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Published: June 15th 2009
Day 134
We stumbled off the sleeper train at approximately 7.30am at Xi'an and got taxis to our hotel. Luckily we could check in straight away and get a shower before going for a swift breakfast, this time managing to get pancakes at McDonald's.
Xi'an is one of the ancient capitals of China and was once a walled city. Now the wall separates the old city from the fast growing new parts of the city. Xi'an was the starting point of the silk routes and was the largest city in the world during the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD). Today it is popular with the tourists as it is the closest city to the Terracotta Warriors.
After breakfast we followed Dodo to the East of the wall where we visited a Feng Sui museum before hiring bikes. We spent over an hour cycling the 14kilometres along the wall. The weather was very hot today but we got a breeze while cycling along the wall, occasionally we stopped and took pictures and grabbed refreshments.
In the afternoon we people watched while sitting outside one of the large shopping centres, the outfits people were wearing were very interesting and kept
us entertained for a while.
For dinner we found a restaurant that served spicy Chinese food for only £2 each including beer. We played a few games of poker in our hotel room before going to bed.
10/6
Day 135
Today we did not have any tours planned so we decided to have a full day of sightseeing. We started by visiting the Great Wild Goose Pagoda, a 7 storey tower that stands in the grounds of an old temple. At midday we watched a 20 minute water fountain show that was accompanied by music that was performed in the park. Shaanxi History Museum displayed numerous Chinese periods of history and was our first chance to look at one of the famous terracotta warriors.
After dusk we visited the Bell Tower which stands 36 meters above the central square. It dates back to 1384 and was once used to tell the time. We managed to catch a traditional music performance before heading back to our hotel.
11/6
Day 136
This morning we caught a couple of public buses to take us on the hours journey to the Terracotta Army. There are
3 different pits that have been excavated after the first one was found by a farmer who was digging a well on his land in 1974. The pits were made during the Qin dynasty and were situated near the The First Emperor of Chinas tomb for when he died. The pits sat undiscovered for about 2000 years before being found by accident and then being put in the hands of the government and Chinese archaeologists. Current estimates are that there are over 8000 soldiers, 130 chariots, 520 horses and 150 cavalry horses, most of which still lie undiscovered.
Pit 2 is the largest pit but most of the warriors are damaged or in pieces. The warriors were made out of local clay and are approximately 2 metres high. Pit 3 was smaller and more warriors were on display here. Pit 1 is the most impressive as this is where many of the warriors stand in line, a few hundred on display and work is still continuing to piece broken remnants together for display. Progress is painful as it takes 6 years to construct one warrior.
After a buffet lunch we headed back to Xi'an where we visited the
Drum Tower which is opposite the Bell Tower we visited yesterday.
We caught the next night train at 7.50pm which was to take us overnight to Shanghai.
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Xue
Xue zhongdao
Great Experience
Great Experience and great photoes. Next time you r here, please contact me. I'll show u something different