Train ticket (around 55 Yuan) is much cheaper than the bus ticket (90 Yuan) to Xian. Was trying to take the 7.12am train to Xian but got an 8am train (K59 from XuZhou) instead and the train was delayed for another 1.30 hours.

Arrived at Xian train station at almost 3pm.

Xian train station was pretty crowded. Met a young man, Du on the train and dragged him along to the hostel since he has never heard about youth hostel. Took bus 603 to NanMen and found a youth hostel called XiangZiMen. Originally I was planning to stay at ShuYuan hostel but I lost the address and found XiangZiMen hostel instead.

XiangZiMen hostel (30 Yuan~USD$4.5 for a 6 beds dorm room)

Shaanxi has a very long and interesting history. It’s considered the heart of Chinese civilization, Xian is the capital for Shaanxi province and is one of the oldest Chinese city, more than 3000 years old. The city has been the capital of some of the very old dynasties. Xi’an became a cultural and political center of China in 1100 BC with the founding of the Zhou Dynasty. During the Sui dynasty, Xian was the largest city in the world with a wall enclosing the city of 84 km^2. But during the end of Tang dynasty, Xian was destroyed.
A wall around the city was constructed during the Ming dynasty in 1370 with 12km long, 12meters high and 15-18 meters thick, the wall still remain intact today.

Today, Xian has a population of around 8 millions.

NanMen (South Gate)

GuLou (Drum Tower)

It’s a crowded day in Xian.

Walked back to the train station. Passed by GeMinGongYuan.

Older generation dancing hip hop

Arranged marriages are still popular in China and many old people gather here to exchange information about the availability of their sons and daughters.

Advertisement about looking for a partner

Took bus 5 to DaYanTa. The pagoda was constructed in 652 AD to store the Buddhist sutras obtained by Xuan Zang from India. The pagoda has a height of 64 meters.

South of DaYanTa is BuYeCheng.
Mr. Du was pretty photogenic and loved posing for photos.

Restroom in the art museum.

Walked to TangFuRongYuan, a recent built park with buildings similar to Tang structures in ancient times.

Took bus 26 to GuLou and went to HuiMinJie for food.

Kite flying

Dinner, fried rice with meat on sticks and a drink. (10 Yuan~USD$1.4)

Finally got back to the hostel around 11pm after walking around for 8 hours today.