine came out with another person who was carrying a cake and then they had someone sing “Happy Birthday” to her, only it comes out in Chinese as, “Happy Birsday,”  Of course I forgot to bring my camera in, so you will just have to imagine the beautiful costumes and dancers.  

It was another long day and we are ready for bed in this Five-Star Hotel, the best one we have been in, but still only spotty wifi service if you went down to the lobby.  

Just as we drove into the hotel from the airport, we noticed this long line of cars.  It was a wedding and the tradition is, the more luxury cars you have come to your wedding, the more wealthy you are.  A lot of the cars are rented and they all have to have some decoration on it to show they are part of the wedding party.  We hadn't exited the bus yet and all of a sudden, someone let off a bunch of fireworks right behind the bus.  We survived...