Terracotta Warriors and more

The amazing Terracotta Warriors
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Xi'an is mostly known for its proximity to the famed Terracotta Warriors, and is also quite a pleasant little city. We arrived in the late afternoon and had a poke around, checking out the Bell Tower in the centre of town another centuries-old building. Whilst Steven Spielberg (aka Keith) was busy on the upper level, Wendy was wisely ordering a pot of tea whilst waiting for a performance to begin. Managed to capture front row seats for a very pleasing little demonstration of various Chinese instruments and of course, the bells!

Of course when we left the tower it was after 5.30pm and the pedestrian underpass to the Tower was now closed. We had to risk life and limb crossing the road at the roundabout no mean feat as the Chinese do not appear to take the road rules all that seriously. They drive on the right and right turns may be made at any time, never mind the lights or other traffic. Add to this a million and a half bicycles all pedaling furiously and you can probably see the problem facing us.

The following day we joined a small tour group to various sites of historical and retail interest around Xi'an. Jade is big here, but we resisted the temptation but can now tell the difference between real and fake. The highlight of the day was undoubtedly the Terracotta Warriors these truly are magnificent, row upon row of larger-than-life figures. The visible part is only a fraction of what still remains underground while the authorities try to find a way to excavate them without the original coloured paint disappearing on exposure to air. (Well put some pictures of all this in later).

Next day we wandered around the city literally: there is an ancient wall encircling the town which we walked a bit less than half way around. Coming down we sauntered through the Muslim quarter, an unusual thing to find in that part of the world, Passed a cursory glance at the tourist stalls en route to the mosque and managed to pick up new sunglasses for Keith (of course they are real!! The man said so!) and Wendy got so caught up in bargaining that she purchased a t-shirt that is probably several sizes to large but what the heck! It is only money!!

Again, took our life in our hands and caught a bus down to a magnificent pagoda south of the city. Wendy gave the stairmaster 1000 a miss (the stairs to the top of the pagoda) but Keith rose to the challenge and is pleased to report that Buddha must be very enlightened indeed to support the tourist stalls at every level on the way up!

And so back to the hotel for our last night in Xi'an before flying to our next destination Chengdu.