Today's blog has been written by Rishi Pandya
After leaving the newly christened 'Hogwarts Express' (sleeper train), we arrived in Xi'an. Moaning and sleepy faces were abundant and only our masters walked at a decent pace! The coach ride was a pleasant thirty minutes, due to everyone being far too tired to speak. Arriving at the hotel was a sight for sore eyes, as this meant a much needed and well deserved shower. Our first stop was a calligraphy class at an art gallery, where we learned to draw Chinese characters and got a chance to watch a professor of calligraphy paint a masterpiece. The artwork displayed was breathtakingly beautiful, truly amazing. Our attempt at writing elegant, graceful Chinese characters was a mixture of success and... Not so much success. Such a complex art form, suited to a complex culture, that holds such a vast history. For lunch we went to a Chinese buffet which kept us all happy. Wonderful smelling foods greeted us as well as kind people who catered to our every need, this place was also a theatre. Leaving the restaurant, the next destination was the Wild Goose Pagoda, a Buddhist temple of worship with over 1300 years of history to its name. Here we saw a large incense burner that was just outside of the temple itself. Up close the temple was so stunning, so noble and so humbling. The marble dragons that adorned the sides of the lower half of the temple were incredible.
Then we left for Xi'an's city wall, it is nine miles long and very uniform looking. We were given free time to roam the wall and enjoy the view, it was a beautiful one as the wall is so high. Many locals and tourists use bicycles to travel along the wall, sadly we could not use them due to safety reasons, but it was a nice feeling, greeting people we had never met before as they rode past us. Our dinner was at a place called Shaanxige, where we were served many, many different types of tasty dumplings. The amount of Chinese cuisine we were served was amazing, it was a shame that quite a lot had to go to waste. The Xi'an wall was our last stop and we began to make the return journey to the hotel. We had activities to last us the time until bedtime, these were badminton and salsa dancing. An intense doubles tournament for badminton ensued and a more relaxed, more passionate salsa dancing class also took place. Miss Halliday took charge of the salsa and Mr Bryant headed the badminton. The winners of the badminton tournament were the team of Ben and Rory, who played with style and confidence, and for the salsa the most impressive dancer was Martin, who surprised Miss Halliday fantastically. Our adventure together as a family continues. As for tomorrow, temples, pandas and new memories await.
After leaving the newly christened 'Hogwarts Express' (sleeper train), we arrived in Xi'an. Moaning and sleepy faces were abundant and only our masters walked at a decent pace! The coach ride was a pleasant thirty minutes, due to everyone being far too tired to speak. Arriving at the hotel was a sight for sore eyes, as this meant a much needed and well deserved shower. Our first stop was a calligraphy class at an art gallery, where we learned to draw Chinese characters and got a chance to watch a professor of calligraphy paint a masterpiece. The artwork displayed was breathtakingly beautiful, truly amazing. Our attempt at writing elegant, graceful Chinese characters was a mixture of success and... Not so much success. Such a complex art form, suited to a complex culture, that holds such a vast history. For lunch we went to a Chinese buffet which kept us all happy. Wonderful smelling foods greeted us as well as kind people who catered to our every need, this place was also a theatre. Leaving the restaurant, the next destination was the Wild Goose Pagoda, a Buddhist temple of worship with over 1300 years of history to its name. Here we saw a large incense burner that was just outside of the temple itself. Up close the temple was so stunning, so noble and so humbling. The marble dragons that adorned the sides of the lower half of the temple were incredible.
Then we left for Xi'an's city wall, it is nine miles long and very uniform looking. We were given free time to roam the wall and enjoy the view, it was a beautiful one as the wall is so high. Many locals and tourists use bicycles to travel along the wall, sadly we could not use them due to safety reasons, but it was a nice feeling, greeting people we had never met before as they rode past us. Our dinner was at a place called Shaanxige, where we were served many, many different types of tasty dumplings. The amount of Chinese cuisine we were served was amazing, it was a shame that quite a lot had to go to waste. The Xi'an wall was our last stop and we began to make the return journey to the hotel. We had activities to last us the time until bedtime, these were badminton and salsa dancing. An intense doubles tournament for badminton ensued and a more relaxed, more passionate salsa dancing class also took place. Miss Halliday took charge of the salsa and Mr Bryant headed the badminton. The winners of the badminton tournament were the team of Ben and Rory, who played with style and confidence, and for the salsa the most impressive dancer was Martin, who surprised Miss Halliday fantastically. Our adventure together as a family continues. As for tomorrow, temples, pandas and new memories await.
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