Thursday, July 07, 2011

China Part 7: Xian City Wall



Xian is the city closest to the Terra-cotta Soldiers site.  I was so focused on getting to see that buried clay army that I completely overlooked the possibility that Xian might be a fun and interesting place to visit even without the soldiers tourist draw.


Xian turns out to be a very lovely "little" city in China (only 8 million!).  The ancient city center is still completely surrounded by a wall and that wall is something like 8 miles long.  The top of the wall is a broad "boulevard" and the view is stunning.  Many of the locals enjoy bicycling the city wall.




The moat is pretty, too.  I really enjoyed strolling around, taking pictures and just taking in the lovely warm weather and the beautiful views.



Nonie and I both loved the city wall adventure.



Much to the amazement of the visitors to the city wall,  along came a "guard troop" outfitted in antique uniforms.  It really did add a certain cachet to the whole experience having the soldiers marching by, listening to their boots echoing off the wall----it took you into history!




Several members of our group were asked to be a part of this families photos.  I think they blended into a nice, family grouping very well.




In the base of the wall itself is now a little coffee shop.  It's very trendy and cute, but the reports I got were that the coffee wasn't so good---spoken like a true Seattle coffee snob.  At least the atmosphere was great!

1 comment:

Gwen said...

I am loving your China trip photos! I want one of those red lanterns!!