exploring Xi'an

While in China, I decided that it would be silly to visit only one city (Beijing) so I decided to schlep on over to Xi'an as well. Besides being a city of great historical importance as a former capital of China, it also had the famed terracotta warriors. That was enough to convince me. Unfortunately for me, Xi'an is a popular destination, and this was the tourist high season, which means that it was very difficult to get space on a train. Rather than get a bed for the 11 hour trip, I could only get a standard seat, and on a slower train which took 15 hours. To say I didn't get a good night's sleep would be an understatement, but on the plus side, I got a window seat, which meant I had a small table in front of me. This was great, as it meant I could slump on the table to sleep, which was much more comfortable than trying to sleep while leaning against the rigid seat back. (trying to look on the bright side here!)

After that I made my way to my hostel, and promptly passed out for some sleep in a real bed. Over the next few days I explored Xi'an, and hit up the terracotta warriors (of course), but also checked out the tomb of emperor Jingdi, went for a bike on the city walls, and even took a day-trip to hike a local mountain (more on that in a future entry). I had also discovered that I could download a lot of classic books onto my iPhone, and spent a decent amount of time just relaxing (something I'm actually quite bad at doing), and re-reading the Harry Potter series (still good!). It was very nice to chill out for a bit. After 5 days in Xi'an, I returned to Beijing (this time I had a bed in a sleeper car, which was amazing. I slept like a baby for almost the entire trip), where I chilled for a day while waiting for my train to Mongolia. After the hustle and bustle of China, I must say I'm looking forward to the natural splendor and vast open spaces of Mongolia, but we'll save that for another entry.

Without further ado, it's picture time!

the Xi'an Drum tower at sunset

me and the terracotta army

more warriors

the terracotta warriors are famous for their level of detail: every single statue has a unique face, and just look at the detail in the sole of this soldiers sandals

well, I guess this is a good regulation, but it seems like common sense to me - is that sign really necessary? "hey, lets light a terracotta warrior on fire!! Oh, wait, nevermind, we're not allowed to burn things here. . ."

this is how I would get places in a taxi, or buy train tickets - I'd just ask the person at the hostel to write down the address or request, and then hand the note to the appropriate person. This note is asking for a train ticket to Mt. Hua Shan. Or it could be saying that I am a dangerous criminal who has recently escaped from a mental asylum and that the person reading this note should call the police immediately - I certainly wouldn't be able to tell. I just had to trust that the people who wrote the note for me didn't have an evil sense of humor. . .

the guard tower on the Xi'an city walls. This wall is huge - I biked the whole wall (you're allowed to bike / walk on top of the wall - pretty cool), and it took 80 minutes!

I was more than a little suspicious about this "suger", but in the end, I really didn't want to drink unsweetened coffee, so I risked it, with no adverse effects . . . so far . . . ::twitch::