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Hello again,
I'm about to leave Xi'an for Chengdu, but before I leave I'll give you all a recap of what I've been doing here.
I've been out to see the Terra-Cotta Warriors, of course. I had booked a ticket as soon as I arrived and set out the next day with about a dozen other people from my hostel. Of course, we first had to visit the requisite gift shop (I hate that) and then we drove the 40 or so kilometers to the museum itself. There was a film playing in the van that gave some history, in a rather contradictory way (for example, expressing shock that the Qin army was able to defeat the other states of China when it was so ill-equipped, but then turning around and expressing wonder at the weapons that made the Qin army the best-equipped army in Asia). We also learned that the farmer who discovered the soldiers in the 1970s received only 10 RMB for the discovery - less than $2 - but he now does regular appearances at the museum and around China and is apparently well off. We arrived at the museum to find - a university campus. It wasn't really, but we all agreed that it felt like it. The parking lot is about 1km from the museum itself, and in between is all built up with shops and restaurants and fountains and the like. We walked through everything and went to see the bronze chariots first, then watched the film that is offered for tourists, and judging by the dust on the film it hasn't been cleaned since it was created. Then, finally, we saw Pit 1, which is the famous pit with the thousands of warriors (only 2000 on display). It was pretty incredible; it was definitely worth the trip out to Xi'an to see.
Other things that can be crossed off my list of things to do in Xi'an include: biking the city wall, seeing the Big Goose Pagoda, the Shaanxi Museum, the Bell and Drum Towers and browsing the Muslim Quarter. The last item was quite fun - it's Ramadan, currently, and Xi'an has quite a large Muslim population. I was in the Muslim Quarter at sundown when everyone came out to break their fasts, and it was quite a sight. The streets turn into a sort of festival with food stalls selling cold noodles, grilled lamb, dried fruit and nuts, sweet sticky rice, iced coffee and a sesame pastry thing. There are shops selling goods everywhere and lights and music and everyone was celebrating.
This wasn't a long entry, but it covered the basics. I'm not looking forward to my upcoming train journey (about 18 hours!), and my next post will be from Chengdu.
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