China: Dec. 26

On the night of December 25, we took a train from Beijing to Xian. We slept in a soft sleeper car, so we had beds. Once we arrived in Xian, we spent the day exploring the city. China is full of buildings that are falling down, some abandoned and some not. I thought it was especially like this in Xian. This city was so old and dirty compared to Beijing and Shanghai. I thought the pollution was worse here too. During the day, we went to the Bell and Drum Towers.

There are so many of these scooters everywhere. They always drive on the sidewalks too. I think there must be a lot of incidents of pedestrians getting hit and injured by these scooters.

This is some of the garbage that sits everywhere along the streets and sidewalks of China.

This was the only clean area in Xian. It was the city center. This is a view of the Bell Tower.

This is the Drum Tower. The inside was really cool.

There was a drum demonstration at the Drum Tower. These are held about 3 times a day.

After visiting the Drum and Bell Towers, we wondered through a huge market. The streets were like a maze.

View of the Drum Tower at night