Xi'an

Staying in a hotel near 鼓楼 (Gu Lou). Had a not-so-great noodel for lunch in Gu Lou but dinner was the famous 羊肉泡馍 and some other local dishes, quite good. Still, I'm hoping to taste better noodles in the coming days.

Plan tomorrow is to join some tour and go on a "East Line". It includes the Terracotta Soldiers (兵马俑), Qin's Grave (秦始皇陵) -- real and model versions, since real is too far underground to open up and get in. Another is 华清池 (Qing Hua Pond), where some famous concubine use to bath (alledgedly extravagant). They only charge 45 RMB per person to take to 7 places (door ticket not included), but of course they're hoping I'd buy some useless trinket at a heavy premium. Probably I'm going to Terracotta Soldiers and the Pond and sit out the rest of them.

The day after we're pondering Hua Shan 华山, which is supposed to be even steeper than Huang Shan. I'm looking forward to this one.

Other than that, just took a nap and walked around. People here are nice and simple, but still it's the biggest city in Shan3Xi (as opposed to Shan1Xi, which is a different eastbound province).

This cafe is full of cigarette smell.