The 8th Wonder of the World

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Hey There

Sorry no photos on this one: there are no PC's with useable USB ports (plus it takes about 30 minutes to upload). Hopefully this will be easier the further south we go.

Anyway. The Terracotta Army. Wow.

Unfortunately all the buildings that surround the site are monstrosities that have been thrown up in the last 20 years and they house tat shops and coffee bars. But once you get in....

For those unaware the army was built 4000 years ago to accompany Emperor Qin to the afterlife. He was the dude who unified the tribes into what we know as China today. There are 3 separate "pits" that have been excavated. If you ever visit go round in reverse order. PIts 2 and 3 are interesting. They house what could be termed the rearguard and are interesting, but pit 1 contains everything that has ever been photograhed (pits 2 and 3 lose all appeal once pit 1 has been seen). The scale is immense. The workmanship immaculate. Worth travelling half way around the world to see just by itself.

The rest of Xi an is equally nice. It is the site of the ancient capital and has even more appeal than Beijing. The city centre is surrounded by walls that have been renovated to allow circumnavigation (yes I know its a big word, but its also a bloody big wall: not Great though). The walls go on for 14km and we walked the lot. It was nice to get out of the hustle and bustle for a couple of hours.

But that was it for Xi an. The clock is ticking and we get to enter Vietnam on 27/3. Now off to the station for a 14 hour train ride to Chengdu to see some Giant Panda's (the guide book terms them charmingly niaive)

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