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Three storeys up!
Night train adventuresLeaving Beijing we caught the night train to Xi'an which was clean and punctual but the beds were very hard and being next the toilets we were awoken by the Chinese morning chorus of throat clearing - lovely! Xi'an is a busy modern city but it has the best preserved city walls in China which we were able to cycle around on a tandem - definitely a once in a lifetime experience and not to be repeated (you don't steer a tandem from the rear Jason). In the morning people can be seen all over the city practicing Tai Chi or Kung Fu and even the office and shop workers come out onto the pavements for a quick warm up before starting their day.
The famous Terracotta Army was found by a local farmer in 1974 in a field outside Xi'an. Thousands of lifesize warriors, horses and chariots standing guard over China's first Emporor for over 2,000 years -it is an incredible sight. The old farmer is knocking on now but he's still around and we saw him signing copies of his book in the gift shop.
Another night train and we were in Shanghai. The Whore of the
Pudong, new Shanghai
Light show spectacular Orient is what they used to call Shanghai but it still feels appropriate today. The city feels like it's all about money, which it probably is, with it's glitzy buildings which really put on a show at night. We only had two days here but we made the most of it, pushing the boat out a bit and immersing ourselves in the ex-pat lifestyle. We had brunch on the Bund (the grand old waterfront stretch of finance houses, consulates and private clubs) and later sipped cocktails in the 87th floor bar of Jinmao Tower whilst looking back to the Bund watching the lights come up over Shanghai.
Walking around Shanghai it can get quite irritating when you are asked for the hundredth time if you want to buy fake watches, bags or shoes but there's no denying that it's an exciting place to be and we were able to escape the madness by visiting the beautiful Yuyuan Gardens or stolling around the relaxed French Concession. On our last day we got up early and squeezed in visits to the Shanghai Museum with its wonderful collection of Ming furniture, vases and art, and then to the exciting Shanghai Urban Planning
Museum with its awesome scale model of future Shanghai. If it's to be believed Shanghai should be a stunning place to return to in the future.
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