Yanyuan Hotel Xi'an

... have some liberated views. I was curious to hear what the lay chinese person actually thinks. It is true to use the famous line from diff'rent strokes 'now the world don't move to the beat of just one drum'. There is a true belief the tibetans are much better off being part of china. What was interesting was their perspective that since Mao decreed religion the opiate of the people and it has been downplayed in society, these ladies felt that money ...

... garb to indicate his position or rank in the army. Their faces are all different, if you didn't know better, you would think that each one had an individual who posed.

As is the case in everywhere we go, the locals are impressed with our presence. I don't know how many pictures I have had taken with Chinese people, but if I had a dollar for each, I could return home 1st class. Most of the time the pictures are with children and ...

... all the way down to his feet, you can also climb down some very steep steps all the way to the bottom to really apreciate the size of this huge buddha (his toe was bigger than my body)! There is also a temple and the usual souveneer shops in the grounds and was well worth a visit. We went with a tour that was run within the hostel, just us three girls and two german guys. The journey there however, wasn't as enjoyable ...

... some of the culture of the time. The main attraction is of course the village site itself and like the Terracotta Warriors it can be found housed in a huge shed in which walk ways take you throughout. At some sections there are some small signs and all have English to help you understand what you are actually looking at as most of it is actually bare earth with many holes in it. It isn't until ...

... results of this famine on the Chinese culture, fifty years later. Since the famine, it's customary to greet someone with the question, chi le far la ma?, have you eaten your food? To which the answer always is, chi le, yes, I have eaten. If you answer no, then custom requires that you feed the hungry one, and many people did not have any food to do so. Still, the question is asked as a polite greeting, indicating that you are interested ...

The first steps into Xi'an were cautious. After everything Fred had said - I was surprised that someone didn't mug me straight away! Everyone looked dodgy! Cheers for this Fred - Im not even gonna enjoy Xi'an now!! The huge bag on my back was killing me. "It's a 15 minute walk" yelled Frank. 15 minutes?? He's having a giggle. A few minutes turns into a ...

... age of 14 would be thinking about the greatness of their tomb... or perhaps it is more realistic to think that it could only be someone at the age of 14 who would demand 7000 life size toy soldiers and an underground universe with stars of diamonds and jade and rivers of mercury at his burial place. Either way it is all there. The strange thing about the warriors is that there are probably only a few hundred unearthed and seemingly no digging going on any ...

Left Beijing at 9.25pm Friday 14th March from a different station Beijing West. Caught a taxi with Phil. Panic as we covered a vast distance but eventually ended up at the correct station with 300,000 others. Station was massive but as you went through a security check and scanner you were then steered to one of 8 large waiting areas and in these areas were 4 queues for 4 different trains..easy to find and easy to use. Our first experience of a 4 berth sleeper.....no real problems ...

... some interesting chicken impressions! In the afternoon me and Liv went to the drum tower where we saw a short drum performance which was good. In the evening we went to dinner with some of the group before following Jackie our leader to see street dancing, singing and other performances which was great fun and good to see local customs. The next day we took a bus to the Terracotta warriors, this ...

... people!! After here we went to Big Goose pagoda (see pictures), and made our way back to the hotel via a fantastic bakery with some of the best looking cakes you have ever seen. In the evening we all met up for a group meal that had been arranged. It was Hotpot, Chinese Style. You might think of hot pot as a stew with root veggies served individually. Well Chinese style, is a bowl in the middle of the table, full of a broth, cooking on gas. Where the customers ...