Xian - Terra Cotta Warriors

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We arrived in Xian at 7:00am and booked a hotel and a tour through a woman that solicited us at the train station! Brian was very skeptical saying that he and Pepe had been burned on mre than one occasion from these types of people. We got in their air conditioned van and they took us to their hotel and it wasn't bad for $25 USD per night. The only thing I didn't like is that you had to shower over the toilet in the middle of the bathroom...no stall or bathtub, just the hand held shower and the tiled bathroom! But overall it wasn't that bad. Our tour guide once again met us in the lobby and we headed out to see the Terra Cotta Warriors. We stopped at the Terra Cotta warrior factory on the way to see how they made the little terra cotta figurine souvenirs. We didn't buy any! They they brought us to some temple that we took a tram to the top of a mountain to see. Nothing special...bring us to the warriors! We finally got there and man is it HOT! We hired an English speaking guide that took us in and told us the history. They have unearthed about 8,000 soldiers in 3 pits and there are hundreds of pits that are still underground. These warriors were created to protect the Emperors mausoleum. I had seen these before, but it was Brian's first time. There had been two buildings added since I'd been there in 1996. I bought a book on the history of the warriors that was signed by the little old man that founded the site in 1974 while digging a well.

That night we went exploring and walked to the Muslim Quarter. There is an area of shops and restaurants and a LONG market down an alleyway. Brian and I walked down and bargained for a few trinkets and souvenirs. We also had dinner at a restaurant, our requirements were air conditioning and an English menu! We ordered some pickled cucumber dish for Brian, but when it showed up it was bitter melon! Brian didn't like it, and tried to tell the waiter that it wasn't what he ordered, but there was a language barrier and we ended up paying for it. We also ordered stir fried local vegetables, which turned out to be baby bok choy. It was good! I tried to stay with the vegetables, afraid that meat might not agree with me. We also ordered a chicken and mushroom soup that was really tasty and some dumplings. I don't know what did it, but my stomach wasn't quite right after that meal! We had to run into the local McDonalds where Brian asured me there would be Western toilets and toilet paper. Well at least there was toilet paper...it was a squatter! :o(

We also went to the mall before heading back to the hotel. It was HUGE! It looked like San Francisco Center at Union Square, but each floor was a different department. One whole floor each for shoes, then another for womens, mens, electronics, children, furniture. There must have been 8 floors. It was quite impressive, since our Macy's is only 2 stories tall!

We went back to the hotel to pack and hit the hay for our flight to Guilin the next morning.

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