China - Xi'an

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The next morning we awoke to clear blue skies and sun – which didn’t last long and was soon followed by another downpour complete with thunder and lightening! This gave us a chance to pack and catch up on the blog before having lunch and going to the train station for the overnight train. It was our longest train journey, 16hrs, but the time passed quite quickly and pleasantly, reading, looking out of the window, chatting and listening to Heather giving a sales talk on her iPod2. Ok – so now I want one! I really want one! You can download music, maps, books (cobra cheaper than ibooks???) magazines, papers, watch videos – they are amazing!
Lights out at 10.00pm and we were awoken at 6.00am! Breakfast and then off the train, taxi to hotel (HNA Business Hotel) by 10.00am. We met as a group at 11.30am for a Milly lunch (she orders, we all eat, and its delicious and costs about £3.00!!) before heading off for the old Muslim Quarter, Bell Tower and Drum Tower. Had a wander around the market and then decided to visit the Old City Wall! Its still intact, complete with watch towers, is about 50’ wide so you can cycle, take a rickshaw or walk the 13.7kms! We started off walking, got halfway and hired a tandem for the rest of the way! Back to the hotel for well earned rest and bed!
( All our pictures, in Beijing, Shanghai (apart from after the rain!) and Xi’an have all been hazy and not very clear. We knew there would be a little bit of pollution but sometimes it is so bad it’s quite oppressive and difficult to breathe. The sun shines and it’s very warm but the sky is not blue and it’s always hazy! Bit like living in a fog! We are hoping the scenery improves when we reach the mountains and countryside!)
Monday 29th August
Today was the visit to the Terracotta Warriors! Had no real idea what to expect but there was definitely a WOW factor! Made more so by listening to all the history and realising what an amazing man this Chinese Emperor was – to start the building the Great Wall, the walled city of Xi’an and to plan his own tomb covering 56 square kms. The tomb, along with all the warriors and animals were believed to help him in the next world. It was found, by accident, by poor farmers, who because of the drought were digging down to try and find some water and they dug up a piece of porcelain. It happened to be right in the corner of one of the sections so if they had dug a metre either way then the Terracotta warriors may have remained undiscovered.
There is a lot of the site which has only been excavated to find the corridors of where the Warriors will be. Unfortunately, in history, a lot of the tombs were pillaged and the warriors broken, so its like a giant jigsaw to put the pieces back together and then put them back in their original place. They must have uncovered and repaired / renovated a few hundred Warriors so far, along with a few horses but when completed there will be over 6000 warriors. At the time Chariots were also buried but because these were made of wood they have perished. When the Warriors were first uncovered they still had colour but because they soon oxidised and now it’s just the terracotta colour. Because of this, the main tomb of the Emperor has not been excavated yet and has been covered with a mound of earth, until technology has the right equipment to excavate and preserve.
A relaxing afternoon before an evening meal with the group of ‘Hotpot’!
Hotpot turned out to be an interesting experience! Imagine a round table with a hotplate in the middle, upon which is placed a round ying/yang dish – one side with spicy soup, the other side with non-spicy soup! Milly then mixed a combination of spices with herbs in small dishes for each of us. Finally a whole array of raw meat and raw vegetables were placed around the edge of the table. The idea is to pick up, with your chopsticks, for eg a piece of beef, hold it in the soup until cooked and then dip it into the spices and herbs! It all took quite a long time to cook and eat but was quite good fun!

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Comments

[Tracie]

Hello
You both look really well - glowing and happy! What an amazing site those warriors are and the walled city. Not as amazing as you both on a tandem! Forget the camper van, this has to be your mode of transport from now on! Those bunk beds are VERY high and there is no way I could sleep up there - what if I started sleep walking? Sounds like your travelling companions are very varied and hopefully you are all getting on OK - the guides sound wonderful and what a great job! Take care - keep safe (Hope you had your torch on the Rickshaw Jackie!) xx

[Laura]

Daisy, daisy....bicycle made for two...
Sure there is a song in your pictures somewhere lol!!! I didn't know anything about the history of the Terracotta Warriors ;)