Xi'an ...... (Marcus)

Ni hao from beautiful, sunny Xi'an! Haha just kidding! Try hello from icky smoggy Xi'an, the place we have actually commented as we walked around it that it actually made WuXi look nicer!

There's a comment in the Lonely Planet regarding Xi'an saying something like, "It's one of the great polarizers of China, you either love it or hate it." Hate is a powerful word, but i have to say that so far we are just basically looking forward to getting on the train and heading to Chengdu. This place has little to no appeal that we have yet discovered.

In fact practically everything we have done here so far has been negative. The 'taxi debacle' at the train station set a precendent.

Currently we're sitting in a huge smokey net cafe with what must be at least 70% of the teenage population of the city. They are doing everything from playing games, chatting on msn messenger, playing computer card games you name it. I think many of them live here.

We had issues getting train tickets for Xi'an to Chengdu. We missed out on getting soft sleepers so are stuck with hard sleepers - the difference being 6 people to a cabin(racks of 3 beds) rather than a nice plush cabin with just 4 people - Should be interesting at any rate, but i guess it doesn't matter, we don't get a wink of sleep in the soft sleeper anyway.

Our hotel in true Chinese fashion couldn't remotely offer us any assistance with getting train tickets - the service provided by the hostel in Beijing absolutely eclipses that off this 'international hotel.' The main purpose of our coming to this net cafe was so Courtney could email the hostel at Chengdu and ask if they could pre-purchase tickets for us for Chengdu to Kunming. You can only buy tickets in the city of departure, thus we couldn't buy tickets for Xi'an to Chengdu from Beijing - of which the hostel would have certainly helped us.

So we thought our mission for the day was to come and find this net cafe, have a nice relaxing coffee at Starbucks then head back and just relax. It's raining quite heavily today and typical of Chinese summer weather, when it rains, it doesn't stop.

So our easy mission became an absolutely stunning epic battle between East and West as we tried to locate it. I had cross-referenced the map and directions in the Lonely Planet to find the right street - this wasn't a problem. We came here and walked up and down it twice, then around the block, no joy; all the while the rain came down on us.

So we decided to go and grab that coffee at a Starbucks across the way, hoping the rain would ease up a little. Coffee's down the hatch, rain not remotely abated, we set out again. This time we decided to be a little more resourceful and whip out the translation book, we seek 'internet'!

So first stop is a girl at a stairwell to what looks like a video game parlour. I say Internet and she shakes her head - that's about the extent of her help. OK. We continue down the street and Courtney heads into a hotel and asks a young girl behind the counter. She tells us to head down the street to the right(the way we were going) about 100 metres and it is opposite. Alrighty! We at least this confirms where it is! We head down..nada, we go right around the corner at the end and a fair way up the next street - nada! We are scrutinizing every building as it can be hard to tell what a chinese net cafe looks like - they're easier to spot during the night due to the glow of the computer screens.

Ok this is ridiculous we think, stopping to look at a pair of ducklings taking shelter under a parked car. We walk back around the corner to a hotel which is on the opposite end of the street of the first hotel. Courtney goes inside and asks the bellboy. He comes outside and tells us, "Up this way about 100 metres on the left." Of course this is back up the direction we had just come from. So we walk back that way, checking and re-checking every alleyway along it - and where do we end up? Outside where the first hotel was..of course! This is also where the game arcade was. At this point I am thinking the girl out front of it had no idea what i was asking so we just went up and in and had a look for ourselves at what was inside.

Well she was right - no internet - the girl at the top confirmed this also. A random chinese man approached me and asked if he could help; this guy sounded cluier. So we tell him we're looking for internet and he directs us back down the street - the direction we had just come from. How far? Oh about 100 metres, duh!!!

So we've been told 3 times now, it's 100 metres and we have ping-ponged up and down the street like cute little lambs looking for it. So as we head back the third time, we decide stuff it, and check another side road we had already been down. We're now asking people thick and fast. The one from lonely planet doesn't appear in the same spot, but there IS a net cafe here somewhere.....

We ask a dvd shop around the corner - a man comes out and tells us it's back on the street we just came from and around to the right...where the first hotel/game arcade is. We walk back there and back down the street again. Halfway down Courtney asks a girl working in a music shop type place and she gives us the best answer yet: "Walk back down the street(where we entered it originally) to the KFC and walk back this way 100 metres" - which, if what i have described above is clear enough, you will instantly realize this places us practically...where we're standing.

Ok so we just go back down to the corner, waggle our eyebrows at the bellboy as we pass and continue on. We decide to just walk up the next street to it's end because no matter what's down there, it takes us pretty much in the direction we need to return to the hotel anyway.

I see a chinese sign leading to a dark stairway - i see the word 'network'. Courtney whips out the translator, asks for 'internet', she indicates 3 rmb, success! Lonely Planet said 3 rmb per hour and this holds true. So here we are, amongst most of Xi'an's teen population and well, there ends our story.

We're wet and soggy from the rain and tired from walking in unimaginable circles. I feel like I know this local area better now than the back of my hand.

The hotel does provide internet in their business centre but 40 rmb for an hour opposed to 3rmb here is just a disgrace.

We will possibly go and see the Terracotta warriors tomorrow, or perhaps the muslim quarter and the muslim food street. The rain has pretty much washed away our idea of cycling along the city walls but to be honest, this town is so dirty and smoggy I really don't care to see it from the walls - i just do not dig smog at all, it just makes everything look so feral and dreary.

We did swim in the pool yesterday which was quite nice, but being indoors you're not really hot enough for it to be as satisfying as you'd hope. The shower on the other hand is the best we've had since the Pudi Boutique hotel in Shanghai and I swear, that is a joy for us :)

Xi'an is the start and end of the silk road - a city that used to be known for it's colour, swirling silks, dusty sandy air and camel caravans - sadly all we see of it to this point is a dirty, very smoggy city with no real charm whatsoever. This like all our views on China may change tomorrow but so far, we miss what we had in Beijing and eagerly anticipate moving on to Chengdu.