We went to Xi'an last weekend with Will's program. It was a weekend full of adventurous travel and amazing sights. We took an overnight train from Beijing and arrived in Xi'an around 7a.m. in the morning. The train ride was an interesting experience! We stayed in "hard sleepers," each compartment was four bunks high, with a total of 8 bunks each. We befriended some of our bunk mates, including an older Chinese couple, as well as a young woman we played cards with - we taught her how to play gin rummy!
In Xi'an we went to see the terracotta warriors, which were pretty amazing. To think that these sculptures were discovered in the mid 70s... These treasures are 2,200 years old!
We then went to check out the old city walls, and then that night explored a really neat Muslim neighborhood - really good food! It was the end of Ramadan (their holy month of fasting) so everyone was out in the streets enjoying food and blessings from the local Imam. The next day we went to a museum, as well as a famous Buddhist temple, home to the original translations of Buddhist scriptures that were brought from India.
We took the train back that night and then I went straight to work - phew! It was well worth it though for a weekend full of amazing sights, religions and food!
