Yongfeng Hotel Xi'an

... who of course rose to power at age 13, decided he wanted to replicate his power and grandeur in his afterlife. So he went about building his mausoleum at age 13 with just 8000 odd terracotta warriors, horses and chariots and a bucket load of weapons. 700,000 people were conscripted from around China to assist with this task. What surprised me is that only about a quarter of the site has been excavated since it was found back in the 70s. Truly ...

... Spanish, he had a problem with numbers. Before I realized it, we had an audiance listening to both of us. He was absolutely adorable!!!

Dinner was at KFC, but I passed and went to the local convenience store. When I returned I ate at the hotel restaurant (spaghetti and meat sauce - my favorite).

After a day of walking, my back needed a rest, so I retired early to watch HBO and read.

Another wonderful day in China!!!!

... the worst place in the whole of China - Shenzhen (or we call it - ****-ZHEN). This place felt like not only a non-tourist area as no one spoke any English and well...there were no other tourists, everyone stares! Even the staff at the hostel couldn't speak any english so we had to use a translator machine to communicate with! On a good note, we are travelling to Hong Kong where there will hopefully be a few friendly faces!

Hey Hey and a Big G'Day toya, Yipee! National Day has arrived! National Day commemorates the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949 and more importantly it also gives me a holiday and a chance to see Luo Wei. So whilst she and I go for dinner and have fun here is my indepth, very mature and well thought out history of why I am ...

... would walk away with a better opinion of the place. It is like visiting a museum built during the 60's/70's that has remained untouched since, yet for some reason they advertise it with glitzy modern advertising. All in all, I actually did enjoy my time at Banpo and unlike most places I go I was happy enough to leave. I paid my 1 Yuan and enjoyed my forty minutes ride back through the crazy ...

... differ slightly from meals with my homestay families. In restaurants we all sit around a round table, in the center of which is a giant lazy susan. In front of all of us is a tea cup, and a tiny plate the size of a saucer, a bowl that can be cupped comfortably in the palm of one hand, chopsticks, and sometimes a drinking glass or a Chinese spoon. Cold dishes are served first, usually consisting of liver or some sort of organ meat ...

... the tomb of Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi, and by extension the Terracotta Warriors. (Jim) So we were standing on top of the magnificent, fully-preserved city wall of Xi'an, looking down the main road into the city center and seeing the new modern buildings fading into the mists. No, not early morning fog, but all-day-every-day pollution caused by millions of new automobiles and thousands of coal-fired power plants. Most of China lives ...

ok, so i made it to Xi'an on the over night train. which was pretty fun. Went straight to the chineese embassey to renew my visa and then spent the rest of the time looking around the place. Not much to say really but i tell u what.. That army of terracotta is dam fantastic! check out the photos

... and unearthed some pieces of old pottery. They called in the archeologists, who eventually discovered an army totalling over 7,000 life-sized terra cotta soldiers plus horses, chariots, and weapons. The soldiers had a small number of different body shapes but each (so far) has a unique face. Apparently Emperor Qin Shi Huang had some enemies because the army was intended as his protection in the afterlife, but it turned out to be his own people who were none too fond of ...

... breakfast a few of us decided to take the bicycles around the city walls. So we made our way to the south entrance of the city walls, clambered to the top and hired ourselves some bikes. Michelle and I opted for the tandem bike, which was a giggle. It took us 90 minutes to cycle around the city walls and was really good fun. After our rather exhausting 90 minute bike ride, we set out for ice cream, to be followed shortly by lunch. Finding the International ...