Considering I'd opted for the hard seat for my 14-hour train to Xi'an, I was pretty well rested. Went and met one of the guys from the trans-Siberian who'd come to Xi'an ahead of me. We made our way to the Great Mosque, picking up some really good street food on the way. Great Mosque was interesting, though it'll be better in a year as they had building work going on and the guy calling for prayer was clearing his throat every 3rd word - not the guy for the job... Later we went on to a couple bars and met a bunch of English teachers. We ended up in a bar near the ancient wall called Near Wall Bar - imagination barrier...

Went over to the Terracotta Army the next day which was really good, though I was expecting more of an army. In reality it's closer to the numbers Dwyer rounds up for his 5-a-side team. The guy from the trans was leaving Xi'an that night, and Terracotta's quite a treck but I made it back just in time for a brew, so we chilled in a bar on the rooftop of our hostel for a bit.

Following day I went over to the Small Wild Goose Pagoda which on arrival I found out was closed, so I took the scenic route to the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, which is indeed bigger, and holds a fine shape! Later in the eve I went and caught up with some people I'd met in Beijing, played some card games and a bit of pool and headed over to a club which was pretty decent. Three of us had booked the same train to Chengdu the following morning though so we called it fairly early.

As I boarded the train toward Chengdu, I was the only foreigner in the hard seat section, and based on the last train, expected it to stay that way. Until an English bloke I'd met in the club the night before walked onto the carriage, and of the thousand designated seats on board, his is opposite mine. So with an unfamiliarly flowing conversation and a local with a boombox and some Chinese classics, we rolled over to Chengdu!