We had a great culinary day in Xian. For those that know me well, you know that this was right up my alley. We started with a traditional hot pot lunch. Basically, it is the original version of fondue. We each got out own hot pot which is a bubbling brew of chicken stock. The table was layered with various proteins, vegetables, and noodles. Trying to use chop sticks, we wrestle with our food of choice and cooked it in the hot pot (like the dry tofu noodle below). We each made our own dipping sauce with an array of ingredients. Traditionally, the core of the sauce is fermented tofu sauce, sesame paste, and coriander. From here, you can elect to add hot chili oil, garlic, soy sauce, etc…Once finish cooking, dip in sauce and enjoy. The kids liked cracking an egg in the hot pot the best.

This evening, we had an 18 course dumpling meal followed by a performance of traditional song/dance of one of the eight ruling dynasties that made Xian the capital of China. Because it was the capital city, it was fortified in the late 1300’s with a city wall. Today, it is the only remaining fulling intact city wall in the world. It stretches over nine miles. To hasten our examination, we cruised on top of the wall on tandem bikes. Yes, it was quite bumpy and I probably shouldn’t have taken a selfie (below) – especially with Ansley on the back. However, I am here the write about it and Ansley is safely in her bed. Best of all, the picture turned out quite well.

During the day, we toured an art gallery and learned about Chinese calligraphy. There are over 100,000 character. Our guide told us the average person can write roughly 5-10k. The girls were able to learn the technique and had their names drawn for them. Interestingly, Ansley’s (below) name translated in to “peaceful, gentle, beautiful” with beautiful being the same character of her Chinese birth name. Pretty cool coincidence!

Tomorrow, we visit the terra cotta warriors. If you are familiar with them, I encourage you to look it up. It is pretty amazing. The adventure extends to staying in a local farmers house in the countryside tomorrow evening. While there, we will learn how to make dumplings. Our lodging will be quite primitive compared to the nice hotel rooms thus far. We are all a little nervous I think. I doubt they have wifi so please excuse my absence tomorrow.

I feel like I am only able to share such a small amount of our experience with you. There seems to be little time in the evenings and too much needed sleep to prepare for the next day. Please excuse my tired typing and poor descriptions. We hope that each of you are well.

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