Xi'an

Xi'an was our first (and only) city without a company visit, which allowed us more time to explore the city. Compared to Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong, Xi'an is much more run down and dirtier. It used to be the capital city of China, before Beijing, and was a hub back in the day. Now, much of the economy, 25% I believe, relies on tourism.

The biggest tourist attraction in the area is the Terra Cotta Warriors, which was an awesome site to see. I had mixed feelings about it. On one hand, it's incredible that these warriors were created and the intricacies and features of each of the warriors and horses is incredible. It's also amazing that these survived for thousands of years, without being discovered until the mid-70s. On the other hand, the emperor who ordered these warriors to be created, the first emperor of the Qing dynasty, was an absolutely ruthless dictator. These warriors were meant to protect him from enemies he may encounter in the afterlife and are part of his burial site. Over 40 years, these warriors were created by over 700,000 people, who were then buried alive so that the whereabouts of this site would not be known. That's in addition to the 48 concubines who were also buried alive for his service. It's crazy how sometimes such beauty can come out of such oppression.

We also visited the Small Wild Goose Pagoda, which was a very peaceful area, as was the Great Mosque in the Muslim Quarter. Xi'an is neat, but I think Beijing still ranks as my favorite.