In a last minute change of plan today we're transferred onto the 'foreign' coach - made up of a smaller group, hopefully with better timekeeping than yesterday's.

The first stop is at Banpo Neolithic Village, or it would be if the road wasn't being rebuilt. So we stop in one of Xi'an's unsightly suburbs and walk a short distance to the Museum, built from Jade stone. Inside the museum lies the site of a massive archaeological dig of the ancient village, which dates from 5000BC. 'Andy' our softly spoken guide keeps things snappy and the tour is informative as he tells about some interesting ancient traditions, pointing to the evidence in the large pit.

The next stop on the tour is the 'Qin tomb.' The story behind this is that the Qin Emperor was obsessed with the afterlife. He constructed a lavish tomb complete with a scale model of the world with mercury for oceans and pearls for stars. The terracotta warriors were built to help defend the tomb from any ghostly attackers. In reality, the tomb is buried beneath a giant mound, and is likely never to be dug up due to the risk of damaging the interior. What we see here is a slightly unfortunate plastic mock-up based on the historical record, with extra fairy lights.

A modern complex of shops and walkways surrounds the modern day Terracotta Warriors Museum. Whilst awaiting our ticket our group is approached by a Chinese girl looking for a picture. Predictable and surprising at the same time, the request is for her to pose with our tour group, although her friend is unable to operate the camera. It leads to a slightly awkward pose for a couple of minutes before finally the momentous snap is taken.

The warriors themselves are an extraordinary sight. Hundreds line up in battle formation, each unique, each primed, ready for war. Immaculately carved out by hundreds of thousands of local craftsmen over two thousand years ago, the warriors are distinct by rank - with the generals taller and with different uniforms unique from the archers, infantry, cavalrymen, musicians and acrobats that make up the eight thousand plus warriors already excavated.

Pit one, the site's largest, extends for about 250m most of it either yet to be dug up or yet to be reconstructed. Hundreds of warriors lie in bits, after the pit above their head collapsed in the years before anyone knew they existed. The present day warriors were once painted, but the paint eroded on contact with air. No further digging will take place until the technology is in place to preserve the pain.

Some more hardcore hawking takes place on the way out - smooth pebbles the latest bit of in-kitsch. The approach, as sure, steady and a little sinister is all too familiar. First the hawker advances, the right arm rises slowly presenting the pebbles, then there is a short pause before the twiddling begins.

The route back involves an unfortunate detour as the freeway is jammed. We reroute through a series of villages that would appear to have been bombed, even though they obviously haven't. Most houses don't appear to have a front part, with bricks lying everywhere. I don't have much explanation really.