Foot massage + Xi'an city wall

xi'an city wall is one of the best preserved city walls in all of china. today it only encompasses the city centre where the ancient city used to be. The southern part of the wall is the most picturesque and well restored, since the majority of the traffic coming into the centre flows in from the southern suburbs.

up on the wall theres also a few battlements and towers. some have been preserved while some have been turned into amenities for the tourists! You can navigate around the entire circumference on foot which takes a few hours, or you can rent out single or double bikes, pay for a rickshaw or motorized mini train ride. I decided to bike it, and luckily i could still remember how to ride since my times in cambridge almost 4 years ago! The tyres had almost no air in them but it was probably a good thing in the end since the brick surface was so rough. At times i had to ride with my butt lifted up off the seat, but I was still pretty sore afterwards!

yes theres my very sexy bike.

the entire city is laid out in blocks, so it's easy to navigate around xi'an if you know which direction you're facing. The city wall has 4 gates, each at a directional compass point.

at the time i went up there they were setting up decorations and displays for the chinese new year. the chinese seem to love these lit up displays, and i must say they look pretty cool. all the props have different coloured fabrics wrapped around a metal wire frame, with the lights inside.

One afternoon after class the school organized an excursion for us students to go to a foot massage parlour. I don't think it's a xi'an specialty, since they also have them everywhere in bj. It's mainly a foot massage but they also do a bit on your upper body. I think depending on where you go you can get all sorts of massage variations, from pure foot to whole body.

You can usually choose your masseuse, and if you like them you can request the same one whenever you come. Obviously since this was our first time there we let our guide choose for us. All the rooms have tv's, and nice comfy arm chairs that recline all the way back. Theres also a menu you can order snacks and drinks from while u'r getting massaged.

The first thing they get you to do is dunk your feet in a bucket of hot water. At the time we went it was still pretty cold in xi'an and my feet were constantly numb, so this in itself was already therapeutic! they then open a sachet full of medicinal herbs and throw it into the bucket with your feet. Looking down at the bucket reminded me of 2 minute instant noodles.
Good thing they do this first since i was feeling a little awkward at having someone have to massage my grotty feet. When the do the foot massage they periodically rubb in some special moisturiser and although most of it is done with their own hands they do sometimes employ a wooden nobby implement to massage. Sebastion the german student was with me when we went, and i felt sorry for the girl massaging his feet since his are so massive!
the price is pretty cheap by western standards (70 yuan or about 17 aus dollars) , but i can't say it's the best massage i've ever had. thailand still wins there. maybe it's because here you keep your clothes on when they do the upper body massage. just doesn't feel the same wtih all those layers of clothes in the way.