China Food Trips & Travels

西安, a shaanxi province vacation

I haven’t been writing for a good reason! My good friend Zeolite crossed lands and seas to come visit me here in China, and just as soon as she landed in Shanghai, we headed up north to the Shaanxi Province for a long-weekend adventure. We arrived feeling a bit disoriented, staring out the window at industrial buildings jutting out of barren fields. The air was thick with smog.

Inside the city walls, everything changed completely. We stayed at a quaint converted garden house hostel with a sleepy cat and a spacious patio.

DSC_0162

After an early night, Taurin had just about recovered from his cold, and Zeolite had started getting over her jet-lag. We took a long walk around the Muslim quarter, eating cumin crusted lamb kebobs, roujiamo (the Chinese sloppy joe), and soupy dumplings.

DSC_0072

DSC_0057

DSC_0083

DSC_0239

The terracotta warriors excavation site was impressive, but rather touristy. My favorite part of the trip was an epic two-hour bike ride on top of the city walls. The weather was perfect, and it was a really neat way to see the city.

DSC_0019

5 Comments

  • Reply
    Anabella
    April 18, 2011 at 3:11 pm

    that place looks so old world, how wonderful! and isn’t it so great when friends from a far come to visit us? i love that feeling <3
    is that a sesame ball sandwich between crackers?? wow i bet the sesame balls there are amazing! and that saggy dumpling looks yummy.
    i've been sick all weekend and my diet is composed mainly of wonton soup and i am still not sick of it. craving some right now.

  • Reply
    Zeolite
    April 18, 2011 at 3:25 pm

    I love that photo of me chopsticking up a soupy dumpling. I also really like how the Xian smog photos came out! Is it kind of insane that I haven’t even fully unpacked yet? My suitcase is kind of sitting open in my room, untouched. Lazy. Bones.

  • Reply
    admin
    April 23, 2011 at 2:07 am

    Anabella: I really loved how old Xi’an felt, too. It made me think more about China’s long history. And the deep-fried sesame donut ball + crackers thing was SO good. You totally deserve a big bamboo container full of soupy dumplings.

    Zeolite: It’s scary how cool deadly smog can look in photos! Talk of being lazy, I’m finally organizing the photos of your Shanghai adventures…

  • Reply
    Diana
    April 30, 2011 at 7:12 am

    Glad to see someone’s still rocking the “For Audrey” nail polish!

  • Reply
    Hey, it’s my birthday! | Maps and Fragments
    August 27, 2011 at 12:00 am

    […] island vacation in Southern Thailand, hanging out with elephants in Pai, my friend Zeolite’s visit and our trip to Xian, big meals with friends in Shanghai, a summer in Beijing, a family trip to Korea, and […]

  • Leave a Reply to Hey, it’s my birthday! | Maps and Fragments Cancel reply

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.