Xi’an, Xi’an, Xi’an!
I liked it when I first arrived and I like it now. We can complain about this and that, I probably do, I certainly have, but I enjoy living here. I read somewhere recently someone bemoaning the lack of running opportunities here in Xi’an, or more specifically, the negatives about actually putting foot to tarmac in this fair city. They are, for sure, not far wrong in their appraisal; however, air pollution or not, regular bike riding and somewhat irregular running have allowed me to run up the 4 flights of stairs to my flat without a breath out of place and that’s not something I’ve always been able to do. I will now of course, after making such a statement, contract one horrible lung infection or other but hey ho! It is, a little, like riding these motorbike taxis here; I like them, I like it, it feels great but it could of course be the death of me. I will live that chance, so to speak. ps. If you’ve never hung out or been for a run at Shi Da’s campus/running track, it comes recommended.
Xi’an, Xi’an, Xi’an!
This is a Chinese city with a great history but a history that is not always overly obvious to the average person as they go about their daily business. However, the daily business that goes on is most certainly of a Chinese persuasion: the street food, the restaurants, the forms of communication, the guanxi, the cleanliness or not, the manners and habits, the internalization, the calm amongst the chaos, the consideration within inconsiderate acts and the language. I will state for emphasis and in an attempt to convince myself, that I do live and enjoy living what is basically, a relatively, almost, somewhat Chinese life but that I am increasingly, within this great city, allowed the opportunity to enjoy a few home grown comforts.
Xi’an, Xi’an, Xi’an!
It just gets better. Over the last few years and months I have increasingly, when the need has arisen, been able to disappear into a doesn’t-feel-quite-like-being-in-China coffee shop or two. I have been able to ride on smoother roads, see the other side of the road on a greater number of days each year, I have occasionally visited a shop stocked with imported goods (not actually imported as they never made it out of the country to be imported back) and increasingly have had the opportunity to visit well-landscaped gardens, pagoda parks and Qu Jiang lakes. And, only this week, I have been able to indulge in freshly baked French/ Austrian breads and cheesecakes, peruse an art gallery and bookshop that would not be out of place on the South Bank in London and discover that Xi’an now has a Symphony Hall, offering the possibility of listening to world renowned orchestras in concert.
Oh Xi’an!
* The art gallery centre and symphony hall are located in the new area known as 大唐不夜城 (da4 tang2 bu2 ye4 cheng2), the Great Tang City that Never Sleeps or, as it is otherwise labelled, the Happy Mall. It lies directly south of the Big Goose Pagoda. The French breads and cakes are to be found at C’est La Vie on No. 23 Gaoxing Lu.
Tags: Xi'an
西安