Ok - quick blog entry for the past two days!

The 1st (Wednesday) was Claire's 19th Birthday, and the morning of which was spent on the overnight train. Our train was divided into compartments of 6, with bunk beds and barely any room for luggage. On the whole though it was pretty clean (if not a little rickety) and everyone managed to get some sleep - but not to the toilets, which were squats, and DISGUSTING!

We arrived in Xi'an in the early morning and were led into the middle of the city by Bobo and pretty much left to our own devices. 6 of us decided to have a little explore of the Muslim quarter of the city, which was no different really from the rest of the city except for the different array of foods available to try. We opted for a pizza bread style thing which tasted like ciabatta, and steered ourselves away from the roasted duck feet and odd looking dumplings..... We got a bit lost to be quite honest, and pretty much found the Great Mosque by accident. A lot of the archictecture in China is similar - but the atmosphere, age, and layout of the buildings mean every attraction is different; in this case the Mosque was a lot older. We also realised that we've only just started seeing wild birds in reasonable numbers, even sparrows were scarce in Beijing!

On the night, Bobo suggested a way to celebrate Claire's birthday would be to rent out a room in a nearby Karaoke complex. Dubious at first, a lot of the group refused to even try to sing, but us two and Paul (the very vocal Wannabe-video-singer) got right in there and jived our way through Backstreet boys, Queen, Spice Girls and lots of other 'classics.' Liam got right into 'National Express' and 'A Beautiful Day,' and John's rendition of 'Layla', without the words, was very impressive! There was even a bit of a singoff going on at one point. They didn't have Bohemian Rhapsody though - which was disappointing! The whole night was absolutely HILARIOUS. Some people just took the mick when they sang, which was even better, and with a buffet included, the whole 4 hour experience cost just the equivalent of a fiver!

An odd birthday, but a memorable one (especially when half the group got lost when they got on a bus, which we won't go into....)

On the morning of the 2nd (today) we woke early, some of us feeling a little worse for wear, to visit the Terracotta Army museum. We decided to get another guide organised by Bobo - as Vivien had been so useful and informative, and it prooved to be a wise decision, as there was SO much to see! There were 3 separate, covered pits, where excavation was still being undertaken. All in all, in just pit 1, they estimated a total of 7,000 warriors & horses were to be uncovered, some of which would take 4 years to piece back together individually. We learnt about how they were made, and why, and that they had actually been painted originally - which we didn't know before. It was actually fascinating, especially just the sheer scale of the site, and the fact that it cost us just a fiver to get in, whereas the exhibition in London was going for 25! ha!

Sorry we steamrollered through these past few days somewhat, so little time and so much to see! Tomorrow is our last day in Xi'an (we're cycling along the city wall), followed by another overnight train to Shanghai. Speak soon!