Oooohh the places we go!!

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Our first stop before the grey skies of big bad Beijing was a little city I politely named Sin City- real name Shixan X'ian. I dont know if this was brought on by the increasing amounts of po-po's everywhere (i.e. police), the streets of trash-figuratively and literally, my first encounter with a chinese sex-shop (next door to our international hotel), or the night we watched the World Cup in the "Mooonkey Bar" where I was lucky enough to see the human form of Star War's Jabba da Hut (big frog guy) with his chinese lady slaves. This man was sprawled out with shorts only and he gurgled at me when I walked to the bathroom. I threw up a little bit in my mouth. Conversely, the first few hours in Xi' an were some of the greatest moments of my life. After some abyssmal tourist food (provided by the guide) we were set free to ride bikes along the ancient wall that lined the old city. This was part of 'China Top 5'. The trail ran for 13 miles and we rode our rickety bikes through the cobblestone path. The ride and the sights of the ancient and modernized residential areas was very cool. It was also nice that we were in sketchy China which means no liabilty forms or bike check-ups along the way. Afterwards we hit the Muslim Market and "Snack Street". Lets just say, the only food I purchased and put in my mouth were dried kiwis(: Before taking off, we popped in a tea house and sat with the locals drinking Oolong, Rose and Ginseng tea (the chinese version of espresso). I could have sat with these people for hours. It was a mom and pop shop and their daughter spoke some English. They were especially careful to wash every cup and pot with boiling water and used tweezers to hold the cups. The water (just like all of China) is essentially like liquid poison until boiled. When the locals chew on fish heads but they dont drink the water, you know it must be bad. Every hotel and train I have been on shows signs above the faucet with warnings against putting any water in your mouth. Its real comforting while I brush my teeth):

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X' ian was also home to one of the most amazing clubs I have ever seen. It was 3 floors high and the stairwell lead to a small lagoon in the center of this glass bar. Very hard to explain the architecture and I didnt take pictures but this place was by far the most visually stunning bar I've seen. The bathrooms were open co-ed stalls made of multicolored tiles and a disco ball inside each stall. The colors made the sinks seem like they were floating in thin air. Unfortunately, the bar owner must be a little too proud of his business. It was clear that he didnt spend money on the help. The service was soo bad we had to leave. Great sights, awful help. They just kind of blew us off when we ordered. So we saw and we left.

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The next day we went to view the excavated Terracotta Soldiers. Basically there once was an emperor who was obsessed with power. In fact, this man died because he was told that he would live forever by drinking Mercury. He learned the hard way that actually you dont live at all when ingesting poison. Anyway so he wanted his empire and presence to live on forever so he ordered throusands of Terracotta Soldiers to be built as his imaginary army. Every one had a different facial design with specific style of clothing and armor. There are still hundreds being removed from the sight near his tomb but I've posted a few pictures of the hundreds that are present in the museum.

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In my opinion, the Terracotta Soldiers are the life force driving this city with tourism money. Outside of the Muslim Market and Museum this is a very sad place. Beggars missing limbs and homeless mothers using their naked children to collect money from tourists line the streets. Crowds of prostitutes near the Internatinal hotels and sex shops with toys that make me nauseous. I do actually recommend this crazy place but for only one day....the soldiers are interesting and the ancient city wall was unforgettable. After that- get out!!!