Final Post from China: Beiyuanmen Street

Doesn't it look delicious?

After walking the walls of Xi'an, our tour guide asked us if we wanted to go to Beiyuanmen Street, a famous shopping street in Xi'an.  She asked the day before, and I said no.  I was too tired.  She asked the day before that.  Same reason.

But this time I relented.  I'm not much of a shopper.  I bought all my souvenirs for the trip already (at the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda, of all places).  We did have a little time to kill before catching the high speed train back to Beijing to catch the nonstop flight PEK-LAS in the wee hours of the morning.  Besides, our tour guide was great -- all three of our tour guides on this trip were great -- and I was getting the distinct impression that she would be in severe trouble with her agency if we did not check off all the boxes on the planned itinerary.

So off to Beiyuanmen Street we go!

This is the place to go for cheap souvenirs and street food.

Not sure of the point in wearing red mouse ears, but there doesn't have to be a point, does there?  Especially when the ears match the Coca-Cola.

Statuary is always a photo spot:

One thing about buying cheap souvenirs over here?  You know they're locally made, in-country.  For once, that "Made in China" label means you're buying local.

What's up with that one T-shirt there?  Let's zoom in for a closer look, shall?

Obamao?  The perfect souvenir for your friend on either side of the political divide!  Trusted friend and kindred spirit to an important ally?  Or communist front?  You decide!

Right after our guide let us know that we needed to get moving to get to the high speed train on time, I saw this:

A fish pedicure spa!  I am so angry at myself for not agreeing to go Beiyuanmen Street earlier.  If we had only 30 minutes to spare at this point, I would have treated myself to a fish pedicure, where a tank of fishes nibble off the dead skin on your feet as if it were fish food.  Actually, it is fish food for these fishes.  Considering the fact that I am prone to thick callousing on my heels, these fishes would have stuffed themselves senseless like I have been at these 30-course dinners I keep getting fed while over here

Bad time management killed the fish pedicure.

Time to be whisked back to Beijing via high speed rail.  This concludes my China trip.  It was a great trip.  What was most surprising was that the relative normality of the place.  Yes, a few of the dishes were a bit "challenging."  I did not try the duck feet, for example,  Or the sea cucumber.  (I'm not that big on land cucumbers, for instance.)  But other than some extreme food items, this was not a strange new universe.

My other observation was how wealthy China is.  Large luxury brand SUVs on the road.  More so in Beijing in Xi'an, where there were more Audis, Lexuses (Lexi?) and Mercedes on the road.  Xi'an was dominated by Buicks aplenty, with fewer Audis.   And the taxis were all mid-sized Hyundai Elantras, not little Fiats or Citroens, or those horrible tiny Chinese-made "Chery" cars that you see all over Latin America.

Yes, I am sure there is poverty in rural China.  But the "eat your food there are starving children in China" era ended awhile back.  Chinese children are fat like us Americans.  Maybe the visit was well-choreographed by professional tour guides -- and there definitely was some of that -- but China clearly has a large and growing middle class.  A large and growing middle class that likes to play tourist in their own country.  Everybody simultaneously!  But you get to shove back and elbow your way through, too, so it's all cool.

The next travel blogging will be from exotic Western Pennsylvania next month.  See you there!