Day 1

We arrive in Xi'an (pronounced shee-an and not zion as I was saying!) and we can't get into our hotel because our rooms aren't ready. So we decide to do a tour of the city in what we had on the day before and what we slept in. Oh and did I mention it was pretty much 40 degrees again...Nice!

Again this city was sooo different from the others - it was a lot smaller and easier to navigate which was good for me as I have no sense of direction! Also it was quite old skool with dusty streets. So much more laid back than the other cities although just as busy really. All of these cities have populations of 10 million or so - its mental! We go to The Great Temple as there are lots of muslims in Xi'an. It was very pretty but I'd seen so many temples by this point they were beginning to merge into one.

After a well deserved shower we went to the city wall which is a 15km huge wall that holds Xi'an. It was so hot I can't tell you but we were so excited to be doing an activity and I love cycling so I was well up for it. We wanted to do it in an hour but it was so hot and people kept stopping so we did it in just under. I was gald I'd done loads of cycling off road before as it was quite bumpy and lots of people complained! I have never sweated so much - I had very attractive sweat patches on my arse! No photos of this obviously! Don't know why I bothered with a shower before hand...

That evening we went out to eat at the food market where they were selling everything from chickens feet to pigs snout. I settled for some singapore noodles from the pub we ended up in! Got a bit drunk and stumbled home absolutely KO'd.

Day 2

We got up so early and trekked all the way out to see the Trracotta Warriors. I was so excited because it was one of the main reasons I wanted to come to China! Our tour guide wasn't going with us but he said the journey would only take 40 minutes to get there. About 3 hours later and 2 bus journeys with very pushy chinese people we arrived and guess what...? Yep it was 40 degrees again! Xi'an was the hottest place in China at that moment we were told - haha heatwave in London my arse!

Anyway we got a local guide called Roger! and the warriors were amazing! I don't know what I was expecting to see - think I'd watched too many films of something (In 'The Mummy 3' they all come alive!) but lots of them were still buried in the pits and most of it was still being excavated. There were loads of them - rows and rows, I think theres 8,000 that they've uncovered so far. They all have individual features and I just loved them. You'll notice theres about a million photos of them! I won't bore you with the history of them you can wikipedia it!

We spent most of the afternoon at the warriors and again was so tired when we got back. But a few of us wanted to power through so we went and saw a water fountain show a bit out of town (The biggest in China). It was ok but I'd seen better in Las Vegas at The Bellagio - the only difference was that the locals would jump in and everyone was soaked. I'm sure they were getting their daily shower out of it!

It took us so long to get back - no taxi would take us back into the city, all the buses were packed and it started to rain. Not even rickshaws would stop! I was starting to think we were going to be stranded so we just had to walk! Eventually a taxi took us back to the hotel where everyone who didn't come to the fountains was absolutely smashed. Again not wanting to miss out on the moment we drank our favourite chodka (chinese vodka) and played drinking games. Then we went out and tried to get into a club but they were charging 28 quid for a beer! So we went back to the bar we found the night before and hung out with their bar staff and a few locals - I'm sure they only talk to us so they can practice their english! I feel well safe in China - theres no drama at all and its just so bust all the time, people everywhere. Even the smaller cities are busier than London!

We'd heard about the riots that were going on - only an hour away from where we were. Luckily the next day we were leaving anyway and we'd be a day away from the riots and nowhere near the flooding in the South of China. This country is so massive - we were all apprehensive about the next bit of travel - we'd be non stop travelling for about 4 days on trains and boats so we wouldn't see a hotel until then. Hence why we got so pissed the night before...