Right then, after the relative tranquility of a few days in a less populated area, although still a city of 5 million people which is madness, it is time to start with the most recognisable tourist sights in China and the first one is in Xi’an, population 13 million.

Terracotta Warriors

Unfortunately it is Golden Week and to make matters worse it is also a Saturday but this is how the timing has fallen so we just have to deal with it. We booked the earliest guided tour available, 9am, thinking that might mean we avoid the busiest time and biggest crowds.

It did not! The worst tourist experience of our lives.

After 2 hours 20 minutes of queueing and slowly shuffling towards Pit 1 which houses the bulk of the warriors we had eyes on them for about 2 minutes. I say queueing but it was more like being in the Royal Shrovetide Football match that is played in Ashbourne, Derbyshire where two sides form a massive scrum and just push and pull each other around for 8 hours.

Pit 1 is a huge warehouse that would easily house two football pitches but shuffling along the raised platform around the wall to get the occasional glimpse of statues at ground level was not enjoyable. To the surprise of everyone else in our group we handed back the audio headset and left the tour. The headset had been pretty pointless anyway due to the background noise of people shouting in Chinese as they got separated from their group/family or had their toes trod on, plus maintaining your position and 3 centimetres of personal space took so much concentration that I had no capacity to take in what the guide was saying even if I had been able to hear it clearly. At least I understand the scale now so I will watch a documentary and get a better view.

Apparently the daily capacity for the site had been increased from 65,000 to 80,000 for the holidays but it seemed without any staggering of entry times. Nobody who was there that day could have enjoyed it but maybe this is what holidays are like in a country of 1.4 billion people when most of the country has the same week off and they all holiday in China.

Vape warning for anyone addicted

Vaping in China is very much discouraged by the government and the only vapes you can buy legally are tobacco flavour, all other flavours are banned. In Hong Kong it was even more strict with all forms of vaping being illegal.

We were surprised to find someone openly selling flavoured vapes on a bridge over a main road. A brave sales tactic I would say in China particularly given the amount of cameras everywhere.

Malls and dressing up

The SAGA International Shopping mall in Xi’an has China’s longest indoor escalator (who knew someone was measuring them all?) and an indoor waterfall. It was here we started seeing youngsters wandering around dressed as anime characters but not taking photos of themselves, unlike the thousands of women and girls in traditional outfits who were.

Internet restrictions

On Sunday we tried to find a sports bar to watch the Bahrain grand prix as Pip got hooked after watching Drive to Survive. Despite Google and maps confidently directing us to one it turned out that it had long since closed down.

It is easy to burn through data in China as many common western sites such as BBC, Google, YouTube, Netflix, Tiktok and even LinkedIn are banned, restricted or have chosen to exit the China market so are therefore unavailable on WiFi. We are using international esims so we can still access everything and you can use a VPN if you download before you arrive, but I must have chosen poorly as it was still glitchy.

Relaxing in China

There are very few bars or pubs although there are quite a few craft beer places, but as they only sell beer they were not much use to Pip from a gluten free perspective. Her eagle eye did spot a wine bar down a side street as we were walking along Defu Lane mid afternoon, so all the Chinese people walking past were treated to the sight of two westerners sat on deckchairs in an alley by a Christmas tree with a bottle of wine. We are not sure why they had a Christmas tree outside with unusual decorations but we couldn’t stay long so were only able to add one.

It seems that evenings in China are mainly spent just ambling along and eating snacks. I suppose if the vast majority of people live in apartments, with not much space, and have long, difficult and possibly manic commutes in crowded cities it might be preferable to spend more time outdoors going at a slower pace.

We tried to leave on 5th October but Golden Week stopped us again as there was not a single train ticket available out of Xi’an, so we added two more nights at our homestay in the Muslim quarter. This was a great place to use as a base, nice atmosphere and more food places than you could ever try, plus great value. Obviously no beer or wine though.

Public order and control

China is known for public order but even so we were gobsmacked when exiting Joy City mall near the big wild goose pagoda on our way to Datang Everbright City, a purpose built 2km Tang Dynasty themed pedestrian street (think Las Ramblas in Barcelona but on a much bigger scale and with lots more neon, and a lot less noise and atmosphere).

Our first thought was that there had been a fight, protest or bomb scare even though all those things seemed unlikely. There were loads of police everywhere, some carrying riot shields, multiple police riot vans and buses were parked and a scattering of military in armoured vehicles. We asked a couple of police officers if something had happened to warrant this much police and military presence, while also checking if it was OK to ask such a question. After two efforts the only reply we got was “thank you for coming to China for tourism.”

Turns out this was the normal level of policing. The very important task all of these security personnel were undertaking was ensuring that the large throng of families and couples all walked the same way down one side of the street and then back the other side. It seemed massively over the top to us and intimidating to our western senses but none of the locals batted an eyelid. In fact one guy we asked about it proudly boasted that China has the best public security in the world.

China spends a similar amount on domestic security (police, state security, domestic surveillance, jails and the People’s Armed Police) as it does on national defence (military), sometimes exceeding it. Not a surprise that China has very low crime rates but it does feel a bit oppressive.

We have not heard a single emergency service siren in China which is strange as with so many people, even with very low crime, you would expect at least a high number of ambulances just for normal medical emergencies. Maybe emergency health services are not available to all?

As an example of public control, there is a strict 3 hour rule for online gaming in China for anyone under 18. This means they can only play online games between 8pm and 9pm on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays. It is enforced by making game companies link all user accounts to state run identity databases and there are fines or licence revocations if they fail to properly police and enforce the limits.

Why are foreigners in China still a novelty?

Only c11% of people in China have a valid passport (that is still 160 million people mind you) and ownership is concentrated amongst urban residents, younger generations and higher income individuals. For comparison, 86.5% of people in the UK hold a valid passport. That means 89% of people in China have never left the country.

China has not always made visiting the country easy but in February 2026 it introduced a free 30 day visa to residents of some countries as part of measures to increase tourism.

Even in a city of 13 million we were still a novelty based on the number of stares and discreet photos or videos we spotted being taken of us, but the reserved nature of most people meant that very few engaged with us. To encourage interaction we tried our usual trick of buying wrapped sweets and lollipops to offer to people as we walk along smiling but the reactions that produced ranged from horror, panic, wariness and confusion to the occasional reciprocating smile and brief conversation.

English is taught in schools but they rarely get to practice due to the lack of opportunity to travel abroad and the relatively small number of tourists. In some groups just having one of them pluck up the courage to say hello to us as we passed was enough to send the rest into giggles and animated chatter. Once people passed the hello barrier it usually only took about 30 seconds before they asked for a photo with us.

During holiday weeks people from more rural areas visit the cities and then come across these westerners that they would never see in their everyday lives, hence the discreet pictures, video, chatter and wariness. Sometimes just saying “Ni hǎo” (hello) when people are staring at us seems to blow their minds. Of course if they say anything back to us in Chinese we are scuppered as we don’t have much more than hello.

Pingyao Ancient City

After 5 days in a large city we needed somewhere smaller before heading to Beijing so we got off the train at Pingyao and stayed within the walls of the ancient city. We arrived on the last day of Golden week so it was still fairly busy but the architecture, age and structure of the place was interesting. Once again the main activity seemed to be gentle strolling past restaurants, snack nurseries and souvenir shops.

As you would probably expect, China has a lot of Chinese lanterns. They are everywhere, particularly during holiday times, and they are often red, just like the Chinese flag which is also on display everywhere.

A product we hope does not catch on

Pingyao was the first time we stayed somewhere that only provided disposable towels. Now I know I am bigger than your average Chinese person, and probably hairier too (bar my head) but these things are like drying yourself with a sheet of Plenty kitchen roll and trust me, one sheet is not Plenty. As an experience I would describe it as neither efficient or pleasant and I hope not to do it again.

And finally……a Kindle update

If you read the previous post you might remember that Pip left her Kindle on the train when we got off at Fenghuang. With great kindness, help and effort from Ni Nan Yang, the manager at Snowy & Sunny Hotel it was found by train staff in Liuzhou, sent back on the train to Fenghuang, collected by the hotel and then couriered to our accomodation in Xi’an. In the five days since it was left behind it covered over 2,000 kilometres and the cost of the courier part of the journey was not much more than a first class stamp at just £2.30.

Thank you again Ni Nan Yang, you went above and beyond excellent customer service and we are truly grateful.

What do you think, would we have got it back if this event happened in the UK? I like to think so but……

Next stop – Beijing