Hello People

Arrived in my new destination Xian, this was by overnight sleeper train from Beijing. This in it's own right was a eye opener i have never had to do such a long journey in my entire life, having to sleep on a top bunk of 3 literally 2 meters from the ceiling. The train itself was a epic, at first i felt a little scared as people where just starring at me, in the end i was brave enough to gesture to why they where starring at me to the reply "where intrested in you as we do not see western people". After i realised they where just intrested in mei was a bit friendlier and then accosted by Chinese people for 4 hours they where asking me to speak constantly so they could learn English, in my eyes it was a good trade off i was fed for free, i tried many different Chinese dishes and it was all good fun.

Xian itself is in my eyes very different to Beijing the only similarities are the squat toilets they are disgusting and the smog once again it's actually like bejing. it looks cloudy but clearly it is just pollution. Although I feel Xian is much more traditional in the Chinese way of life as they have many unusal traits.

Yesterday went partly around the Chinese wall with my partner in crime Laura who i met in Beijing this was great fun in the day and in the evening went to the great pogado was a great site to see even got to do so crazy Chinese dancing in the street hilarious.

Today we went to the terracotta warriors another of the 7 wonders, the weather was a bit poo but the spectacle is amazing and a must see.

Basically what it is as followed:

The Terracotta Army or the "Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses", is a collection of terracotta sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China. It is a form of funerary art buried with the emperor in 210-209 BC and whose purpose was to protect the emperor in his afterlife, and to make sure that he had people to rule over.

The figures, dating from 3rd century BC, were discovered in 1974 by some local farmers in Lintong District, Xi'an, Shaanxi province, near the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor (Chinese: 秦始皇陵; pinyin: Qín Shǐhuáng Ling).

The figures vary in height according to their roles, with the tallest being the generals. The figures include warriors, chariots and horses. Current estimates are that in the three pits containing the Terracotta Army there were over 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses and 150 cavalry horses, the majority of which are still buried in the pits.[1] Other terracotta non-military figures were also found in other pits and they include officials, acrobats, strongmen and musicians.

Tomorrow going to go on a bike ride around a wall in Xian this covers the whole of the city it's a total of 17km should be interesting on the fitness and also knowing my luck will fall of the bike and break my ankle or something, but again cant wait its going to be a great laugh.

Here in Xi'an till Wednesday then move on to Shanghai this time by night bus, its a bit like the film planes trains and automobiles at the moment great fun though and the best way to see of the smaller villages of China even if they are probably the poorest houses i have seen i.e. just shack houses, plus the poorest people i have seen they are either rich or extremly poor in China no inbetween.

Peace out people catch you soon