Ghost warriors in xian

Okay figured out how to upload photos! Took me hours but check out the last few posts!

From Beijing, I took an overnight train to Xian. I thought Argentinean buses were the top of the line in overnight travel with their deluxe buses but its nothing compared to the Chinese trains. Well, in accommodations, not service. For around $30-40, I can get a bed in a train so I can actually get a full night's sleep. The hard-sleeper carriages have 20 rows of bed that are stacked in 3's. The top bed is slightly cheaper than the middle, which is slightly cheaper than the bottom. The top and middle aren't bad except that you can't fully sit up on the beds. The only places to sit are on the bottom bed or in these fold-up chairs in the isles. But there aren't enough seats so its either cramp over on the bed or sit on someone's bed on the bottom. And the Chinese aren't really concerned about respecting other people's space so everyone seems to share everything. Its a bit cramped and the bathrooms get pretty rancid but I'm just glad I can get a full-night sleep.

Xian is just 10 hours from Beijing so after I got to the hostel and taking a long, hot shower, I still had plenty of time to roam around the city. I met these two Canadians, McKay and Yvonne, so we decided to rent bikes and ride around the city walls. Xian used to be an important post on the Silk Road and used to be a great walled city. The wall (recently renovated) is about 14km long and pretty wide. It didn't take that long but our butts were a bit sore after riding over the bumpy walls.

Walking up the steps to reach the top of the wall.

Bike riding in China rocks! And so many people do it here.

We also spent some time wandering through the Muslim Quarter. Xian has one of the largest Muslim populations in China and the Muslim Quarter contains many winding little streets and delicious food stalls. We spent some time wandering and doing some shopping. For dinner we had some soup dumplings (the English translation called them soup parcels) and mutton-skewers. Its so much fun to wander through the streets and pick out things to eat. And so good! I'm loving the food in China, for sure!

An old Muslim man taking a break.

Walking around the food stalls with the rest of the crowd.

The "soup parcels" were so good!

The next day we went to see the Terracotta Warriors, the biggest tourist attraction by far (they called it the Eighth Wonder of the World). 2,000 years old, the terracotta army was commissioned by the Emperor Qin Shi Huang to guard his tomb. They were discovered in 1974 and are in remarkable shape despite their age. There are over 8,000 warriors many who still had their armor and weapons. They really were amazing to see - all these life-sized warriors with amazing detail all lined up.

Over 8,000 warriors are thought to be in the tomb (a lot is still un-excavated).

The bodies were mass produced but every single warrior has different facial features and expressions. The craftmanship is mind-boggling, considering their age!

The army had all the battle trimmings including horses and chariots (the chariots were made of wood and decomposed long ago).

An archer. Just look at the detail of his armor.

McKay and Yvonne were also going to Chengdu so we took the train together. It was a bit longer than the Xian train (16 hours) but we bought lots of snacks on board. We ate instant noodles and even bought some beer to help the time pass by. McKay and Yvonne were also really nice and we had some pretty good laughs on the train. I will try to upload photos again tomorrow so hopefully you guys can see how great China is!

McKay and me enjoying instant noodles on the train.

Happy Birthday, Dad! I hope you a great time. I'm sorry I missed it but I promise to be there next year! I love you!