Botai Hotel (Xi'An Nan'Guangji Street)

Tuesday 8th September - Xi'an
We arrived in Xi'an over an hour late although frustratingly most of this time was spent about 500m from the station as we sat and waited our turn to get a platform. The hostel we had booked was supposed to be picking us up so we had a bad feeling that they would have given up on us because we were so late. We exited the station into a heaving mass of people, nothing like we had ever seen - China has been busy everywhere - buses ...

... and popcorn. We were just sitting watching the people interact. We were stared at but there are a lot of Westerners here in Xian. After that we walked around looking for the Muslim market. We did not find it. The walk was fun. We headed back to the hotel and we saw a mass of people lined up and they were dancing to the beat of a drum. Unfortunately I did not have my camera because I was charging my battery. I was making sure I had enough power because tomorrow is the Terra Cotta army.

... and did some shopping. I'm really excited about a vase I bought- though the lady wouldn't bargain much, I bought it anyway cuz it's really cool looking. We were pretty zonked after our long day so we weren't complaining about the only available train time being earlier than what we originally wanted. On the way back Kara, Willie and I got hard sleepers and ...

... All seven generations of the Gao family got official positions in the royal palace. In 1966 the government confiscated the residence and it was listed as a 'key project of Sino-Norway Historical Districts Protection' in 1999 and invested in by Norway. The residence was thoroughly repaired and won the 'Prize for Cultural Heritage Protection in Asian-Pacific Area of UNESO' in 2002 ...

... a very sad look on his face. I went over and purchased a few bottles of orange juice from the little drink seller near by and went back and after giving him one I purchased the rest of the turtles from him for fifteen Yuan (two Aussie dollars). I'm sure he was selling them for two Yuan a turtle. It is not something I make a habit of but if any of you could have ...

... holding his workers as slaves. Here's where the story gets interesting: the merchant, now a high-ranking official, poisons the king, and Qin Shi Huang takes the thrown. Qin Shi Huang goes to war with the neighboring landowners (kings?), taking over their holding and freeing the slaves. He also defeats the Zhou king, although that part of the history I'm a little shakier on. Qin Shi Huang declares himself ruler of all the kingdoms, and since he ruled over so much land, he ...

... itself, reputed to contain all the world's treasures of the time in an underground palace 260 meters by 160 meters, about the area of Portland Airport. The palace is about 26 meters deep, with a mound on top about 15 meters high. Along with descriptions of the interior noting that the ceiling is inlaid with pearls to represent the starry heavens and the floor made of stone forming a map of the Chinese kingdom ...

... Oh yes, it appears to be the worlds capital (my words) of one of my favorite fruits...the pomegranate. There are pomegranate trees everywhere, which unfortunately are being destroyed with all the new development which is taking place. The good thing is that although Xian has 6-8 million people, it has a much more friendly and small city feel to it than Beijing. We started the day at a 6,000 year old neolithic village site that was discovered in 1953, Banpo Village. We ...

... eyes. Over 6,000 lifesize soldiers made out of terracota lined up in battle formation in a series of 3 different pits. The story goes that the first ever emperor of China had them made over 2000 years ago to guard his tomb and also to demonstrate his power. Every soldier is different in size, height, facial features and stance ... it really is fantastic and is not hard to understand why it took over 37 years to complete. When the soldiers were discovered back in ...

... následnou jízdní extázi zaplavenými ulicemi, neboť uz je vse jedno. U hotelu svým vzhledem rozesmějeme hlídače a obveselíme i recepční, kdyz promočení v luxusním hotelu vracíme klíčky. Pak jestě pěskobusem k nasemu nádraznímu hotelu a je to v suchu;). Brzy vyrázíme na misi koupit noviny na vycpání bot a časopis na obalení průvodce. Prodavačka je sice trochu udivená, kdyz si v knihkupectví vybíráme noviny podle tlousť ...