After a real interesting 18 hour train ride we arrived in Xian. Xian is mostly noted for the 2000 year old Terra Cotta Statues. We Stayed in the Hyatt Regency that is within the walled part of the city. Like all Hyatts, it was a beautiful hotel, and it was about $125 per night. We actually were lucky enough to be able to use the 50% off coupons from our mileage plus - I called the regular 800 hotel numbers and made the reservation myself once in China.
Xian is a must see city - if for no other reason than the Terra Cotta site. The city is surrounded by a 40 feet high, 50 feet wide, 8 mile perimeter wall. You can walk on the top of it and get a good overview of the city. The city, having lots of heavy industry (and coal is burned everywhere), is pretty sooty, but still an exciting place.
There are lots of museums and sites to see in and around Xian. We spent our first day leisurely walking around the city and visiting the Bell and Drum Towers. On our second day we took an all day bus tour to the Bo Pan (early man) site/museum, a 6000 year old excavated city; the Big Goose pagoda, where Buddhist monks still live; the Hot Springs Place, which was a little disappointing; and our favorite, the Terra-Cotta statues.
Qin Terra-Cotta Warriors
Definitely one of the highlights of the trip. The 2,000
year old, life size, 7,000 Terra-Cotta statues are just
awesome. Only a small area is fully excavated, with
the statues repaired and displayed, but they have a
wonderful museum and show a great movie depicting
the building, burying, and finally almost destroying of
the statues.
There are actually dozens of tombs around that area. It's interesting that most of them have just been left alone because China does not have the money/resources to excavate them all properly yet. Imagine us Americans knowing we have all these treasures around and just leaving them alone..
On our last night in Xian (we spent three nights there) we went to a dinner show at the Cultural Center. It was pretty expensive (about $100), but the show was great.