On our own 9/20/07

9/20/07 On our own
Today Sherry is taking the other families to tour their SWI about an hour away. We could go, but we have really pushed the girls, so we think a quieter day is in order. We decide to see the city wall on our own. We get a cab to the South wall, which Sherry has told us is the nicest section, no problem. Looking up at the imposing walls, we realize we neglected to ask how you get up on top. We walk through the gate and wander the park between the wall and surrounding canal. No stairs in sight. We do attract a group of ladies, who are fascinated with the girls, but no speaka da English. I begin to understand the plight of foreign tourists in the US. We back track and manage through gestures to ask and have conveyed that we somehow have to make our way across 4 lanes of speeding traffic to the base of the gate tower. We see a large group of tourists crossing and meet them half way to use as blockers. A group of Chinese pedestrians decide to use our kids as blockers so we pass in a large mob, effectively slowing traffic close to a stop.
This is the right place. We can buy 20 or 40 Yuan tickets. We opt for the 40’s though we have no idea what perks this offers, it’s all in Chinese.
The wall is one of the few intact left in China. It forms a 9-mile rectangle, built of rammed earth, quick lime and glutinous rice, which must be stickier than I thought, rising 39 feet high and 59 feet thick. We enter through a tunnel into an inner courtyard, and climb the step to the top, dragging the stroller behind. The view is amazing, with the skyscrapers of modern Xi’an surrounding the broad skywalk of the wall and its frequent guard towers. You can rent a bike to tour the wall or ride a jitney. We sit in the shade of the south gate tower and eat lunch. It now houses, surprise, a gift shop. Jamie and I take turns circling the area to look around. I go to the second floor of the guard tower. Looking down I hear loud wails. Jamie has told Lela no sucker if she doesn’t eat her sandwich. As I return I hear more loud wails. Now he has tried to pry a bag of trail mix out of Lian’s hands. We decide to walk down to the next guard tower. The jitney service is there, but we fail to negotiate a price that doesn’t feel like highway robbery (they want 80 RMB for a one way trip to the East gate and our cab to the wall only cost 8 RMB) and pack it in. Grabbing a cab back is easy. Lian gets her nap and Lela gets pool time.
Jamie has found a side street near the hotel with many restaurants, so we decide to try that. There are several restaurants, but one is packed, clearly the place to be. We enter and are seated, and presented with a menu. No pictures, no translation. OK. They assign us the head waitress, who is trying hard but doesn’t speak English. I finally tow her around the restaurant pointing at plates. We manage to convey with the help of arm waving and our restaurant cheat sheet that we want, but she finally cuts of off indicating that is enough food.
What arrives is delicious – a plate of huge broiled shrimp, vegetable dumplings (2 plates, since I must have pointed twice), a salad of crisp julienned vegetable, celery? in a wine vinegar dressing, noodles with a dark sauce – might be beans, and a very spicy but fabulous eggplant dish. We acquire a box of strawberry nectar for the girls and beer and tea for us. Lian shovels in everything but the eggplant, wielding her chopsticks with a strange at the end grip that seems to work for her. Lela eats shrimp and noodles, and even ventures a dumpling. My hands are orange from peeling shrimp. Lela starts to fade and goes to sit slumped in the stroller. The bill is a staggering 140 RMB, a little less than $20 bucks. Best meal in China so far.