X is for Xian
Xian (pronounced She-an) was part of my first trip to mainland China in April 2003. Visiting the Terracotta Warriors was undoubtedly the highlight – thousands of them marching towards you, as they have been for 2000 years, and many more still to be excavated. Amazing. Less pleasantly, I remember the toilet arrangements at the Small Wild Goose Pagoda being the worst I have ever encountered. And that’s saying something – there might be a book in there someday!
Tang Dynasty Theatre
Garden Hotel
Small Wild Goose Pagoda
Morning exercise
Jade factory
Terracotta warriors
Terracotta warriors
Terracotta warriors
Terracotta warriors
The Glasgow Gallivanter 
The Warriors at Qin Shi Huang’s Unesco World Heritage Site
aretruly special. Well worth a visit from the city off Xian.
It takes about an hour by taxi to reach the site.
Great photo opportunities.
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I am probably the only tourist in the world who visited Xi’an and didn’t go to see the terracotta warriors. There was heavy rain throughout my stay there and we were two independent backpackers. The friend braved it and went but I stayed dry back in the hotel. I have been to many places around China, always with a backpack and using trains and buses.
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You missed a treat! However, I wouldn’t be brave enough to tackle China as a backpacker (or anywhere, actually.)
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Backpacking is the way to go, staying in budget hotels and travelling by railway sleeping car. I don’t think I ever missed my daily shower and travelled in China for around £8 a day excluding transport and admission charges. That way I could stay in China for a month each time and niot break the bank. Trying to buy railway tickets in sign language with 20 people waiting behind us can be a bit taxing though.
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Hmm, definitely not brave enough!
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The terracotta warriors are amazing! And what painstaking work to unearth them.
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They are! And the incredible effort to make them all in the first place.
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I am so glad I am not the only person that makes comments about toilets, my husband now asks me how I rate the toilets wherever we go because I have expressed so many thoughts about them in the past. 🙂
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They are very important! And I have found some absolute shockers – definitely a book in there.
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Some shockers and some that have absolutely surprised me – I remember heading into a local market in Italy years ago, expecting to find a horrendous toilet, only to find the cleanest, albeit hole in the ground, I have ever come across. I think a book would be appreciated by so many – at least they would then know what to expect 🙂
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I don’t get the hole in the ground thing. The older I get the harder getting up and down is and you certainly don’t want to touch the floor. It must be really difficult for elderly people.
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Given the option its not my preference, coming from the UK its not the natural choice either. I remember my first experience at the age of 11, it was quite a shock. I think the majority of countries are slowly moving over to what I call a ‘proper’ toilet and what I often hear being referred to on my travels as a ‘British’ toilet. 🙂
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British, hmm, didn’t think we had the monopoly! But possible a legacy of the British Empire in many parts of the world?
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Maybe! It did shock me if I am truthful 🙂
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Oh…don’t start me on the toilets in China…you can imagine how they were 20 years before you went!! No wonder I have no desire to go back!
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It does make it very difficult. I’m glad I’ve seen what I’ve already seen but it does temper my desire to go back.
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