I was really really looking forward to my trip to Xi'an. It was to be my first foray inland into rural China. At least, that's what I thought. Once I jumped off the train I realised that although I was indeed inland, Xi'an was definitely not rural. I really should start reading guidebooks before I travel. If I had, I may usefully have learned that Xi'an is a city of more than 8 million people. It is also the capital of Shaanxi Province, and has a long and distinguished history as capital for many of China's most important dynasties. A guidebook would presumably also have alerted me to the hideous heat that awaited me. It was allegedly 39 degrees Celsius on my first day there but it felt much hotter.As it was, all I knew about the place was that it was the gateway to the Terracotta Warriors, and apparently going to China without visiting the Warriors is akin to visiting Egypt and skipping the Pyramids. With this being such a short trip, I had given up any notion of seeking meaningful experiences and was just doing a quick tour of the biggest tourist sites with the intention to come back and explore China again in the future. Speaking of which, I met some amazing amazing people at my hostel in Xi'an who were de
finitely making the most of their first visit. Among my favourites were a lovely Australian couple who had recently moved to Beijing as part of AusAID's Youth Ambassador for Development programme; a Bosnian-born Swede who had spent most of the last 6 years living in India and Africa, and who was desperately seeking an elusive 'unguided' trip to Tibet; an amusingly clueless group of eight Canadian lads who were on their first trip out of the homeland, had no idea what they were doing, and were trying to make every decision (EVERY decision) on the basis of consensus; and lastly the seriously hardcore group of an Australian, an Irishman and a Finn who had met in Irkutz and stuck together ever since. While I suspect from a few things that slipped out in conversation that these guys had met and bonded through some pretty unnerving and harrowing experiences in Siberia, their adventures in Xi'an managed only to include a missed train and a suspected kidnapping.
Trying to overcome my severe case of Backpacker Envy, I wanted to have my own adventures and arranged with some other girls to cycle 14km along the top of the city walls on a bike that turned out to be so old and bone-shatteringly devoid of suspension I think I was 3cm shorter when I dismounted. Then of course there was the trip to see the famous Terracotta Army. AMAZING! There are three separate pits, discovered ov
er the period of a few years, with Number One being the largest. Acting on a tip, we started with Number Three and worked our way backwards which I highly recommend. I walked into Number Three and was flabbergasted by the size and sheer amazingness of the whole thing. After taking about a billion photos we moved to Number Two which was even bigger and blew my mind again. Concluding with Number One - the biggest and most impressive - was just too much for my heat-exhausted and over-amazed brain to deal with. So I had an icecream and a little sit down. My Swedish friend and I had caught a local bus out there, flashed our drivers licence in order to claim a student discount (naughty, I know) and managed to spend the entire day at this breathtaking site for about AU $16 (including my icecream) as opposed to the $100-ish being charged by tour operators. Bargains make things even better.
The evening was spent exploring the Muslim quarter, buying souvenirs (a Chairman Mao clock! Irresistible!), eating and drinking. The next day I was on the train again and off to Beijing.
finitely making the most of their first visit. Among my favourites were a lovely Australian couple who had recently moved to Beijing as part of AusAID's Youth Ambassador for Development programme; a Bosnian-born Swede who had spent most of the last 6 years living in India and Africa, and who was desperately seeking an elusive 'unguided' trip to Tibet; an amusingly clueless group of eight Canadian lads who were on their first trip out of the homeland, had no idea what they were doing, and were trying to make every decision (EVERY decision) on the basis of consensus; and lastly the seriously hardcore group of an Australian, an Irishman and a Finn who had met in Irkutz and stuck together ever since. While I suspect from a few things that slipped out in conversation that these guys had met and bonded through some pretty unnerving and harrowing experiences in Siberia, their adventures in Xi'an managed only to include a missed train and a suspected kidnapping.Trying to overcome my severe case of Backpacker Envy, I wanted to have my own adventures and arranged with some other girls to cycle 14km along the top of the city walls on a bike that turned out to be so old and bone-shatteringly devoid of suspension I think I was 3cm shorter when I dismounted. Then of course there was the trip to see the famous Terracotta Army. AMAZING! There are three separate pits, discovered ov
er the period of a few years, with Number One being the largest. Acting on a tip, we started with Number Three and worked our way backwards which I highly recommend. I walked into Number Three and was flabbergasted by the size and sheer amazingness of the whole thing. After taking about a billion photos we moved to Number Two which was even bigger and blew my mind again. Concluding with Number One - the biggest and most impressive - was just too much for my heat-exhausted and over-amazed brain to deal with. So I had an icecream and a little sit down. My Swedish friend and I had caught a local bus out there, flashed our drivers licence in order to claim a student discount (naughty, I know) and managed to spend the entire day at this breathtaking site for about AU $16 (including my icecream) as opposed to the $100-ish being charged by tour operators. Bargains make things even better.The evening was spent exploring the Muslim quarter, buying souvenirs (a Chairman Mao clock! Irresistible!), eating and drinking. The next day I was on the train again and off to Beijing.
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