Day 11: Xi'an

On the taxi ride from our nightmare sleeper bus to our hostel, the taxi driver proudly told us that “all public toilets are free in Xi'an”. Oh, great – exactly what we need to recover from the awful bus ride.

Xi'an (西安), the capital of Shaanxi province, had been the capital of 13 dynasties. Its history is rich from the Silk Road to the Terra Cotta Army. Unlike Beijing, we decided to take it easy on Xi'an, no alarm clock and not cramming too much into our schedule.

Next to our hostel is the Muslim Quarter. It was our daily must-visit place because of its proximity to our hostel and the lively atmosphere. We went there to get our breakfast (soy milk and Chinese donuts) and dinner (BBQ skewers, lamb paomo, fried rice). Our breakfast for two rarely cost more than US$1. What a deal.

The Terra Cotta Army (兵馬俑) was the main reason why we came to Xi'an. Emperor Qing Sihuang was known for his unification of China as well as his brutality. Hoping to live a good after-life, he ordered the construction of a huge underground palace (not excavated due to concern about damage to the artifacts) and the Terra Cotta Army guarding the palace walls. The size of the three pits of the Terra Cotta Army is spectacular (majority is still not excavated), so try to imagine how big the underground palace must be.

Another highlight was riding around the City Wall of Xi'an. The wall was really long, so long that it took us an hour and half to ride our rented bicycle around the four walls. It was interesting to look at the city from top of the wall and watch the traffic go by.

Tonight we are boarding our first “hard sleeper” to Chengdu, and will share our experience in the next entry.

Check out the latest cheerleading team for the Beijing Olympics. They are all in their 50's.

How to get to the Terra Cotta Army: Take tourist bus 306 from the main train station outside the north gate (1 hour, 7RMB). It is the terminal stop. You can visit other attractions along the way, but we did not enjoy those sights (Underground Palace & Tomb of Qin Sihuang) as much.