In February we took a short break to head over to China to see the Terracotta Warriors in Xian. We booked a three day private tour with China Culture Center.
We travelled with our Australian friends Tracy and David. After flying to Beijing we caught a train over night to Xian. Not my idea but everyone else thought it would be fun. Me? Well I thought if you have been on one train then you have been on them all.
Finding the train station was an adventure in its self. The Beijing West Railway station was huge and very busy but wanting to make sure we arrived in plenty of time meant we had a lot of waiting to do. We decided to sit and have some soup and explore the local shops. We couldn't get over some of the names for the alcoholic drinks and decided to purchase some to consume on our journey. Another thing that surprised use was you could buy "Duck in a bag", which was roasted duck and it was sold everywhere. Our little song we made up was,
"Duck in a bag, duck in a bag all I want is duck in a bag" .
The train was interesting as we had to share the four bed compartment with an extra person as we couldn't book the whole compartment to ourselves so we had a very quiet Chinese man sharing with us, I was happy that it was for only one night. Tracy and David had to share with a young girl and a cadaverous Chinese man we nicked name "Uncle Ho".
After a restless night we arrived in Xian and found our tour guide "Steve" easily enough waiting for us at the exit.
We headed to the Mecure Hotel to freshen up and breakfast before we started our sightseeing.
Our first stop was a tour of the Xian City Wall. This wall is the most complete city wall that has survived in China to date.
It would of been nice to ride bikes around the city wall if the weather had been hotter and time permitted. Unfortunately this was not to be.
We then travelled out of the city and stopped off for lunch at a local restaurant were we had a range of dishes which were all very nice.
After lunch we ventured to explored the Terracotta Warrior Site.
On arrival we had to go through the main gate then travel by electric buggy to the site where we got to see the many different buildings and finally see the Terracotta Warriors. The main building was impressive and seeing all the soldiers was breath taking. It’s hard to imagine a farmer had discovered this site many years ago by just digging up the area for farming.
The complex was bigger than what I expected and it was really great to have our tour guild Steve telling us about the site. After spending a number of hours exploring and viewing the Terracotta Warriors we drove back to the hotel and ventured out for dinner which wasn't that yummy.
The next day, 24th April was Paige's birthday and at breakfast we had cake and sang happy birthday, Steve had surprised Paige with a cake.
After breakfast it was another day filled with history. Our first stop was at the Shaanxi Provincial Museum, then onto the Small Wild goose Pagoda which is a temple said to have been built to house and protect Buddhist Scriptures collected in India by a Chinese monk.
For lunch we visited a local restaurant where we ate some yummy dumplings. It was amazing how many shapes the dumplings were made into.
After lunch we headed to visit the Great Mosque and walk through the Muslim Market. This two locations were sadly very uninspiring.
The rest of the afternoon we spent at the lesser known Terracotta Army of Hanyangling which is nicked named "Nude Figures of Warriors". These are located in the village of Zhanijianan. The Nude warriors were much smaller than the Terracotta Warriors and they were originally clothed which now has rotted away hence the name.
After exploring the inside of centre we headed back to the car and onto the airport for our flight back to Beijing.
We stayed overnight in Beijing and explored the unusual night food market. The market was lined with…… all I can say was bugs and creepy crawlies and I couldn’t understand why anyone would eat the “food” items. We did try some fruit kebabs which were very nice.
The trip was well worth doing especially sharing the experience with friends. I am so happy that we finally got to see the terracotta Warriors.
Beijing West Railway Station
Road way near railway station
Man making noodles for soups
Bernadette and Paige enjoying some noodle soup
Food snacks for sale
Waiting area at train station
Room on train
Paige on her train bed
Tracy and Bernadette on the train
Ben about to sample some of the local drink
Whats in a name for a product
Train arrival at the station
Xian
Paige and Ben walking to the car in Xian
Paige at the Xian City Wall
Part of the Xian City Wall
Along the Xian City Wall
David, Tracy, Bernadette, Paige and Ben on the Xian City Wall
Part of one of the buildings at the Xian City Wall
Lunch stop
Our lunch
Travelling to the building housing the Terracotta Warriors
The out side of the building of the Terracotta Warriors
The Terracotta Warriors
Ben, Bernadette, Paige, David and Tracy
Paige's birthday cake
Steve the tour guide and Paige
Bernadette Ben and Paige in hotel
Tracy and Paige
Paige and Bernadette striking large bell
Lady painting inside of glass balls
One of the dumplings
One of the dumplings
In the market
Inside the display
Still to be unearthed
Nude Warriors
Display
Paige eating a fruit kebab
Food stalls in the night market
Different bugs for eating
A local having his snack
