4 May-Xi'an
We arrived in Xi'an and this is what we expected China to look like. It has the old chinese achitecture and buildings with Chinese markets selling gifts and souvenirs. The hotel we stayed at was called the 'bell and Drum' hotel as it was situated bewteen the bell and drum towers lol. We went to the Muslim Quarter with food stalls and shops, for something to eat, however we didn't choose too well and did not like what we ate! We soon got out of there!
Although Xi'an is less built up than the other cities and is a lot poorer, we feel like we have seen the real China!
In the evening we went to the 'Goose Pagoda', a tower like building surrounded by water and fountains...they had a light and music show which was cool! To get back to the hotel, 8 of us got in the back of a van with no seats....it was so funny because the drivers are crazy over there but this driver was going under 30mph, I think he was scared we'd topple his van over if he went any faster!!!

5th May
We saw the Terricota Warriors today. These were amazing to see. Hundres of warriors were built over 2000 years ago to be buried with the emporer . It took 58 years to build and took 170,000 men to build it, some of whom were buried alive in the tomb along with the dead emporer and his servants and cocubines (mistresses)
The warriors were found accidently by a farmer in the 70's, and he now sits in the gift shop signing autographs!! When the warriors were unearthed, they were painted and and had very intricate detailed, down to the pattern on the bottom of the shows. Each warrior was unique in style and looks, they were based on the real army at the time.After unearthing them, the colour quickly wore off as they were exposed to the air.
The actual tomb of the emporer has still not been unearthed. The chinese say they haven't got the technology to preserve what is under ground, and are weary of any 'booby traps!'

In the afternoon we went on an hours bike ride around the high city walls in Xi'an. It was nice and relaxing until I got a quarter of the way round and my bike bloody broke!!! :-( Lee had to carry it back while I cycled his lol.
We were also very lucky to see achiologists digging at part of the site...our tour leadersaid she had not seen this in the 10 years of doing the trip.