Walking the Walls of Xi'an

There are other options besides walking the walls, but I chose walking

I woke up in Xi'an.  My next night's sleep (not counting the airplane) will be in my own bed in Las Vegas.  This is my last day in the People's Republic of China.

Before we check out of the hotel, let's have one last look at my hotel on Xi'an, the Hilton.  This is the front reception desk:

The sitting area across from the reception desk, the other side of the lobby:

A "Terra Cotta Warriors" style chariot, flanked by two cranes because why not?

Let's have a closer look at one of the cranes, which is standing on a turtle-lion-dragon:

Walking out of the Xi'an Hilton for the final day's adventure:

A trip to the Xi'an ancient city walls.

Don't let all the buses scare you.  There's plenty of room atop the walls for everyone.

Xi'an is a tourist town.  This is the height of tourist season.  And the city walls are a tourist attraction.  Need proof?

And, yes, there will be a tourist crowding milling around the gate.  We came in through the East Gate.

Where there was a bell.

Not quite Philadelphia, but still nice.

But once you are away from the gate, and despite the fact that the sun will be poring down on you on the first truly sunny day in China, the crowds will be light.  It will be a pleasant, lightly-touristed experience in this Chinese tourist town.  (And by "Chinese tourist town," I mean "'Chinese-tourist' town" far more than I mean "Chinese 'tourist-town,'" if that makes sense as written.)

The walls are well-marked.  And like in the rest of Xi'an, as well as Beijing, lots of free and clean public restrooms, as is evident from the sign above.

Lots of guard houses along the walking route, since these were functional defensive walls for a long time, not too long ago.

The tall buildings are the newer city outside the walls.  Lower-rise construction is found inside the walls.

It is interesting that there is the nice bit of greenery at the northeast corner of the walls, since there is a beautiful ribbon of green parkland just outside the city walls on most sides.  Rarely is there parkland inside.

We could visit this guard house.  Except that it's closed.

Here is a nice view of the green ribbon of parkland that is outside the city walls:

And here's more:

Here's a view looking inside the walls at the old "lower-rise" city:

That's enough.  Back to walking:

Guard house ahead:

Plenty of bicycles built for two:

Getting closer to the north gate, which means traffic is picking up.

Wedding photography alert!

Looking down outside the walls again.

We walked from the east gate to the north gate, which would be one-quarter of the total length of the walls.  A complete rectangle would be eight miles, so this is a two-mile trek.

There is a "moat" of sorts around the walls.

Which I only learned too late has boat cruising available.

Crank up the drawbridge because we are done with walls of Xi'an.

I'm almost down with this peripatetic-paced pass through the People's Republic of China.  Well, two important tourist cities within the P.R.C., at least.

Hua Qing Palace Grounds

This became the site of a Tang Dynasty palace because there were natural hot springs on the premises.
Sounds like a good reason to place a palace here.

Still exploring the north side of Xi'an.  Next stop:  the Hua Qing Palace grounds.

There's a lot to see here, even on the periphery of the palace grounds, in the park area before you enter.

Still in the parking area here:

And there is this cool statue/fountain, honoring a dance from an emperor's favorite consort.

Time to enter.  There is always an ornate gate to pass through.

The grounds are very green and relaxing.  This is good since the sun is coming out for the first time this whole trip.  It's been very overcast (but not raining) the entire time up to now.

You can take a cable car up to some temples at the top of the mountain.  Our guide is referring to them as "tourist temples," but I don't think she meant the term to be as derisive as it sounds to western ears.

Or maybe she did.  I'm exhausted at this point, so we stay in the lower grounds area, rather than taking a cable car up to the "tourist temple."

I cable carred at the Great Wall.  Now if they were offering funicular service, I'd have reconsidered.  But cable cars/aerial trams?  Been there.

And this is the star of the show:

The Emperor's Favorite Consort.  Barely dressed.

And this was her bathing pool.

Not that big, but bigger than my hotel tub.  And the tub in my hotel room is pretty decent sized.

I found this sign intriguing:

This was the first and only time I saw a sign with this directive in China.  Usually, pushing and shoving are actively encouraged at all tourist spots.

Anyway, this was the emperor's bathing pool.

Crowds were modest.

This was a surprise.  An area devoted to Chiang Kai-shek, the leader of the Chinese nationalists, the ones who fought a civil war with the communists, lost, and went into exile in Taiwan.

This was his meeting room.

Time to leave the Hua Qing Palace grounds.  Not much time before I need to catch the dinner show.

The show was a dance spectacular about a Tang Dynasty emperor's lifelong love affair with his chosen empress.  Some of the show performers used the dining area as a passageway.

The city of Xi'an might be living off the Qin Dynasty Terra Cotta Warriors right now -- at least its tourism trade is -- but the city itself loves the Tang Dynasty.

Soon it was time to be seated in the theater.

And the show began.

And the show ended.  The dancing was not my thing, but the accompanying traditional Chinese music was excellent and enjoyable.

All in all, it worked out better than lunch.  When I ended up in a Qin Dynasty period costume.

One of my rules of vacationing is when you are offered a funny costume, wear it.  I may reconsider that rule.