Xian Trip 2016 - Day 4 - Xian City Wall (South Gate) Yongning Part 2- Shopping Alley

After touring the city wall (we did not go the full round of the city wall), we went to a nearby shopping alley.

Nice little alley tucked in a corner near the south gate of the city wall.

The little alley is known as Shu Yuan Men (书院门), a well-known ancient-style street, is located by the ancient city wall, behind the Forest of Steles. Numerous local arts and crafts including replicas of antiques, paintings and paper-cuts are sold on the crowded street all year round. It is a place that most tourists like to come to on their first visit to Xi’an.

I came across this litle cart selling mostling treasure boxes which were handpainted, love the paintings on the boxes. Each box comes with different design. Bought one after some bargaining , starting price was 230 yuan but i wanted 100 yuan which of course she refused hahaha. Then she quoted 180 yuan and after much bargaining, the final price is 150 yuan, could get lower if I just walked away, I guess but too lazy to bargain more, since I liked it so much, just settle for 150 yuan.

Had to handcarry and not check in when I board the plane cause I was worried the mirror would crack. A little heavy to carry but all worth the trouble cause I love the box so much.

Hawker selling some local food, spotted some kind of fried worms, not for the weak stomach hahaha.

Zhu Xi (Chinese: 朱熹, October 18, 1130 – April 23, 1200) was a Song dynasty Confucian scholar who was the leading figure of the School of Principle and the most influential rationalist Neo-Confucian in China. His contributions to Chinese philosophy including his assigning special significance to the Analects, the Mencius, the Great Learning, and the Doctrine of the Mean (the Four Books), his emphasis on the investigation of things, and the synthesis of all fundamental Confucian concepts, formed the basis of Chinese bureaucracy and government for over 700 years. He has been called the second most influential thinker in Chinese history, after Confucius himself. Read more from source.

Confucius is the most famous ancient figure, need no introduction.

Confucius is traditionally credited with having authored or edited many of the Chinese classic texts including all of the Five Classics, but modern scholars are cautious of attributing specific assertions to Confucius himself. Aphorisms concerning his teachings were compiled in the Analects, but only many years after his death.

Confucius's principles had a basis in common Chinese tradition and belief. He championed strong family loyalty, ancestor worship, respect of elders by their children and of husbands by their wives. He also recommended family as a basis for ideal government. He espoused the well-known principle "Do not do to others what you do not want done to yourself", the Golden Rule. Read more from source.

Mencius was an itinerant Chinese philosopher and sage, and one of the principal interpreters of Confucianism. Supposedly, he was a pupil of Confucius' grandson, Zisi. Like Confucius, according to legend, he travelled throughout China for forty years to offer advice to rulers for reform.[7] During the Warring States period (403–221 BC), Mencius served as an official and scholar at the Jixia Academy in the State of Qi (1046 BC to 221 BC) from 319 to 312 BC. He expressed his filial devotion when he took three years leave of absence from his official duties for Qi to mourn his mother's death. Disappointed at his failure to effect changes in his contemporary world, he retired from public life.

Mencius's mother is often held up as an exemplary female figure in Chinese culture. One of the most famous traditional Chinese four-character idioms is 孟母三遷 (mèng mǔ sān qiān; literal translation: "Mencius's mother, three moves").

This saying refers to the legend that Mencius's mother moved houses three times before finding a location that she felt was suitable for the child's upbringing. As an expression, the idiom refers to the importance of finding the proper environment for raising children. Read more from source.