China, Day 15. Xi'an: Muslim Market, Folk Art and Mongolian Hot Pot

We walked around the Muslim Market in Xi'an. We learned that the origins of the Chinese Muslim community date back to the people who came here via the Silk Road. Our guide told us that the Muslim people in this area have their own dialect and speak a mix of Chinese and Arabic. The Market is known for its food.

 

(Goats' hooves are a popular item.)

 

(Deep fried squid.)

 

(Pounding candy.)

 

(Pulling taffy.)

 

(Jellyfish are sold as pets. They die after a few days.)

 

 

(Sharpening knives.)

We were so excited to find cotton candy flowers! They were a top item on our food bucket list (so we had to buy them even though the girls had ice cream cones in their hands)!

 

We also saw the Drum Tower and Bell Tower nearby.

After the market, we stopped at an art gallery to learn about different types of Chinese art.

 

(Papercutting is done with a picture in your mind - not a sketch.)

 

 (A popular mobile toy for kids made out of donkey hide.)

We then flew to Chengdu, Sichuan. On the way, our guide talked about the practice of foot binding. He said that other than peasant farmers, each girl used to have her feet bound. If a girl did not have her feet bound, no one would marry her. Mao stopped this practice in 1949. Our guide said that he saw his grandmother's feet once and her toes were permanently curled under the rest of her feet. His grandmother's feet were bound from the ages of 4 1/2 to 16. She cried every night when her mother wrapped her feet. Her father felt bad for her so he would unwrap them when her mother wasn't looking at night, and then re-wrap them during the day. His grandmother couldn't walk or play.

He also said that his mother was born in 1944 and her feet were wrapped for five years until the practice was forbidden. According to our guide, her feet will never be normal, yet his mother feels "very lucky that it was for a short period of time."

It was late when we arrived in Chengdu, so we went straight to dinner. It was Saturday night and the Mongolian hot pot restaurant was hopping! It was full of loud, raucous groups enjoying their meals together. Sichuan is known for spicy food and that it was!

 

 

 

There was an inner savory broth pot and a much larger pot outside of very spicy broth. Our guide told us to be careful because if we ate even one peppercorn our mouths would be numb for a full day. So we made sure to brush them off before eating! Items to cook in the broths included quail eggs, mutton, lotus root, lettuce stalks, spam, beef, mushrooms, potatoes and much more. We were each given a bowl of sesame oil and we could add garlic, cilantro and other condiments to it for dipping after cooking. It was such a fun experience.

We checked into our hotel, the Tibet Hotel, which is apparently administered by Tibet. Our room is unique and beautiful! We were given necklaces in our room to "ward off vexation and protect from worry."

There is a yak in the lobby. You can write your wish and tie it onto it.

We see the pandas tomorrow!