Xi'an and the Terracotta Warriors
Trip Start
Dec 02, 2007
1
35
55
Trip End
Sep 01, 2008
Xi'an,
Shaanxi,
China
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Arriving at our Xi'an hostel, somewhat bleary eyed and feeling the effects of the 'hard' part of 'hard sleeper', we were very pleased to find a much needed breakfast and very comfortable bed for a few extra hours rest. Our first day in Xi'an coincided with the end of a three day national mourning period for the victims of the Sichuan earthquake, so rightly most places were closed, but we managed to book a tour out to the Terracotta Army for the next day and spend the evening in the company of the first of a great bunch of characters we would meet in Xi'an
Side view of the warriors
. Together with our new Italian friend we joined our tour early the following morning and headed out of town to the famed archaeological site. I have wanted to see the Terracotta Army for over twenty years, learning about this amazing world heritage site from the souvenirs and photographs my father brought back from an official visit to China he undertook whilst with the RAF. As he was with HRH during his visit I am sure they had an excellent guide for their tour; however I doubt the individual who showed them around could rival the formidable Chrystal (sic) who not only wowed us with her excellent knowledge of her country's history, but also of English Literature. After refusing to believe that Piet (or Beckham as she insisted in calling him!?) and I were not students I explained that we had been to university where we had studied English. 'I love the English Literature', our guide told me. 'Mr Shakespeare and his Hamlet is so wonderful but most of all I love The Lion King'.
After a long drive home, expedited by Chrystal's rendition of not just The Lion King score, but also 'Eidelweiss', a few of the Brits and Irish in our hostel got together for a few quiet games of cards and quiet beers. Well, it would have been a few quiet games of cards, had it not been the night of the Champions' League final. Given there was an Irishman and a Scotsman (see photos of Piet the Englishman, joined by Greg the Irishman and Mark the Scotsman all 'walking into a bar'- it was late...), they both (obviously) supported Manchester United, so at 2am dressed in Chelsea blue to ensure a bit of atmosphere, we all headed to a local bar
Warriors
. To ensure everybody continued to act to stereotype, Dave the Essex builder did a deal on a crate of beer and we all settled down to what turned out to be a very long morning.Emerging from the bar in the morning light, we spent the rest of the day sleeping and attempting to recover. This was made somewhat more difficult when we finally resurfaced and reencountered the same trouble makers from the night before. A long session of cards and a bizarrely entertaining game of darts somehow won by Piet (who was by far the worst player for over half the game) followed, before we finally showed some willpower and went for some more much needed sleep rather than following a group of newly arrived gap year folks to a Chinese club.
While waiting for another overnight train, we spent the next day viewing some of Xi'an's lesser known sites, including the Great Mosque, one of the largest Mosques in China, and shopping for the essential Terracotta Warrior statue to grace our mantelpiece back in Balham.
