To save money, we took the evening train there and back (12 hours either way) – which cost only £26.00 for the return ticket. Not bad considering it’s approximately the same distance as doing a trip from London to Berlin! The downside is that it’s fairly cramped, smelly and noisy in the carriage and you don’t feel particularly fresh when you arrive at your destination. The upside is that you get to meet new people, eat lots of snacks and drink lots of tea and have a real idea of what it’s like to be an ordinary Chinese person.

We stayed in the lovely Xiangzimen YHA Hostel which again was great value for money (only £1.75 per person per night for a shared dorm) and had plenty of character.

There is plenty to see and do in Xi’an – partly because it is China’s old capital city and has plenty of history, partly because lots of money has been thrown into developing it’s thriving tourist industry.

We started off with some tasty grub at the Muslim Quarter…

After that had digested nicely, we went for a look round the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda…

China wouldn’t be China without a stroll around a new manmade park created specifically for tourists…

We decided evening was the best time to catch a glimpse of a panoramic nightscape from the top of the Bell Tower…

After a good nights sleep and an early start, we caught the bus and went for a stroll around the grounds of the “Imperial Bath of Lady Yang” (华清池)…

From here it was only a couple more hops to the impressive Terracotta Warriors…

On our last day, we first went for a look around the Drum Tower, not far from the Bell Tower…

Later on, after a brisk stroll around the impressive Shaanxi History Museum, we finished our trip off with a 14km tandem ride around the city walls!

Now if you add in the fact that the temperature was a staggering 38°C over our four day stay in Xi’an and the fact that I got a dodgy stomach from some dubious lamb kebabs at the Muslim Quarter, I think we actually did quite well to visit so many of Xi’an’s attractions! All in all, it was a great trip and a welcome break from the smog of Beijing.

炒凉粉

羊杂汤

大雁塔

两个美女

大雁塔的前面

推啊推啊...

好蓝的天空

Leaning Tower of Pisa

入口

爬啊爬啊!

下面的景色

倒影

Writing in the mud

Fountain Fun

Drenched

Pretty

Wading in the river

Nice Park

Posing

Chilling out

Bell Tower

从钟楼眺望

叠重檐

叠重檐

夜景

表演

霓裳羽衣舞

北大街

Blackpool Illuminations

Overlooking the city

摆 POSE

迷惑神色

Red Streak

Big Bell

Muslim Quarter

Local Delicacies

华清池

好漂亮的景色

美女

皇帝

喂小鱼儿

抢吃的

大咪咪的杨贵妃

居然把钢蹦儿扔进小眼儿里了

绚丽多彩

兵马俑一号坑

Overlooking the Terracotta Warriors

Skinny Warrior

Not yet excavated

One man and his horses

Line after line

Excavation Underway

Warriors in their trenches

The lost army

No fear

三号坑

Deep pit

二号坑

Our Hostel (from the top)

Looking Up

Drum Tower

Boom

View over the city

Up the city wall

On the city wall

Old Rooftops

Tandem

One girl and her tandem