Chinese National Week Travels( cont)

We leave Yuyao on Monday morning and are lucky that our factory manager can drive us back to Hangzhou airport  ( about one hour) in time to take a flight to Xian.We arrive in Xian at 2.00pm after some delay at Hangzhou airport and we are met by Stefanie our travel guide/transport. I met Stefanie 2 years ago when Tom and Monique (fellow UWA students) and I traveled to Xian.  As Les and Valmai had not been to Xian before, it was a must that we see the Terra cotta warriors 【兵马俑】. The traffic there was chaotic, every man ( Chinaman) and his dog wanted to visit at the same time. Eventually our driver gets us to within walking distance and we set off on foot . ( we later find it takes her one hour to find a parking spot!!!)  Heading towards the ticket sale office  we meet ( Christine said accosted )  a local selling entry tickets , price is right they look ok. So we purchase 4 tickets instead of lining up .  This seems a common practise in China were an enterprising individual purchases group tickets at a discount and then on sells them at a profit. either that or he has a relative in the ticket office . We dont care as long as we get in!  As time is short ( we head off to another city the next day) we make our way into the  Terra cotta warriors to find so many people . It is ten deep at least inside the viewing area.and almost impossible to see anything. So glad i`ve been here before.

There really are Terra cotta Warriors in here somewhere !

Found one !!!!

Xi’an also famous as Chang’an during ancient times is dated back more than 3,000 years, indeed, for the duration of 1,000 years (13 dynasties with a total of 73 emperors) the city was the capital of China. Xi’an sits at the root of the Chinese civilization mainly because it served the Country as capital during four major dynasties such as Qin, Han, Tang and Zhou. For this reason the city offers the opportunity to discover its historical background thanks to several museum, relicts, historical ruins and culture. Furthermore the city during the past represented an inevitable destination for traders as Xi’an was located at the eastern terminus of the Silk Road. Traders from all over the world, visiting the old Chinese capital were inspired by new ideas of good exchange, sales, bringing them back to their native countries. The city hosts the terracotta warriors which it worth the price of the visit itself, also it has often been said that “if you have not visited Xi’an you have not been to China”.

We can only spend a short time here before we find our driver and head back into the city for dinner and a cultural performance .

Tuesday morning we take a quick look at the city wall. ( the best preserved city wall in China at 14 kls long )

       

Tuesday morning our driver takes us to Wudangshan , about a five hour drive ,  the highway is excellent with so many tunnels through the mountains followed by elevated roads to link them.