Lamp-posts

At 华清池 （Hua qing chi), the place where 杨贵妃 （Yang Guifei)  bathed. Maybe the plastic bags were there to protect the paper lanterns from getting splashed while concubine Yang bathed :P

A lamp-post that looks like a Chinese knot

In Shangri-La

Flying lamp post

At Shangri-La: I think this design has got something to do with a Tibetan monastery nearby.

More Chinese knots

Art-bins

See at Xi'an City wall. Looks like a city bell.

At Lijiang town

At Pudacuo nature reserve

At Shuhe ancient town

Many of the places we visited had their own signature bins.
A pity we only took pictures of a few.

Xi'an World Horticultural Expo 2011

It was a very pleasant coincidence that the Xi'an World Horticultural Expo 2011 opened a week before we arrived in Xi'an.
I went there on my own while Daan was busy working.

Daan went to the Shanghai World Expo last year, and one of the most memorable events was queueing up 2.5hrs for an exhibit which he finished viewing in 15min. 
We joked about whether the Xi'an Expo would be one of those “不去后悔，去了更后悔" (regret if I don't go, even more regretful after going) experiences.
It turned out, I had no regrets going :)

The venue was specially designed and built for the Expo.
It was huge! It covered a total of 4.18 k㎡. Sentosa is 5k㎡.

Chang'an Tower - specially built for the Expo

One of my favourite gardens. There was only one way through this bamboo forest.

 

 

 

Every once in a while, the path leads to a bridge which brings you to the top of the bamboo forest!

Spotted: Panda among the chrysanthemums

The Chang'an Tower and the Greenhouse (自然馆). Queueing time for these were 2.5hrs and 2hrs respectively. I didn't queue!

The one place I did queue up for (75min), the Creativity Pavillion. 

Worth the wait? Well... at least I queued up for 1 of the 3 big highlights. It was a little like the Science Centre. I was out of there within 20min. I purposely walked slower to make sure it was worth lining up for.

Happy flowers :)

Delphinium grandiflorum （太空大花飞燕草） - pretty!

One of the provincial gardens. There was a Hong Kong garden, a Japan garden, a Sri Lanka garden and a Thailand garden too. I didn't spot a Singapore garden.

The official mascot of the Xi'an Expo, the pomegranate flower. The pomegranate flower is Xi'an's city flower. 

I spent about 9hrs in all the the Expo.
Went away with a sun-tan and many photos.
No regrets!

The ancient city of Xi'an

Our first stop was to the city of西安 (Xi’an). It is the capital of 陕西（Shaanxi）province.

Xi’an was the capital of China in times past, and was known as 长安 (Chang’an) before the Ming Dynasty. 

Xi’an has one of the oldest and best preserved city wall.

The existing wall is 13.7 km in circumference, 12 m in height, and 15–18 m in thickness at the base. It encircles a city of 14 km².

See how thick the wall is! We couldn't fit it in the photo frame!

Daan standing in front of the southern city gate. There's a drawbridge (吊桥） over a moat.

HUGE door to the city. Count the golden dots - it'll always be a square number!

The moat （护城河）around the city

View from the top of the city wall

Sunset from the city wall

The bricks that make up the ancient city wall

Within the city wall, there's a Bell tower and a Drum tower. 

A huge bell is struck at the Bell Tower to indicate dawn, whereas a drum is struck at the drum tower to indicate the end of the day. 

Different drums are sounded to signify the changing seasons too. 

Huge bell

Bell tower

Drum tower