TOP5 THINGS YOU DIDN’T KNOW YOU COULD DO IN XI’AN

Article By XIANEASE

If you’re sticking around for the hot summer months, you’re probably looking for some ways to keep busy. So, what are your plans? Walk in the park? Day drinking? Maybe climb a mountain? Don’t be so basic—there’s more to this town than meets the eye. These five activities will provide a nice break from your normal day-off routine of “eat, sleep, drink, repeat” and give you a little something to brag about on your WeChat moments.

5 Paintball

Firearms may be illegal in China, but paintball guns certainly are not. This one is going to require just a tiny bit of organization on the part of you and your people, but if you can wrangle enough friends and acquaintances into the arena, it’ll be a day you don’t easily forget. As a bonus, the paintball arenas in town correctly assume that you’ve got no gear so they’ll get you all kitted out and ready to go. Just be aware while organizing that if you’re using the Chinese slang term for these kinds of war games, “CS”, it can also refer to laser tag. Still fun, but not quite as visceral and satisfying as letting the paint fly.

4 Trampoline Park

Ah, trampolines: the suburban United States’ most extreme recreational activity after the lawn dart. But what if instead of one trampoline you had a whole field of them, lined with those awesome-looking foam pits that you always see skateboarders jumping into when they practice? Then, my friends, you have a trampoline park. Jump as high as you can, do some flips, or just spend the afternoon pretending you’re a kangaroo; the world is your bouncy oyster.

3 Bungee Jumping

So, let’s say that, hypothetically, you’ve jumped so much that you’re a jump hipster—the “up” part is just so passé. You want to jump down and do it fast. You, sir or madam, are ready for the bungee. Just like back home, you get hooked up by the ankles and then you take the leap. If you thought trampolines had some bounce, just wait until you hit the bottom of that bungee cord.

2 Archery

Properly wielding a bow and arrow is not an easy task. The people over at Marvel and DC Comics would have you believe it’s a super power to be able to do it well. Doesn’t matter if you’re not Hawkeye or the Green Arrow—just a little bit of instruction (which you’ll likely receive no matter what, so that you don’t maim anyone) will get you loosing arrows from your bow in no time. Accuracy will take some practice though, so just go easy until you start to get the hang of it, okay Legolas?

1 Escape the Room

We’re all, of course, super diligent workers who never waste time at work playing games. On the off chance you are one of those office slackers, there’s a decent chance you’ve killed some time playing one of those Flash games where you solve twisty, tricky puzzles to escape from a room. If you’re a fan of those, I have fantastic news! You can now pay for the privilege of being locked in a room to solve puzzles and, hopefully, escape. These aren’t jigsaw puzzles though—lateral thinking, code breaking, and a bit of exploring are the only things that’ll get you out of your temporary prison. However, you should prepare yourself: it’s more than likely that you’ll need a person in the group who is a superstar in speaking and reading Chinese, as the games are made with the much larger and more lucrative Chinese market in mind. Wouldn’t be much fun to pay to play the game and then just end up twiddling your thumbs for an hour, would it?