A couple of days in Xi'an or how I fell in love with this gem of a city

The journey from Shanghai to Xi'an was on a Chinese sleeper train, which allowed me to immerse myself even more in Chinese daily life. I was particularly surprised by the three-tiered bunks in the train cars. I traveled on the very top bunk, which was both unusual and thrilling. After 14 hours of travel, we arrived at Xi'an station. The atmosphere here was entirely different: more formal, measured, and calm. The colors around were less vibrant but more intriguing and mysterious. A few words about the hotel. Once again, Chinese hospitality was top-notch, and we were checked in much earlier than expected without any extra charge. Moreover, the room was very modern and high-tech, featuring a huge bed, numerous sensors, a smart toilet, and automatic curtains. On the table, we found a small gift in the form of postcards, water, and soda. After catching our breath, we set out to explore the new city. One of the unique features of this city is that its center is surrounded by a stone wall about 14 km long. The most popular way to circle the wall is by bike. Access to the city wall is ticketed. We climbed up and rented bicycles from a special station on top. To be honest, the bikes were of very poor quality, heavily worn out and battered by life. The activity turned out to be quite challenging, as riding on the stone pavement was tough, and the bicycles were in a sorry state. At one point, I even had to swap my bike for another at the next station because the handlebars fell off. But in the end, we did it and conquered the wall. While riding along the wall, we noticed a charming Buddhist temple and decided to visit it next. I was very curious to see another religious culture from the inside. What stood out the most to me was a pond with huge live carp on the temple grounds. Finally, we went to the city center to see the Bell Tower, strolled through shopping malls, had dinner, and returned to the hotel. After all, a grand day awaited us—the event we came to Xi'an for: climbing Mount Huashan (more on that in a separate post). Unfortunately, we only spent three days in Xi'an and didn’t have time to visit the Terracotta Army. But this gives us a reason to return. By the way, Xi'an had the best food of the entire trip. Highly recommended for a visit.