Religion Is NOT Banned In China??….Exploring XI'AN Through the Eyes of a Local 🇨🇳 

Hello everyone! Does anyone in Southern China, From Shenzhen all the way to Laos border have any suggestions for a new year party? We plan on being in the South for new year, although we are flexible as its easy to travel anywhere in China

China does not ban religion. China implements a policy of freedom of religious belief, which means people have the freedom to believe in or not to believe in religion. it's all up to individuals.

You guys, ROCK! We love nothing more than to see our foreign friends genuinely enjoying themselves in China! The only way to enjoy China or any other countries is to leave our preconceived ideas and fears about the places that we choose to visit at the gates.

Ludicrous right? Imagine the blatant, horrible lies we've been told since young by our western education. Pure, physical hard facts shows that China never banned religion. If religion was ever banned in China, how'd we explain the existence of centuries old mosques, temples, churches and practices? It's sick how hate was implanted in us at the youngest age possible. Thanks for the wonderful video and do enjoy your time in China discovering what is real for yourselves. Cheers!

hey alan and shannon, i live in shenzhen and would be happy to show u guys around shenzhen, known as the silicon valley of China. Im personally fluent in english as i lived in vancouver for 14 years.

I'm really happy and excited to hear that you plan to spend the Chinese New Year in China. It must be a very special trip for you, spending such a long time in China, celebrating Christmas, New Year, and now the upcoming Chinese New Year. I wish you a wonderful time in China! It would be a huge help to connect with locals online for suggestions. You can also watch videos made by other foreigners in China for reference, as there are many famous foreign bloggers in China.

You guys with your lovely smiles and genuine respect for this beautiful country. I’m OBSESSED with watching you guys trying out fantastic new foods AND your lovely lovely accent! Hooked I am😂

I’m from Scotland,love to watch you both enjoying your time in china!

The guide is right in some sense that the southern dialect like Cantonese is incomprehensible to Northern Chinese but thanks to the tyrant Qin Emperor, he laid a decree that all languages or dialects when written had to be uniform so that even when one speak differently, but when the language is written, it becomes clearer. This also explains why China has a continuous civilisation for thousands of yrs. The written language make a large contribution.

This sounds like a good choice. However, I have a point to remind you that it's very difficult to buy train and high-speed rail tickets, etc., in the early stages of the Spring Festival because the Spring Festival travel rush is the largest human migration on the planet, with nearly 1 billion people moving around. Trains, high-speed rail, airplanes, subways, and buses will be very busy. So please avoid going out during that time, book your tickets in advance to avoid a bad experience, and be prepared for long queues if necessary.

i absolutely love this series and the energy and positivity you guys bring! I hope you guy continue to explore many parts of china!

Hello, welcome to Xi'an. You celebrated the New Year's Eve in 2024, and the Xi'an Bell Tower was truly unbeatable. It's been a long time since you saw such a scene. Xi'an is truly a beautiful and inclusive city, and also one of the birthplaces of Chinese civilization. Where did you go in Xi'an? I can't wait to watch your next video😊

Thanks!

Funny to see some bots claimed you guys were murdered in China, anyway, good video as always.

13:53, Expressed in Chinese as"道法自然"（Dao （Tao） Fa Ziran）。 There were many philosophical schools in ancient China. Laozi's Dao （Tao） is one of them. Laozi's philosophy held that there was an object that was chaotic, boundless, soundless, and integrated, and that existed long before the Chinese creation myth. It is unique, unique, will never change, but flow in all things will never stop, it can be as the world of all things and the universe as the fundamental. We didn't know what it was called, so used the word "Tao" as its name and reluctantly called it "Da". This" Big", is constantly moving, that is to say, it is everywhere, everywhere, through the ages, the eight wildernesses, reach the extreme distance （after the creation of all things） and return to the original nature. Because the Tao is so endless, both the creation of the universe, and make all things back to the Tao, so said a lot, and obey the Tao of Heaven, Earth, people are also very big. The universe has four"Big", and man is one of them. Man follows the law of the Earth, the Earth imitates the sky, the sky takes the Tao as the basis of operation, and the Tao comes naturally.

Really enjoyed your China series and I'm glad to hear that you will be spending Chinese New Year in the southern China. If you have Shenzhen on your itinerary, feel free to get in touch and I'd be happy to offer any help and advice I can. And as otherone mentioned before, hopefully you'll be avoiding the peak passenger times.

Xian is an ancient capital thousands of years ago. you can walk upstair to the upper floor of the fortress, check out the pagoda, and teracatta warriors

It is a very culture city, very interesting... Didnt see much of the food adventure in this videos. The city wall is impressive. I cannot wait to see more clips from you guys. More locals joining will be good too, as the interaction is very interesting.

You are smiling faces with discerning eyes, very good! We are all afraid that the cold will make you sick

love you guys ! so genuine and lovely couple ! you guys need to upload more! can't wait to see the next one !

It's so interesting to re-visit Xi'an through your perspectives, so different, but so interesting. and I really like your observations, in your own way. and your accent is unbeatable!

If you are going to be in China that long until around Chinese New Year (that's what I seem to gather), I suggest that you do most of the popular tourist destinations before the start of the week-long holiday where domestic tourists will be out in full force, cheeks to jowls. Then in that week smack into the chinese new year, then go off beaten paths less frequented by tourists, maybe smaller towns and cities. If you are going south (seems like you are), then Yunnan and Guangxi(absolutely many beautiful landscapes to explore) highly recommend, and the usual Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Gulanyu Island in Xiamen (also the Tulou). Since you have now already gone as far as Xi'an in Lanzhou, might as well go farther west to Qinghai, Xinjiang (more central asian/middle eastern like cuisines there) to experience something different.

Every vlogger entered China had become a food vlogger.

Thank you so much for your great video

So cool to have one of your followers take you around. Must feel proud to have such reach and support.

The place I grow up! Hope you like the city!

好开心❤更新视频了

Love your accent, your genuineness, your open minded attitude!

the couplets in front of doors in China represents the ideologies of a household or an establishment. it is usually about hoping for good life and good weather(very important for farmers), in this temple, it says, the way of universe is to follow the way of nature and study the truth about earth and heaven, the (eternal) justice and moral cultivates everything throughout history. this is a temple for a 7th century atheist who was very vocal against Buddhism.

Fantastic video guys. Yes, Xian is also my favourite city in China, it's such a good mix of ancient and modern architecture right next to eachother - A bit like Edinburgh. I'm also so glad you guys got to see the Muslim Quarters - The media constantly tries to brainwash us about China. Keep up the great content. From your fellow Scot living in Hong Kong. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇭🇰🇨🇳

welcome to China, i work overtime, it's unexpectedly that I am catching up with your new video released, im so excited,I cant wait

My home town, so happy to see you guys visiting there,hope you guy's have good time there,got show more delicious food, i miss the food so much!

Great video! Reminds me to visit Xi'an again!

lo❤ve you two so so much, keep up with the good work!

Hope you two enjoy the tour in China~

Love your video so much❤

I've been waiting for your new video😁

YOU ARE BACK ! ! !

Happy New Year guys. That burger made me so hungry. Looked banging.

I'm glad to hear that you are going to the cities in the south to visit the Chinese New Year. In fact, since the first few videos, I have been worried that your warm clothes may not be enough, especially a new round of cold wave may come in these days. If you want to visit beautiful places, I recommend Yunnan and Guangxi. If you want to visit places with heavy New Year flavors, Nanning( Guangxi), Foshan( Guangdong), Quanzhou( Fujian), and Haikou( Hainan) are all good. I hope it will be helpful to you.

Thanks for the video! What an amazing experience you had in Xi'an! Xi'an is my hometown. Haven't been back for years. Watching your video makes me miss this great city a lot.

Love your videos, y'all are very open-minded and always bring a good vibe, cheers!

Wow, Love to hear more about Xian ! I am planning a trip ther in April.

Just a kind reminder: Try set your frame rate to 25 to avoid light flickering. Love your channel and contents!! Keep them coming please!

Wow, looks great! You guys are lucky visiting those places in Xi'an!! I crave for Xi'an 肉夹馍！！

Really enjoyed the video. Hopefully you guys can venture longer in China

Finally! Would there be videos of your guys' visits to those famous tourists attractions?

I love that your followers are showing you around, so cute!

Time seems to have passed for a long time, has been waiting for your video update.I hope you have a good time in China

Ur Xian vid is elaborate (thks to Mindy) and so beautiful! I really like it.

Excellent work 🎉🎉🎉

im from Beijing, was there last summer with my family! food was amazing! summer time has a lot more people too! good that you guys experienced it!

You guys have traveled more of China than I have as someone who grew up there. Can’t wait to get a chance to visit again!

Good stuff, thanks for show us the amazing buildings and architecture.

Great video! Love it!

You guys are smart.🎉🎉❤

She's right. It's not easy to translate those poetic verses in Chinese to English. It may even sound ridiculous to attempt to literally translate it.

Awww miss u guys sooo much BUT love n so so proud of ur journey/fun and respect for all the countries u visit - cant wait for u to show me about when i visit u guys - plus love u finally like ice cream alan finally !!!! lol xx

so lovely to see you guys after 2 weeks, wonderful stuff!! Best wishes in Shenzhen!! 💯💯💯💪💪💪

i'm so glad you are enjoying your stay in Xi'an, I highly recommend biking on top of the city wall; it's an experience like no other because you can't get it anywhere else.

I'm in Guangzhou and Shenzhen.I'm happy to be your guide when you travel in Guangzhou and Shenzhen.Btw,I studied in Scotland(Stirling) 10 years ago.I love Scotland!

My god being waiting for ur newest post like forever. Thought u guys ate too much & ended up in a hospital or something

I suggest this route: Shenzhen - Guangzhou - Guilin - via Kunming - Dali - Lijiang - via Xishuangbanna - Laos, but please be aware of busy traffic when travelling near Chinese new year. Tickets in some routes should be booked 15 days in advanced.

Xi'an is the ancient capital of China where China's First Emperor Qin Shi Huang/秦始皇 of the Qin Dynasty's throne sits. If you look at a map of China you will see Xi'an is precisely in the center of the country hence the Chinese meaning of 中国 (Zhōngguó) or Middle Country or the more commonly English translation Middle Kingdom pretty amazing that they could precisely pinpoint it in the center before satellites in 210BCE !

Great video ❤

A bit to add to the dialects. Linguistically speaking (in the academic sense), Mandarin, Shanghainese, and Cantonese etc are classified as languages under the Chinese language family based on their low level of mutual intelligibility (~35% for Mandarin vs Cantonese according to one study) and historical development. Cantonese and Mandarin branched off of Middle Chinese (~12th century) historically and developed in parallel. However, the Chinese word 方言 (local speech) is assigned the English translation "dialect". This is also due to local languages not having a standard written form, thus "speech". Mandarin (or Guan Chinese) was and still is the lingua franca of all of China (and surrounding countries during some time in history). So technically, most literate Han Chinese (and ancient surrounding nations under Sino-influence) know 2 languages: their local language to speak and Standard Mandarin nowadays (and Classical Chinese before end of imperial China 1912) to write. This situation is sort of like Standard Arabic vs local dialects.

hey a new adventure vlog! Hope you two are having a blast where you are :D

You Guys are Amazing, please catch up with ''The Hutchinsons'' they from UK also, wish I was with you, shannon you inspire so many of my younger family members

I hope you have the time to see the Terracotta Warriors. It'd be a shame to miss it when you're in Xian.

Happy New Year to you both loving couple

Omg Xian, one of my favorite cities in the world!! Roujiamo (Chinese 🍔) is delicious glad you guys enjoyed it! 😋

Very peaceful and honest video!!!

You will NEVER regret it once ou are in Harbin..it is a trip of a lifetime for both of you..

I love your video very much! And I recommend you to go to Harbin recently. A grand ice sculpture festival is being held there. There are many huge buildings made of ice, illuminated with colorful lights. They can only be seen during this season~🥰

Finally updated from you two guys . Good vlogs you make . Still in china go to Shenzhen now ? or you will be in Shenzhen in chinese new year next FEB 9th .

13:53 Follow Nature's Way (Dao Fa Zi Ran), meaning to follow the Tao, connects to the natural laws and principles of the universe as they permeate all things, including health, business, relationships, society, family, and all of life. Tao refers to the Source, the Creator, Oneness, and the Way of All Life. It was a name reluctantly given by Lao Zi after his observation of universe and nature, because no written words can accurately describe this phenomena.

Both of you from Scotland? studied in Dundee before, the accent is so nice to my ears. will support your youtube channel, good luck. mate

I am really enjoying your accents!

Finally.🎉

I am hungry after seeing the video with "wow" followed by every bite on the Chinese bugger.

Hello, the Chinese translation you asked is like, "The Tao studies and follows the way the nature works; Moral leads everyone and everything from ancient times to now", just for your reference. As for dialects, Southern dialects are so different from each other. I can't understand the dialect about 200km away myself, let alone northern people.

that was a tiger token or tally, two halves make a whole tiger. a general has one half, the emperor or king has the other half. when the king give command, his messenger would bring his half to the troop, and the general would verify the token to see if they fit. it combined （合）, they are the same (同)， which is the word "contract" in chinese, 合同。

Welcome to Asia!! Nice to hear the Scouse accent along the oriental streets!!

China has about 25 million Muslims and 40,000 mosques.

Too bad it's so cold, when it's warm people go up the wall and rent a bike to ride around the whole thing which takes a while since it's so big. Also did you go to Datang Everbright City? Although it's more of a commercial tourist destination, you will see a lot of people dressed up in traditional chinese clothing walking around and there are performances every few steps.

Hey guys, GREAT video! I lived in Guangzhou but now temporarily work in Slough. Probably I won't recommend Guangzhou and Shenzhen since they are just the similar metropolises like Shanghai, unless you are interested in the traditional cantonese food 'Dim Sum'. If you want to see something more exotic, maybe go to Suzhou, Shaoxing and Lijiang to check those ancient towns. By the way, find a local to show you around could be good and help to avoid overpaying in there. Cheers!

I am addicted to the Muslim burgers after having them in Xi’an. The street food there was incredible. Thanks for sharing your experiences.

Congratulation on your 10,000 subscribers🎉

Really great choice on the Chinese burger. 0:46 That’s one of my favorite one.

肉夹馍 or Chinese burger is one of my favorites. You guys are trying all the real local food. Kudos!

You can go to the newly-built Qin Han museum, it's newly constructed couple months earlier, the buildings are magnificent.

I'm a Chinese student who has been studing in Italy for a year and half now, Italians do have some pretty nice food but what I miss the most about China is the street food

Welcome to China，Wish you a happy trip😛

Those food at the tourist sites in Xi'an are much more expensive than normal ones. I once followed a local and got some nice food in some random restaurant. I would definately recommend anyone that has friend there to explore the city with them.

welcome to my hometown, as a local Xi'an citizen, I can told you religion absolutely not banned in China, we have 60,000 Muslim living in the food street area, we have The Great Mosque of Xi'an is one of the largest premodern mosques in China, the mosque was first built in the year 742 AD during the Tang dynasty, I highly recommend you to check it out, in Xi'an we have Church ～of course Buddhism is the most popular religious be cause of culture influence.

4:37, such tiger-shaped plate was the sign for military orders in anchiet china, and not in original use today, but you can find its pattern in many other products besides ice cream, say public transportation card, a xi'an speciality, they also have imperial jade seal, very cool, or fridge magnet.

Thanks for your video telling part of China story, please kindly mentions anything you would like to see improvement. I will bet it will be improve on your next return trip. China strife to improve quality of life for her people and the rest of the world. ✌️❤️🇨🇳👏👏

U guys should travel to harbin if u got enough time🎉given that harbin is the most popular destination this winter. The ice city is really out of this world!❤I dare say it's the best ice and snow festival in the whole world.

Highly recommend Xinjiang for your next Vlog🎉

13:50 I believe it's the southwest gate of Xi'an, It is a temple of Taoism. It says “道法自然参天地，德育万物贯古今” means "The law of Taoism refer to the nature, astronomy and geography, and its virtue nurtures all things through the ages."