Xi’an is the oldest of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China, the starting point of Silk Road in the northern route and the home to the Terracotta Army of Emperor Qin. Regrettably, I am in no position to expound on these ancient stories, but I can tell you about what we learned from our adventures in this historical city.
I was on a business trip and my daughter tagged along as she was on a study leave the entire month of May. Though we couldn’t speak nor understand Mandarin, we packed our suitcase hopeful to survive our week-long stay just like how we managed to travel to other non-English speaking cities in the past.
We were seated apart even though I made it sure that we sit together when I did the web check-in. Fortunately or unfortunately, I got upgraded although it was nothing fancy but a bigger space to stretch my not-so-long legs, I was still thankful nonetheless for the comfort it provided during the 3-hr flight. My daughter, on the other hand, found solace in the snow-capped mountain view beneath the Dragon Air wing.
As it was a business trip, the first item on my agenda was to conduct a team meeting. From the airport, we went straight to the office, where my daughter waited for me at the lobby for an hour or so. She might be annoyed but couldn’t complain; after all, being a daughter of a business tripper has perks and whatnot, this she must have realized during this trip.
Hilton Xi’an
It was a long and tiresome day, luckily we got a taxi right away and my colleague helped to instruct the driver where we’re heading. The traffic was not bad, I supposed, but it took us a while to get to the hotel which made me wonder if we were really heading to the right direction. After 40 minutes of travel with our windows rolled down, feeling the Xi’an air but breathing in pollution, the façade of Hilton came to view. And as we entered the lobby, we began to traverse through time with its atavistic ambience.
Famished from what felt like an interminable journey, we headed to the Executive Lounge to catch the happy hour which was about to end in 15 minutes. I decided to upgrade to the Club Level so that my daughter could have a place to eat and spend her time at, just in case she didn’t want to go outside. Conforming with what I was worried about, she went outside for lunch by herself once, hopped from McDonald’s to KFC, saw the menu board in Chinese and retreated right away. She patiently waited for the happy hour at the Club Lounge and dined to her heart’s content while waiting for me to come back from work.
Among other hotel options, I chose to stay at the Hilton Xi’an due to its proximity to the places of interest. In principle, it’s located within the ancient city walls that it would be easy for us to stroll around the vicinity at night, so I thought. True enough, after office on our 2nd day, my colleagues planned a night out.
Nearly Identical
After picking up my daughter at the hotel, we went to see what Xi’an has to offer. At the roundabout, we needed to stick our neck out to drink in the view as we passed by the beautifully lit Bell Tower, that even catching it in a glimpse didn’t fail to radiate its brilliance.
From where we got off, we walked passed the Drum Tower, which looked like a twin of the former except for the gigantic drums accentuating it. We would have known how similar or different these 2 towers were, but my colleague, who initiated this evening walk, didn’t plan of going in, instead we spent some time taking selfies, then went down to our intended destination.
Muslim Quarter
Before going to Xi’an, I made a light reading of what to see and what to expect, but only upon getting to the Muslim Quarter that I understood what Silk Road meant, well kind of.
The Muslim Quarter is a boulder-paved market place with a stretch of shops of all sorts – crafts, spices and foodstuff among others – which form part of the representation of how trading activities facilitated the transmission of not only goods but also ideas, culture and religion.
Aside from the polished pavement, another thing that fascinated me was the headwear of the ladies attending the stalls or more specifically the restaurants. I became accustomed to the headscarves that Malaysian and Indonesian Muslims wear, but Xi’anese wear theirs in rakish, in my view are taqiyah embellished with beads, laces, flowers and everything nice that girls are indeed made of.
Just so it’s clear, we were here for dinner – in the street! We started off with chuan’r – Xi’anese kebobs or skewers – whose first few stalls were not far from the side of the Drum Tower. The aroma was so enticing it would drag your feet to where they were grilling the freshly butchered lamb. Each of us had a skewer of surprisingly flavorful chunks of lamb, without the usual gaminess, for a cheap price of RMB5 at that.
As we went along the Muslim Quarter, drums artistically stacked with BBQ sticks were a normal sight. There were stalls, however, whose salient features were hanging skeletons – depicting fresh out of lamb cuts they offer or a horrifying slaughter to satisfy one’s cravings. Just stating a fact, sadly I was one of those gratified diners at the expense of a poor animal. This was one of those incidents where my daughter and I would think of going vegetarian.
Just a step away was the stall with zenggao, a huge rice cake with honey and dates aesthetically cut and skewed to partake, with a fee of course! Surprisingly, it wasn’t sweet although it appeared so; but the not-so-lover-of-rice-cake that I am, was not at all impressed. A stick cost RMB5, and it was pretty expensive if you’d ask me, or it could just be the not-a-fan of me talking.
As we followed the paved road looking for nothing in particular, we bumped into a stand frying these teeny tiny potatoes, the smallest I’ve ever seen so far! Presumably cute than appetizing, we gave them a go and these little root crops, sprinkled with spices, chili was what I prominently sensed in one bite I had or maybe that was what my colleague ordered, didn’t disappoint.
Like there'd be no tomorrow, we went into a shabby restaurant where my colleagues urged me to try the cold noodles which they claimed could only be found in Xi’an. But having almost gulped a tall glass of pomegranate juice locally called shiliuzhi, I felt like I had no room for spicy noodles anymore, but guaranteed them I would try it another day.
As if gluttony had really struck us, we again went into a restaurant to have soup dumplings, in Xi’an they call these meat pouches tang bao. This time, I was eager to have a taste because I wanted to know how different it is from xiao long bao, my favorite since moving to Hong Kong, and although it’s just my personal opinion it’s the array of filling in Xi’an that’s different. We had the mutton dumplings, among 3 other varities if I recalled correctly, but it wasn’t comparable to xiao long bao and didn’t suit my palate. I believe it’s the aftertaste of lipids, seemingly unnoticed in Shanghai soup dumplings, that made it unappealing. Well, at least not to me.
We picked a couple of souvenir items as we raked through the shophouses. We were scheduled to go home and I thought paper fan would be a good gift to relatives. I just had difficulty finding eight different Chinese designs as my mother requested. Bookmarks and calligraphic city map were what my daughter fancied, and postcards were what my colleague bought which she stamped one by one, imprinting our presence in this ancient city.
As we were looking for our way out, we found a stall selling yogurt drinks so we bought without hesitation, simply because we’ve been talking about it as we strolled the marketplace but couldn’t find the right time to enjoy a sip. A drink came pleasantly packaged in a printed jar, which I found incredibly unique a keepsake of this delectable street dinner. With full and satisfied belly, we ended our night market tour and called it a night.
Weekdays and Dining Experience
Before the new day broke, I felt very restless. At first I thought ’twas due to the automatic turning-off of the aircon only Hilton crew knew at which time of the night or dawn it’s happening everyday, but on the second thought, I felt soreness on my throat while we were in the middle of our drive from the airport to the office, that on the first night itself I already felt ill. I was feverish when I woke up that I decided to take some rest in the evenings after work.
With its unprecedented history, the city is charming, no question about that, but the pollution level is as high as its towering infrastructures. No wonder I saw masks in the office and in the hotel drawers, but it felt rude rather awkward to use them like I were some kind of a stickler for uncontaminated environs. Simply put, I kept the pretence that I wasn’t bothered by the air that’s slowly weakening my immune system.
I was still able to experience Xi’an during lunch. There was one time my colleagues brought me to a nearby restaurant selling bowls of paomo, a Shaanxi noodle specialty of stew in lamb or beef broth served with shredded bread (usually, customers would cut the bread on their own before giving the bowl back to the server) and typically eaten with pickled garlic. As it was nearly summer at that time, the place was empty that we had been given a table as soon as we entered. I was told that customers have to queue for 30 minutes to get attended to on cold weather conditions.
I also got the chance to enjoy huo guo, Xi’an Hot Pot, when I asked them to arrange a team lunch. It’s common to see the pot of broth placed in the middle of the table for everyone’s perusal, however it was my first time to experience a setting wherein individual pots were provided, interestingly on top of a cooker hidden beneath the tablecloth. Each one could select his/her preferred stock and dipping sauce. They ordered mushroom and fungus broth and sesame sauce for me – the same sesame sauce used for shabu shabu, but I found the Japanese version better in texture and consistency, no offence. I was appalled at first, when travelling I would prefer local food as much as possible, but I quickly remembered the tons of sweet varities made and sold at Muslim Quarter using sesame seeds, an indication that it’s a local produce and a common ingredient in Xi’an.
There was also a time when I, with the rest of my team, was taken out for a courtesy lunch at a Chinese restaurant and on our way back to the office they picked a fruit from a tree. With the help of google translate they explained that it’s a walnut that even in disbelief, I took a snapshot of it, but only when i got back to Hong Kong and saw the dried ones with shell being sold by the sidewalk did it occur to me.
We wanted to go around the city and the outskirts that I added few more days to our itinerary making it the so-called business with leisure. I also chose to move to Holiday Inn, not just for budgetary reason, as I would fork the bill out of my own pocket, but for some loyalty program points I wanted to earn as well. On Friday night we checked in at the Holiday Inn Big Goose Pagoda hopeful to wander about the area and to what I thought was nearby Big Wild Goose Pagoda, to see the musical fountain, if not the laser show in a not-so-distant Tang Paradise. However, as we circumvented the locality before reaching the hotel, I felt that these places were much farther than I imagined. Also, I was cautious of my health that I called the evening saunter off. Instead, I got an in-room masseuse service, and to my astonishment a powder-based massage, which definitely made me feel better for the following day’s activities.
The Guided Tour to Lintong District
We were anticipating the weekend, eager to see the Terracotta Warriors my daughter and I had been talking about since the beginning of the trip. With the recommendation of our colleague, we booked an English-speaking guided tour with coach transfer, as she wouldn't be able to accompany us. With a bunch of other foreigners, we headed out excitedly to the Necropolis of the First Emperor Qin.
Linner or Dunch?
At the end of the long trip, we requested to be dropped off at the South Gate for a relaxing walk at the wall. Having mentioned our ill-fated lunch, we agreed to eat first and recharge before climbing the wall. We went into a food chain, Weijia, to indulge on local delights – roujiamo and liangpi among others.
They call it Xi’an Burger though it looked more like a pita sandwich. We’ve noticed how these were different from those we had at the Hilton, with lean meat. Although the aroma of the burger was luring, it was persistently repelled by the glistening fat inside and dripping off the middle. The taste was to our liking as it was similar to a Filipino dish called adobo and its pairing with the toasted bun was awesome, but we couldn’t finish it due to its fatty filling.
This time I ordered the cold noodles as I had promised my colleagues and although it was undubitably hot and spicy, there’s an irrefutable reason why it’s a local favorite and shouldn’t be missed. The piquant blend of the vinegar and chili would make you drool and slurp the rice noodles non-stop until the lips and tongue get numb.
Fortifications of Xi’an
As we felt the boosting effect of our meal, we went to buy our tickets and ascended the wall. Withstanding the pollution, it was windy at the top. There was a group of young people who just finished their activity and the way I saw it, it was a dash meter running competition. Couples were sitting comfortably on benches. Families rest for a drink or snack. We, on the other hand, were just wandering aimlessly about, watching the rosy skyline and glancing at the busy city from the parapet.
Fortifications of Xi’an or what’s now commonly called Xi’an City Wall is one of the oldest, largest and best preserved Chinese city walls. It’s rectangular in shape spanning 14km. The top of the wall is a walkway which would typically take 4 hours to cover; with guided tour available, if preferred.
We didn’t have the luxury of time to go around the walls by foot. We approached a bicycle stand and booked us bikes for RMB90 each for a 2-hr rentals. It was just a choice between an adult’s or a kid’s, so for shorties, bear the inconvenience of (lacking in height?) reaching the floor on sudden or minor mishaps.
We started to pedal, stopping once in a while to admire the view or take a snap. But when the night fell and we felt we’re cycling behind the supposed speed, we’re bewildered by the onrush of our legs until the sight of the finish line, err, what I meant was the rental shop whose attendant was monstrously waiting for us to slip by a second and charge another hour of extra fee. What’s more astonishing was that we cycled the perimeter of the wall in a muscle-stiffing-2hours!
It took as a while to calm down the adrenaline as we wiped off sweat and drenched the thirst. Little did we notice the assembly of people at the barbican. When we realized what was going on, the crowd had thinned out as the others take photos with the performers. Misinformed rather than inauspicious that we’re not able to witness the show of the greatest love story of the ancient Chinese literature, but it served as a motivation to have another trip to Xi'an to know more about the Tang Dynasty.
We took few more minutes to have a mental picture of the wall then we headed back to the hotel to pack our things for our flight back to HK the following day.
Holiday Inn Big Goose Pagoda
We woke up late and missed the breakfast at the hotel cafe. It was too bad as we wanted to see its wall decor at a closer angle. We ordered something at the lounge but while we’re in the middle of our brunch, I felt the excruciating pain in my head, which could be due to fatigue or the effect of a respiratory infection caused by, let me reiterate if I have not yet stressed enough, the pollution in the city.
I asked the hotel desk if they had medicines or a counter where I could buy medicines, but there’s none so he instead suggested that I’d go down to the nearby pharmacy, about 2 blocks from the hotel. He was kind enough to write down what I needed so I’d just shown the paper to the sales lady. It sounded so quick and easy, but it took me a lot of explaining in the best I could, with hand gestures and all that, to let him understand what I needed.
I bought the box of ibuprofen, took the pill, got our luggage and rushed to the taxi stand to get a ride to the airport. Good thing the medicine was taking effect as we commenced the hour-long journey. I forgot to specifically mention to take the hotel limousine service; the taxi was definitely cheaper, true, but the driver’s window was down all the way to the Xianyang Airport. It should have been okay because the weather was still cool at that time; it was the pollution that’s dispiriting in this situation.
The next time I’ll have the chance to visit Xi’an, I’ll remember to print “could you wind up the window and turn on the aircon please” in Chinese, just like how I have kept a paper with addresses and instructions written in the local language, stuck in my phone case and shown to taxi drivers on my daily hotel-office route. Even without knowing any Mandarin words or phrases, that was how I survived the week in Xi’an.
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