Bell Tower, Xi'an

Today we had a 6-hour Bullet Train ride to Xi'an - a welcome rest from our last 2 hectic (but very enjoyable) days! It was my first ride on such a train (I've never even been on Eurostar) and I have to say I was very impressed: the ride was so smooth and there were 9 intermediate stops at each of which it was exactly on time.

Having a chance to view the countryside en route was very interesting. The rate of development of the infrastructure is amazing. I knew that China has a large number of very large towns and cities, but seeing so many massive conurbations as we travelled still somehow surprised me. We saw lots of cultivated fields but never saw any livestock.

Our hotel for the next two nights is just next to the ancient Bell Tower in Xi'an. The tower was built in 1384 during the early Ming Dynasty, and is now the largest and best-preserved of its kind in China. It contains several large cast bronze bells from the Tang Dynasty, one of which can be seen on the left-hand corner in the photo.

We were treated to a tour of the Muslim district, which contains streets lined by a great many food shops and stalls producing and selling all sorts of delicious delicacies, some of which we tried. The first extra shows some lads stretching and tossing some sort of dough (making noodles, I guess); the second shows our lovely tour guide Tanya about to enjoy a hand-crafted candy floss (she gave us all a little taste).