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On Thursday we decided to hire bicycles, and although I have recevied numerate lectures from my Dad about checking brakes etc. I simply couldn't be arsed! We made it to the West Gate of the city... neatly located on the centre of a roundabout... traversing it on a bike is close to insansity! Anywho, we were told that we couldn't take our bikes on the wall (even though you can hire them on it?!). We perservered with the crazy traffic at the base of the wall before deciding I might like to change my gear... what a mistake! So the bike was basically f***ed. We decided at this point to cut our losses and head back to the YH... then my only working brake broke! Carnage! I decided it was better to cycle on the pavement than the road. After a short argument about directions we were back. Traumatised from earlier we decided we needed some sesame seed bread (becoming increasingly addictive... they probably lace it with Speed) We ended up walking into China's largest Hindu temple... and all we wanted was bread! There were some crazy people (I say crazy... because they are not British) touching some Chinese symbols on walls... not sure of the correct recourse me and Barnes completely avioded the walls by walking through someones shop instead.
On Friday we went to see the Terracotta Warriors... anyone who is not familiar with them should look on Wikipedia now as i'm not a tour guide. We got the public bus to the train station where we had to get our next bus. (btw city buses in China are 20p - what a bargain). We decided as we were at the station that it would be rude not to inquire about train tickets for our next destination.... "No ticket!" she kept saying... if it wasn't so funny I would have slapped her. So we carried on to the Warriors. The next bus was crazy... people in China don't queue... terrible if you enjoy queueing as much as we do! The warriors are amazing. We did the site in reverse order leaving the best for last, Pit 1. It has over 6000 warriors in it and looks muck like a aircraft hanger (my Dad will apreciate the size of this better than most) but it was probably about the size of a premiership football stadium. We also watched a 3-D movie (not 3D like Imax 3D but it had 8 screens in a circle so it felt like you were there!), it was about the history of the warriors... all in Chinese but I was too bemused by trying to look at all the screens at once! The exit to the Warriors site is basically a town... of shops... selling souvenirs. They sold dog and cat skins... Barnes was not amused. For dinner we went to "China's best dumplings", they were however not the best dumplings (costing 9 pounds as well)... they were in fact the most foul things ever... except maybe the snack the chinese girl had given me days before. An old saying goes: "fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me". In the evening the bar was offering the opportunity to make dumplings... and eat them... were we stupid?!.... I'm now warming to them, however I have to admit ours were better and a fraction of the cost, as they were free!
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