Days 14-16: Xi'an, city wall, Terracotta Warriors

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Day 14

This was a changeover day from the 2-week cycling portion to the remaining 1-week touring portion.

We used our last hours in Yangshuo for some final activities. Some people had massages at Dr Lily ("as seen in Lonely Planet") while I looked at local shops and parks. We farewelled Birgit, who is flying out at night, and we were driven 2 hours to Guilin Airport. Our tour guide pointed Lyle and me to the airport, said "Look for the JD flight" and said goodbye. Thankfully, we found the Capital Airlines flight going to Xi'an and they had our booking. We also said goodbye to Graham and Jane, who are flying back to Australia.

In Xi'an, we were met by our new tour guide, George, and driver, Mr Jai. One thing I must say about Xi'an is that the driving here is the most dangerous I've seen. Our driver seemed to be very impatient, dodging in and out of traffic if he could save half a second of waiting. I even took some videos just to show how heart-stopping it is!

We were taken to the Skytel Hotel (wifi in the lobby!), freshened up and headed out to dinner in the Muslim Quarter. Basically, it's a street with an infinite number of food shops and stalls, lit vibrantly and busy with people. Moreso than Guangzhou, this reminded me of a Neal Stephenson world set in future, over-populated cities. George fed us with meat-on-stick kebabs and local treats. Such atmosphere!

The hotel didn't have a standard room for us (I'm sharing with Lyle) so they upgraded us to a suite, which has a kitchen, lounge and jacuzzi! They brought in a spare bed, so I'm sleeping in the kitchen!

Day 15: Terracotta Warriors & City Wall

After a reasonable buffet breakfast of both East & West food, we went early to the Terracotta Warriors, which is a bit out of town. Apparently, the site was found about 30 years ago by a farmer digging a well. You've no doubt seen pictures of the Warriors - they are thousands of life-size, hollow statues made to be buried with the first Emperor of China. What's interesting is that they haven't all been dug up - many are still buried. Also, all of them have been damaged due to the passing of 2000 years, so it has been quite a job to piece them together again.

Buildings have been erected over the "pits" and it is the second most popular tourist destination in China, after the Great Wall. It has also given rise to a whole tourist industry around selling statues of the warriors. What a great way to build a business - bury statues, them sell replicas of them two thousand years later! I bought one, but I think my bargaining was sub-par.

Next, we returned to the city and rode bicycles along the 13km city wall. The wall is beautifully preserved and surrounds the inner city. Not a comfortable ride (bumpy flagstones) but a great way to cover the distance.

We then had "free time" (tour guide speak for "I'm going, take care of yourself!") and visited the Bell Tower, which literally stands at the crossroads of the city, giving a good view in all directions. We then returned to the Muslim Quarter and traversed a small laneway of vendors, where I bought some more gifts for my children. Lyle's bargaining skills were fantastic.

Our guide returned in the evening and took us for a Dumpling dinner. We sat on low chairs at a table in the street (and at first even on the road), devouring copious quantities of dumplings. Our tour includes three meals a day, so we haven't gone hungry!

Day 16: Culture

We had more "free time" this morning, so took a walk to the Lesser Wild Goose Pagoda, having been told that entry is free if we show our passports. This turned out to be incorrect, so we returned to the city. (Not that it was expensive, at $5, but we've seen so many old buildings that all our memories merge into each other.)

We visited Culture Street, which has many shops selling paper, pens and brushes of the type used for making Chinese paintings and large writing. There were also small vendor stalls, so we bought some more goodies. Lyle's mother apparently told him off for bargaining too much and he is now working overtime to give away extra money to vendors by not accepting change for his purchases. It's funny watching the reactions to this.

We then checked out of our hotel, we're taken to a "local hamburger" lunch (toasted pita bread with ground meat) and went to a Museum showing the history of man from prehistory through to recent Chinese porcelain. Neither Lyle nor I are that deep into history, so we went through it rather quickly.

Next was a visit to the Greater Wild Goose Pagoda, surrounded by various religious buildings. This also wasn't too exciting until they announced the 4pm water show. In a huge courtyard to the North of the Pagoda, we watched a gigantic watershow set to music. It was quite a warm day so Lyle took a walk through the fountains to the applause of watchers. This was followed-up by a walk past vendors, where Lyle got the world's largest blue Fairy Floss (Cotton Candy) and kept people quite amused.

Finally, we had another meal (so much food!) and were taken to the Xi'an West Train Station. There were large crowds, but George navigated us to the waiting lounge and onto the train. I even saw a "China Tour" group from Trinity Grammar (my old school) that I had seen at the airport a few days earlier.

We had a 4-berth room with bunks. One room-mate was the father of a family visiting from Switzerland, with his wife and 3 children in the next cabin. We chatted with him and his wife about their journey and about how their children (aged 8 to 14) were handling the trip. Our other room-mate was a local that came in late and left early, so we never interacted.

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