The Terracotta Army visitor centre is an hour's drive out of the city along a wide tree lined motorway. Tony, our guide, explained that the regional government in Xian realises that the environment is important, so factories have been moved out of the centre and the air quality here is better than in Beijing. We saw huge building sites, apartments being built.

The pits containing the warriors are huge, photos and TV don't convey the size. We bought the book, which was signed by the elderly farmer who discovered the warriors when digging a well in 1974. We had a photo taken with him, and have a suspicion that there may be a few of these gents working shifts in the bookshop!

In the afternoon we were taken to the Great Mosque, a peaceful place in the middle of the bustling market, and then this evening we had dinner at a theatre. Dumplings shaped like pigs, ducks, lotus flowers or parcels were very tasty and the show was traditional singing and dancing from this region.