Xian...

So, I've not been very consistent with this and of course there is stuff to tell everyday but not much internet time! Yea! Saw the Terra Cotta Warriors yesterday... Started out with Starbucks. Yes, I know, but there's not a whole lot of coffee choices in China so I'll take what I can get! :) They have a great fruit cup, too, with dragon fruit. YUMMY! The Warriors were amazing. Just astounding the proportion and the craziness of leaders 2000 years ago! Bush is crazy but as far as I know he's not building a life-size army to take with him to the afterlife. Even their hair and shoe soles were detailed! Pretty cool and a little creepy. Laurel will be proud to hear that I christened the warriors... :) Pretty full day seeing all three pits - one with infantry and over 6000 warriors, one with the generals and headquarters, and another with chariots and horsemen. Also a couple of museums thrown in with the brass weaponry and stuff they'd found. Had a fun night out, too. Found a little pub on a bar street we'd been told about. Aussies really like to drink! The beers were huge but the mixed drinks were tiny. Kinda' funny, really, and we felt elfen... They had live music, tho, and the guy played some Pink Floyd and threw in Chinese and American verses. Very fun. I took some video... After the guy played they put on a CD of an Aussie girl. I'm pretty sure they didn't realize it - Missy Higgins is her name. She's good... :)
Today was a free day basically. Kate and I didn't set an alarm but told Lisa we'd be ready by 9. She knocked at 9 and we were still sleeping. Not even a late night! Those hotel curtains that block out all the light - gotta' love 'em! :) We shopped all morning and then met for a group lunch. Shopping was not necessarily buying... The markets are just cool. We were in the Muslim Quarter this morning. There's all kinds of interesting foods (street meat included), tea shops, etc. I just like seeing people's daily lives as they bustle around. Single shops for buttons, and lace, and dried foods, and dumpling steamers... The streets are amazingly clean here. There's always someone sweeping and mopping the sidewalk. Kinda' nice. The air is HORRIBLE, however. I haven't been able to take a deep breath yet. Ugh. I'll be glad to get back to my NM skies. Cairo has nothing on this place!
Went for a massage this afternoon. 120 yuan for 70 minutes. That's less than $20. YAH! Started out with some lip massaging and hair pulling, then the William Tell Overture on my head. I was waiting for the nipple twisting but it never came... Felt like a wet noodle coming out but managed to get in some more wandering down densely packed streets. Back at the hotel to meet for our taxi to the overnight train. We were on a "soft" sleeper on the way here (16 hours) and we'll take the "hard" sleeper to Beijing. Soft is a room that actually has a door and four bunks. Hard is a six bunks in a cubicle, without a door. Should be interesting! Till soon... :)