Xian (Shaanxi Province)

YangZheng my student had a cousin in Xian so for the whole of our stay here we were chauffer driven to see all the sites.
1st stop, terracotta army. Astounding. Each soldier was based on a real soldierfroma real army, and the detail on each was incredible and on top of that there were thousands of them! It took more than a lifetime to complete them.
2nd stop, a Taoist temple up in the hills. This was very beautiful and very intersting, and I got my fortune told for a small fortune!
Dinner in the evening was the most interesting part though. We were taken by her cousin with his family and friends to a very local barbeque type outdoor very relaxed restaurant, where we all sat around a low tableeating loads of spicy skewered barbequed meat and drinking lots of Chinese beer. They were all really impressed with my bargaining skills and my ability to drink more than them! (And i thought I was a lightweight). I think I was the local hero for a while as they went on about it for days! :) None of them could speak any english but somehow we laughed and joked all night. Soooo much fun.
3rd stop, The Chinese are very much into their tombs, so we went to see the tomb of the first empress of China, although it was all buried and you couldn't see anything except the lovely view from the top of the hill and the interesting local people and children.
4th stop, Xian museum, this had a 5000 year old human skull on display!
Mongolian barbeque for dinner.
Got food poisoning and was bed ridden for a day, persoinally I think it was the dodgy chinese medicine I had been given for a slight tummy ache that caused the poiusoning. The Chinese are hyperchondriacs..they would go to hospital and expect to be put on the drip for a slight cold!!!
5th stop, the old city. This was again very beautifuul, one of the oldest cities in China, lots of markets and ancient architecture and the city is stunning at night, everything is lit up, even the city wall and bridges.
Really worth visiting.
Her cousin had been so kind and generous I was sad to leave. :(
GAMBEI!!! (cheers in Chinese, or in the case of beer it means down in one!)