📍 Xi’an Old Quarter, China
🗓 May 2, 2025 – Labour Day Golden Week
We thought we were smart.
The plan was perfect: get out of Xi’an early on May 1st—just before China’s infamous Labour Day crowd tsunamikicked in. Catch the 8:00 AM high-speed train to a quieter city, Yuncheng (运城市, Yùnchéng) in Shanxi province, where a peaceful homestay awaited us. No chaos. No crowds. Just a slow two-day escape.
But travel, like life, doesn’t always go to plan.
❌ Mayday on May 1st – The Missed Train
We missed our train.
We stood at Xi’an North HSR Station (西安北站, Xī’ān Běizhàn), stunned.
All outbound seats were gone.
And this wasn’t just a last-minute panic—tickets for May 1st had already sold out weeks in advance.
Here’s something many first-time travelers to China might not know:
🎫 Train tickets (火车票, huǒchē piào) are released only one week before the travel date, and during peak domestic travel periods (国内旅游高峰期, guónèi lǚyóu gāofēng qī) like Labour Day or National Day, you need to be lightning-fast to book online the moment they drop.
We missed our booking window. Then we missed the train.
Just like that—we were stranded in Xi’an during the busiest travel week in China.
Elaine looked at me with wide eyes. I looked back, brain frozen. For a couple of hours, I was blank.
Then I rebooted.
🔄 Recovery Mode: Rebooking & Rethinking
I cancelled our homestay in Yuncheng, paid a small penalty, and rebooked our train for two days later. That alone was a small win.
But now we faced a new problem:
Where do we stay in Xi’an during Golden Week?
Hotels were nearly full. Prices had tripled. The few listings left were going fast. Thankfully, apps like Trip.com made things easier. I grabbed a last-minute deal at a boutique hotel near the City Wall (城墙, chéngqiáng)—a beautiful spot, but at three times our usual homestay budget.
That night, I looked at Elaine and said:
“We’re staying. But we’re not wasting our time. Tomorrow, we get up at 6 AM. We’ll beat the crowd. And we’ll get that breakfast.”
🌄 Early Morning Hope
On May 2nd, we slipped out into the Old Quarter just as the city was waking up.
The air was crisp. The streets were calm. For a moment, it felt like we had outsmarted the Golden Week madness.
We took our time, scanning the street food options. That’s when we saw it.
🔥 The Beef Pie That Almost Got Us
There it was—the famous 酥皮牛肉馅饼 (sūpí niúròu xiànbǐng), crispy beef stuffed pies being pan-fried fresh at a roadside stall. The aunty behind the wok was flipping them like a pro. The smell—smoky, savory, buttery—was impossible to resist.
Elaine’s eyes lit up. We hovered near the queue. It was already long, but manageable.
So we stood. We waited.
And that hesitation… was our mistake.
🌊 The Tsunami Hits
Suddenly, the entire street filled—minute by minute, shoulder by shoulder.
Tour groups began flooding in from both ends. Lines doubled. Then tripled. Voices rose. Children cried. The street turned from breakfast alley into a packed corridor of chaos.
Elaine looked worried.
I scanned for exits.
“We’re leaving. Now. Forget the beef pie,” I told her. “If we wait, we might not even be able to move.”
🥣 Plan B: Simpler, Smarter, Safer
We bolted from the crowd and found a smaller, quieter stall nearby. Elaine got in line while I stood lookout.
We ordered:
- Two cups of soy milk (豆浆, dòujiāng)
- One freshly fried deep-fried dough stick (油条, yóutiáo)
- And one roujiamo (肉夹馍, ròujiāmó)—steamed flatbread stuffed with savory shredded pork
Quick. Easy. Hot. And safe.
Elaine held our breakfast bags like they were treasure.
We didn’t get the 酥皮牛肉馅饼, but we got something far more valuable—our peace of mind.
🧱 Retreat to Peace – The City Wall Escape
We walked back to our hotel slowly, hugging the quiet alleyways near the southern City Wall (南城墙, nán chéngqiáng).
Our boutique stay, tucked right beside the ancient grey bricks, was an oasis compared to the madness behind us.
Inside, we unwrapped our breakfast. Warm soy milk. Crispy yóutiáo. Juicy roujiamo.
We sat by the window as the sun lit up the ancient stones. Below, the chaos rumbled on. But we? We were safe. Together. And eating well.
Later, we strolled beside the wall, ducked into a quiet café, and just sat—Elaine with hot chocolate, me with coffee. Nothing fancy. Just quiet joy.
💡 What Elaine Learned That Morning
That morning wasn’t just about breakfast. It was about being ready for the unexpected.
Travel doesn’t always go to plan (旅行不总是按计划进行, lǚxíng bù zǒng shì àn jìhuà jìnxíng).
We missed our train. Got stuck. Nearly lost in a crowd. But we found our way back. And Elaine got to see it all—not as a crisis, but as a challenge to adapt.
It’s one of those real-life lessons I want her to carry forward:
When plans fail, you don’t freeze. You think. You pivot. You move.
And you’ll be okay.
🎥 Coming Soon: The Crowd Tsunami in Real Time
We caught it all on video—the swelling crowd, the long queues, the almost panic at the beef pie stall.
If you’ve never been in China during Golden Week, you’ll soon see what it really feels like.
This wasn’t just breakfast. It was survival.
(Stay tuned—video dropping soon!)
📸 Elaine’s Victory Walk
Elaine walking back with breakfast in hand, bathed in morning light, the City Wall rising beside her. Calm, collected, and victorious.
🥢 What We Ate (and What We Gave Up)
- ✔️ 豆浆 (dòujiāng) – soy milk, warm and nutty
- ✔️ 油条 (yóutiáo) – crispy deep-fried dough
- ✔️ 肉夹馍 (ròujiāmó) – the iconic Xi’an “burger”
- ❌ 酥皮牛肉馅饼 (sūpí niúròu xiànbǐng) – a dream… abandoned for safety’s sake
✨ Final Thoughts
This was supposed to be a simple breakfast story.
Instead, it became a tale of missed trains, breakfast drama, quick pivots, and small victories.
We came to Xi’an for a taste of something local.
And left that breakfast with something even richer:
a shared memory, a quiet triumph, and a travel lesson that will last Elaine a lifetime.
