September 11, 2015 Free Day in Xian

Today we spent wandering around the city of Xian.  Around mid-morning we left the hotel in search of a place to get something to eat before riding bicycles around the city wall.

The first stop was at an ultra-high end shopping mall.  It has six floors of designer shopping exceeding what's founf on 5th Avenue, and hardly a soul was shopping.

I don't think the cafe was talking about our motorcycles.

 As we continued to walk towards the wall, David noticed an interesting neighborhood.

This car caught our eye, not just because of the fake bullet holes on the side, but take a look at the grill insignia.  The owner has an attitude.

We found a Buddhist shrine and entered the gate.  The ground was slick with moss and the whole atmosphere was suddenly very serene and quiet.  The hubbub of the city, just over the walls, was distant.

There are several images of Buddha tucked away in various niches.

On wall has hundreds of lit up Buddhas.  I wonder if it's the same thing as lighting candles in a cathedral?

My favorite place is the courtyard.  Lots of greenery and nice-smelling incense in freestanding pottery.

Back outside the shrine, we noticed a youth hostel - seems like a nice place to stay.

It seems like much of the local work is done outside on the sidewalk.  I like the big box of different colored threads this seamstress has beside her sewing machine.

 After a quick brunch of  mochas, spaghetti and cheese bread at Zoo Coffee...

...we finally made it to the wall and rented a couple of bikes.

Looking over the wall, we spotted another youth hostel.

All along the wall are strategically placed buildings.  This is one of the archery towers that defended the city.

This is an example of a barbican.  It's an enclosed space outside the gate.  An enemy gains entry and is trapped and attacked on all four sides from the walls above.

Just inside and visible from the wall is a a children's hospital.

We wholly endorse the idea of having a separate entrance/exit for infectious patients.

The Guangren Temple is in the northwestern corner of the city wall.  It is the only Tibetan Buddhist Temple in Xian.  Construction was initiated in 1703 during the Qing Dynasty.

We saw a lot of new construction taking place in the northeastern corner.

The wall is almost 8 miles around.  It took us the better part of two hours to circumnavigate the city center with many stops.

Afterwards, we wandered around until finding ourselves in the middle of the paper and brush section of the city.  Hundreds of stores carry the same thing, I don't know why they don't have an Office Depot to handle calligraphy supplies.

We were tired and hungry from our afternoon exercises, so we headed back to the hotel to work on the blog and get some rest.

Later in the evening, we ventured out for good ole American food - McDonalds.  It's located on the bottom floor of this huge mall.  Before we got there, we decided to check out the electronics department for a new camera.  The shutter on my old one does not open fully without assistance anymore.  You may have noticed some strange cropping as a result.  This mall has eight floors and is simply massive.

Before going to bed we wandered down to the city gate to see it all lit up.