Silk Road Day 8: Xian

Today was my favourite bit of sightseeing so far. We saw the Terracotta Warriors. What an amazing sight.

Three huge excavation pits, and over 7,000 warriors inside. Archaeologists are still putting together the pieces and it is truly a wonderful spectacle.

The only downside was our local tourguide Jackie, who seems intent on telling us every single that has happened in China's history in the space of three days. She's exhausting. Sweet, but every now and then I want to tell her to shut up.

Lunch was at a Chinese restaurant (!) then on to the Banpo Neolithic Village Museum. Not really my cup of tea and hard to photograph as it was mostly piles of dirt with signs pointing to them saying "this is where the house was" but surely interesting to some.

Tonight we get to choose where to eat so we are having Australian steak from room service. No Chinese food for our meal! I went for a swim in the evening but there were too many kids so I only stayed half an hour. Oh well.

Silk Road Day 7: Xian

A real western breakfast set us up for a busy morning of sightseeing - first the Forest of Steles, the largest collection of stone tablets anywhere. Very peaceful with lovely gardens around.

Then a walk atop the part of the city wall here which is in excellent condition.

We also visited the Wild Goose Pagoda, which is a working Buddhist Temple. If it looks a little wonky, that's because the Pagoda has a slight lean to it.

Lunch was a special dumpling banquet but I could only find four dumplings to eat. Plenty of other food though so it was all okay.

Had a free afternoon so I booked in for a massage at the day spa. Felt pummelled but relaxed afterwards, especially since it finished with a milk bath full of rose petals. Tonight we went to a Tang Dynasty dinner show. The food was surprisingly good and the show was very entertaining. And short enough that we didn't get bored. Forgot to take my camera though.