Our last day in Pingyao was not the most memorable day of the trip. It consisted of sitting around waiting to find out if we had a train for the night and what time if we did. When we eventually found out Sarah went for a massage and I finished reading an in depth account of Chinese history (only 60 pages so maybe not enough to be a scholar!)

The train ride was also uneventful, other than watching Sarah trying to climb into the middle bunk (there isn't even enough room to crawl). We also had to sleep with our bags as there was no room left on the bag racks which meant that it was an uncomfortable night, to say the least.

We arrived in Xi'an at 7:30 in the morning and were taken to our hostel. By the time we had sorted out the check in it was 9 and Sarah decided she wanted a comfortable sleep so I ended up watching the super bowl in Chinese.

Once awake we decided to take a walk and get something to eat, I wish we hadn't. The restaurant we choose only did hotpots so, bravely, we decided to have fish. It was the whole fish, guts (literally) and all. After this disappointing meal we decided to cut our loses and went back to the hostel. We thought that we would book a tour of the terracota warriors and Banpo village (a neolithic settlement) for two days time. This got a bit lost in translation and it was booked for the next day.

This in mind we decided to get some food from the hostel and drink there. We were roped into joining a karaoke night by the staff (it turned out to be us and a Japanese girl). Needless to say after a stirring rendition of "Wonderwall" all the staff had left (they just didn't appreciate our brilliance or where threatened or something like that).

We awoke bright and and early the next day (after catching the end of Quantum of Solace in English on Chinese TV) and set off to see Banpo Village, the Tomb og QinShuHuang and the Terracota army. The oddest part was the tomb which was a plastic mock up of what they thought (!) the tomb would look like. We all left wondering what had just happened, although it was worth it for the Terracota Warriors (I let the pictures do the talking).

After the tour we had arranged to meet up with Nicola and Huw so waited around in a bar, where we bumped into the Danes we had met in Pingyao so ended up having a couple of beers with them. For the second night in a row we ended up doing karaoke when we met with Nicola and Huw. Their group didn't sing until we got there and grabbed the microphone (they then kept hold of it, not surprising).

After we spent the next night in the hostel (to save money) we decided to get a KFC (instead of cheese dippers they do crab, with the claw sticking out) and walk into town. We had a look around the Muslim quarter (Muslim my arse! they were cooking and eating pig!) which was full of market stalls selling everything from cooked pigs heads to tea sets. Once we met with Robyn and Pat we preceded to drink until 2 in the morning.

Our final day in Xi'an consisted of sitting around waiting for the time to come to get a train out. All in all Xi'an was definately not a highlight of our trip (other than the Terracota army) as it is the same as any other city anywhere in the world, other than having a city wall and a moat.

I almost missed out Tang Paradise which we visited on our first day in Xi'an, which sums up the city. It is a park which was created to represent a Tang dynasty garden. The park itself is stunning but ruined by the speakers everywhere (blaring out childrens music at full volume). Whenever you got to a quiet spot and relaxed within a minute it was ruined. This sums up Xi'an perfectly, so much potential yet a bit rubbish. I'm glad I've been but I'm not going back.

The train ride was like any other so far on this trip, a lot of bustling to get on, and then we are a tourist attraction for the rest of the journey (Sarah especially).