My week in China : Day 2

Hopefully my pictures will be edited faster than I do this post..

Well the first day was pretty much useless.. The group had breakfast at 8am and left the hotel at 9am for our first taste of the city.. The first stop was the old city wall.. It used to be the defense wall back in the old days when Xi'an was still capitol of China.. Yes in case you didnt know, Xi'an was the capitol of China before one of the emperors moved it to Beijing.. The city wall is like a mini Great Wall, you can actually rent a bike and cycle on the wall (yes ON the wall) because its pretty wide and it'll take hours..

  Well after the wall we headed for Muslim Street.. Its a part in the city where all the Chinese-Muslims sell stuff.. It was pretty awesome but we didnt have time to shop.. =( Muslim Street wasnt all songkok and mosques though.. Its pretty much a normal street with Chinese shopkeepers along the road.. It was really cold out there and we were desperate for something hot, that was when our prayers were answered.. STARBUCKS.. You have no idea how awesome it felt to enter Starbucks with its centralized heating and hot chocolate..

We had lunch just above Starbucks and it was some dumpling pro restaurant.. After that meal I feared dumplings.. The dishes that were served was nothing but dumplings! One after another it kept coming and we thought we'd never see the end of it.. There was one dumpling that was called numb something.. Ok I made that shit up but it makes your tongue go numb I shit you not.. I took a bite and I thought "oh normal black pepper stuff" then I couldnt feel my tongue.. I couldnt taste the next couple of dumplings.. LOL scary shit..

Next stop was the Big Goose Pagoda.. Its weird because there were no gooses involved.. LOL The Big Goose Pagoda is actually the residence of a monk.. Long ago.. You guys remember the monk from Journey to the West? The dude who is the boss of the monkey god? Well yea this time its no fairytale.. Its the dude for real but no monkeys involved.. It was said (IF my Chinese doesnt fail me) that this monk went somewhere to study Sanskrit to be able to read the teachings of Buddha.. After 17yrs he returned to China and requested this place so that he could stay and translate the teachings of Buddha to spread across China.. Go Google or Wiki it if you doubt my Chinese..

Well dinner was next and we went to this Tang Palace place to see some cultural dance.. It was pretty good.. Had to wait an hour or so for the show to start but pretty good.. I fell asleep before the show and that resulted in a hidden camera picture taken by dad.. It was back to the hotel and lights out after that.. Long day ahead..

 
** I will post up some pictures of the cultural show another time.. Tired =S
Sorry folks =) **

Part 3 of China vacation...

Coming Soon!

Ivan