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Arrived in X'ian at around 10am and took the bus to Jin Cheng Hotel. The weather was wet and cold but the city looked very nice. It still has the ancient walls surrounding the city and is one of few where these have survived. After a short orientation walk in the rain we grabbed some food and had a sleep as we were so tired from the train journey (they turn on all lights at 6am). At 6:30 the group met for dinner in the Muslim Quarter. It turned out to be the groups favourite place to eat and at night it lights up and really comes to life. We went in a small restaurant full of locals (always a good sign!) and sat at a tabble with burners on. They bring you a big bowl with 2 sections full of oil and spices, one spicy one mild. You then pick your meat and veg from the huge selection and cook them in front of you. At the end you pay for the number of empty sticks and it was really cheap. Chelsea had spicy chicken, cauli and brocolli while Brad also tried some pork and beef. Have to say it was one of the best meals of our entire trip to date! After plenty of grub we moved onto bar street with a handful of the group for a few beers then headed to the 24hr golden arches! (cue flashbacks of home!!)

Thursday 31st May

9am meet and 2 local buses took us to The Terracotta Warriors. This army was built during Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi's reign rougly 2200 years ago. He unified Chinas territories and standardised the written language. The discovery was made by farmers digging a well in 1974 and has since become Xians biggest tourist attraction. Pit one was amzing, they are set out in a military battle formation. The second and third pits were less impressive, they were not as big and were mainly ruins whereas pit one is in good condtion or have been restored. The funny thing about this site is they are calling it the 'eight world wonder', they also claimed this at the Great Wall - Answers on a postcard please!!

Back in the city we went back to the same restaurant with 4 others for another great meal. We strolled around the market in the muslim quarter buying some souviners and had a few beers before heading to bed. Lots of walking made it an exhausting day!!

Friday 1st May

Today we checked out of the hotel but our train wasn't untill 7:45pm so we walked around the city. We went to Calligraphy street and got some more gifts but it was so hot we decided to cjill in the lobby untill it was time to leave. The train to Shanghai took bout 15hours but we slept most of the way!