011008 – Xi'an

The lights came on and we were woken sometime before 5. The train attendant and then Lillian did the rounds of making sure that everyone was up and getting ready to depart. With pain in our eyes, we clambered down and heaved our packs on. It was still dark as we left the station.

Meeting at an Intrepid flag out the front, a local contact lead the march to the bus. Walking through the cool pre-dawn, we passed street sweepers and store-owners preparing for their day. Though the streets were almost deserted, there were still these gentle signs of life. The bus took us on a very convoluted route that lead across express ways and through the great arches of the city wall, barely noticed by its passengers through their exhausted haze.

Reaching the hotel, Lillian informed us that our rooms were not ready. Check-out was at midday and it would not be till late morning before any rooms would be available for us. Dumping our gear in the one room that was free for us, a handful stayed behind to snooze or shower while the rest of us followed Lillian's lead to a MacDonalds breakfast.

As we walked into the city, a handful of features were pointed out to us. A 24 hour restaurant that had reasonable prices and a good reputation, the vague direction to the shopping district, so on. The MacDonalds was painfully cheerful, the 10 or 12 of us glaring darkly at the bright décor as we munched our hotcakes and McMuffins. After being fed, coffee'd and tired of being stared at by the locals, most of us ventured outside in the growing grey light. Locals had begun to congregate, greeting the friends that they were waiting for or hoping onto busses as they pulled in. A great truck pulled past with a water cannon, locals diving out of the way as the aquatic weapon fired on each of the trees and shrubberies in turn, rationing out sustenance for the day. While waiting out the front for Lillian to make something happen, we discovered that we'd merely replaced the loud décor for loud theme music underpinning importance of the restaurant advertisements to the deserted street. With each painfully cheerful tone, a little piece in each of us died...

Finally, everyone had finished their greasy breakfast and the smokers had consumed as many nicotine-beverages (as they now called them) as their lungs could cope with. Lillian disappeared for half an hour to fetch the snoozing girls, returning to take us on the orientation tour.

Guiding us from the MacDonalds and the Bell Tower in the very centre of the city, we made our way to the South Gate and veered off into the Academic or University district. A great many of the stores displayed sales of brushes, inks and paper. There were more than a few vendors that had signs of selling jade or carved name-stamps. The string work and hanging ornaments were of impressive quality and the feel of the place was a certain level of refinement and restraint that the Silk Road had been lacking. A very small handful of stalls had been populated with vendors and wares, more store-owners were watching the westerners stumble past as they smoked or finished breakfast. Turning up another street, we were shown the different restaurants and eateries, the super-market and how to purchase food from the street vendors.

The vibrancy and life of Xi'an was painfully apparent to our sleep-deprived senses. The colours and smells, even in the early dawn was striking. Here, away from the main street, the locals lived and operated their little businesses. Passing little restaurants that were not much more than a hole in a window and a set of crowded collapsible chairs and tables, the citizens of this city had filled the seats and were being fed. Side alleys boasted the trappings of a particular speciality be it food, tea or trinkets. Signs in Chinese and English advertised “CHEAP TEA” “FAMOUS JADE” “YOUR NAME – ENGLISH CHINESE”. On the street, the smog above compressed down the flavours and fragrances, be it perfume or a narrow column of air from the open sewer grate. My only one dislike of the metropolis was the unmistakable and utterly undisguised scent of the public conveniences.

Again passing the hotel, the group continued on as a whole, we made our way back past the Bell-Tower and navigated the crowds in the underpass. Coming out the other side, past the post-office and across the street, Lillian seated us outside a closed restaurant for a little rest. Her phone rang while she was telling us about the great reputation of this particular eatery and the dumplings it was famous for, another two rooms were free for anyone who was desperate for a shower and sleep. Charlotte and one of the other girls volunteered and made a hasty departure for sanitation and snoozing.

Venturing on, we passed into the Muslim quarter. The street market was mostly assembled and staffed, we first wandered the street on both sides, making faces at the various cuisines. Lillian then took us to a near by historical residence were we had a tour and then a very hard-sell of the various types of tea, under the disguise of a traditional tea ceremony. The group drank the teas that had been paid for in the entrance fee but purchased a pitiful amount of their over-priced products. Refreshed despite the capitalist intents, we continued on through the markets as the frenzied activity of the vendors increased. Taking a side road, we went through stalls of fake glasses, watches and bags. Bargaining until the sellers smiles turned to frowns and they glared at us as we changed small notes for goods, it was definite that we would be returning here several times for the cheap merchandise.

The morning stretched on, Adam had purchased a polo-shirt for a price that almost reduced the sales-girl to tears. I picked up the singly most creepy sunglasses I could find. Perfect circles on light frames, I selected them according to how uncomfortable the look of me wearing them made Andy and got them for about $3AUD. Dom got an Automatic winding Genuine Fake Rolex at the impressive price of 180Yuan, down from 800.

Finally we tired of the “Welcome, come in, you want bag, watch, t-shirt” “good-price, me sell you, friend” any time we even glanced at a stall. Leaving the markets, we made our way back to the hotel and finally checked in. Dom and I shared a room just down the hall from Adam and Andy. Packing was undone and showers were had. We agreed to meet again for lunch after a short break.

The afternoon was filled by more browsing at the markets in the Muslim quarter. Perusing stalls of nick-nacks that had no necessary purpose, a lot of us stocked up on gifts for when we got home or simply haggled to see how low we could get the price on an item that we were only vaguely interested in buying. Hanging back from the group after a while, I ventured out on my own and explored the more deep and convoluted streets. I didn't really have much of an interest in buying anything and made a point of moving on as soon as the stall owner appeared and began the hard-sell. I did find a little bag that might suit my laptop and save me carrying my day-pack everywhere. There were a pair of Aviator sunglasses that I might also buy, if I could find a cheap pair that didn't make my eyes sore. Wandering was the only purpose of the afternoon.

Finally tiring and desiring a toilet that didn't smell of death, I made my way back through the impressively dense crowd. The national holiday would start tomorrow and this was only a precursor... the next few days would be interesting.

I was starting to feel pretty ordinary. Thankfully the smog appeared to have cloaked the mystical powers of my belt, hopefully the intestinal maelstrom would pass before clear-sky could break through and be controlled by my Nasty-Butt.

Returning to the hotel brought on instant relief. It was fairly late in the afternoon and there was meant to be a group dinner tonight. I settled in for a nap, I would make a decision on dinner closer to the time. Dom appeared a couple of hours later in a similar state. Several hours after the group must have made their way to dinner, I woke up again and entertained myself with some issues of Transmetropolitan before drifting off to sleep for the rest of the night.