8th April – Xian

So today we went to the terracotta warriors, which was basically the whole reason for our trip here. We were good and caught the local bus...in the wrong way but soon realised and changed. From there it was pretty easy to get to the warrior but started pissing down which was particulary traumatic for me as i'd spent 10 minutes deliberating whether or not to take my brolly and decided against it. ARGH. But ended up buying 2 off some entrepreneurial bloke for a quid. Were lazy (and it was raining!) and took the electronic car to the site from the carpark...don't want to walk 1km in the rain thanks. Dutifully watched the movie which was kinda random cos you stand in this cylinder room with the movie all around you and it all joins up...made me feel carsick if it moved to fast! Went to the biggest pit first which is where they all line up. its pretty cool and they all noticibly different, some are even kinda fierce and some are almost happy, sme have facial hair, some have side burns!. You can see lots that have been destroyed after the qing empire collpased which was only a short time after the emporer had been buried with his army. Theres horses too.. Hard to believe this is all like 2000 years old, amazing. Pit 2 and 3 were not quite as spectacular but 2 contained horses set up in order and 3 had some generals and a bowman and a horse with his leader all on display and they were really in great condition. the horseman even has the reins in his hands and you can see the bowmans feet...the shoes have a sole pattern on them, so so intricate and so much thought gone into it. Shame the emporer was obviously a nutjob. Head back to our hostel and had a lazy dinner in the cafe there trying to decide our movements after Wudangshan. Enjoying the wireless!