Xian - 20 October 2011

Today was one of the highlights of the trip when we headed to the Terracotta Warrior museum. This is the site where the Terracotta Army which was uncovered in the 70's by some farmers (the main one was actually there on the day). The figures date back to the 3rd century BC and were said to have been built to surround the first emperor's tomb and protect him in his afterlife. There were three pits that we were able to walk through which allowed us to see the various stages of restoration.

It was an amazing site and hard to believe how they were created so long ago and in such masses (although given it was a few thousand years ago, they probably had a lot of time on their hands back then!!).

Lunch was at the museum and was really good - we were able to try some of the local noodles and dishes.

After lunch we were off to the Chinese History museum (another boring museum)!

Then we were taken to the city wall area - the city wall in Xian is completely in tact and the round trip is 14kms so we were only able to walk along a section of the wall.

Before dinner we walked through the local Muslim quarters (where there were endless street food stalls) and then it was off to dinner.

Tonight's menu was Hot Pot - apparently a local tradition - essentially was a make your own and without proper instructions was pretty disastrous! This would have to have been the worst meal of the trip - thank god for the honey oat bars I packed and bought with me!!!

Here are some photos from today:

Terracotta Warriors

City Walls