XI'AN IS PRONOUNCED 'CHI AN'

We took a 'soft sleeper' from Beijing and after a pretty restless night on the juddering train we arrived early morning in Xi'an (another Chinese city that seems to dwarf London). It's about 12 hours by train, slightly south west, from Beijing and is generally used as a base for visiting the famous Terracotta Warriors. Outside the station we were greeted by several thousand people waiting for their loved ones. Somehow we spotted a small handmade sign with our name on it and were soon being driven to our hostel (Han Tang Inn), where we had booked 3 nights, right in the city centre.

After dumping our bags and having some breakfast, we headed out to explore the Muslim Quarter close by. We wandered through the old market streets, sampling the delicious food and admiring the 'countless' Chairman Mao watches & clocks on offer. This area, at least, seemed to have much more character than Beijing, although the whole city centre is surrounded by a huge ancient wall lined with big red paper lanterns. We soon learned that you could hire bikes and cycle the whole perimeter and planned to do it on our last day. Before that, we had 3 trips booked...