Xian

Pictures are of our 9 mile bike ride around the old City Wall built in 1370.

I'll never forget biking this wall with my kids it was amazing.

On day 5, we took a two hour flight from Beijing to Xian. The night before had been windy and we woke up to clear blue skies, the first we'd seen in China! We were happy that the flight was short and we would have plenty of time to enjoy the day. We were so bummed when we arrived and and the sky was dreary & overcast again! Well, the weather didn't improve but we still had a great time. Seriously though, I bought some post cards and Aaron said "they photoshopped those blue skies in Mom".

Xian is in the heart of China. Located on the eastern end of the Silk Road and bordered by the Yellow River it has been home to 11 dynasties. First, the Western Zhou in 1066 BC and then 850 years later, China's first Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi, unified China from here.

We saw the Terracotta Warriors, the Great Goose Pagoda, Banpo Museum and the Old Xian Wall. The Terracotta Army and their story is fascinating, The Great Goose Pagoda is a beautiful peaceful garden (i would love to sit, drink tea and relax here), The Banpo Museum was interesting and a little macabre, biking the 9-mile Old Wall was exhilarating. My only regret is due to weather and it being a time of Buddhist pilgrimage we didn't travel to Hua Shan Mountain. A local advised us, "we would not be able to see the mountain, only the back of heads"!