Porcelain camel from China

As can be expected of a town that once marked the starting point of the famed Silk Road from China, the historical museums in Xi’an have a good number of Tang Dynasty porcelain camels on display. But should you want a replica of a braying camel to carry home, remember they don’t come cheap in the museum shop: the price tag is RMB 980 (Rs 8,500) for the cheapest one. If you settle for a slightly smaller and less pedigreed camel, you will find plenty of them in the souvenir shops of the old Muslim Quarter, where the earliest mosques in China were constructed during the Tang Dynasty around 700AD. The Tang-style polychrome camel in porcelain cost RMB 40 (Rs 350) after bargaining (down from RMB 80), and the cute one in walnut-tree wood cost RMB 35 (Rs 305).