Still Catching up ...
Today started off dry (has been raining and overcast the
whole time we have been in China) at the Great Wild Goose Pagoda with Sophia
Guiding us around the Buddhist Temple. We had a calligraphy lesson and can now
read Man, Woman, Safe, Peace and Australia in Mandarin.
There are stones in the gardens that have the brightest
scholars of each year’s names on them so of course we had to rub them for good
luck.
A ride on the wall was the desire for Linda and Heidi while
Ron and Sophia were going to eat lunch in a local restaurant. Unfortunately,
Linda apparently was too old to ride their bikes so Heidi went for a solo ride
around the city wall whilst Linda strolled around a section of it. The rain
came down about ¾ of the way around which meant the last part was less scenic
but still fun and worth it.
A walk through the Muslim Market area of Xi’an took us to a
picturesque Chinese Mosque – very different to the Mosques we have seen in
other countries. Having just walked through a very crowded market we were
pleasantly surprised to see how few people there were in the Mosque.
Our Guide was so grateful for us treating her to dinner last
night that she wanted to give us dinner before our train trip. Her mother had
cooked us noodles and vegies and Sophia gave us moon cakes and her home made
grape wine and pomegranate wine.
As I write this we are on our first long distance train trip
from Xi’an to Beijing – getting on the train was an adventure – apparently we
are being fed tea and coffee and chocolate cake for breakfast!
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