xian day 6 continued

Our hotel name is BellTower hotel, and is on the center square.  There is a shopping center located on the square.  We had mcDonalds for dinner on the bottom floor.  We expected to go into typical style mall with various stores but when we got in we realized it was one giant department store with 8 or ten levels, with a common atrium for each floor with escalators to get from floor to floor.  The girls were just DYING for new shoes so we headed up 5 sets of escalators to get to the kids shoes.  There was such a huge selection it was hard to get through it.  It was also a fairly high dollar shopping center.  We spent an hour kid shoe shopping and each kid wound up with a new fashion statement, and luckily, on sale for about $30/pair. 

 

We also visited The Muslim Mosque here.  China is a country of free religion so anyone can worship how they choose.  The muslim culture goes way back here and there is a large section of town dedicated to this area.  The mosque is a unique combination of chinese and muslim culture we are told.  There are dragons built into the stonework like a buddhist temple, but they are muslim, so this is interesting.  There are 5 set prayer times each day at the mosque and 1500 people show up to each.  Some people come 5 times each day.  Surrounding the mosque is a huge indoor outdoor market.  We were able to do some hefty bargaining there. I loved all the interesting food and items available there.  There is something for everyone.  I think the kids were a little intimidated by the crowds and the bumping and shoving basically everywhere we go.  To cross the major streets there are underground tunnels otherwise you would get run over by a bike, scooter, bus or whatever. The way people drive is like no other place I have been.  It is a major free for all with minimum traffic lights.  Whoever gets there first just goes.  there is no such thing as a stop sign.  Pedestrians do not have the right of way here!

 

Overall we loved Xi'an.  It is very much a city where you can walk outside of your hotel and find interesting things to do everywhere.  We didnt find this in Beijing.  We never really found the center city in Beijing.  It is way too spread out.  Beijing also is very dry and has a lot of sand storms.  We experienced one small storm but that was it.  Xi'an is a nice temperature, some humidity, and also surrounded by mountains.