We had more snacks on the train for breakfast and arrived in Xi'an right on time at 11:00 a.m. Apparently, if you ask the conductors what time the train will get in, they always tell you that it will be in on time, even if it is already late. We got out of the train station, you need your ticket to get out, and headed for the taxi stand. We had almost made it to the end, which required walking through the taxis, when we heard yelling and a commotion behind us. Sally had apparently brushed a cab's side-view mirror, bending it back. The driver had gotten out and was holding Sally's bag and demanding money. The cab itself was not damaged as the mirror bends back on a spring, but the cabbie was trying to extort some money from the wealthy tourists.
Ian entered the frey, interposing himself between the cabbie and Sally while Anne and I went to get an official. A man in a uniform came up and got the cabbie away from us and we walked about a block away and caught a cab there. Xi'an is the third largest city in China, with a population of 6 million. It is the only city in China that still has its original city walls. Most cities ripped them down and put in ring roads, which they are very proud of and show the tourists. The walls were quite high and thick, and had a moat around them.
We arrived at our hotel, the Orient Hotel, south of the city and went to take showers. Ian and Sally went off to report Sally's missing purse, which took three and a half hours, and three different offices. One of the forms she had to fill out requested the Loser's Name. Anne and I headed over to the history museum, two long blocks from our hotel. Ian claims that it is the best museum in China.
The museum was nice, with a modern building and nice grounds. There were explanations, in both English and Chinese, of the various objects. There were numerous shops, and in one I found a book with original Chinese coins from the last 2,000 years. Normally, you have to be very wary of anything antique, so getting this at a government-run museum guaranteed its authenticity. You can't usually bargain in government stores, and the price started at ¥1,380 ($170), but I got both the coins and a guide book for ¥1,000 ($125). I probably could have done better, but I was not expecting them to bargain at all, so I took a reduced price when they offered it.
The weather report had forecast 100° and sunny. In fact, it was more like 75° and overcast. We walked back to the hotel and I dropped off my coins and picked up my umbrella, and Anne got a jacket. This turned out to be good planning on our part as it drizzled and rained for the next six or seven hours. Anne wanted to walk, so we walked up to the Grand Mosque, except that we had some problems finding it. Eventually we found the outer wall, but not the entrance, and it was raining quite hard, so we decided to walk over to the bell tower. On the way we wended our way through many vendors' stalls. We got to the drum tower and decided to hang out inside, out of the rain, for the next hour and a quarter until we were supposed to meet up with Ian and Sally.
We paid ¥12 ($1.50) each to get into the drum tower and walked around the outside of the first floor. We could see the tops of the houses just north of the tower with their tile roofs and traditional architecture. We went inside and up to the upper level. The beams and the ceiling were intricately painted in blue with dragons and other, less interesting, designs. There were drums and explanations in English and Chinese telling about the history of the building.
We went out to a covered deck that ringed the upper level and stood there watching the traffic in a major intersection. One of the employees came by, several times, and eventually, at 6:20, came over and pointed to his watch. The sign outside said that the tower was open until 19:00, so I said "seven" and put up seven fingers. Eventually, as he seemed rather insistent, Anne wrote 19:00 on her hand. He shook his head "No" and wrote 18:00. So we went downstairs and left.
They locked the gate behind us. According to Ian, it is not uncommon if it is raining, the employees want to go home, and it isn't too crowded, to just close up early. We saw some shops nearby, so we decided to take a look. It turned out to be a posh mall with a lot of high-end stores and a supermarket. We met Ian in the supermarket and walked over to our meeting place to wait for Sally. When she arrived we headed over about a block to a little "restaurant." It was really a hole in the wall, and we were the only patrons. But we had sizzling beef that was unbelievable!
After dinner, Anne tried to call the kids from a phone in a small shop. However, when the proprietor figured out that it was a calling card call, and she would not be making any money, she hung up the phone. So, we caught a cab and headed back to the hotel. Anne tried, unsuccessfully, to call from the business center. Then we spotted a couple of phones in the lobby and those worked fine.