Xi'an

Xi'an was different in personality from Beijing. It was a bit quirky, and there seemed to be a sense of humor about all the dead people. Our tour guide proudly said, “There are more than 3000 tombs here! It is the city of the dead!” 

So on that note, our first stop was to the see the Terracotta Warriors, which are more that 8,000 clay warriors that are standing guard over the tomb of Qin Shi Huang, the Emperor of the first Imperial Dynasty of China.

Afterwards, we even got to try our hand at making some. 

They didn't turn out so bad!

The next day we visited the Wild Goose Pagoda, which might have been more interesting if we hadn’t already been to like six of these already. Oh course, Lucy is asked for her photo.

We did have some fun at another mall while grabbing some noodles for lunch. Side note: We were surprised at how rarely we had rice in China. There were lots of different meats and vegetables and noodle soups, but at least in the areas we were in did not seem to serve rice as much. 

Then we did our favorite thing in days. We rode bikes along the top of the Xi'an city wall. This wall was built in the 13th century on the foundation of the original Tang Forbidden City. It surrounds the city center and runs for 14 km.  

While we didn’t visit and walk on “The Great Wall of China,” we decided that biking, on what we called the “Good Wall of Xi'an,” was the next best thing. 

At least it wasn’t crowded. 

There was a section that we needed to walk through. It was set up for a night festival and was really colorful and fun!

By the time we finished biking the wall, we saw women getting photo shoots done. This happened everywhere, but these photoshoots seemed to be particularly gorgeous.

Then we had to catch a plane to Guilin. It was close to dinnertime, and the kids were really hoping to find a KFC at the airport. Alas, we found nothing but noodle shops. Honestly, I could eat these noodles every day, but I understand the kids sometimes want something more familiar.

But there they are eating a bowl of something they weren’t interested in, with utensils that are difficult for them to use, all while sitting on the hard floor because there weren’t enough seats.

I was so proud. Travel days are hard, and they are rolling with each one.