City wanders

[Lotus Eater]

Went wandering through the back streets of Xi'an again today. Always a magic thing to do.

Inside the uni - clean apron time for the chefs.



Visited the City God temple which is undergoing a bit of renovation



Do you think it needs renovation? But even with the work going on, it remains an active temple



Locals playing for fun at the City God temple



Water taps for local families - each one has a lock to prevent water theft - metre inside. Just pop down from your building to collect a bucket or two for the day. Did you think all housing has water supply??



Hidden streets and lanes



All good cooks taste test first.



And baby, when you are cool you are COOL!



Tree root used for breaking the animal bones for halal butchery



Old man making traditional wigs for folk opera costumes.



And so he tried it on for me



Pram that has seen better days - but is still useful!



Beautiful hidden mosque - oldest one in Xi'an and the one the Great Mosque was modeled - felt so much more peaceful and somehow more reverent



Buying fruit and vege for dinner tonight - and aren't your jamas nice!!



I sometimes think all of Asia is under construction



And how many are you planning on cooking for? Pots used to cook the lamb and beef dishes popular here.



Wandering is fabulous!! I never get tired of seeing what is out there. Today I managed to take 90+ photos.

[Becster79]

Thanks Lotus for the pics....of all the cities & places I've been to in China Xian always remains my favourite, I LOVE the old culture there (pity it's overly touristy though), and I can't seem to escape the place- I'm only 3 hours west of you in Baoji ;D!

[Lotus Eater]

I avoid the tourist areas - and it really isn't hard. The old culture is still alive and well in the back streets. These pics were mostly taken in the Muslim Quarter - but nowhere near the tourist areas of it. Once you get into the back alleys the real Muslim quarter can be seen. Only time I saw a tourist all day was when I went to the main area to see my tea laoban - and after a chat and a few cups of tea, he asked me which tea bits and pieces I don't have - and gave me a glass jug and pu'er strainer! He then gave the 2 friends I had taken there - one Chinese and one Aussie some free tea each! Difficult not to love this place!!

[Ruth]

I'm fascinated by the locked water taps at the central location. Of course, I understand that not all homes have water and a daily trip to the source with a bucket or two is everyday life for lots of people. What fascinates me is that they have it rigged up to be metered and charged for.

Lovely photos, as usual.

[Mr Nobody]

Yeah. I know some old kung fu masters who tell stories of their schools (usually when they were students themselves, so some time ago but within living memory) having to protect water supplies for legitimate local users from overuse and abuse and more importantly control by ad hoc gangs charging for filling bottles with water, in HK Foshan, Guangzhou and other places too. One place where there was nearly a war in HK was just a tap.
The locks and meters probably grew out of such issues.

[Lotus Eater]

Went to breakfast this morning in the Muslim Quarter. It's always good to have a local take you to the most interesting places, even if it does mean getting up at the worst hours to get there. Watching the city ready itself for another day was fascinating.

Breakfast anyone? The street vendors selling animal innards. Highly appetising!





When we wandered through the centre the place was crowded with police. They were on every corner so we realised that a 'heavy' must be coming to visit the Great Mosque. So, although other Chinese were chuffed out, partly because my mate told the door keepers that his great-grandfather had donated a large chunk of money (so much so that he has his name on the sign board above the prayer hall itelf) and partly because he was accompanied by me, we were both allowed in while the President of the Czech Republic toured the place. I did get a photo of him with the Imam, but it wasn't that good.

Then we pottered off, bought ourselves a couple of North Fake jackets, and went to the best nibblies places and dried fruit places here. I had to stock up for the horse trek!!

Interesting morning. Never know what a day in China will bring.