The modern city of Xi'an :-)

I quite liked the design of some of the modern buildings which had a flavour of original Chinese design.



A view of the city walls....the modern, updated version so that the traffic flows :-)



...also lit up at night :-)


A view of the bell tower from our hostel window. We were in a great place to watch all the comings and goings of the city centre.

The bell tower also lit up at night.


Strings of kites for sale can be seen at most bell towers and all other tourist spots in all major cities :-) They are really amazing to see as they snake up high in the sky.


We were walking one night in the city and came across a large group of people dancing in the street. It was not a performance for tourists rather they were ordinary people that came together and danced as their hobby. Some of them had fans, some were in traditional costume and the music that played was also traditional. It reminded us of the people in the park in Beijing that got together to participate in various activities in order to wind down from a week of hard work.



Whilst out walking one day we also spotted this bike with a rather interesting fork made out of rebar :-)


Busy streets and much construction.


The people in the cities of China are as varied as they are in the UK.



These women or seamstresses sat on the streets all day. For a fee they would stitch hems and make repairs to fabric. Occasionally they would shout something at passersby, I wondered whether they were shouting "Oi scruffy, your trousers are too long, I can make them fit" :-)


Public transport - You could take a trike :-)


Some of the trikes were covered.


Flatbed rickshaws moved goods around.


Taxi!


Police cars fitted with cameras. Contender eliminated :-)


Brave cyclists crossing the traffic at the bell tower roundabout. Later we were crazy enough to join in the fun :-)