29th October: Xi’An, China

I’m still not well, so still not a huge amount to report. Happily, Kaja is fine, although she’s enjoying not having to do much either.

We did get out in the afternoon for a walk. I’m still very disoriented here, so followed Kaja’s lead. We were going to go to the mosque, but we ended up wandering fairly aimlessly through the alleys for 2 hours via the City God Temple and various disappointing food outlets (not that I could stomach eating anything). Kaja had enough and went back to chill but I stayed out to find the mosque. It turned out to be 100m down the alleyway that we’re staying on!

I happened to arrive at Xi’An Grand Mosque just as the call to prayer sounded for Asr (late afternoon prayers). The complex was incredibly peaceful and relaxing, with large areas of gardens and archways gradually leading backwards to the mosque itself. This architecture is a distinctly Chinese takee on Islamic worship, with strong similarities to the design of temples and ancient government buildings. There were of course differences too, with no deities to worship in intermediate chambers but instead decorative buildings and Arabic inscriptions. The side rooms along each courtyard housed spaces for ablutions.

I made sure that I was back before 16:30 as that’s when tickets became available for the sleeper train we want to take from Zhangjiajie to Shenzhen. I’d checked other available dates yesterday and it seemed to be no problem to leave it for a few days. However, out of an abundance of caution I wanted to book them immediately as we have hotels already booked around the journey. To my horror, the second they showed as available only 2 tickets (apparently out of up to 400 on some trains) were left. I immediately bought them, but we were put in different parts of the train. Kaja wasn’t OK with this, so we had to change to a different earlier and more expensive indirect option which also means 3 hours less time to explore Zhangjiajie. It is what it is. At least this is China and there are so many sleeper train options!

Kaja was hungry, so we headed out. She’d found a vegan buffet a could us stops away on the metro so popped over there. The Drum Tower caught my eye as it was lit up by perfectly positioned spotlights on surrounding buildings. Incredibly, hundreds of women in hanfu posed along the sides of the roundabout. The two sides with the best views were even lined with dozens and dozens of professional light rings, with queues for each. I also saw a few men in hanfu drag, which is not something I’ve noticed elsewhere on our trip to date.

I figured that I could eat something plain but couldn’t find anything, even in the Western chain stores I’d usually avoid at all costs. Luckily, Kaja had found some plain dishes on the buffet menu after all, so I headed over to join her. 23 Yuan was a bargain! Even if I did just have a little bit of porridge, rice, sweet potato, yam, steamed bun, sweet date rice, and pink grapefruit.

We walked back via the imposing city wall. This is 12 metres high, incredibly thick, and surrounded by a moat. I can’t imagine how any attacking force would’ve ever taken such a place. It really gives an appreciation for the scale of the ancient settlement at the end of the silk road. Today, the area between the wall and moat (now with added fountains) was being used recreationally by groups of dancers in another example of wonderful community.