We got another sleeper train, this time from Pingyao to Xian and when we got on the train at 00.30 am there were people in our beds; however they soon got up and left once we woke them up. We arrived in Xian at 9am feeling pretty exhausted. We spent the day recovering and wandering around the Muslim Quarter. Xian is a huge walled city with some lovely ancient buildings, including the huge Bell and Drum Towers.
Whilst we where here we met a couple called Marion and Dave, who used to live around the corner from my Mum and Dad. We got on really well with them and went with them to see the nearby daily fountain show. The place was crowded with enthusiastic Chinese tourists and there was one very stressed-out Police man desperately trying to control them. Very amusing!
We also did a day trip to see the Tomb of Emperor Jingdi (188-141BC). His rule was based upon the concept on non-action and non-interference (imagine that!) and he did much to improve the life of his subjects. 21 of the 81 huge tombs have been excavated and it is a very impressive and interesting place to visit. The pits contain terracotta figurines, including eunuchs, servants and domestic animals.
On our last day here we got public transport out to see the Terracotta Army, which we were suitably impressed with and luckily it was quieter as we arrived at lunch time. First we visited Pit 3, which contains 72 warriors and horses and is believed to be the army headquarters. Pit 1 is by far the most impressive and the scale of it is hard to take in. It is believed to contain 6,000 warriors and horses, all facing east. The level of detail on each warrior is amazing and of course they are all unique.
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| Marion posing like the Chinese! |
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| One of Emperor Jingdi's tombs |
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| Mind-blowing Pit 1 - Terracotta Army |
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| Amazing faces |
Next we got yet another sleeper train, this time to Chongqing. We were herded like cattle upstairs, along a corridor and then downstairs to the platform. Everyone was being crushed and it was chaos; it was a relief to finally get on the train. There was a group of people in our compartment with lots of food and alcohol and they invited us to join them. We had a great time but ended up drinking too much and felt terrible the next day.
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| Partying Chinese-style! |
We arrived in Chongqing with our hangovers and spent a couple of days relaxing in the hostel and booking our Yangtze river cruise. Chongqing is the fastest growing city in China (and probably the world) with about half a million people moving here every year.
We did a 3 night cruise on a Chinese tourist boat, which was shabby and basic. We shared the boat with about 300 Chinese people and 6 French people and it was very enjoyable watching how the Chinese people behave on their holidays. The first day of the cruise was very dull; the scenery was unimpressive and we had rain; however the second day was very enjoyable as we went to see the Three Little Gorges, which are beautiful, and we had a lovely sunny day.
Whilst on the boat 2 Chinese men had a fight over a chair much to the amusement of the everyone watching. Chinese people in general seem to be more aggressive than the people we met in South East Asia and here are some other traits that we observed on our cruise:
- shouting alot, pushing and shoving
- spitting and very loud hacking (gross)
- rushing around and panicking
- arguing in public
- drinking tea and eating constantly
- littering
- eating nuts and seeds without the use of hands (quite a talent!)
- not smiling when having your photo taken
- not taking photos unless there is a person in it
- carrying buckets and lots of plastic bags
- pointing alot
- really enjoying everything to the max (a very nice quality)
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| The man in the white t-shirt was the man fighting over the chair and this is his wife! |
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| The people who lived in this area used to place coffins in small caves very high up on the cliffs. God knows how they got them there. |
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| The river was very clean here |
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| The mighty Yangtze |
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