I'm going to try to not make all the blogs about food but it might be tricky since all the sightseeing stuff has been decidedly underwhelming. Except for the Terracotta Warriors.
We met a lovely couple from Argentina on our way to the Warriors
. We met them at the Metro station looking for the right Metro stop to select on the ticket machines. We both had the same information about catching the bus (no.306) from the train station and the same confusion as to how to get there. A young local assisted us with the ticket machine and told us the last stop was the train station. But there was no bus 306 from this station. So ticket staff there put us on another bus telling us it would take us to the Terracotta Warriors but 30 mins into the bus ride, the scenery outside started looking familiar. The bus dropped us off at another train station - the correct train station to be catching the 306 from - and frustratingly, very close to our starting point. On the bus, we met a young woman who knew a little English and wanted to help us find our no.306 bus. While her intention was lovely, she sent us in the opposite direction from the bus we needed. By the time we actually boarded the bus, it was 2hrs from the time we'd left our hostel. I'm pleased to have had the opportunity to chat with the Argentinians though - they were lovely. Once at the Warriors, we shared a meal and the cost of a guide. Our guide was lovely but her accent was so thick, it took me several rounds before i understood key words or sentences. Besides that, without the guide I'm not sure I would have enjoyed the site so much.
As we've often found sightseeing in China, English translations at historical sights are scant and those that use a greater quantity of words, do so without saying much at all, as though they'd been written by a dodgy salesperson or politician
. So the Warriors were interesting. But the Drum Tower wasn't. The Drum Tower is a building so completely restored, not an original brick, tile, step or interior decoration remains. Even the authenticity of the drums are questionable. It's sitting on that blurred line defining restored from replica. And this is pretty much the go everywhere we've been so far and I don't expect it to be different in our next two destinations.
Without the food aspect, I think I'd b a bit bored here in China. Firstly, I've had none of the issues with my digestion I thought I would because of my fructose malabsorption issue (for those not in the know, a result of a long-standing parasitic infection in India has made me a strict adherent to the FODMAP diet). I was of the mistaken belief onions would be in everything here but they're in nothing! Yippee!
And secondly, I'm tasting glorious diverse flavours without the foods that trigger my upset (often considered a challenge in the west). Not just my dietary needs though - if you required gluten/dairy-free, low GI, Paleo, Alkaline, low spice, it's all possible.
We've been eating street food mostly, and trying our best to get a taste of what the locals eat and I wish I'd had more time in each place just to have the chance to sample it all. There must be a whole other world of local home-cooked meals out there too that we won't get to try.
Behind the Drum Tower is West St - the Muslim Quarter where the Hui people of China reside I've yet to read up on the Hui people but judging by their features they appear to originate (as you might expect ) from the north west of China
. Their features are reminiscent of the Middle East, Eastern Europe and Asia all blended together which is as exotic a look as you imagine. The mix makes for exotic flavours too!
Each stall in the street had his own dish; a bowl of rice noodles with a soy-tahini-chili sauce; steamed buns; kebabs in a heavy, patterned flat-bread; battered and deep-fried banana; deep-fried pockety-thing with your choice of meat and /or vegetable filling; red dates at 3 different stages of dehydration; dried sultanas, kiwi, mango, persimmon and cherry tomatoes; walnuts, black and white sesame and a variety of different brittles and sweets that they feature in; sticky rice with red bean and red date filling or a black sesame paste and white sesame coat; bagels and much, much more.
One small eatery we walked past was constantly busy so we decided to find out what all the fuss was about. Tables inside and outside were filled with people breaking bread into big empty bowls. Young Hui boys were dashing about delivering bowls to and from the kitchen. We kind of slipped through the cracks of the to and fro system which meant a long wait for dinner but it was worth it! Rice noodles in a tasty clear broth (a bone broth I suspect) with a few bits of black fungus and the most tender slices of lamb I have ever put in my mouth - it was so tender I fed it to Aadi and she lapped it up. And of course your bits of broken bread. Each bowl also comes served with half a bulb of picked garlic. I could've eaten it 3 times a day.
Venture beyond the eateries and you'll find the butchers and grocers who supply your chefs and locals. I'm pretty accustomed to seeing the frank and brutal nature of a developing-world butcher's but I was surprised to see a substantial supply of beef liver on offer. Just sitting around on card tables at the front of the shop, drying in the heat, slowly collecting flies.
Ok, I'm going to end this one there. I'll be honest with you, I've already written my blog for the next city which we're leaving tonight for Beijing. I reckon it's a more entertaining story than this one and I'd like to hurry up and attach some photos to it so you can all read it.
Til then!
XXX
Eating our way through Xi'an
Monday, April 15, 2013
Xi'an, Shaanxi, China
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2025-02-10