September 15, 2026
Xi'An, China has been on my must do list, for awhile. The story of the Terracotta Army has fascinated me, since I first heard it. What I didn't know too much about, was the actual City of Xi'An and the walled inner City that remains today. It was built from 1370 to 1378 during the Ming dynasty on top of the older Tang dynasty foundations. There are 9 miles of City walls, they are 39' high, 45' to 50' wide at the top and 55' to 60' at the base. There are four main gate towers and the only draw bridge restored is at the South Gate. There are 98 ramparts, watchtowers, battlements and a wide surrounding moat. It one of the oldest and best preserved fortifications in China.
Below is the Bell Tower, which is typically located near the Drum Tower. In ancient times, they had no clocks, so the Bell Tower would send out a ringing to denote 6 am each day, and the Drum Tower would gong each day at 6pm.
By reading local reviews, I found us a yummy roast duck (Peking pancake style) restaurant for dinner, that was just a minute walk from Hotel. Mary Ann had never had and Sherrie & I both split with her. Bob & Sarah added these cute little chick yubi (purple sweet potato) rolls to the mix and the sauted lettuce with garlic was delicious too!
After our Panda watching we went to Erling Park for some good city views. Green space in Chongqing is rare, it is truly a concrete jungle with a few planters and trees smattered in along the sidewalks.
The 21 Pandas at the Chongqing Zoo is t he largest grouping of them of anywhere we have traveled in China. We were all excited to see them and were up and on the road by 7am. They are super popular and morning is the supposedly the best time to see them active. It was another hot and steamy day, but less brutal than yesterday.
Chongqing known as the mountain city of China, has some very unique architecture. Space is used very carefully and they maximize every square foot or meter. High rises dominate the skyline and mixed use space is the norm - hotel, office, residential and retail spaces are all combined. Some even have trains that go right through them because it works best with the topography, see Liziba station below.