Grand Dynasty Culture Hotel in Xi'an

When we arrived at our hotel, the sight of giant sculptures outside a window behind the front desk immediately intrigued me.  I wandered away to see them, and found the gigantic statues rose from a lovely koi pond area, with outdoor tables for the adjacent lounge.  I knew we needed to go back there later.

While most of our group headed to an optional Tang Dynasty dinner show, Julie and I walked down the bustling street to the Xi'an City Wall.

Built initially over 1200 years ago by the Tang Dynasty and upsized to its current scale in the 14th Century by the Ming Dynasty, this impressive fortification has remained despite the Communist's penchant for tearing down historical landmarks to re-use the materials.  Renting a bicycle for a few dollars is highly recommended to ride around the 39-foot high wall that is about that same width or a little wider at the top, depending on the section.  Yuan said the entire ride around the perimeter is about 7 1/2 miles.

There's also a lovely mote along the wall that serves as a canal.  We just walked to the wall without heading down a cross street to find an access point to go to the top, which Yuan said was a half mile away.

The walk took us along the amusing rush hour traffic, where motor scooters and bicycles race toward each other in bike lanes, on sidewalks and across busy intersections with no regard for which direction they're supposed to be riding.  Somehow, they mostly avoid hitting each other in a strange traffic dance.  We even had cars, unable to get across intersections, driving down the sidewalk.

As a pedestrian, you have to keep your head on a swivel, and always heed the advice of Yuan: "Move slowly."  If you follow the American inclination to race to get out of the way, the motor scooters, cars, bicyclists and fellow pedestrians may not know how to react.  If you move slowly, they may cross in front of you, missing you by less than a foot at 30 miles an hour, but they won't hit you.

While the area around the hotel was definitely better than where we stayed in Beijing, it wasn't the prime part of the city which our bus had passed through earlier.

That other section was like a Chinese version of the Champs Elysees or Waikiki's upscale shopping zone, with bright flowers and greenery, both real and plastic, decorated all the balconies and rooflines, possibly in preparation for the May Day celebrations.

In any case, we wandered through a park that proved to not be too impressive and headed back to the patio bar where I'd wanted to return.  It proved as relaxing as I thought it would be.

Julie and I had it pretty much to ourselves.  I had a couple of beers while Julie sipped some wine, and our waitress brought us free peanuts, which made it perfect for me.

Later, we went to the restaurant upstairs for chicken satay and egg rolls from their appetizer menu, and after all of the gigantic meals of our tour, that was plenty.

I should also mention that we had great views from our room, both of the old city and the patio area we enjoyed so much.

While everyone who went to see the Tang Dynasty Dance Troup raved about how wonderful it had been, with authentic instruments from the time period and beautiful costumes, we were happy to have a break from the group for our quiet night in Xi'an.