Xi'an: The City Walls, Rou Jia Mo, and some other stuff

Each city that we visited in China had its own personality of sorts, and Xi'an was no different. For instance, being dog lovers, we can't help but notice dogs during our travels. I've even included photos of the various dogs we see in various posts, and China was no different. The Missus had already noticed how many people had dogs for pets in Her hometown of QingDao, a sign of growing wealth and prosperity. Most of the pooches we ran into were small, poodles, schnauzers, terriers, and mixes of all of the above. In Xi'an however, folks seemed to enjoy larger dogs, we even walked past a couple of rottweilers during our stay.

 
One thing Xi'an had in common with all the other cities we visited in China was that folks didn't pick up after their dogs. Thus, the Missus's Fifth Uncle's advice of  usually needing "to look six ways, and listen eight..... but nowadays, you need to look seven! Make sure to look straight down to make sure you don't step in dog poop!" Though i'll say that it's easier to spot poop from a German Shepherd than a Chihuahua!

The Missus decided that the morning would be a great time to visit the Xi'an City Walls. Xi'an is one of the few cities in China where the entire city wall still stands and you can circle the inner portion of Xi'an in a good four hours or so. Four hours! We'd be needing some sustenance. But of course this is China so during the "breakfast rush" doorways and windows that are shuttered are oen for business.

 

And a doorway becomes another business opportunity......

 

This guy was frying up Xiar Bing....stuffed flatbread.

 

Which seemed like just the the thing.......

 

These were huge, but very greasy and not very pleasant to eat. They were cheap though, if I recall 2 or 3 RMB.

We'd had an early start and the gates to the city wall weren't open yet, so walked over to the park area outside the wall where we'd enjoyed walking the previous evening. The place was buzzing with folks getting there morning exercise, be it jogging, dance, or Tai Chi:

 

Then it happened....we came across all the exercise equipment...and the Missus just couldn't help it.

 

Some of it seemed odd, like this thingamajig....I'm guessing it loosens your shoulder?

 

I was a little slow on the trigger on this one...right before I took a photo of  the Missus running on these stumps a line of middle aged women ran over the stumps like a little centipede...giggling like school girls.

 

 

The city walls of Xi'an cover a perimeter of 14 kilometers and is 12 meters (about 39 feet or so) high. If you think that's impressive, the original city walls of Chang'an which was what Xi'an was named before the Ming Dynasty covered 83 square kilometers, basically seven times the amount of this wall which was built in 1370. Instead of going into too much detail, I'll just post this photo which you can click on and enlarge.

 

The morning was overcast and the pollution was bothering me a bit, but walking on the nearly empty city wall in crowded Xi'an (population 8.5 million) seemed very strange.....

 

The missus still had the adrenaline going and suddenly told me "I'm going for a run!" And took off.....

 

 Since my foot was still screwed up I just waddled along.

 

 

In some ways, the views from the gate was more interesting than the gate itself.....

 

 

Eventually the Missus had turned around and headed back toward me. As She stopped I could heard a huge amount of noise and chatter coming from below us. I peered over the wall and noticed a large market! I snapped the photo to my right which for some reason is one of my favorites of the trip.

 

As we hit the halfway point we had gotten hungry, at which all attempts at walking the entire wall were aborted...with no complaints by either of us.

 

We took a stroll through the Muslim Quarter and headed back to the area around the Bell Tower. The Missus was looking for one of the places recommended to us....I was really looking forward to another Rou Jia Mo and Fan Ji La Zhi Rou Jia Mo (樊记腊汁肉店) came highly recommended. Rou Jia Mo is often called "Chinese Hamburger" in signs around Xi'an. It is a Shaanxi speciality that is often credited to Muslims, but I've read that this style of eating, in a "Mo" (basically a flat bread like a pita) was started by the Han Chinese with pork as the main meat. All the versions I've had so far had lamb and though I adore lamb, some fatty pork sounded quite good.

 

We found the shop on one of the side streets and though the place really didn't look busy from the outside, there was quite a line inside.

 

While the Missus waited in line, I managed to snag us a table.

 
There are several grades of pork used in the sandwich and the Missus selected two, the cheaper version came in at 4 RMB (about 60 cents), the superior version at 5 RMB (70 cents or so). With such prices the customers ranged from guys in suits to students to working stiffs......

 

The bread wasn't as dense as I expected and was a bit crackly on the exterior. The cheaper one was quite greasy with a good amount of gristle. I was amazed how much grease those simple looking brown paper wraps can absorb! Still it had a very nice pork flavor. The more expensive version was very good....I can only describe the flavor and texture as being between pulled pork and pork confit. It was like the essence of oink cooked in its own fat. But also quite rich and one of these was more than enough to keep me until dinner. Which reminds me, I gotta make pork confit again one of these days when the Missus allows it.....

We really enjoyed our time in Xi'an, but were itching to move on.......

Thanks for reading!

Comments

[kat]

amazing adventure, thanks for sharing!

[Lynnea]

Those pork sandwiches looks really good. I love the simplicity of it, just really good pork inside delicious flat bread.

[Christine]

The xiar bing didn't look very appetizing. It was translucent from the grease! I'm surprised no one got heartburn afterwards.

The pork buns looked quite tasty though. And you can't go wrong when the shop has such diverse group of customers. Thanks for the post!

[Kirk]

Hi Kat - We really enjoyed our time in Xi'an.

Hi Lynnea - Man that pork was good.

Hi Christine - Thanks so much for reading!

[AZ]

I had to Google "pork confit," well hells bells it just carnitas! In my old neighborhood someone owned a copper pot in which they made traditional caritas, and they used to loan the pot out to friends, because I'd see it in the back of a truck passing my house going to someone else's house for a backyard carnitas feast. Man do I miss the smells that used to come out of my old neighborhood!

[CandiRae]

I actually thought that the stuffed flatbread looked good! Or at least the stuffing part looked good!

[Kirk]

Hi AZ - Well, sort of........

Hi CR - Actually, xiar bing was terrible.......but it sure was cheap.