The Terracotta Warriors and the Muslim Quarter

It's been a flying visit to Xian, just one nights stay here. We felt like the terracotta army was a 'must see' when in China and so made sure we had time to visit it.

The first day we got there we had an afternoon of fooding it up in the Muslim Quarter. It's a series of bustling back streets and alleyways filled with street food,restaurants and shops. Jason was fine,but unusual for me I struggled to find my appetite after having a bout of food poisoning. Jason managed to work his way through squid kebabs, herb filled fried pastries, chilli potatoes and slow cooked lamb burgers. We spent a fair few hours just taking in the atmosphere...groups of men bashing nuts in big pans, people heckling for your custom, neon lights, the smell of bbq'd meats, lots of tourists for people watching. The day after we also came to the Muslim Quarter again for some food,but this time found a highly recommended restaurant for traditional steamed baotzi, which is a sort of rice dumpling filled with beef, that we had with chilli soy dip. Delicious.

We'd been really looking forward to seeing the terracotta army based on a documentary we'd watched at home that presented its history, gradure and advanced technology in detail. Unfortunately it didn't live up to my expectations. I think I'd built up this idea of seeing a huge army up close that had been buried for years, but instead it was a lot of unexcavated broken ruins that had yet to be pieced together. There is no doubt that the army is impressive from an historical point of view and the horses & chariot are particularly incredible, with beautiful detail and colours. However it is extremely busy and you have to fight your way to get a photo and you are quite far away from the ruins in the big pitted arenas. Jason thought it would be a tourist trap and may not live up to expectations and came away impressed. The whole idea of this army being made in so much detail all those years ago to protect Emporer Xin in his afterlife is where its awesomeness lies. All in all it is one of those sights you must see.