With the sound of the train whistle, Chang'an City was just a stone's throw away.

I boarded the train yesterday afternoon and arrived in Chang'an at 10 a.m. the next day.

As soon as you step out of the station exit, you can hear lively hawking. Vendors holding signs and soliciting customers swarm in and greet passengers in broken Mandarin.

"Let's go see the Terracotta Warriors, five yuan per person, let's go right away, let's go right away."

"It's three yuan per person to go to the history museum, and you can just go up and leave."

Anyone going to Mount Hua?

"Ten yuan per person for a double room!"

The young man grabbed Xia Jianguo's arm. "Brother, where do we go? My car, please! It's very cheap."

"No need, no need." Xia Jianguo, dragging his luggage, helped Li Chunmei out of the station exit.

Li Chunmei held her daughter's hand tightly, afraid that the child might disappear.

"Thank you, but no need!"

"Thank you, but I won't go!"

Everyone stood in the square in front of the train station, looking around at this unfamiliar city that was both ancient and new.

There are many tourist buses in the square, making it very convenient to catch a bus to any attraction.

Sun Erni complained, "Chang'an is great in every way, except that taxis are so hard to find, there are three-wheeled motorcycles everywhere."

"There are taxis over there!" Li Qing pointed to the opposite side of the road, where four taxis were waiting for passengers.

Upon seeing the taxi, everyone quickly dragged their luggage over.

Xia Jianguo crouched slightly. "Master, are there any hotels near the Bell Tower and Drum Tower? Any decent ones?"

After thinking for a moment, the taxi driver said, "Yes, there is a newly opened four-star hotel over there. The environment is very nice, but the price is expensive."

Xia Jianguo pointed to the two taxis behind him and asked, "Could you tell the two taxi drivers behind you the address?"

"No, okay!" The taxi driver realized that these were tourists and switched from his local dialect to Mandarin.

After agreeing on a location with the other two taxi drivers, everyone got into a taxi and left the bustling Chang'an Railway Station.

Xia Minmin looked back at Chang'an Railway Station, which looked the same as it had more than ten years ago.

"You guys came here for fun, right? What do you say? You absolutely have to go to the Terracotta Army! The museum is also very crowded. The Forest of Steles is worth visiting. The Bell Tower, the City Wall, the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, and the Drum Tower are all worth seeing. And lastly, you absolutely must go to Mount Hua! Don't bother going to the other places; they're all rip-offs."

Xia Minmin suppressed a laugh as she looked at the driver, gesturing wildly as she introduced the various attractions in Chang'an City.

"You absolutely must try mutton stew with bread, meatball hot and sour soup, steamed rice cake, biangbiang noodles, spicy steamed buns, and gourd chicken. You can find all of these around the Bell Tower and Drum Tower area. Since you're staying there, you can go out and eat at the night market in the evening."

Xia Minmin felt that taxi drivers everywhere were very talkative, able to name all sorts of good restaurants. The taxi driver she met in Beijing was the same; he recommended all the delicious restaurants.

"The hotel you are staying at is near the Bell Tower and Drum Tower. It's very close to any attraction except the Terracotta Warriors. It takes about 40 minutes by car from the city to get to the Terracotta Warriors."

Xia Minmin pressed on, "What good food is there near the Terracotta Army?"

"You definitely have to try the mutton soup! You came at the wrong time. If you come in October, the persimmons near the Terracotta Warriors are delicious! They're a unique variety from our area, and it's said they've been cultivated for over a thousand years."

Li Chunmei, who loved persimmons, immediately became interested, "Are they as delicious as you say?"

"Our fire crystal persimmons have very thin skin and no seeds. Once the persimmons have softened, the skin can be easily peeled off, and you can eat them directly from the stem."

In her previous life, Xia Minmin never encountered a good time to eat fire crystal persimmons. Later, she watched a TV series and became interested in fire crystal persimmons, but unfortunately, she never had the chance to try them.

"Do you peel persimmons when you eat them here? Where I'm from, we cut a hole in the middle of the persimmon and eat it with a spoon."

"Yes, this is the best way to eat fire crystal persimmons. Some people even eat them with a straw."

When we arrived near the Bell Tower and Drum Tower, the driver briefly pointed out the location of the food street.

We arrived at the hotel shortly after. From outside, we could see the Drum Tower. Located in the city center, the night view must be beautiful.

We booked five rooms at the hotel, and for convenience, we arranged for all the front desks to be on the same floor.

Xia Minmin still slept in the same room as Li Qing and quickly packed her luggage.

thump thump thump…

Xia Minmin opened the door, and everyone was ready, standing in the corridor waiting for Xia Minmin and Li Qing.

Li Chunmei smoothed the fine strands of hair on her daughter's forehead. "Are you all ready? Let's go have lunch early."

"I'm all done. Sister Qing is packing her backpack." Xia Minmin was carrying a crossbody bag, and also holding a hat, a mask, and a shirt in her hand.

"I'm all better now."

The restaurant for lunch was recommended by the taxi driver; it was near the Bell Tower, and afterwards we could visit the Bell Tower and Drum Tower.

The taxi driver recommended gourd chicken, hot and sour tripe soup, lily crispy fish, five blessings, and braised pork knuckle.

Grandpa Xia ate the braised pork knuckle and said, "This meat is really good. It's stewed until very tender and juicy, and it's fatty but not greasy."

Xia Minmin nodded. She doesn't usually like to eat fatty meat, but she could eat this fatty meat without feeling greasy at all.

Xia Minmin had been looking forward to trying the gourd chicken for a long time. There are several options for gourd chicken here, but without a doubt, you must choose the free-range chicken. Although it is more expensive, the taste is still very good. "The skin is crispy and the meat is very tender and juicy."

After leaving the hotel, we strolled around the Bell Tower and Drum Tower. It is said that these two towers were built during the reign of Emperor Hongwu of the Ming Dynasty. I didn't expect them to still be so magnificent and spectacular after more than 600 years. They truly deserve to be called the Morning Bell and Evening Drum Tower. It's a pity that the giant drum from back then has long since disappeared.

Grandma Xia said, "Xiaomin, come over and help your grandpa and me take a picture. We'll take another one tonight. Our driver said it looks especially beautiful under the lights at night."

After searching for a long time, everyone finally found the best spot to photograph the Bell Tower and Drum Tower. Both towers look best when photographed from the northeast. The family took turns taking photos from this angle.

No one expected that taking photos would take up an entire afternoon.

Not far from the Drum Tower is the snack street, where there are so many kinds of snacks.

The group was eating steamed rice cakes when they passed a small stir-fried bread soup shop. They were attracted by the aroma coming from inside and stopped in their tracks.

Xia Minmin said, "How about this one?"

"Um."

Upon entering the store, each person has a large bowl in front of them and takes a piece of bread to break into pieces.

After ordering, the waiter gave each person a bowl and two pieces of steamed bun, saying, "Tear them into smaller pieces, the smaller they are, the more flavorful they will be."

I took my bowl, found a large table, and sat down. I tried to break the bread like the people next to me. It took me an hour to finish my dinner.

Xia Minmin rubbed her thumb. "It's so hard to eat a steamed bun in Chang'an! My nails are sore from bending them."

“Who says otherwise? I suspect I’ll starve to death here,” Li Qing said.

After going through so much trouble to eat this stir-fried bread soup, Xia Minmin felt it was all worth it.