Xian Travel Blogs | Travelogues | Travel Journals

Hey Guys, Sorry its been awhile since I last wrote. Been doing really great lately on this side of the pond. Still not tired of the food and my volunteer work continues to be great. I learn more and more chinese every day and its amazing how willing these people are to teach you chinese. I have about another week here in Xian to go and then Im off to Beijing and Shanghai for a few days each. Sadly ill be leaving right before the olympics start so I wont be around for any of the action. I got...

Woke up in my sleeper cabin this morning feeling less than refreshed. During the night my three room mates were snoring inharmoniously, plus there was a loud rattle next to me, plus the loud train sounds and horn blowing... not a good night. The train has one toilet per car (it's pretty gross, but I have certainly seen worse) and a washroom with three sinks. There were no men hacking up phlegm in there, so I tried to fix myself up as best as I could. From the photos you may suspect I simply a...

Xi'an is a destination we need visit again.   We were with a tour and it was wonderful and informative but it was difficult to see things and we would have liked to visit longer every where we went....   The city wall is very famous for being intact.  You can actually rent bicycles and ride around the top.   We didn't get to do that.   Also,  There is a large market place that we missed.  It would have been fun to walk around there...

This is the second part of my China tour: Xi'an City!   This city was the ancient capital of Imperial China. It is known as one of the most important cities in Chinese history, Xi'an is listed as one of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China because it has been the capital of 13 dynasties, including the Zhou, Qin, Han, and Tang. Xi'an is also the eastern end of the Silk Road. The city has more than 3,100 years of history. It was called Chang'an.   On the 5th day of our trip, we to...

History says that the first emperor of China, emperor Qin, was so obsessed with immortality that he searched for the ultimate drug to make him immortal. Mercury at that time was so rare that all his doctors thought this was the wonder drug they have all been seeking for. So slowly, Emperor Qin would place mercury at his tea every morning, eventually causing him his death. A few years before his death, he ordered that his entire army be immortalized in the form of the terracotta statues. This ...

Photos from five weeks in China and Tibet last summer. This was my second venture with Eastern Michigan University's CHT programs. We began in Shanghai then travelled on to Nanjing, Beijing, Xi'an, Chengdu then flew to Lhasa, Tibet. Night trains, Sultana taxis, and one illegal/broken down bus later, I am please to share with you China and Tibet.

Trip to several cities of China. A precious trip that has made know and understand something us this great country. Viaje a varias ciudades de China. Un viaje precioso que nos ha hecho conocer y entender algo este gran país.

The plane lands in a grey twilight and I check my watch, something is wrong; the watch says 3pm the sky say 6pm. A dull grey sadness covers what is described by many as the most important city in China's history. Xi'an, the home of the world famous terracotta warriors. The air is choking and I hurry across the tarmac to the airport bus which whisks me over to the terminal and I am relieved to be in an air-conditioned environment for the first time in a long time. My luggage apprears with us...

After Beijing we moved on to Xi'an to check out the Terra-cotta Army, Banpo Neolithic Village and Qin Emperor's Tomb. We booked our tour from the receptionist at the best hostel in  town and jumped on the bus. With us on the tour was an Italian guy that spoke German not Italian and a family of Canadians. Sarah quickly made friends with the Canadians, including their children who seemed like they were tranquilised and we set off to view the army. Our guide for the day was Bruce who was an...

We flew from Shanghai Pudung International Airport to Xian, Shaanxi Province, China. The province of great emperors and tombs. Xian, another name in Chinese is Chaing An - which, literarily means, "forever peaceful". It was the ancient capital for thirteen dynasties. And it is the only city in China now that still preserve the original city wall all around it.We were told the people here are more mellow than those in Beijing and Shanghai. It's a big city of 5 million(?), but people tend to ha...

I arrived in Xi'an at about 10:00AM, Tuesday morning and took a taxi to the Hotel Sofitel, which I had looked at on the internet weeks before at a rate of $165, but didn't book.  This part of the trip was on my dime so I really didn't want to spend a lot of money on hotel accomodations and the Sofitel looked really nice plus the rate wasn't too bad.  I'd been told, and had read many times that hotel rates in China are totally up for grabs and that only naive business people on expen...

My first time China-wow. I saw so much stuff in these 3 weeks.My family and I went to Beijing,to Xian,to Hong Kong and at the end to Changchun...but see for yourself

Good times, good friends and an amazing country!

Torino-Paris-Beijing: then Qingdao (Tzingtao), Xi'an, Tongchuan, Chengdu, Wenjiang, Nanjing, Shanghai, Bangkok and way back, Paris-Torino. Me and my working partner Bruno

Before my flight to Xian I wanted to see the Big Goose Pagoda, but I got distracted by the park next to it. You see, so far I have only see the "concrete jungle" with it's noise. Of course in the park there were loud speakers playing soft music and what I think were tai chi instructions. There were many old people tai chiing away. The younger people were running. One guy was just jumping. As, I walked through the park with it's many statues and art work, people kept coming up to me to show me...