Xi'an

12th October

We arrived in Xi'an and our first impressions were not good but when we got in the City walls we were pleasently suprised. On the plane alex decided that it would be fun (accident) to set of her rape alarm..yes on the plane!! It was very funny but i dont think we made a very good impression with the locals! We got to the Hostel which Mr Rugg and co. recommened and were very pleased. Again behind locked doors it had loads of character and eveything you needed from a hostel! As we had been over spending we opted for a cheaper cruise in our next destination ...TBC. We ventured out into town and saw a few sights including the 'Drum' and ' Bell' Towers and strolled along the Muslim food market. By night when eveything is lit up and buzzing Xi'an is quite magical. We strolled through the market taking in the atmosphere, colours and smells and observing the locals do their thing. We tried to be a bit more adventurous and tried a few of the local snacks but was not impressed as everything just tasted of stodge and we ended up throwing them all away! At least we tried!!

13th October

We went on our Terracotta Warrior tour today and our first stop was the Ban PO Museum which was a museum built over the remains of an ancient village. It was brief and rather unimpressive but we learnt that all these pots surrounding the houses were actually coffins of dead children...nice. The mothers did not belive that the children could look after themseves in the afterlife so they kept them near to keep them safe. On any tour in China you get taken to a factory or shop on the way to your main attraction ..in this case we got taken to a Terracootta Factory which made terracotta Warriors to buy! It was interesting to see how they were assembled but not the same as the real thing! We blagged our way into a underground palace thing which the others on the tour had already paid for..we got discount so felt happy that we had not been ripped off! Was very creepy underground and to make it more atmospheric we had the pleasure of having a mini Bill Hoadley from Birminham that just did not shut up...my patience wore thin! The emperor burried his wives and servants alive with him! Lovely man. We had lunch and sat on a big table with eveyone on the tour. We were the first to have the noodles which we could not get on the plate and eveyone could see that. We giggled as usual but thought we had got away with looking like the tourists of the group untill Alex stuck her chopstick up my NOSE. That was it ..hysteria. We recovered in time to see the Terracotta Warriors. The whole thing was pretty immense but the history behind it a little disturbing. 750, 000 slaves were all killed on its completion as to keep it a secret..which it nearly was. Every soilder had a different face and the detaill in each one was amazing. The sign of a good warrior was a fat belly. We thought that their bellys looked as big as ours and figured that our DADs would have been mighty warriors indeed! ; ) We went for dinner in Bar street where we had a goldfish in a cup on the table. There is definatly no respect for any form of animals in this country and we want to take all of them home with us ...

14th October

First thing this morning we got up and decided we would cycle around the circumference of the City wall..the wall was pretty high and really wide, no cars are allowed in it, so it was safe for us on our bikes!! This was a really nice way to see the town too as you got to see parts of the city that you wouldnt normally see by foot..It did also make me think of home and already appreciate what we both have. The cycle took about an hour and a half and started the day off nicely! We strolled around the city for an hour or so after looking at different stalls, and we wandered into another market selling arts and crafts.. again, roped into buying a necklace charm but this was all good bartering practise!! The afternoon was a little dull as we spent the better part of it at the Airport waiting for our flight to Chongqing.. we were a little worried that this was going to be 'hill-billys-ville' , all smoggy with a population of about 3people, but was shocked when our hostel own 'John', told us about 30+million people lived there... but we were correct in thinking it was smoggy, and it was..it was Industrial city!