Blogs from Xi'an, Shaanxi, China, Asia - page 93

11:00am, Shuyuan Youth Hostel, Xi'an I did not plan on doing too much walking today. I knew i had to hike a Hua Shan mountain later tonight so i basically hung out at the hostel wathich some dvd's, and buying flashlight, batteries and some snicker bars. I did my laundry, went to the supermarket behind the hostel, walked to the nearest camera store to burn my pictures into a cd, and went to get some food at the muslim quarters. I got back at about 3pm, got ready and left the hostel at 4:00pm, Shuyuan Youth Hostel, Xi'an I am glad Mart decided to come along and hike with me. I had met him the day before in the hostel. Mart Fields works as english teacher here in China and he is from South Carolina. I ... read more

8:00am, Shuyuan International Youth Hostel Wow, this is going to be a great day. Although i was warned by the other people from the hostel not to expect too much from the terracotta warriors, i was overly optimistic. History had always been one of my interest and the terracotta warriors date back 240 BC. So it was like a piece straight out of history. I quickly took my bath and waited for the tour bus outside my hostel. There were 8 other people with me. All mat salleh. Americans, canadians, french. new zealanders and australians. We left the hostel at 9:30 and headed towards the terracotta factory. 10:30am, The Terracotta Replica Factory. I forgot to charge my camera. What a bummer. But i managed to take some photos from a fellow travellers camera. The terracotta replica ... read more

Well, I made it to Xian tonight, where I will be visiting the Terra Cotta Clay Warrior museum. I made a REALLY good decision and decided to fly instead of taking the night train. My 5 star hotel is right in the middle of a kind of scary slum - I think this will be a good time to catch up on sleep and some reading! Other than a tour to see the clay warriors, I don't know how much I will be leaving the hotel, but it will be nice to take a little bit of a break. On the other hand, I am really looking forward to leaving China and going to Chiang Mai, Thailand on Saturday morning.... read more

while Xian is most famous for the discovery of the Terra Cotta warriors, the town has much more to offer visitors. From the airport, our first stop was at the city wall, a 13 km square struture that wraps around the old city. The wall is very high and wide and thus a perfect place to ride an old one-gear bicycle in blazing 90 degree, 100% humidity weather. Undaunted, Joe and I head out. We quickly realize the stone roads and our old bikes created a bumpy ride but we laugh and press on. the first bump in our trip takes place as joe's chain breaks. While I ride ahead to get assistance, Joe gets help from anothe bike rental place and a catastrophe is avoided. After lunch a quick shower, we visited the Xian Museum ... read more

The moment that Matt had been waiting for since the start of our trip…the Terra Cotta Warriors. They had been through so much prior to being discovered. Made over 2000 years ago for the afterlife, they were housed in a huge tomb. That tomb was robbed, burned, and destroyed several times over. Most of the warriors were found in pieces. What’s more amazing is how they have been pieced back together, bit-by-bit to reunite the army. They are beautiful and powerful to see. We were also lucky enough to see one of the farmers that discovered them in the 70’s. He was there signing books. It’s funny that the two men who made the discovery only received new bikes and jobs working for the government. Seems like so little for such a profound discovery! Another highlight ... read more