May First Hotel (Wuyi Fandian) Xi'an

... and there are still heaps more to go, every warrior is life size and every one has a different face.

Facts on the Warriors:-

It was discovered in 1974 by peasants digging a well. The awesome ranks of life-size pottery figures, modeled from yellow clay, were made to guard the tomb of Qin Shi Huangdi, a despotic ruler who unified China over 2,200 years ...

... br>Along the side they have a standing archer, a kneeling archer, a middle ranked officer and a general behind glass enclosures. It was great to see them up close and observe the incredible details. It was pointed out that the kneeling archer has a bun in his hair on the left side so that he could pull out the long arrows on his right side, plus it is esthetically balanced too.

In one area of Pit 2 there is a part of a chariot (most do not remain, they were wood and had ...

... back down but unfortunately it was short lived as we had our orientation walk in about 15 minutes...this however didn't stop me and the 3 lads devouring about 12 eggs, and those who know me well know how quickly i eat so you know i can do it hahaha!! We started our orientation walk with a short bus journey into the bustling centre of Xi'an. Now with this being my second major chinese city that i have visited, i have noticed one undeniable truth.....people in China do not know ...

... we had to take the 914 or 306, but I had no idea where had to catch them. We decided to ask this couple as we assumed they were heading there. We were right. They were an Australian couple named Damien and PJ. They had been living in London and were recently laid off so they were taking a 5 week journey home through Asia. They knew where to catch the bus, so we followed them. We boarded the 306 for 7 yuan and made the journey out there. We got there roughly ...

... the local school visit, and the twenty-something Chinese girls Molly and I became friends with in the park. I am also working on uploading pictures. Watch for those to be posted on the older posts, with just new pictures added. I want to also say a quick congratulations to my cousin Adam who graduated high school this weekend. I wish I could be there, and celebrate with you. Molly and I are thinking about you, and miss the DeVore's very much!

... Tiger Leaping Gorge, which is where my feet walked next. I ended up walking in the gorge for 3 days, and its pretty dam cool. Once I got back to Lijiang Sam had arrived so we decided to head off to some seriouse altitude and seriouse cold. Another over night bus and where at 3200m above sea level and in temperatures round -5C or so. But to our amazment no altitude sickness. I got me a down jacket too and we ...

... of earth built up to be disguised as a mountain. The Qin Tomb was forgotten over the years, and it wasn't discovered until a lone farmer who was building a well pulled up an arm of a stone warrior. This is probably the single most important archeological find of our modern time. Thousands upon thousands of life-size terracotta warriors were lying beneath the earth guarding old emperor Qin. Looking at the army of clay it is really mind-boggling.

... the warriors and headed back to Xi'an stopping off at the Muslim quarter which was fascinating. Seeing the differences in culture and dress was very interesting and we tried some of the food from the street vendors. Our stop over in Xi'an was only a flying visit and we stayed only one night there. Next stop is Chengdu in the Sichuan Province. We arranged our flights in the hostel and prepared to leave the following day for our one hour flight.

... Nath. There is a tributary of the Ganges that runs in front of the buildings and here the sick and destitute come here to die as then they receive a cremation ritual. Families also bring their dead here, cover them in a white and orange cloth and then remove the clothing underneath the cloths. The eldest son of the family works around the covered corpse three times holding a stick which has been lit and then he places the flame in ...