西安：一条墙，两千年

A lot of people who come to Xi'an go to see the Terracotta Army first.

I didn't go on my first day.

I went to the city wall first.

My friend said: you should know how big this city is first, and then look at the rest.

We bought tickets and walked up onto the wall.

The wall is very wide.

Up on top you can walk, and you can ride a bike.

I asked: how long is this wall?

My friend said: thirteen point seven kilometres.

Riding takes more than an hour.

We rode bikes.

On the left was the inside of the wall; on the right was the outside.

Inside there are lots of old houses and small streets.

Outside there are lots of tall towers and big roads.

I said: one wall, two cities.

My friend said: right. But it wasn't like that before.

Before, there was nothing outside the wall.

I asked: how old is this wall?

She said: this wall was built more than six hundred years ago.

But Xi'an is much older than the wall.

More than a thousand years ago, this place was called Chang'an.

Back then, Chang'an was the capital of China.

It was also one of the largest cities in the world.

I said: more than a thousand years ago?

She said: yes. Back then, a lot of foreigners lived in Chang'an.

They came from the west, and travelled a very long way.

There was desert on the road, and mountains.

I said: what was that road called?

She said: today we call it the Silk Road.

Chang'an was the eastern end of that road.

I said: so Xi'an has always had foreigners.

She said: right. This isn't a new thing.

In the afternoon, we went to the Muslim Quarter.

There were a lot of people on the street, and a lot of shops.

There was lamb, noodles, flatbread, and very sweet things.

My friend said: most people here are Hui.

Their families came more than a thousand years ago.

I said: more than a thousand years?

She said: yes. Some were merchants, some were soldiers.

Later they settled down here.

I saw a man making noodles.

He pulled the dough long, and then longer.

The noodles looked like a very long thread in his hands.

The people beside him kept watching.

We ate yangrou paomo.

First you break the flatbread into very small pieces, and then the shop pours in the soup.

I broke bread for a long time.

My friend laughed and said: take your time.

This meal was never meant to be fast.

The next day, we went to see the Terracotta Army.

It's outside Xi'an; the drive takes an hour.

When we got there, I stood above and looked down.

There were a great many soldiers below.

Every soldier's face is different.

I said: when were these made?

My friend said: more than two thousand years ago.

I said: who found them?

She said: in 1974, some farmers were digging a well here.

They wanted to find water, and they found this.

I said: they were looking for water?

She said: yes.

The most famous things are often found when nobody is looking for them.

In the evening, we went back to the foot of the wall.

There were lights on the wall.

I thought about riding that morning.

One wall, holding two thousand years together.

Inside is the old city, outside is the new city.

Both of them are Xi'an.

When you go to a very old city, do you want to see the most famous place first, or ride around it once and find out how big it is?