The first part of my adventure started on Wednesday, October 1st. I boarded a train heading for Xi'an prepared for the 19 hour train ride with a book(20000 Leagues Under the Sea - which was great - wish I would have read it earlier!) and my Lonely Planet China guide. I was joined in my train car by 3 other people - Dr. Wang, his wife, Dr. Zhu, and another man - who never mentioned his name - but who did teach me how to play Chinese poker. Dr. Wang and Dr. Zhu were both retired doctors who were off to Xi'an to visit friends.
Also - since it my father's birthday back in the States(Sept. 27th) - they gave him a little birthday greeting.
Once arrived in Xi'an - I was able to see some pretty neat things. They have a museum in the center of the city that contain stone tablets with 900 year old Chinese Confucian writings etched into them. I was also able to go to a panda bear breeding center - where endangered pandas are brought to.....well, you know. The highlight of my trip was riding a bicycle around the Xi'an city wall at night - with thousands of Chinese lanterns lighting the path - and beautiful pagodas located everywhere. I got a chance to see bingmaying - or the Terra Cotta warriors. I was a little disappointed in the site - I thought there would be many more of them - but they told us that many soldiers have yet to be unearthed, and still more are under repair. I've also included a good Chinglish sign that was located just outside the entrance to the Terra Cotta warriors....
Finally - Xi'an - a city of over 8 million people - has major intersections that do not have stoplights. So crossing them can be treacherous. Judge for yourself....
