Golden Throne Hotel Xi'an

... the traditional architecture. And if the number of posh cars and designer outlets is anything to go by then these Warriors are far more profitable than Suzhou's gardeners.

One thing puzzles me about the shops, however, regardless of whether they are designer label or the Chinese equivalent of Primark. The advertising posters and the mannequins all show Western faces, quite often complete with blond hair and blue eyes! I have not ...

... don't get why some guys seem to get such a kick out of pinching women's butts... if I ever go back to Istanbul I am going to booby-trap my rear end, just in case). However, I think there is room for a change of opinion in there and I am keeping an open mind (definitely talking about Xian) because I know I am a wee bit too tired and flaky after the end of my marking chaos to be anything but hard to please at the moment. Let's see what Shaanxi and it's capital will offer up next.

... how low the price can go, up to less than a quarter of their asking price. I made some good buys and really had a sense of accomplishment after I leave. Tomorrow I will be taking a flight to Shanghai and will arrive there in the afternoon. I'm really looking forward to taking the Maglev train from the airport to the city. Apparently the train can hit a top speed of 430km/hr! Alright, I will write an entry tomorrow night from Shanghai. Good night!

... that the army is the 8th Wonder of the World. Despite my love of and interest in the warriors, I would not put it there, until the tomb is excavated. However, it is a momentous place and accomplishment. Xian itself is a great city. The inner, old city is completely surrounded (no breaks other than traffic tunnels) by a massive city wall. Apparently, the citizens loved their earthen wall so much that they decided to brick it to protect it and keep ...

... when they came out,we were chuffed that we'd made the right decision. Xi'an was the perfect place to bum about for a wee while so we made the most of that. There wasn't much else to do other than walk./bike the city walls. After figuring out it was about 12miles in length we decided to walk a quarter of it and call it a day. Was fine by me, it takes it out of yeeeee! 24hours later we were in Chengdu.................

... in China...The Terracotta Warriors. It was here that China's very first emperor who had untied 6 states into the first unified China had built an army in the thousands of clay soldiers that would accompany him in the the next life. Not only was it amazing that he had created thousands of ...

... the ticket checking point I discover that I've somehow lost my ticket. We had to get off the bus and walk all the way back to the main gate to buy another. Things were not looking good and we were starting to get a little fed up of the whole thing. Luckily from that point on things improved dramatically. The mountains are basically formed from a granite magma chamber, with the softer surrounding rock weathered away (Simon has a geology Phd ...

... stare at the oncoming danger? It was kind of like that! So I asked the waitress, Della (Whom I have added to Facebook!) what was happening outside and she told me that the front of a building had collapsed and seriously injured 4 people. Very heavy stuff (No pun intended). The cafe that I am in has also been used as a rendevous point for officials and the Chinese military units to decide ...

... two sleeper tickets to Xi'an turned up as if by magic, making us feel that nothing can really be taken as 'red' in China. After a comfortable 12 hr journey, we arrived in Xi'an, famous for the Terracotta warriors and as a communist stronghold in 1930s. Being China, this is no quant town. First impressions were busy, noisy and dirty. Like in Beijing, no motorists take any notice of pedestrian (or ...

... anything that looked particularly suspect and advise the rest of whether it would be a good idea to put it on our plates. For example, one meal include a plate of what looked like tiny elastic bands. Apparently they also tasted like tiny elastic bands and so we all avoided the faux pas of putting them on our plates and leaving them. *After a few drinks, we pressed our guide to tell us what Chinese people call Europemans. now you know.