Xi'an Trip

Last weekend Nou and I went to Xi'an to visit my friend Linda (who also went to UR) and see the terra cotta soldiers. We took the train, and it was very interesting, as we paid for the hard sleeper and we ended up being on the third row (the highest) of the cabin. There were six beds available, and we were squished between the ceiling and the bed. The good thing was that we had storage space up there, so there was lots of room for all of our stuff. The train station in Xi'an is a little overwhelming; we gave up trying to buy the return tickets there and opted to get them some place else. We saw the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, which is very pretty at night, and the light show/fountain show would have gone on if there wasn't thunder and lightning that night. The next day we had booked a tour of the Banpo village and the terra cotta soldiers through the Bell Tower Youth Hostel, and we had quite the international group. People were from Ireland, France and Argentina- nine in total. I hadn't heard about the Banpo village beforehand, so when we walked in I was surprised at the archaeological site that was lying in front of me. They don't know how many people lived there, but it is 6,000 years old. We could see the moat around the village along with the urns of children and holes that served as the foundation of the homes. They also had a display on the burial process and the pottery processes.

We did get dragged to several tourist traps like the silk museum and the terra cotta army factory, but once we finally got to the actual army, it was amazing! We had to take a bit of a walk before we got there, but it really is as impressive as in photos- actually even more so! I was so excited- it was like being on the Great Wall for the first time during Orientation! That was one of the highlights of the semester for me, personally.