Day 40: Where did my weekend go?

View Larger Map

Good Evening/Afternoon/Morning Everyone!

NOTE: Beijing is in the UPPER RIGHT of the map with Xi'an being in the LOWER LEFT (you might want to "grab" the map and drag it to the left a little).

This weekend some colleagues from work and I took a fast and furious trip to Xi’an, China. Xi’an is approximately 700 miles from Beijing, so we figured the “overnight train” was the best option. The train left Beijing at approximately 9:25pm on Friday night and arrived in Xi’an at 8:25am the next day. We purchased a “soft sleeper” ticket, which means we had 4 people in a cabin with 4 beds/sleepers. Next time, I’ll probably upgrade to a “1st Class” ticket which is 2x people to a cabin with a private toilet.

Wikipedia’s Xi’an webpage: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xi%27an












Once we met our tour guide at the Xi’an Train Station, she took us to a fancy hotel for breakfast, after breakfast we made a quick stop by Starbucks (we had some caffeine addicts in the crowd). From Starbucks we walked past the Drum Tower to the Great Mosque of Xian. The Muslim community is said to have traced its history back to the Persian and Arab merchants who became local residents after traveling the Silk Road. This link will tell you more than you ever wanted to know about the Great Mosque: http://www.islamicarchitecture.org/architecture/xianmosque.html












From the Great Mosque, we boarded a bus which took us to see the Terra-Cotta Warriors. What can I say about 2000 year old clay warriors? “There sure are a lot of them...” OR “Once you’ve seen 100 terra-cotta warriors you’ve seen them all.” Wikipedia has some good information on the Terra-Cotta Warriors: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terracotta_Army

After we got our fill of clay horses and warriors, we went to a more peaceful venue, the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. This place has a beautiful garden and is especially peaceful. Originally, built in the 5th Century it has by far the prettiest gardens I’ve ever seen. Wikipedia has a little more information on the Big Wild Goose Pagoda: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Da_Yan_Pagoda

From the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, we went to Xi’an’s City Wall. The Xi’an City Wall is one of the best preserved city walls in China. This wall surrounds the “oldest” part of the city comes complete with a moat and drawbridge. We rented some bikes and road partially around the wall before returning to the East gate.



We ate a bite for dinner then it was back to the train station for our overnight train ride. It was the perfect trip; overnight on the train (I actually slept, a little), quick visits to the sights (“take pictures it will last longer”), then overnight train back home (I slept very well on the way back home).

More pictures can be found at: http://picasaweb.google.com/LarryNChina/XianChina19July