This week Dulwich was closed for two days teacher training and it seemed to be too good an opportunity to miss to holiday in China without the usual crowds. We decided to head off to Xian one of the must see places on our China list.
Our friend Meeta joined us with her daughter Ria, who is a friend of William and Oliver. The boys were delighted to be going on holiday with a friend and Sam was excited to be going with two women, not so much the three children! After much discussion over the previous month we decided to get the overnight train and stay in a hostel to give the children a backpacker experience. We managed to pack all we needed in to two small rucksacks and with much excitement set off for the train station.
The train was due to leave Shanghai at 10pm and we got to the station about an hour before. The children hit a bit of a low and nearly crashed out before boarding!
Luckily our train was called and then it was all systems go.
The three children were very excited exploring the train and declared it to be the best thing they had ever done! We settled in and had a beer, chat and bedtime story before going to sleep.
Everyone slept pretty well and when we woke we breakfasted on museli bars and water rather than risk the train food. Getting off in Xian was a bit of a shock after Shanghai as it was pretty cold. Our guide Raphael met us at the station and took us to see a cave that his family had grown up in and for a local breakfast of a bread stuffed with chillis, which warmed us up!
After looking around the cave we headed to a fairly newly excavated site, the tomb of the Emperor Jingdi. The museum and excavations were excellent and Ria, William and Oliver enjoyed lying on the perspex flooring to see in to the excavation pits.
Raphael then dropped us at our hostel to check in and have lunch. The hostel was in part of an ancient building and is listed as one of the ten most spectacular hostels in the world and it certainly lives up to that accolade.
The food was fantastic and after eating far too much we set off to explore more of Xian.
The children all enjoyed a climb up the Big Goose Pagoda followed by an ice cream in a Hagen dazs shop!
In the evening we went out with a friend of Meeta and Giz's for a typical Xian meal with cold noodles and lamb.
On the Friday morning we woke early and were very excited as we set off for the Warriors. I was especially excited as the Terracotta Warriors are something I have wanted to see since I was about ten!
Note the slightly scary man reaching for Ria!
The Terracotta Army or the "Terracotta Warriors and Horses", is a collection of terracotta sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang who united seven provinces to form China. The army too 38 years to complete and was buried with the emperor in 210–209 BC. It's purpose was to protect the emperor in his afterlife.
The figures, dating from around the late third century BC, were discovered in 1974 by a local farmer. The figures vary in height according to their roles, with the tallest being the generals. The figures include warriors, chariots and horses. Current estimates are that in the three pits containing the Terracotta Army there were over 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses and 150 cavalry horses. the majority of these are still buried. Other terracotta non-military figures were also found in other pits and they include officials, acrobats, strongmen and musicians. When the figures were first discovered they were painted in bright colours, however after exposure these colours disappeared. Therefore the government has forbidden further excavation until a way to preserve the paint can be found.
Following advice we visited the three pits in reverse order, seeing the smaller pits first. William, Oliver and Ria packed binoculars in the spirit of going on an adventure but they actually turned out to be pretty useful!
Visiting the pits from smallest to largest enabled us to experience wonder at the sheer size of Pit 1. There are some sceptics who suggest that the whole site is fake, we decided that even if this is the case, it is pretty impressive!
All six of us thoroughly enjoyed the experience and were fortunate enough to meet the farmer who first discovered the army when digging a well on his farm. Apparently the Chinese government gave him the equivalent of about five pounds for his land! Now he makes money from his book, which we bought and he signed.
After seeing the warriors we headed back in the the city of Xian and went to the Muslim area which is well known for its food and produce. The street was lined with stalls selling dried fruit, nuts and various other produce.
There were also some impressive and ingenious food stalls including this one selling fried eggs on sticks.
Although there was not much regard for people's safety and we had to be careful not to catch alight.
Unfortunately we also spotted quite a few fur stalls where we were reassured by the owners that it was indeed real fur. Apparently most of it was dog fur dyed and cut to look like other animals.
Raphael took us to a restaurant for some delicious local noodles and dumplings.
Following the recent unrest in China the police are making their presence known. We witnessed them clearing street stalls that they would normally turn a blind eye too in an effort to assert authority and quash any unrest.
In the centre of Xian are two towers called the Drum and Bell tower. The bell used to be rung in the morning and the drum sounded at night. We climbed up the Drum tower and marvelled at the drums, especially the biggest one.
This was followed by a quick trip to a traditional Chinese shadow puppet show where Oliver, William and Ria got the chance to be puppeteers.
On our last evening, following another delicious meal at our hostel we went to a Tang Dynasty Show. The show told the story of the Tang Dynasty through a collection of dances. The dance of the Warriors and the dance of 1000 arms were particularly impressive.
On our last morning it was Meeta's birthday so we enjoyed a birthday breakfast followed by a walk on the impressive city wall.
We had intended to hire bikes and ride around the whole wall but the rain and pollution put us off. For the first half an hour we had the wall to ourselves and then our peace was shattered by the largest group of students we have ever seen! After watching the spectacle we headed back to the hostel to collect luggage before heading to the airport.
