Howard Johnson Xian Xi'an

After getting to the bus station, we decided to take buses to get to the old city. Bad idea. In the second one, packed with people I got my camera stolen. I actually felt something funny when the guy tried to get (in vain) my passport probably after he got the camera...

I thought this kind of things only happen to others...
I had to change camera anyway... it was 4 years old, bad thing is ...

... horses from the Ming Dynasty (1386 - 1644).

I also liked the red, black and gray warriors as well as the gold pot and glazed pot and bowls from the Han Dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD), the bronze tripod, pots, cups and bowls from the Western Zhou Dynasty (1046 - 771 BC), the ox and cart, pig, goat, chicken and dog pottery (xome glazed) from the Norhtern Dynasty (386 - 851), the wagoneer and tile ends with horse, deer and dragon from the Qin Dynasty (221 - 206 BC) and the spiky ...

... huge packs on both our backs and fronts battling to the departure lounge before the train, i wish i had stopped to take some pictures as it was pandemonium!!! We opted to pay 5 Yuan to sit in a private lounge which was slightly better though still filled with the delightful sound of people (young and old) hocking up phlegm, screaming babies with their asses hanging out and farmers leering at all the foreign women..... lovely!! Fortunately we weren't in there long and our ...

... bathroom! We were starving, too. Finally a restaurant for food and the Terracotta Warriors. Simply beautiful. We got back to the hostel and ate and drank beer (I drink beer in China, go figure) and then passed out. It was a good day. Our final afternoon we took the bus back to the Muslim Quarter where there were too many people to have much fun, so we left and had Subway. Might as well eat it when we can. We then hopped on the train and started off for Hefei again.

... spectacular. I was able to explain to the people in my group the symbolism of the Buddha sculptures. My group appreciated the lesson I think...Little did they know that all of my 9th graders already knew all of this! :) The next day in Xi'an we woke up very early to see the entrance ot the tomb of the first Qin emperor, Qin Shihhuangdi. The tomb is very famous. It is on a list for travelers as the #2 place that will take your ...

Up slightly later today - breakfast then a quick look round the shops. Bought a couple of t shirts the weather is getting really warm now - planning to send all of our warm stuff home when we get to Hong Kong. Sat outside Starbucks in the sun and had a couple of coffees - people watching. Just rang Pat to say Happy birthday. Going to have something to eat, then have a shower. Leaving the hostel about 8 tonight to catch the 10.00 to Chengdu.

... of the same objects also appear in the Shanghai Museum, I now know, and they make a lot more sense to me since I've seen descriptions written by native speakers of English. (I started a photographic collection of badly translated signs, but I've stopped bothering with any but the most egregious examples, in part because there were too many and in part because I started to feel guilty for poking fun. The captions from the Xi'an Museum are well represented in my collection.)

... warriors place: I just follow her and we took the bus, but we stop one stop too soon which was the stop of the grave of the emperor Quin Shi Wang: the one who decided to bury all the warriors. When we enter in the site, one free guide (student who give explanation for free) give us a very interesting tour of the place and give us the history of the emperor and the terracota warriors. The emperor wanted to get some warriors for ...

... and piles and piles of poo where people had missed the hole somewhat. Grim. As for the ladies, well the building had totally collapsed, and it was difficult to differentiate between rubble and poo. So the toilet really was anywhere you fancied, but there was nowhere to hide, no bushes, nothing. Four of us decided to check into the 10 times more expensive hotel which had recently been built just up the road. It wasn't terribly fancy ...