10/14/07-Xi'an (Old wall, Great Goose Pagoda)/Guilin
After breakfast and checkout, we took a tour of the Xi'an wall which originally encompassed the entire city and is still intact running about 9 miles in along rectangle around the city center. The climb to the top of the wall was not overly strenuous and from there we were rewarded with great views of parts of the city. And, how unusual, there was a gift shop there where we bargained for and purchased some merchandise. Three salesladies assisting us. Actually, there were two: the third kept distracting Dave while the other two wore Brona down. They thought it was great sport and were happy to pose for some shots afterwards. We also walked a portion of the wall and later descended back to the courtyard to luckily catch a procession that was just entering. It turned out to be a welcoming presentation given to a group of Chinese tourists and was actually almost as good as the show seen the night before. There was music, a juggler, dancing, pomp, costumes, and a short ceremony. It lasted about 30 minutes and was a pleasant, unscheduled treat. Click Xi'an Wall Ceremonial Dancers to observe a short video of the dancers.
A Silk Rug and Wood Furniture Factory was our next destination. Here, we received an interesting presentations of how silk rugs are evaluated and, in another area, how furniture is refinished. In addition, there was a store (did you guess?) where tourists could purchase souvenirs.
After lunch, we visited the Great Goose Pagoda. It was built in 652AD and is the highest pagoda (210 feet) in China. The temple grounds are pleasant and served as a nice place for us to take a break before heading to the airport for our flight to Guilin.
The food on this flight was not great and a few more of the group were not feeling 100%. We arrived at night and had no concept of the scenery around the city. Everyone who has visited China say that this was one of the most beautiful places in the world. So we were anxious to start the next day. Our local guide was a young lady named Ling.
To see pictures taken this day click Xi'an 2nd Day
