After looking back at our time in Xi’an, we can say that it had one of the best hostels throughout our time in China. The bar area was great, the rooms were clean and spacious and we got to meet the legend that is Hassan. This Turk was a great guy to be around, he was sooo funny. He owns his own hostel ‘back in Turkaaay’ (as he would put it) and is known as Mr. Happy. We soon realized why. He had the most insane laugh ever! Honestly we thought he was having a seizure on a couple of occasions. He was nearing the end of his trip and was spending his final days just relaxing in Xi’an. Me and Maj soon convinced (or threatened) him to accompany us onward to Beijing.
The Terracotta Warriors from my previous knowledge of the Asian countries was one of my highlights of the trip. They did not disappoint. Although excavations are still in progress, I can see how it is one of the worlds greatest archaeological finds. Discovered in 1974 by peasant farmers drilling for a well, they found a complete army of soldiers and horses. Made of Terracotta to prevent erosion, these guys date back over two thousand years, guarding the tomb of Qin Shi Huang, a very controversial character in Chinese history (with protection like that, I should believe so). An amazing fact here, is that no two soldiers faces are alike! They really were an eye opener, and just get you thinking how many other sights like this are hidden around the world.
Xi’an itself is a real beautiful city despite the Chinese smog that seems to have followed us most places so far. It has a well kempt perimeter wall which surrounds the city limits, and is lit up in the evenings which was cool. Xi'an used to be the main city on the Chinese side of the Silk Road, which was used as main transportaion of goods between Asia and Europe. We picked up on many of the disgusting habits that most Chinese people have in Xi'an. They snort, spit and smoke everywhere, the little kiddies have rips in their bottoms for quick pooing access and their just damn rude when it comes to queing or doorways etc. The pointing and laughing can get frustrating at times too, but I guess we are alien lifeforms to them. I thought Indians smoked plenty, they have nothing on China's cigarette habit.
We took a day trip to see the Big Goose pagoda on one of our days in Xi’an, I think it might be the biggest in China, but not sure. The park surrounding it was nice to walk through and we watched some old women dressed up in traditional outfits with giant fake heads singing and dancing nearby. That evening Turkish took us to the Chinese muslim quarter for some food, where we bought some kebabs and Maj got to meet his first Chinese Muslim.
Xian Photo Link:
http://www3.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=2760222011/a=2264773011_2264773011/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/
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