Trip Update: Pingyao to Xi'an

Hello again!

We rested in Xi'an (陕西·西安) for several days as we've been getting sick! We departed Pingyao 平遥 over a week ago and sprinted our way towards ancient China's capital city. We arrived in Xi'an on 14/4/18 after cycling a further 550 km. We had our longest day covering ~150-170 km because the rain forecast was not welcomed. We cycled in mild drizzle for 60 km the day arriving in Xi'an.

Putting things into perspective, the estimated route to Portugal is 12,000 km, which means we have completed ~10%! Ahead of schedule means extra time for sightseeing

Getting Sick

We both got sick in Xi'an, luckily not at the same time. It was definitely from eating something but you can't avoid eating, that's the most fun part of the bike trip. Pheng had a mild dose of tummy ache so a day in bed got him back to normal. Matt had something the body did not agree with, so as soon as he heard news of an uprising in the gastronomic region, we went straight home. This time there was no public display of food poisoning (if you're curious ask Matt for the full scoop 😉).

The Foreigners have breached the Gate

Xi'an is famous for its standing wall surrounding the ancient city. Nowadays you can pay to go up and walk (or cycle) the entire wall. We did this last visit so didn't feel the need to do it again.

The Bell Tower sits at the center of the city. It's also a massive roundabout which is pretty fun (and hectic) to cycle around

Muslim District

There's quite a population of Muslim Chinese and their district is a must see. Lots of food vendors offering BBQ octopus and lambs, everything on a kebab, roast walnuts, oodles and oodles of noodles, and make-your-own fruit salad where it gets prepared for you for ￥8.5/斤* ($3.4/kg)

※ In China their unit pricing is per Jin (斤) which works out exactly 0.5 kg. We calculate every time we buy fruit because we have to double the price to convert it to kilograms, then to New Zealand dollars.