Xian - warriors, walls, mosques and little lions

Just returned from a fabulous few days in Xian - the ancient capital of China. There is a strong Muslim influence in Xian because it was the start/end of the Silk Road and so has a long tradition of Arabic influence. We spent some time in the Muslim Quarter, which frequently reminded us of our travels in Egypt.

 Most intersesting was the Grand Mosque - a large complex of Islamic buildings, but all built in a very traditional Chinese way ... We timed out visit perfectly to see the men arrive and worship

We visited the tomb of Emperor Jingdi - (188-141 BC) who was buried with thousands of mini clay warriors and animals for the afterlife. The very cool thing about this place was that it was all glassed in, so you can walk on top and next to the excavations - very interesting.

Another great thing abot Xian (can you tell we're fans?!) are the intact Ming dynasty city walls (1300's) - at the time, Xian was the biggest city in the world! and the perimeter covers 14km (we walked the whole thing too) - at night, the walls are peaceful and lit by red Chinese lanterns - beautiful!

Of course, Xian is also a modern city - with a lot of hustle and bustle. The traffic was incredibly bad at times, and crossing the road was definitely taking your life into your own hands at times.

I just loved this lion (who is actually quite small) - it seems like it is trying to look ferocious while guarding the entrance to a city park...

Of course (Of Course!) the highlight was a trip to see the Terracotta Warriors and the tomb of Emperor Qin Shi Huang (2000 + years old). There are 3 pits open - here is Pit 2 with most of the warriors not yet excavated - we could see some of them, but most remain in the hollow parts between the raised walls. It is estimated to have 1300 warriors here. All are life size. The actual tomb of the emperor has not been excavated because (apparently) the ancient story of rivers of mercury and traps are true - the soil around the hill shaped tomb has 1000 times more mercury than is normal and so opening it up could be dangerous and very costly ... but who knows what would be in there!!!

 Here is one of the warriors - it is true that each has a unique face - apparently based on individual artists who were later executed to protect the secrets of the tomb. Some warriors still had traces of red, pink, blue and yellow paint ...

 This is Pit 3 - the smallest of the pits contains many of the generals - about 72 warriors in total.

Pit 1 was mind-blowing - about 2000 warriors on display with another 4000 still to be excavated - the area is huge - unbelievable. They have also recently discovered another pit with many more warriors in.

So, there we go - Xian was fabulous in many ways - the food, the sites, the people and the history. Definitely worth a visit - we had a great time!

Shanghai in October

The weather recently has been fabulous - clear sunny skies, fabulous temperatures and warm breezes. We have been busy enjoying our Shanghai life - today we went to the French Concession and had cheap traditional Chinese massages - accupressure-like and very good (if a little painful) and spent some time hanging out in our favorite coffee shop in a garden. Tomorrow we are on a long long hike to see how far we can get! It's nice to explore Shanghai outside and on foot as we spend so much time indoors at work and travelling on the crowded metro.
Last week, we had a great time at the Shanghai Masters Tennis tournament - center court tickets!!! Fab!!! Although very sad at Andy Murray's loss - so close ...
Our Chinese continues to improve - feeling fairly confident now and even a little bit conversational - we have both been learning to read the strange mixture of characters and can now read a little of basic texts (think children's) and have even started a little bit of typing in Chinese!!!
On Friday we're off to Xian for 5 days - plan to see the Terracotta Warriors and various old things - Xian was the ancient capitol of China up until around the 10th century - it has an Arabic feel because it was the end of the Silk Road. All good. Booked into a little hostel inside the medieval city walls. More to follow on our return.

Current favorite song on a bit of a rotation on our computer - Ellie Goulding - Anything Can Happen!!! That's right!!!