Our next stop after the traditional Beijing is to head towards a place that had even discovered relics, but more specifically the Terracotta warriors, Xian.

One of the big central sights to see in Xian is the Big Goose Pagoda (above), where you get a magnificent view of the city and all surroundings including the parklands and view like below.

Xian also has a significantly large Muslin population and apparently the Muslin quarter has some of the best street food to snack on. Unfortunately we were warned by our tour guide to stay away because there has been a lot of rebelling recently against anyone that might be mistaken for American or Japanese and that it was best to stay to other quarters.

For example the city wall and gates (above) were closed down even though we were supposed to visit just because even Japanese branded cars were known to targets for some of the people rebelling. Apparently the uproar is centred around the controversial ownership of the Senkaku Islands and the support the Americans are apparently having for the Japanese against the Chinese in this situation. Anyway a situation best avoided.

The terracotta warriors were definitely a sight to behold. The grounds are fairly new because the the first of the Terracotta Army was only discovered in the mid 1970s and the area around them had been mainly farming land. Around it has now sprouted a very vast tourist-friendly grounds that gives you a good guide to the discovery and the constant unearthing of new statues but little appreciation for the area other than that. It’s still impressive to visit and was worth the journey out there.