Xi’an
I loved Xi’an. The Terracotta Warriors are truly amazing. They are called the Eighth Wonder of the World. Each soldier is unique in face, ears, hair, clothing. They do look like they could take a deep breath and walk away. There are so many more thousands of soldiers, horses, chariots and other things YET to be unearthed. I cannot wait to go back and see them all. I also loved Emperor Jindi’s tomb and museum. The excavations have been glassed over so you can WALK above the items left in the ground. In his tomb, all things are 1/3 size. I loved the layers of pigs, sheep, dogs and goats. We also walked on the wide intact city walls and enjoyed the Big Wild Goose Pagoda with its FREE water and light show.
SO MUCH TO DO!!
Our first day in Beijing was so smoggy, we thought it would be our last. But a day of rain and one of wind and we were our on the “secret” great wall tour with beautiful sunny weather and blue sky! We really were the ONLY people on our section of the wall which is incredible to be alone in this city! Read more about the wall, in The Great Wall by John Man (He also has a GREAT book called The Terracotta Army.) Hiking ON the wall with all its history was really a highlight of our trip.
We have also loved the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace, the Temple of Heaven, the Lama Temple, Hutongs, Sanlitun, Bei Hai Park, the pedestrian shopping streets and the incredibly easy to use public transport…2 Yuen for the subway and we have been all over the many different amazing areas of the enormous city.
China Customs
Life in China
There are special foods…like the dried flat pig faces in FengHuang and the live scorpions wiggling on a stick on snack street in Beijing. We have not been too bothered by the customs like spitting everywhere especially near our FEET, the littering (because in China, someone is ALWAYS sweeping and cleaning so the streets are CLEAN) or the toilets..which I heard were AWFUL and it is NOT true. We have really enjoyed our six weeks in China. People have been so friendly and helpful even with the tremendous language barrier. I highly recommend you visit China.
May 21 til June
Traveling in China we have noticed, there is a great internet fire wall here. 1000s of people work all day to shut down sites. That is why we cannot download our photos. We will do it at home.