Fulfilling Wishes on Our Must Visit List- Travelling Again!

There are a few things which my husband are I would like to see and do while we are still mobile and are able to travel independently. Having travelled in Asia and Europe for the past few summers, we have decided to travel to these countries in cooler climate - in the autumn months when it will be more comfortable!

  There are a few places which are on our must see list in China, one of which is the Terracotta Warriors. Therefore, with the weather getting cooler, and a 30 day visa free stay allowance for Canadians, we took a direct flight from Toronto and flew to Xi'An, China - a 15 hour flight with 4 hours layover in Hong Kong. Our flight departed at 1 a.m., and we arrived the next day in China. It didn't seem long at all.

  J. came and met us at the airport and we took a cab to our hotel in the old city of Xi'An. Being close to the Old City was convenient as we could go and explore on our own the next morning. There was a mall not too far from our hotel and we went looking for a China Mobile store to buy a SIM card for our cell phones. This gave us an opportunity to do some window shopping in the Paradise Walk Shopping Mall.

I like the shopping mall, very modern, spacious and with many nice shops. I particularly like the idea that there is a whole floor dedicated to children's items - clothes, furniture, books, toys, games, music lessons, and even entertainment for kids etc. A mom can easily do her one stop shopping at the mall and she can get everything she needs for her child!

We met up with J.,and had an early dinner with him. It was easy grabbing a western meal such as a pizza or a hamburger in Xi'An, no problem at all!

After dinner, we walked around to get ourselves familiarized with the neighbourhood and our surrounding. We walked by a green space located under one of the city's highways.

What a clever idea of turning an unattractive dark space into a public park being utiized and enjoyed by the area residents. We saw senior citizens gathering for conversations, for card games and for dancing exercises. The seniors in China seem to have a lot to do to keep them busy and they look happy!

  RT, Xi'An, China, Autumn 2026