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Xi'an and the Terracotta Warriors

We were taken by bus to Yichang where we met another bus on a corner and were taken in the direction of Wuhan, half way there in our 4hour bus ride, it pulled over and we were told to get off. We were in the middle of now where and were quite concerned until somebody translated for us and said that we were to change buses, there was one behind. There were no change over or even a sign of a ticket any where, only this could happen in China. The hostel in Wuhan was very nice and a member off staff took us out to find some food, we all ordered various things from the menu, I had the best dumplings and fried noddles I've ever tasted and we all retired for the evening after a long and ver stressful few days.

The 2kiwis and German headed for the Airport in the morning and I headed for the train station for the 14hr trip to Xi'an.

Xi'an was a pretty relaxed town, it still had its Prada, KFC and Christian Dior, but the air was cleaner and it seemed to be a smaller town than the other huge cities that I had been in. I had met up with 2 of the people from the river cruise and went out for dinner in the Muslim quater the evening I arrived. The tours to the Terracotta Warriors were as expensive as most are, but we had been advised that we could see them on our own by catching the buses. In the first hall the building was impressive on its own that housed the Warriors, it was 260m long and aboout 130m wide, it looked the same as an aircraft hanger and there was an earthy smell to there air as soon as you entered. There were thousands of Warriors in the first hall most intact but some being put back together. The second and thrid halls there were just holes in the ground with not alot too look at.

There as been massive investment all around this area with massive shopping malls being contructed at an alarming rate. Most are empty at the moment but by the summer rush of tourists I bet they will be full of the same tourist tat that you find all over China with the added Terracotta Warrior sculptures.      

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