XI'AN, SHAANXI PROVINCE

(J) Tour guide White Jade (aka David) tells a joke;
Chinese man is learning English. Has so far learnt only a little, mainly counting to five. This man accidentally treads on foreigners foot and says "I am sorry". Foreigner polite and says "it is ok, I am sorry to". Chinese man smile and says "I sorry three", foreigner confused and says "what you sorry for". Chinese man says "i sorry five". Chinese man worried what comes next.
Xi'an is a small town, only 8 million people live here. During China's long history Xi'an has been the capital longer than any other city. Even now it is considered the western capital, as Beijing is the norther capital and Guangzhau is the southern capital....the eastern capital is apparently Tokyo (another little local joke).
(C) We had our first overnight train ride from Beijing to Xi'an. Thankfully the four of us were in a 4 berth soft sleeper. It was reasonably comfortable and a fairly smooth ride so a bit of sporadic sleep was possible. We were well prepared with a picnic bag of pot noodles, leftover peking duck, beers, breezers and other goodies. Boiling hot water isupplied on the train for our noodles.

Our new guide White Jade aka David was waiting for us when we walked out of the station platform and quickly led us to Mr Lee our driver for our stay in Xi'an. After some breakfast and a freshen up at our hotel we went to visit the city wall. Our original itinerary was to visit the Terracotta Warriors today but Michelle was there so best to steer clear. She also visited the city wall today but only half was closed off. We opted to ride pushbikes on the wall as a change from walking which was a bit bumpy with lots of big potholes but great fun. About 14 kms from the east gate to the west gate and back.

A couple of hours in the afternoon in the muslim quarter where we tried fresh squeezed pomegranate juice and an unusual lamb and bread soup for lunch. Watched vendors making noodles as thick as a belt and their version of peanut brittle which was devine. In the afternoon we went in search of bing piuju (cold beer) which is hard to find as most chinamen drink their beer and other beverages warm. Often drinks are on display in fridges that are not turned on. David suggested bar street which was about a 30 minute walk from our hotel. Hashmen will walk for miles for a bing piuju so thats what we did. After a couple of cold beers at Old Henrys Bar we wandered a few doors down for a couple more beers for the boys, a bottle of ghastly chinese red wine for the girls, some yummy dumplings and chicken curry and rice. Unfortunately the piuju here was not bing so the owner brought the boys a pitcher of ice to add to their beers...ha ha...that was a first! On our walk back home we were treated to a stunning view of the bell tower all lit up at night. Gorgeous!

(J) On our second day here we ventured out of town to see the terracotta warriors. Unknown until 1974, which for a civilisation such as China is hard to fathom. Not one record referring to the emperors tomb and its contents remained anywhere? The effort involved in building it all took 40 odd years and it barely lasted a few years in tact. The emporer Qi united the country for the first time but it seems his dynasty scarcely out lasted him. The tomb was destroyed by revolting peasants not long after his death and his dynasty over thrown.
The presentation of the three vaults is really well done. The main vault that contains the "army" is huge, the warriors set out in a battle formation with vanguard and flanking archers surrounding the main body of armoured solidiers. Many have been reconstructed but many also lay untouched in the state they were found. The other two vaults are smaller the 2nd being the "head quarters" including generals and other significant figures, such as crouching archers. The third is a temple of worship which contains about 60 terracotta guards and was apparently used actively by the emporer before his death.
The faces of the figures were all hand carved to give them a unique appearance, supposedly representing members of the army of the day. They are however inconsistent with the size of your average chinese of the day, being much taller and broader....presumably to look more imposing. What I didn't know was that each was hand painted. Apparently the paint disintegrates rapidly once the pieces are dug up and exposed to the atmosphere. This is why so many of the warriors have been left in situ, so that once the technology to preserve the paints has been achieved, they can be excavated and pieced together. Apparently a Japanese company has offered such technology but for an unacceptable price, so the locals are trying to figure it out for themselves.
A good day out to one of the main attractions in the country.

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