The Warriors of Xi'an A couple of months before I was born (March 1974) a Chinese farmer Yang was drilling a water hole in the middle of a field 1 hr east of Xi'an. Little did he know that he was about to stumble on arguably the biggest archeological find since the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb some 50 years earlier! Once uncovered the total site composed of a mausoleum for the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang, complete with 3 pits containing the terra-c...

The D123 to Zhengzou & beyond As we depart Beijing West train station we are excited about embarking on the next step of our adventure. Beijing has left it's mark not only with fantastic memories but our legs are feeling the effects of the miles of streets we have trudged compounded by the steep steps on the wall. The thought of sitting on a train allday was an opportunity for much needed rest! As we casually strolled into the waiting room it soon became a...

More than a 'Great' wall of China We need to choose words carefully here as this is a structure unlike any on this planet and to use the word 'Great' is simply selling it short. Maybe it can be referred to as the 'magnificent' wall of China. In the early 1400's somebody decided the dense woodland and steep mountains were not enough protection as a barrier to Mongolian advances so they built a wall too! These Mongols must have been a bloody hard army! They mi...

Scorpions, Kites and a Birds Nest! It's not often we find a city where 1 week simply isn't long enough. Despite the constant mist (mixed with smog) that has descended since our arrival Beijing has everything to offer. We soon mastered the cities subway system and combined with 5-10 miles walking each day we have experienced it's immense charm. You can wander for hours in narrow streets of the Houhai lake area, admire the varied pastimes on show in the Temple of ...

Its time for the adventure to begin. It was quite a mad day yesterday shifting all our furniture etc to parents garages, lofts, living rooms. They say its cluttering up their house- we think it is a free loan service. I blame the Welsh weather for delaying the Ryder Cup as obviously we had to watch that whilst packing the vans- Superb putt from Gmac on 16- Get in! Just a few things to sort before we leave for the airport (BA flight London- Beijing departs 16:30)...