Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
The overnight train lasted for 12 hours. It was plenty more comfortable than the overnight buses in Vietnam and thankfully the baby in my compartment stopped crying after two hours. We arrived in Xi'an at about 9 and after booking into our hotel next to the bell tower we went to see the terracotta warriors.
Walking into the first pit is a great experience as underneath you appear thousands of staring warriors standing in battle formation. The statues include generals, archers and horses, some complete and some still in a dismembered state. Pits 2 and 3 contain less statues than the first but it is still hard to imagine the time and effort that went into building them. Apparently it takes an expert 6 months to piece together a single warrior (plenty of the site is still being excavated). You also have to wonder about the state of mind of Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi who ordered the warriors to be built for his mausoleum when he was just 13 years old. That evening we ate a dumpling banquet; 18 different types of dumpling and watched a traditional Chinese stage show. I seemed to enjoy the dancing acts over the musical performances. Make of that what you will; it's just the Anton Du Beke in me making itself known.
The next morning we rode along the city walls, the longest remaining in China, before getting a 16 hours (!!!!) train to Chengdu, home of the Giant Panda Breeding Research Base.
- comments