Arrived in Xian early, sometime before 6, + set off as a first priority to find somewhere to stay. We’d been given the name of a place, + directions to it, so off we plodded, along the deserted street. It was nothing more than a bath-house, but had cheap rooms to let. That proved a no-go, however, with the woman behind the counter refusing even to speak to us – rude cow. So, our no 1 site proving no good, we went off to no 2, the Liberation Hotel, back opposite the stn. There we met some fellow travellers who had been attempting to stay there, but with no luck, for the best they had been offered was a double room at Y38. Ridiculous, of course, particularly when we all knew of people who had stayed there in a dorm recently for Y6 each. So, obeying one of the precepts of the budget traveller in China, we sat down + waited for the situation to alter. We had been warned we would run into this situation, but so far we must have been lucky, for this was the first time we had encountered it.
After an hour or 2, + several more trips to the desk, we were still getting nowhere, so decided to take a look at the other possibilities in town. First there was a long bus ride to the south of town to a hotel we had heard of. This looked, briefly, more helpful, but with much fuss but firm politeness, they had told us they did not accept foreign guests, + re-directed us to the Xian Hotel, a 20 min walk back towards town. This too was no good, being even further beyond our budget than the Liberation, so it was the bus again to the Bell Tower Hotel, the one the Xian reckoned as the cheapest, right in the centre of town. This too was reputed to have a dorm, but again this was most emphatically denied. But their offer was at least an improvement: Y14 per person for beds in a 4-bed room. We weren’t prepared to accept this yet, however – it was more than twice as much as we had yet paid in China, + Val at least was convinced the Liberation would capitulate if we persisted. We thought it best to resume our attack a little later, however, so we left our bags in the stn luggage office + went for our own small walking-tour around town.
As usual, shopping played its part in our excursion – we are always on the look-out for goodies to keep in store. We visited the Friendship Store which, surprisingly, was barren of such articles, but elsewhere we did find instant coffee + dried milk, + – a real find – jars of remarkably good strawberry jam. On a less prosaic note, we did try to visit the museum, but weren’t able to find it. Our excursion finished in the dumpling house – Xian is famous for them – where we gorged ourselves on dumplings + beer. The beer I thought expensive at 75 fen a jug, but it was still affordable, + we had 3. It was only when we left that I discovered there was a 50 fen refund on each jug, restoring the beer itself to its normal price.
After that, however, we returned once more to the Liberation Hotel, + sat + waited + sat + waited. I would have given in, I think, but the more time passed, the stubborner Val became, especially when she discerned what she took for signs of weakness in the various receptionists – she was quite determined to win. But even when, late at night, she had made a last attempt + had been firmly, finally turned down, she thought we might be able to spend the night in the lobby. I was considerably more doubtful, tho’ I recognise how easy it is to be wise after the event, but we did indeed doze in the chairs for an hour or so. However, the awakening, when it came, was rude indeed, with the chief receptionist + 2 burly male attendants standing over us. It was unnecessary, of course, for we had no intention of resisting, but she had no way of knowing that. We left without a word.
It was very late indeed by Chinese standards – about 11.30. We were in time to see the last bus disappearing down the road, so we walked to the nearest hotel, the Renmin, one we hadn’t yet tried, a huge Soviet-style people’s palace. To our relief + surprise there were still people about, + we got beds at Y14 apiece, payable in advance (+ in FECs, at that.) The room turned out to be large + well-equipped, with 4 beds, tho’ we were the only occupants. It had attached bathroom, bath + shower with hot water, telephone, colour TV, air-con, soft beds… much, much more, in fact, than we needed or wanted. Most infuriatingly of all, we could have booked in here first thing this morning, + been able to take advantage of its facilities all day. Instead, + for the same exorbitant sum, we would have it for a few short hours. We wouldn’t even be able to take advantage of it in the morning, for we had booked on a tour, + would have to be out by 6.30. It had been a hideous day, compounded of the excess of Xian + our own stubbornness. A foul day, our worst in China, worse, in its way than the whole day we’d spent on the train. It was good to crawl into bed + call an end to it, just before midnight.
Possibly our most miserable day in China, with large portions of it spent stubbornly on a sofa, waiting for the hotel staff to give in, as we had been assured by the guide book that they would, eventually. Except that they seem to have read the same book by now, and were determined not to be outwaited by us. So, instead of sorting out a hotel and enjoying the rest of the day, it was all pretty miserable. And in the end we did have to pay what was demanded of us.
