China: Xian To Shanghai

After a good few days in the immaculate capital of China it was time to visit a place on my dad's bucket list, the city of Xi'an. After a five hour journey on the high speed train it was time to grab a Tsingtao and grab some of the local food. Interestingly enough each place in China has their own unique food and in Xi'an I had found some noodles that I had never seen before.

The next day it was time to go to one of the most famous historical sites in China, the terracotta warriors museum. I have to say it is an absolute pain to get to, I found my way to the main train station to ask the tourist information staff who didn't speak any damn English. They told me there were no buses to get to the museum and I had to get a taxi for a tenner instead. 

Despite this place being quite an amazing place to think about. A literal army of individually sculpted terracotta men and they haven't even excavated the bigger picture. This place feels a little less breathtaking with the amount of tourists that get in your way, I had to fight for my view of the warriors and I got pushed and shoved so much in the main part of the museum. Once you get a good view of the main part and walk round the side it's quite amazing and the museum exhibition part is worth a look. 

Xi'an is also an interesting city to look around, there are walls that surround the city just like Chiang Mai and there is a more lively atmosphere in the streets that you don't see in Beijing. The modern architecture makes me feel like I'm in Düsseldorf as well. 

The next day I went over to the centre of the city where the Goose Pagoda is, I got to look at the newly built buddhist temples. I burnt an incense stick and prayed for Hearts to win the Scottish cup. The Goose Pagoda is an interesting building and the view from the top gives you the idea of how big a city Xi'an is. This building is fairly original and is sadly one of the few buildings in Xi'an that may be authentic. For dinner I had some noodle soup with pieces of bread that you rip up, this along with many other dishes are things you won't see in your local Chinese. 

 After an interesting visit to Xi'an it was time to get back to the train station to embark on a seven hour journey eastward to Shanghai. What to expect from Chinese high speed trains are that they are extremely well done, you can get blue Pepsi from the trolley lady, but the other passengers can be loud and annoying. 

Once I got to Shanghai it was time to get some food, was finally able to find something you can get in a local Chinese. Sometimes Chinese cuisine is as simple as chicken with cashew nuts. It was cup final day, time to hit the pub. Who knew that in Shanghai there'd be a group of Scottish and Irish folks donning their puke-inducing green and white and singing about 1967. When Hearts scored I revealed I was a jumbo all along, however it wasn't meant to be. All I can say about our performance is that we gave it everything even with our best players injured, Hearts played like they wanted it so much more than Celtic ever would.

So what is Shanghai like? To be honest it's about as touristy as New York, London or LA. There's nothing super unique about it. The Shanghai TV tower is an interesting tourist attraction and the view is quite incredible as it's one of the biggest cities in the world. It's more than the tower, there is also the museum about the history of Shanghai in the early 20th century which explains the foreign influence of the city.

Nanjing Road is a very iconic part of Shanghai, but there is nothing special about this place, it's just shops for all sorts. Just like in any other big city you'll find a Lego store, Adidas outlet and all M&Ms world. Nothing too unique on this street except for the food market which is a cool experience. Be sure to pay a visit have some Xinjiang barbecue or spare ribs, grab a beer and indulge in some egg puffs for desert.

The only thing unique to Shanghai are the water towns, the most famous one is Zhujiaojiao, which I didn't make it to because it's too inaccessible with public transport. You can easily go to Qibao ancient town on the tube and it feels like an authentic Chinese experience. It's well worth going for some dim sum on these streets, absolutely delicious! Go visit Qibao to see a nice view of the river, countless shops and places to eat some Chinese food that's actually good.

Another place in Shanghai is the old town, it's very interesting, the buildings look very traditional. I am highly doubtful that these streets are original. Without sugarcoating it, I have to see it is very touristy with countless shops selling off tourist tat and even a Starbucks. The Bund is a five minute walk away and it is much more interesting to look around when it gets dark as it lights up.

In terms of other things to see in Shanghai, the museums are worth looking at, there is the museum of natural history which is very elaborate but very similar to others such as the one in London and the science museum which is very interesting. My view is if you want to visit China, just visiting Shanghai would not satisfy you as it has such an international feel.