Hey guys!
I've had an eventful weekend to say the least. My sister came to visit me :) She arrived last Thursday at 14:30. I took the airport bus from the train station, which was substantially less terrifying than the first time on that bus. I had a small moment of happiness on the bus, when I realized that I am now really living in China. I can understand weird Taiwanese TV series, I can read novels and I can take the bus without getting lost. It's amazing to me that I still have nine months in this fascinating place. End reflective paragraph.
Anyway, I got to the airport way too early, so I treated myself to the cutest Dunkin' Donuts ever and waited. Then my sister finally arrived and we took the bus back into Xi'an. There is unfortunately no metro line that goes to the airport yet, although it is being constructed at the moment. The bus takes between one and two hours, depending on traffic. At least you get an interesting ride through the suburbs of the city. The bus goes through a development area, meaning that there are new neighbourhoods being constructed from scratch. Very impressive, also crazy.
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| The aforementioned donut. |
In my sister's hostel we met a girl from Chongqing who was in Xi'an to take her IELTS who came with us to the Muslim quarter to have dinner. The Muslim quarter is a part of town center where people of the Muslim Hui minority (回民) sell their food, which is absolutely delicious. An example of traditional Xi'an food are Biangbiangmian, broad and thick noodles in spicy sauce with a very complicated character. See for yourselves. If you like spicy food, definitely come visit me here :) Also if you like pomegranates, but more on that momentarily. After dinner we went to the Big Wild Goose Pagoda to watch the fountain show that happens there every evening from March to October. Xi'an people say the fountain is the biggest one in China. Very nice anyway.
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| The pagoda and fountain. |
On Friday we went to visit the Terracotta warriors, basically a dream come true for me. It's wonderful finally getting to see a place that you heard so much about. The scope of the army is really overwhelming. We also went to the site of the mausoleum of the first Qin emperor, which is what the army was built to protect. Sadly you cannot look at the actual excavation site of the mausoleum, but there is a beautiful park around it which is definitely also worth a visit. Afterwards we bought pomegranates in Lintong, the village/district of Xi'an near the Terracotta warriors. This place is known throughout China as a great place to buy pomegranates and most people who come to visit the warriors leave with a bag of fruit. They are DELICIOUS.
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| No pictures of the Terracotta warriors, forgot my camera :( Instead have this one. Proof of the crazy good weather we had this weekend. |
Saturday morning I participated in the Xi'an City Wall Marathon. Now don't get too excited, I only ran 5km, but for me personally that's already quite an accomplishmet. The atmosphere at the run was amazing, not competitive at all, a lot of people were actually mainly there to get onto the wall for free. I came in 10th place by the way, and I won a towel! The first time I've ever won anything by doing sports :D After the run I hurried back to university for a quick shower and then back into town centre to meet my sister. We went to all the classic Xi'an town centre attractions, namely the Bell tower, the Drum tower, the Great Mosque and the City Wall (this time I paid). Especially the Great Mosque was beautiful, a place of quiet in the busy city. In the evening we went to have Sichuan food with a few of my classmates, which was delicious as always.
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| The South Gate in the morning. |
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| Go! |
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| The South Gate in the evening. |
Sunday morning my sister left for Shanghai. It was a great weekend which made me fall in love with Xi'an a little more. I've also begun to appreciate its bus system immensely. From Jiaotong University, every main Xi'an attraction is reachable directly by bus. And sometimes you even get a seat.
Basically, if any of you ever want to come visit me here, please feel free. I will provide free guide services and a bed in a hostel only costs 5 euros a night. Also a bus ride is about 6 cents.
Thank you Lena for coming! Love you x
Chinese Word of the Day: 遮瑕 zhexia, concealer. Found a Sephora.
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