After Xiahe we started on our way back to Shanghai, from where we would fly back to Japan. We have to admit that at times the way back was draining and frustrating. But we still learned and saw a lot.

First we stopped at a town called Pingliang. Pingling seemed to be a nice place from what we could tell in the guide book but we thought it left a little to be desired. It was the one place though however where we didn't see another foreigner for the duration of our stay. And we could feel it. Everywhere we went we were really stared at. Every time we stopped in the market to look at anything a crowd gathered round to see what we were up to. The reason we stopped in Pingliang was to visit a mountain with a Daoist temple at the top. It was an interesting place but not quite what we had thought it was going to be.

We got on the train and after a grueling, standing room only, 6 hour train ride we arrived in Xian. Xian at one time used to be called Chang'an and was the capital of China during the Tang dynasty around 700 AD. It is said that at that time Xian could have been the greatest city in the world and it had a population of 2 million people. Xian's popularity as a tourist city stems from the same historical period. Because at that time one of the emperor's, in a show of extravagance, built a tomb that competes with the Pyramids in terms of effort expended to bury a king. The site is called the Army of the Terra-cotta Soldiers. Between the time the tomb was built and the 20th century somehow the tomb was forgotten and unknown. Then in 1974 when a peasant was digging a well he discovered an underground vault that turned out to be the Army of Terra-cotta Soldiers. It is said to be one of the major archeological discoveries of the 20th century. This is what was found. Surrounding the tomb in huge underground vaults are an army made of clay to protect the grave of the emperor. So far 6000 soldiers, each one crafted uniquely, have been uncovered. The soldiers remain in battle formation, horses, chariots and all ready to protect their emperor. You can see the original site, with the underground soldiers still a secret, at top right. Under that is a one of the huge buildings that has been built to protect and show off the uncovered vaults. In the next picture you can see the rows and rows of soldiers that line the vault. The final picture of the soldiers shows an archer in the ready position. The theory is all the accessories, including the bow, were once made but the things made out of wood have disintegrated over the years. It was quite an interesting place.

For the other day that we were in Xian we just hung around and shopped mostly. The town has a large Moslem population and we enjoyed the Moslem part of town with it street stalls, spicy meat on a stick and delicious dried fruits.

On to Nanjing page