The driver called us around 7:45 and announced he was waiting downstairs and we could head out at any time. We were just about ready to go out, but had not eaten breakfast yet. We asked the driver what he could recommend and he took us to this little dive that sold Chinese Hamburgers (Ru Jia Mo). Ru Jia Mo is very flavorful pulled pork in what is similar to a very thick pita. We also ordered some rice noodles in soup, which was also very good. The kids however did not enjoy the rice noodles in soup, but thought the Ru Jia Mo was OK, which was a total surprise to me.
During the drive to breakfast, we asked about the price for a ride to the airport the next day. We were told that it would be 250RMB ($37 US) for him to take us and if he found us a taxi, it would be 100RMB ($15 US) with a stop at HanYangLing (Tomb of Emperor Liu Qi) . We felt the taxi would work better for us, so we asked him to find a taxi for us. He had a taxi lined up for us before we finished breakfast.
The driver took us to a museum which housed Banpo Village, a 6,000 year old village, the old architecture was extremely interesting and you could still see the fireplaces and post holes. The most interesting part was actually the burial ground. You could see that each person was buried in perfect alignment. There were some people who were buried on their sides and in disarray; I would imagine those people were killed for various reasons.
After the quick stop at the Banpo Village, we were taken to a jade store. As the driver was a registered tour guide, he could make commission from any items we purchased at this and another store he would take us to. Additionally, he would get a cut if he bought our admissions tickets. We took a 2 minute walk through the place and did not buy anything.
He then took us to Lai Mountain, which houses a Toaist monastery. The monastery is set high in the mountains surrounded by pomegranate trees. There were pomegranates everywhere. We stopped and took a look at all the different halls, those of us who were more religious (meaning not me) light incense. After which we left and went for a look at HuaQingCi from the top of the mountain. HuaQingCi is a bunch of hot springs where the Tang Emperors used to bathe. This site is also famous as this was the spot where the Legendary Lady Yang of the Tang Dynasty was given permission to bathe even though she was not an emperor and there is a statue erected of her. Lady Yang was known for her extreme beauty and for causing the decline of the Tang Dynasty. The emperor fell in love with this beauty and lit the emergency torches causing the army to come protect the king (talk about crying wolf) thinking he was in trouble, but he just wanted Lady Yang to smile.
Next we stopped at a factory that makes replica terra cotta warriors. This place also made some really cool tiles. We walked through the place again and got back in the car for our next destination.
The driver then took us to a restaurant for lunch; we ordered a plate of scrambled eggs with veggies, sweet and sour chicken and greens with mushrooms. The lunch was quite good, but the prices were quite high, as this was more of a place for tourists.
Finally, after lunch we were taken to the only place we really wanted to go, the home of the terra cotta warriors. The driver suggested that we hire a tour guide, as the place was really big and it would be easier for us to navigate the place with the guide. We bought our admissions tickets and went into the main area, where we were told we could either take the 45 minute walk up to the area where the warriors were or we could pay 5RMB (75¢ US) per person for a ride in a golf cart. We paid the additional 15RMB ($2.25 US (kids were free) and rode up. We went to see dig site 1, which is where Old Yang started digging a well in 1974 and dug up the warriors instead. We were told that they have pretty much stopped all digging as they could not figure out how to preserve the warriors in its original form. Most of us know the warriors as these dark gray figures, but apparently when they are first dug out, they are painted in many colors and the paints disappear soon after the figures are first unearthed. We do not actually get a close look at the figures either; they are located about 50 feet from the guardrails that stop us from walking any further. There is a special VIP area that allows you another 25 feet closer. We were then asked if we wanted to go see Old Yang and get his autograph. You can pay for a book about the warriors and he will autograph it for you. He will only autograph an item bought at the store. Next, we went to see dig site 2 and then dig site 3. The views at these two sites were even worse. Overall, the whole terra cotta thing was a bit of a disappointment to me.
Upon walking out of the museum, we were told that there was no ride down to the parking area. We had to walk the 45 minutes down. By this time both kids were extremely tired and were taking turns on my shoulders. A man approached our tour guide and asked if we wanted a ride down for the price of $30. We quickly got into his beat up old car and took the ride down.
Next we were taken to the museum of Chinese medicine. The kids and I had absolutely no interest in this; we spent a better part of the tour playing with a grasshopper we found outside.
We then headed back to City Center of Xi’an and the driver took us around for some brief views of other places including the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, the Bell Tower and the City Wall.
We had a bunch of leftovers from lunch and some stuff from the previous night and since we were all pretty tired, we decided to eat in the hotel room. There was a Malaysian/Singapore restaurant connected to the hotel, so I went down, got a couple of containers of rice and we ate in.