Our primary reason for coming to Xi’an was to see the famous terracotta warriors, and they did not disappoint. I feel like sometimes I get a little skeptical of the tourist hot spots of the world. Perhaps they won’t live up to the expectation, or maybe they’ve become over commerialized and feel ridiculously touristy. For example, the leaning tower of Pisa, not much else to see there. I was pleasantly surprised by the Terracotta warriors, and the site went beyond my expectations. The first area we stepped into I felt like I had stepped into a football stadium full of hundreds of warriors. There were so many warriors with different poses and facial expressions and they were still in such good condition! The amazing thing is that there are even more warriors to be discovered! In addition to the warriors, there were horses with really round butts which my mom really liked. Also, in the middle of the building there was an excavation in progress!
To get back to the city we grabbed a public bus. A woman sat down next to me and started speaking Chinese. I explained I only spoke English, and she was surprised because she thought I was Chinese. We proceeded to talk over the next hour – she had been visiting her Aunt outside of the city, but was on her way back home. She gave me a fruit only grown in that area, and although I had no idea what it was at the time, it turned out to be a pomegranate! At the end there was a bit of confusion because she tried to give me 5 yuan. I had no idea why she was giving me money, and she explained it was for the bus fare. Then I thought she wanted me to pay for her bus fare for talking to her in English. I had read in the tour books there are students who pretend they just want an English speaking friend and they try to sell you expensive art. Then I thought she wanted me to pay for her fruit. There was lots and lots of confusion. Anyways what had happened was that when my mom and I got on the bus, I paid the 7 yuan fare for both of us. My mom switched seats because she also wanted a window view. My new Chinese friend later got on the bus, sat down next to me, and when she tried to pay, the fare collector said I had already paid for her (not realizing I had paid for my mom who was now sitting in a different seat).
My mom and I then walked around the city wall and came across groups of tents selling food and providing musical entertainment to locals. We also walked the scary spectacle.past 2 Chinese women yelling and trying to attack each other. We had wanted to bike on top of Xi’an’s city walls but got back too late. We then tried to catch a taxi back to our hotel, but were unsuccessful. This random Chinese women asked if needed help and bought us to a bus that would take us back. She also helped us cross the hectic and death trap of a street. According to my mom, she was a angel out of nowhere.
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