At 03.45 the alarm sounded; beep beep, we were off to Xian. With a day full of activities, experiences and knee pain planned, we were soon in our taxi to Beijing airport. A quick check in and wait in gate, and whoosh; we were up in the air over the Shaanxi mountain range. It was a lovely start to the day...

Upon arrival we met our guide for day. Her name was Helen and she was most friendly. We jumped in with her and our driver, Mr Li. Off to the terracotta warriors we went, and after a one hour drive we had arrived in the village where the warriors were first discovered. The area has since developed and the amount of development, especially high density apartment blocks that are being erected is quite staggering.

As we arrived at the terracotta warrior site, we were starting to experience clear blue sky for the first time since our arrival in China. It turned into a hot sunny day (27 degrees no less), and would prove perfect conditions for our shortcut to the warriors in our electric buggy.

We had seen pictures of them before we came, so knew roughly what to expect. However, it really was an exciting moment walking into "pit 1" where the majority of the warriors awaited. As we caught our first glimpse of these earth baked antiquities, our photo fingers quivered with excitement. Alas, ahead of us were 2500 of the best terracotta warriors I have set my eyes on. Another 5000 lay in wait underground. The Chinese are worried about uncovering more of the statues as they don't want to do further damage. Some of the statues are damaged or smashed to bits by butter fingered archaeologists..

We ambled through pits 1 to 3 with helpful Helen, only a day after Michelle Obama had visited no less. After a few really interesting hours of the terracotta warriors (and Laura telling me she thinks they were planted there by the Chinese government to drum up a bit of cash) we jumped back in with Mr Li to go to Xian city centre. On the way, Helen took us to a 'lovely restaurant' she knew. It turned out to be 5 star deluxe spa resort with a very posh lunch service. After much postulating on the price ( as we didn't get to see the menu) it only turned out to be £15 so on we marched.

We arrived at the ancient city wall of Xian next. Sitting 14 kilometres In length, it was quite a wall. Not as great as the 'Great Wall', but good none the less. In fact, it was just nice for us to be trundling along in the sun taking it all in. After that, the big Goose pagoda.

The big Goose pagoda is a Buddhist temple full of golden fat Buddhas. It sits on a lean, much like the wild goose pagoda of Pisa.

Finally, a zip Round Southern Xian. We ended up in what is called 'Muslim street'. A hustling, bustling epicentre of awful health and safety, and real 'beats' headphones for £11. It was a really fun way to finish our day.

Back at Xian airport we waited our flight. Laura's knee was causing her a lot of pain so she prescribed herself noodles and orange juice for two. A two hour flight back to Beijing in which we both slept heavily, and finally we were back at the hotel. I write this now at midnight, not long until the alarm sounds again, for another day of oriental adventure.