Terracotta Tandem Bikes.

As if my semester of teaching abroad hasn't had enough adventures, there was still one last 5 day vacation on my calendar. The obvious choice was to head north and west of Nanjing to Xi'an; there was no way I was leaving China without seeing thousands of Terracotta Warriors lined up in neat little rows.

So many soldiers. 

Our adventure started (and ended) with a sleeper train; the delight of sleeping in a stack of 3 beds on either side sandwiched between Chinese riders who talk very loudly through the night and take phone calls in inopportune hours of the morning was just too much fun to resist. (By fun, I mean affordable). The fun continued when 2 members of our Xi'an travel group did have a bit of a Goldilocks situation to deal with on this sleeper train. Upon boarding, 2 beds had wrinkled sheets and obvious evidence of someone sleeping in their bed. The story is funnier when you factor in the fact that each bed would be deemed "too hard" by anyone playing Goldilocks. China knows a lot of things, but it is a stranger to a soft mattress. Luckily, things were sorted out relatively quickly despite the language barrier.

I, however, lucked out my bunk mates this time around, none of whom had slept in my bed before my arrival. A very cute family with a very cute 7 year old were polite and very quiet; the most noise made was teaching mini Chinese/English lessons before the train's lights went out. Upon arrival at the Xi'an station, they invited our group of Americans to find and ride the bus to the Terracotta museum with them, meaning we didn't have to spend an eternity looking up where to find the bus station and triple checking our information to find the right bus.

I had goals of painting calligraphy on my own fan, but I decided to leave it to the experts. 

After buying tickets and weaving between souvenir vendors, we said goodbye to our little adopted family and went to explore the complex that houses the warriors. Pit #1 was first up on the list; a dusty airplane hanger swarming with tourists. When you did get your turn to see the warriors, it was difficult to take in. Rows, and rows and rows of soldiers lined up, each armed with a unique facial expression. Though the line was impressive, the highlight of the first pit came from the glimpses of the restoration process. Further into the hangar, soldiers were slowly being pieced together, held together by plastic wrap as their missing hands and armor shards were awaiting placement. Though it would be incredible to see the warriors all put together and lined up, it was impressive to see the meticulous work it takes to get these statues in one piece.

We spent the rest of our day admiring the other pits, and checking into our hostel. A visit to the Muslim Quarter made for an excellent dinner (that aspect of Xi'an will be getting it's own post), before heading to bed. Day 2 in Xi'an was a scorcher, so obviously the best way to enjoy the blistering sun was to ride atop the massive city wall on tandem bike.

Obsessed with these spicy noodles paired with cucumber. 

H. and I had the goal of riding as many forms of transportation as possible while abroad. While busses, planes and metros were easy wins, some of the more obscure modes of transportation were more tricky to find. But with motor scooters, chairlifts, ziplines, paddleboats, and bamboo rafts (etc),  under our belts, the tandem bike just had to happen. So, the minute we read online you could tandem bike in Xi'an, it was a guaranteed part of our trip. This method of getting around required much more of learning curve than our other forms (though a segway in Suzhou was also a bit tricky), it was a blast despite the furnace like temperature.

Tandem bike? Check. 

Naturally, the next course of action was the find shade and ice cream as soon as possible, leading us to the busy Muslim Quarter.  For details and artsy photos of walnuts, see the "Lunching in the Muslim Quarter" post.  That evening was spent making traditional foods for the Dragon Boat festival and double checking details about the next half of our trip. It was a quick visit to Xi'an, but well worth the trip.