Day 7 & 8 (ignor the map below as the location is not correct. Some reason it is going to a different Xi'an)

Day 7 - We arrived 8.30am to Xi'an and were all shattered. The train journey had been really really fun. There were 6 to each cabin and the beds were actually quite comfortable. Unfortunatly the guy sleeping below me snored like a monster and kept me up for ages. But partly because the rest of us couldn't stop laughing at him. The toilets were to be expected. Smelly and gross. But in fact, I prefered the squators as they were cleaner than the Westerner ones. I accidently walked in on an old lady having a squat! She didn't lock the door silly woman!!

We checked into our hotel and Sunny our tour leader, took us for a quick walk around the area.

We stopped for some food in a very posh place. We were sat round in a big semi circle and every dish we had would be cooked in front of us, served, then the next dish made. Was absolutly gorgeous. One of the best meals I have ever had!

This afternoon was free time. We decided we wanted to go on a bike ride. Xi'an is one of the few cities who has it's city walls still standing. You can walk on top of the wall or cycle on it. We thought it would be a good laugh to cycle round. Now this wall goes round like in a square and it is 9 miles altogether! Katie doesn't do 9 mile bike rides!!! Once again I was trailing at the back, but I was loving it. We had such a giggle and I just felt so great and energised! We finished the whole wall in just under an hour and half. It's so hot here, we were all dripping with sweat. I have done so much exercise here it's unbelievable. But it's been great!

Went back to the hotel and got showered ready to go for tea. Tonights dish was going to be the Hot Pot. We went to a restaurant and all sat round a big square table. 2 sauces were bubbling up in front and you would cook food in them. It was similar to a fondue. Once again fantastic food! Then this Chinese guy came along and was doing some funky moves with this long bit of stingy pasta. As I turned to watch I have no idea what happened, but the stool I was sat on just gave way and I fell straight on my ass on the floor. Haha, I was well embarrassed. I don't know what happened. Think it may have been because I tried a gulp of the Chinese beer!

After tea we went and watched the waterfall music show which is a watershow that goes in time to different songs. Quite hard to explain so I've added some photos. It was pretty impressive to watch. Me and another girl, Hayley, went and stood in it and got soaked. Was good fun though.

Day 8 - Today we went to the Terracotta Warriors! Oh my God they are soooo cool! Was just unbelieveable seeing them. They are the 8th wonder of the world and just amazing. The guy who had discovered them was there as well but you were not allowed to take a photo of him. In any other situation I would have tried to get a sneeky one, but I didn't want to risk being chucked out. We went in and were all just so wow'd by them. They are so big and the history behind them is just so crazy. 300,000 soliders were used to make them all and once they were finished they were all killed so to make sure no one would ever find out it was there. Crazy that some farmer should be digging a well thousands of years later and find them.

After we went to a local farmers house and they gave us dinner. It was amazing. Some of the best food I have ever had, they just kept bringing out more dishes. One thing I love about China is the meal times. You sit round in a circle and just share all the dishes, all just chucking your chop sticks in to grab more food. It's really fun and such a sociable thing. It's nothing like the Chinese at home though, its like 100 times better!

As we don't have to check out of the hotel till 11.30am tomorrow, we are going to have a night in the bars tonight. Should be a good laugh. The food and drink here is so cheap so think a few cocktails are in order!

Thank you everyone for your great messages, I have been loving them.

Sorry I haven't had time to e-mail anyone personally, internet access isn't so great here and I have hardly had any free time.