On Sunday morning, we made our way to the airport for a brief hour-long flight from Chongqing to Xi'an, where we would celebrate my birthday and stay until June 24th, departing for Yinchuan early on the 25th. Although the flight itself was short, the landing was somewhat bumpy. We skipped the airport restaurant's specialty, chicken feet, as I had already tried them the night before. After arriving in Xi'an, we were greeted by our guide, "Summer," and a nursing graduate student from Yinchuan, named "Tina," whom we called at her request. She showed us her home province on her phone before we drove into the city for lunch. The restaurant featured Chinese women dancers and served delicious food!
Following lunch, we checked into our hotel and had an hour to relax before our evening activities began. Our first destination was an active Buddhist temple where around 30 monks currently reside, featuring impressive Buddhas and a seven-story pagoda. We then strolled through a large pedestrian mall that comes alive each evening with cultural performances, where women, men, and children donned traditional costumes available for rent. It was incredibly crowded, and our guide noted that it gets even busier in July and August! As a result, we could only see the dancers from a distance due to the throngs of people. Dinner was at the Three Kitty Restaurant, which was once again excellent. Summer, our guide, arranged for one of the "Kitties" to play a Chinese instrument for us at our table.
As we returned to the bustling pedestrian street, we delighted in observing many women in traditional attire, complete with styled wigs they rented for the evening, posing for photos. It was amusing to see these elegantly dressed young women paired with fashion sneakers or boots. As sunset approached and darkness fell, the crowds swelled further to watch performances of dancing and Chinese opera in the streets. The throngs were substantial, and I could only capture images of taller individuals holding their phones aloft. We moved back and climbed some steps for a better view of the dancing and performances.
We continued walking along the lengthy pedestrian street to admire the lights and decorations until we reached the end, where we met our driver who took us back to the hotel for the night. We were quite tired and managed to retire before 10 PM for the first time on this trip. I woke up this morning feeling almost like my normal self, lacking the intense jet lag that had accompanied me since arrival. Today, June 23rd, is my birthday, and we plan to celebrate by visiting the Terra Cotta Warriors! More on that tomorrow!
On Sunday morning, we made our way to the airport for a one-hour flight from Chongqing to Xi’an, where we will celebrate my birthday and remain until June 24th, departing for Yinchuan early on the 25th.
