Sarah and Lydia arrived safely in Guangzhou! / Xi'an crew visited the Xi'an City Wall

(Wednesday evening) After a delay leaving the gate in Xi'an and excessive times on the taxiways both in Xi'an and Guangzhou, Sarah and Lydia are safe at their hotel in Guangzhou.

Steve, Jonathan, Rachel, and Caleb visited the City Wall in Xi'an (an 8-mile wall around the original city of Xi'an, constructed 600 years ago).  The wall is surrounded by a moat and originally had a drawbridge that was closed up every night.

As a fortification, the Xi'an City Wall is much more impressive than the Great Wall.  It is 40-feet wide at the top (wide enough for a 3-lane roadway) and 40-feet tall.

Here is Steve, Jonathan, Rachel, and Caleb on the inside of the north gate of the City Wall.  The building in the background is the main gate tower, which sits on top of the wall directly above the north gate.

Another view of the main gate tower.

A bride and groom were having professional photographs taken at the inner gate.  (Note the groom's posture.)

After the trip to the City Wall, the Xi'an crew had dinner at a local Chinese restaurant.  Rachel and Caleb sat in the window sill after dinner waiting for a personal tour of the kitchen.

The hostess offered us a personal tour of the kitchen.  We had to wear chef hats while in the kitchen (they let us keep the hats).