Even though we have pretty much raced through China, we have managed to see a few sights; the Great Wall, the Yungong Caves and carved buddhas, Pingyao walled city, the Terracotta Warriors, the Large Goose Pagoda, Xi'an city walls and Bell Tower…

For the first couple of days we travelled with Verena and Thomas, and we had a great time. It was really sad when we had to part ways (both vehicles continuing south, but us moving much quicker). We visited the Yungang carved Buddhas together and so our guide (who had become their guide through a strange twist of the tour company) gave a talk about the Buddhas, here is the main gist of it:

· The Silk Road was from Xi'an to Istanbul and even to Rome (the Chinese do not admit to importing anything in exchange)

· The most important thing being traded was Chinese silk, although ideas and technologies were also traded,

· The Chinese inadvertently assisted the Roman empire in developing - the Romans had Chinese silk flags which confused their enemies who thought they must be being helped by angels or even a god. And so the Romans conquered all because they had Chinese silk flags… Interesting twist, huh?

Visiting the Terracotta Warriors was amazing. We stayed really close by in Lintong, and got to the gate as it opened and walked to the exhibit hangar - instead of buying another ticket and standing in a queue for the golf cart to take us! Because we were there first thing, when we walked into the hangar we were the only ones there… for at least 10 minutes we had the whole of Pit 1 (the largest and best preserved) to ourselves. This was so special. As we moved on to Pit 2 and 3 and then into the museum section we saw more and more tourist groups, mainly domestic (Chinese) groups, being guided around in groups of 40/50 with the tour leader holding a flag to keep the group together. By 10am, the grounds were a sea of people, and the best thing to do was go with the flow. So, it was really amazing for us to get there and be in the Hangar alone. And this is out of peak season remember! I cannot imagine how busy it could be in the summer months!

After the Warriors, we were deciding between going into Xi'an and driving to Foping. The Rough Guide to China lists a Giant Panda Reserve in Foping with a phone number of a guide… we did call, but it was the wrong number. Seeing as we didn't really know what was there, and we were so short on time in China, we decided just to go to Xi'an. It's not a disappointment to visit Xi'an, but just a difficult choice between so many interesting and different things to do!

Xi'an used to be the Capital city until the Ming Dynasty and there is lots of history here, but also a huge, modern city. We stayed in the south, near to the Large Goose Pagoda and got the bus into the downtown area. There are so many people. The pavements are a crush even though they must be 15 - 20m wide, and the buses even more so! People are very civilised when it comes to queuing for a bus, and the single file bus queues run for maybe even 100m! Not so for taxis though - we had our taxi stolen twice, people running up to the passenger side window and jumping in! In the end, we just got the bus!

An evening tour around any of the cities or sights is sure to enlighten - literally. The lesson here is; if you can put one light on it, why not put ten and all of different colours. Some might say this is tacky and could induce a headache. Yes, it is. But it is also very Chinese!

One thing I find strange is in the guide book a lot of places are listed with the Things to See as Minority Villages. It seems to me that this is not tourism, but voyeurism… I may be on my own there though. We did drive through a village where everyone had the traditional costumes - it looked like Sunday Best to me… and then in the middle of the village there was a wedding going on! The bride wore a white dress, the bridesmaids in red. I thought this was fair enough, but in some of towns the ladies dress up specifically for tourists and harass you to have a photo with them, and pay of course.

Yunnan Province, on the southern border with Laos, Vietnam and Myanmar, has the most Minority tribes. Mainly I suppose because of people moving into China and settling, then being isolated due to the mountains. Minorities in China (well, every ethnicity except Han Chinese) are permitted more than one child and they often marry very young, so there are a lot more children in this area too.