We arrived into Xi'an after what in the end turned out to be a 6 hour bus journey from Luoyang. Checked into the hostel (even though they couldn't find our booking) and just sat about chatting and chilling in the very nice hostel bar.

Next day was supposed to be an early rise to see the Terracotta Warriors but it was midday by the time we got out to see them. They were amazing. However, the amount of Chinese tourists was phenomenal. It is disappointing that you can't get up close to them but just to see the amount of soldiers in Pit 1 was brilliant. That afternoon we went to the biggest fountain and light show in Asia at the Big Goose Pagoda. It was rubbish, totally jammed and we had to physically fight to keep our viewpoint. It took physical harrassment to a new level.

Today was a quiet day but plenty of walking was done. We picked up our train tickets for tonights train to Pingyao and wandered around the city. Xi'an is easily the nicest mainland China city we have yet been to, still smoggy but nice. We saw all the sights, the Bell Tower, the Drum Tower, the narrow streets through the Muslim Quarter and walked along the top of the walls that surround the city centre.

So now we are preparing to get our train to Pingyao where we hope to stay for 2 nights. Till the next intriging blog....