Day 3: Xi'an

The night train from Pingyao arrived in Xi'an at 6:15am, so I got an early start exploring the city. After a quick breakfast near the station, and washing up a little in the bathroom at McDonalds (gotta do what you can!), I took the first bus I saw heading to the Terracotta Warriors. I visited the Exhibition Room before going to the pits, to better understand what I was about to see. The warriors really are amazing. Every single one is different, even down to the details of their facial expressions, their hairstles, their belts...and all to guard a tomb. There are 3 pits of warriors being excavated. The third and smallest pit houses what appears to be the headquarters, where a group of generals stand facing each other. The second pit has mostly collapsed, but fascinating details of warriors, chariots, and horses can be seen there. The 1st pit is the most impressive, with columns of standing warriors. Of course, the whole thing would be much more impressive if they weren't enclosed in a big warehouse-type room with ropes all around and tourists like myself snapping photos...but what can you do?

Back in the city, there is a Muslim Quarter just north of the Drum and Bell Towers in the main square. Tucked into the narrow market lanes with stalls of peanut cakes, dried persimmons, roasted lamb skewers, noodles, and flatbread, is the Great Mosque, where Chinese Muslims have been going to pray since it was built in 742.

For lunch, I had a bowl of yangrou paomo - a hearty dish of thick doughy bread cubes in savory broth with slices of tender lamb.

I spent the rest of the day walking around the city. Stumbled across a little art district with stalls selling calligraphy brushes and paintings and handicrafts in what looked like a very old section of the city near the south gate. Just before dusk, I climbed up on the city wall and walked along the top where it was quiet and peaceful as the lanterns lit up.

Xi'an is busy and polluted and modern, but something about the ramparts and the bustle and the diversity gives it an old feeling and reminds you that this city was the end of the ancient Silk Road, where merchants and scholars and warriors and nomads travelled from across the continent long before the days of sleeper trains.