As today was yet another “travel day”, we slept in and generally wasted away the morning.

We prepared to say our goodbyes to mainland China; I hailed a taxi to take us to the airport and luckily the first agreed—a few days earlier one had refused our destination—although I’m not sure he relished the idea. The large electronic clock which played a tune and chimed hourly, all throughout the night, will not be missed.

Although we have experienced many crazy drivers here in Asia, our taxi driver appears to be the sum total, or perhaps exponentially so, of all these drivers. Lanes meant little to him, to say nothing of speed limits. Blind corners? Personal challenges! Trucks? Minor obstacles! Justine mentioned it was like watching someone play “Need for Speed”, but given the proximity of foot traffic, I’d say “Grand Theft Auto”. As the car approached surely what must have been it’s terminal velocity—120km/h—it began to shudder so violently, with such force that the seats shoot from side to side, the doors nearly working themselves loose. Toll booths seemed to sooth this savage beast. We arrived unscathed.

The airport and flight were as airports and flights are: Long, boring, tedious, and full of lining up and waiting.

A long train ride and short metro ride later and we were at our hotel. Though we’d booked a double room they gave us a twin. It took the two of us complaining as a team—twice—to get it fixed. We got what we wanted, four floors higher (14th floor) and a great view of Hong Kong.

Since we’d never done it, we ordered room service for dinner. Vegetarian curry and fish and chips. Ahh, to eat real food again!

Photos taken today: 91
Photos taken to date: 4420

A bit of a lie in this morning. Breakfast in bed was all packaged, bought from a supermarket yesterday. We ate dry chocolate muffins and drank warm milky tea in a plastic cup – it contained “Q Chunk Fun”. I don’t know what it was, but it was certainly chunks, but not fun. Maybe Q.

We wandered the Muslim Quarter—I can’t recall ever having seen Chinese Muslims—checking out their interesting street food. I avoided, having learned my lesson. Justine never eats that sort of stuff anyway.

Somehow, we ended up in another market, which meant we bought more junk we probably don’t need, which meant I ended up bartering for junk Justine wanted.

In the exact centre of town is the Bell Tower; the bells are large and if you pay you can ring them. But not the good ones. From the top of the tower you can see the four main streets of the town, imaginatively named “North”, “South”, “East” and “West” streets (or avenue, or road). It’s kind of like the view from the Arc de Triomphe. But not as high. Or as many streets. Or as picturesque. Or as clea.r

Next was the nearby Drum Tower. I’m sure the name gives it away. Many more drums here than bells in the other tower. One must have been fifteen feet in diameter, and was much longer than high. Like everyone else in China, I ignored the notice posted and gave it a small whack, the sound was deep and resonated for a long while. Impressive.

Back in the Muslim Quarter we checked out the Great Mosque. Even though it’s supposed to be of both Muslim and Chinese design, I don’t see anything but Chinese influence. Except for the obvious: washrooms, Qur’an, prayer rooms, of course. Ironically, I think it’s one of the more Chinese things we’ve seen, and thought the place was serene and pretty.

Again it was about dark so we returned to our apartment and settled in for the night.

Tomorrow is yet another travel day, the last leg of our trip. We spend five nights in Hong Kong.

Photos taken today: 180
Photos taken to date: 4329

The beds of the train were supposedly “soft sleeper” (we had the private “Deluxe” room) but the beds were like wooden planks. In the middle of the night I woke with terrible back pain from having no support. Luckily, the blanket was quite wide so I put it under me and wrapped up in it, which helped a little.

On the platform were people holding signs for pickups. Ours wasn’t there. We had the address so no big deal. However, there was a guy waiting for us outside the station. He simply hailed a taxi, spoke some Chinese and let us go. Alone in the taxi we arrived at an alley where a young lady got in the front and directed the driver down the alley, handing him some cash. It turns out she was the person we were to meet.

The place we’re staying is an apartment complex off a main street. It’s a new but cheaply-made apartment. Two bedrooms with enough beds to sleep twelve people.

We checked in and hung around the place for a bit then headed out to walk back to the station to catch a bus to see the Terracotta warriors. Xi’an is—to me—like Beijing may have been ten or fifteen years ago. Dusty, dirty, many old buildings – many being demolished and many being built.

Like Beijing, people are rude, using the “me first” approach to, well, just about everything. People spit on the ground wherever they please, young children are encouraged to do their “business” on the sidewalk or street too. We hadn’t seen this in Southeast Asia.

While wandering around the train station area looking for the bus—many terminals are around the station, but the numbering isn’t logical—an older lady mumbled “laowei”, which is a derogatory term for white people. Certainly not the first time I’ve heard it this week, along with other racist treatment. Honestly, I’m surprised at the whole thing.

After asking a—non-English speaking but nonetheless verbose and helpful—policeman where the bus was we boarded the regular public transit bus to the warriors. It took around an hour.

The complex created for the Terracotta Warriors is both sprawling and uninspiring. It’s like a government complex, with square grey buildings every which way. Still, despite the seeming efforts to make the warriors less interesting, it’s still an amazing sight to see them all lined up, still in formation.

Since it’s winter it was almost dark when we returned to Xi’an. We spent almost three hours visiting the warriors as there is much to see.

As everyone in China seems to eat instant noodles frequently we decided to do the same for dinner. I only ate a little even though the packets are massive. Fighting off the cold, we watched TV on our laptop in bed.

Photos taken today: 128
Photos taken to date: 4149