Warriors of Xi'an

Xi'an was the ancient capital of China until the 9th century - it now boasts a population of 6.2 million and has one of the most visited tourist spot in China; the Army of Terracotta Warriors. We spent a lot of our time here wandering around the old Muslim quarter where our senses were delighted by the sounds, smells and tastes of the local restaruants and food stalls and the general street atmoshere. We visited a fantastic mosque which was unlike the more traditional marble style we saw in India and much more like a Chinese temple.

Relaxing on the train

The Army of the Terracotta Warriors are 1000s of extremely life-like statues that were made in the Qin Dynasty (221 -201 BC) to protect the tomb of the Emperor. They were only discovered 30 years ago by some farmers digging a well and there is still a lot of excavation occuring. Each statue has unique facial features that may have been modelled on his real army, and are all standing in battle formation. Compared to many of the other historic sites we have visited we found the warriors a little sterile mainly because you couldn't get up close and the statues are all housed in big plane-like hangers making it more like a museum than a historical site. They were definately still worth visiting and quite amazing given the period they were made.

Terracotta Soldiers

The rest of our time in Xi'an was spent visiting the drum tower and bell tower, where we were lucky enough to catch a performance of traditional music, and giving into the temptation to do some shopping. Eating Mongolian hotpots was also a favourite pastime.

We left Xi'an on an overnight express train to Beijing, on soft sleepers, the only tickets left. Our four person cabin was equiped with individual flat screen televisions, headphones and a choice of movies. We were almost reluctant to get off the next day.

Tranquil mosque, Xi-an