Next stop was Xi’an where we had to take an overnight train for 11 hours from Beijing. Needless to say, it was the worst train ride I have ever taken. All the private bunks were full so we had to sleep in upright seats, and of course the person who booked our tickets didn’t put my parents and I together. I ended up being awoken a few times during the night due to an old man trying to grope me (this is Alan speaking here), which I didn’t even recollect until after the train ride. Fun Times.
So we arrive in Xi’an and end up staying at a dodgy hostel which was nothing compared to the one in Beijing, we only had a day or two max, planned for Xi’an so it wasn’t a big deal. The next morning we began our bus ride to the area of the Terracotta Warriors which is the main tourist attraction in Xi’an. The bus ride there and back was quite pleasant due to the nice scenery on the way to the ‘hanger’. There were fields upon fields of pomegranate trees and the farmers method of catching them was putting small plastic bags under each sprout. As for the Terracotta Warriors, it was quite an amazing spectacle to see. The site was only discovered some 30 years ago and is one of this centuries most important finds. The preservation site is divided into 3 different buildings (pits) holding the stone warriors. The 2nd and 3rd pit contain different warriors and horses in different formations. The largest and most impressive pit is the 1st one which contains more than 6000 statues and horses. Although, you can’t get that close to them and you feel like you’re in an airplane hanger. It’s pretty amazing to think that people handcrafted each and every warrior with such detail; I’m pretty sure the king who wanted this shrine made for him was quite mad.
From Xi’an we flew to Shanghai which was our hub for traveling for the last leg. Shanghai is China’s homegrown New York City and it really does feel like a metropolitan city. However, there is a large contrast between the new and the old which is easily viewable through poor areas of the city. Our favorite part of the city was the YuYuan Garden area/Bazaar which is full of Shanghai special cuisines and old style buildings. We weren’t sure at first what to think of the city but we warmed up to the city the longer we stayed there. You can see all the Xi’an and Shanghai photos HERE.
Next stop Zhouzhuang 周庄.